Implementing CRM Systems: Not All Sunshine and Roses

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

  Business Intelligence   CRM   Stakeholder Management   Strategy  

If you have been around long enough in the IT world, you have seen your share of successes and failures. Whether those successes and failures where cloud based or premise based, ERP or CRM (customer relationship management) focused, it seems that failures and near-failures still litter the deployment landscape.

All too often, CRM system implementations are fraught with problems, especially SaaS-based initiatives. Whether it is because of the promise of low cost, fast deployment and the like, they lure executives into a false sense of security as they lack adequate research into the organization’s true CRM requirements. It seems that the disappointment in achieving the value proposition expectations of management is more the norm than not. For many, those expectations include:

• Improve the process of identifying qualified leads
• Accelerate the lead-to-quote process
• Produce reliable sales forecasts
• Produce and manage the sales pipeline
• Reduce the cost of new customer acquisition
• Increase the quote-to-capture (close) rate
• Increase customer loyalty and retention
• Increase repeat sales and spend per customer

In short, improve all aspects of pursuing and managing the sales process.

To be sure, the CRM journey can take an organization down a rocky road instead of a path that is filled with sunshine and roses. But before exploring the pitfalls and ways…

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