18 Requirements for Success with CRM - Part II
To Obtain Success with CRM- consider the following requirements:
For Part I - 18 Requirements for Success with CRM
10. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate 
Keep people informed of the goals, objectives, and progress. People feel better during the management of this big business change if they know what's going on. Communicate the "quick wins" as they occur to fuel enthusiasm.
11. Invest in Training
Training helps to empower end users and helps them become involved. Training should not merely focus on demonstrating how to use the software's features. Instead, training should teach employees how to effectively execute the business process enabled by the CRM system. Give your end-users as much time as needed with the new solution before going live - it makes the transition much easier. Over time, additional reinforcement training will provide even more benefits.
12. Phase-In the Roll-Out
Focus each phase on a specific CRM objective that's designed to produce a "quick win" - that is, meaningful results in a reasonable amount of time. Smaller, more manageable phases can yield more momentum and higher end-user adoption. You're building a holistic approach, using a step-by-step process.
13. Start with and Maintain Quality Customer information
Behavioral data is the lifeblood of CRM. CRM requires accurate customer information, so start by cleaning up any migrated data and duplications. Do this before a roll-out. Make it easier for people to tackle the tough job of data quality, access, and maintenance.
Enhance personalization by identifying the customer's social network links - identify their LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter handles.
14. Minimize Financial Risks
It's important that executives come to grips with the fact that CRM is not a one-time investment. As more and more users access the system, additional functionality will be found useful and other benefits become evident. CRM is a journey not a destination.
15. Consider Migration Paths
Understand where your company is heading. Make sure the software vendor you've selected can provide the additional functionality you might need in two or three years. Select one that will enable your CRM software to grow as your company grows. Make sure it can be customized for your business and personalized for the desired customer's experience.
16. Plan for Disruptions - Companies Change
Companies change. They make acquisitions or they get acquired, sections are sold off or outsourced, and executives get replaced. When implementing a CRM strategy, management must be ready for these kinds of changes. Refer to #15.
17. Measure, Monitor, and Track 
Once the system goes live, your company must measure, monitor, and track the system's effectiveness, with an eye to continuously improving performance. Changing behavior is a long-term process, so monitor to track progress.
18. Choose a Champion of Change
When you're making a full-suite implementation, start with a single department and let the dominoes fall into place. Choose a department with a manager who's behind the implementation, realizes its benefits, and whose department will also find the most success early on. Nothing jump-starts a CRM implementation more than a manager who always has that can-do attitude. CRM success can be contagious.
Back to Part I - 18 Requirements for Success with CRM
I designed and coded my first customer management system in 1983, later adding in sales force automation and integrating accounting systems. Today's commercial CRM software solutions, such as ACT! by Sage and SalesLogix, now provide the business processes and functionality for multiple business benefits so you can truly achieve faster success with CRM.
Our firm offers CRM readiness analysis and CRM optimization consulting services so you can grow your business faster and have a more integrated, effective system.
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