Why do CRMs Fail

Released on: January 14, 2008, 8:57 pm

Press Release Author: Andrew Wallace, CRM Asia Solutions

Industry: Software

Press Release Summary: There are many reasons why a CRM project may be considered as
a failure. These reasons differ from each person involved in the project: from the
key stakeholders to the end user as each person has a very different perception of
what a CRM system is, what it is there for and what the end result should be.

Press Release Body: An end user in a sales team who is trying to make his/her sales
quota is not likely going to automatically understand the complex relationship
between all of the elements of the CRM or the underlying business reasons for
implementing the system in the first place. Indeed, there may even be resistance
from end users who see a CRM as a kind of all-seeing CCTV camera, allowing managers
to see what they get up to during the day. (God forbid that managers know what is
really happening!) In truth, there are numerous reasons why CRMs fail but these can
be mitigated with a certain amount of understanding of these reasons combined with a
little sensible forward planning.

Problems can start right at the very beginning usually by senior management who want
to implement a CRM with the best intentions in mind, but who do not fully understand
what a CRM application is and what it can and cannot do or perhaps how much work is
involved in implementing a CRM in for example a large organisation, which has its
own business units, business managers, each with their own opinions, biases and sets
of priorities. Sometimes key stakeholders may not even be involved at all, which is
disastrous.

Lack of a communication between everyone involved in customer relationship
management can also lead to an incomplete picture of the customer.

Poor understanding and even mistrust of 'Software as a Service (SaaS)' CRMs can lead
to unnecessary implementations of on-site CRMs which can often be fraught with
unseen technical challenges and costs.

When a CRM loses momentum, you can also expect to observe loss of user enthusiasm
and buy in. For example, if the sales force isn\'t completely sold on the how the
CRM system will benefit them and make their job easier, even more enjoyable, they
may not feel the need to input the kind of demographic data that is essential to the
program\'s success.

Other critical factors for user buy in is a quick 'time to value', this is where
SaaS, or on demand CRMs such as Salesforce.com or Zoho CRM really come into their
own. You can, with a little no how or minor level of consultancy, set up a CRM for
an SMB in a matter of days. This is great for end users, who may have had to sit
through numerous 'hype building' sessions and who just want to get started.

Other common reasons might be:

Key sponsors are not involved in the project

Unclear CRM requirements and priorities

Lack of focus - no CRM Roadmap

Metrics for success were not defined before or after the project

Unclear strategy to integrate with existing systems

IT control the CRM project

"Was that last bullet point a typo?" I hear you ask. No. Many organisational
leaders assume CRM implementation is all about IT and complex technical challenges
and are eager to pass a CRM implementation project to the company IT team or worse,
the sole IT person within the company and charge them with the daunting task of
implementing a CRM system which will likely involve numerous people across Sales,
Marketing and Customer Support teams, all of different backgrounds and with
different interests and immediate needs.

In fact, CRM implementation is more about people and processes, analysing and
improving business rules, user psychology and even analyzing and improving social
interaction; that is, interactions between internal teams and perhaps most
importantly between internal teams and their customers.

Of course, a CRM project may well present considerable technical challenges,
especially if being done on a large scale in a company or organisation which is well
established and which has numerous existing systems which need to be integrated
(such as ERP systems, Accounting Packages etc.). However, with a sensible and well
thought out rollout plan, these high risk/difficult areas can be kept to minimum
and/or phased in later once you have the key, low risk elements of the CRM in place
for the people who most need them first:

Sales
Marketing
Support.

Who should 'own' a CRM project, if not IT?

There is a strong argument from numerous CRM implementers that the end users of a
CRM should own the project. Why? Because a CRM is a user based application and
deals with improving the way end users understand and interact with their customers.
They really understand the key problems with the current methods/business process
as they are the ones who perform the roles/processes, day in day out. IT, do not.

I have even seen IT teams actively resisting the most simple of user enhancement
requests because they do not look at the human aspects of the CRM, only the
technical ones. They have considered the enhancement request as 'silly' or
unnecessary and have fought with the users about getting it implemented.

In my experience I have heard end users accuse IT teams (no offense here!) of seeing
things in rather blinkered manner, thinking only of the technical elements and not
of the human factor, of what they need. At the end of the day, humans prefer to
interact with humans and end users can and do often come up with simple yet
ingenious ideas to solve their problems which technical teams, detached from the
whole process, may not see or may try for days or weeks to solve through a complex
technical process.

The best CRM implementations I have done have been when the users are firmly buckled
in the driving seat, with IT present in a support capacity. Care should be taken to
present this to the relevant teams in the best way so no one loses face and so inter
departmental harmony can be maintained allowing teams to focus positively on getting
the project completed rather on who should be the owner. (See below about cultural
sensitivity).

Should I use a CRM consultant?

There is no hard and fast rule for this of course, many companies implement a CRM
entirely by themselves or allocate someone within the company to take on the role.
One thing is sure though, a CRM Consultant can help you speed up your implementation
and avoid common pit falls. A few qualities should be considered as desirable
though, if not required, in whoever you choose to implement your CRM:

Your CRM implementer needs to be a good communicator, able to understand the
requirements of the key stakeholders and of the end users. They need to be good
with people, able to listen and record user needs, pain points and areas for
improvement. With this in mind, it goes without saying that experience with
structured requirements gathering techniques and Process/Systems Analysis and Design
would also beneficial.

A CRM Implementation Project should be treated like any other project. The key
person in charge should be able to demonstrate basic Project Management skills such
as creating project plans and status reports, risk management etc. in order to
structure the project effectively and keep it on track.

Obviously training is a key part of a CRM implementation project so your CRM
Consultant or CRM implementer should be charismatic and able to conduct training
sessions as well as prepare training materials as/if needed. Remember, it may be
possible that some of your end users are not even that confident with computers, so
they need to be educated in this area as well as CRM concepts and usage.

Constant reviews and improvements are also a key factor in maintaining a CRM, so
users should be encouraged to make suggestions or submit ideas, again the role of
the implementer should be seen as a motivator and someone who collates, prioritises
and implements these ideas promoting user buy in, enthusiasm and overall morale at
the same time.

There will always be a period of resistance or drops in enthusiasm, which is when
it\'s up to the CRM Consultant (if there is one) / CRM implementer and, importantly,
team managers (who need to lead by example) to encourage practice and participation
by team members. This can also be combated by effective \'education\' and repeated
training. Once people get past the initial \"not another IT system to learn\"
syndrome, in my experience, they invariably start thinking \'how did I ever work
without this?!\'

What about barriers in a cross cultural / multi language environment?

Most of us work in a multi cultural environment. Some of us even work in a multi
language working environment overseas, as expatriate employees or foreign business
owners. The chances are high that you have customers who are from multiple
different countries. With this in mind, sensitivity to this fact and forethought
and planning on how best to implement a CRM, to people who may not even be native
speakers of your language, is especially important.

The key person in charge of the project should ideally be experienced in this sort
of situation and sensitive to cross cultural/cross language communication and
cultural differences. For example, direct/indirect approach, tone, body language,
business culture, meetings, negotiations or conflict resolution. Sensitivity to
these basic aspects of cross cultural communication can all make or break the ease
of which the teams who will use the system buy in to it.

Summary: Key areas to successful CRM implementation

Develop a corporate 'CRM culture', involve key stakeholders

Outline a CRM strategy

Define your CRM objectives and prioritize CRM requirements

Develop a CRM roadmap and break the project into manageable pieces

Integrate your current systems

Research CRM vendors

Focus on your needs

Communicate with all people involved

Learn, be flexible, use the tool and evolve your business


Web Site: http://www.crmasiasolutions.com

Contact Details: Rama 3 Road
Bangkok
Thailand
Tel: 66 2 291 4843
Fax: n/a
info@crmasiasolutions.com

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