How To Succeed With A Customer Relationship Management

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1 WHITE PAPER CRM A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS STRATEGY 1 White Paper CRM a successful business strategy IN THIS WHITE PAPER CRM a successful business strategy by Zync Customer Management AB This document is guide for anyone who is considering implementing a CRM system, developing or improving a sales process or building a common company culture in the customer facing parts of your organization. The document is built on experiences from organizational changes, process development and implementations of CRM systems in over 300 organizations during the last 20 years. What is CRM? Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a concept that is sometimes hard to define. It can both be a type of software that contains leads, customers, contacts, opportunities, cases etc, but it is also a way to define how a company is managing its customer facing organization and processes. Gartner defines CRM as follows: Customer relationship management (CRM) is a business strategy with outcomes that optimize profitability, revenue and customer satisfaction by organizing around customer segments, fostering customer-satisfying behaviors and implementing customer-centric processes. CRM technologies should enable greater customer insight, increased customer access, more-effective interactions, and integration throughout all customer channels and back-office enterprise functions. The Eight Essential Building Blocks of CRM initiatives are vision, strategy, valued customer experience, organizational collaboration, processes, information, technology and metrics. CRM projects include traditional areas such as sales force automation, campaign management and contact centers as well as emerging areas such as enterprise feedback management, marketing resource management, pricing, performance management and social media. Why CRM? In today s global and competitive marketplace it is increasingly difficult to differentiate yourself by having a good product or service everyone has that. Instead you buy from companies that understand you and help you succeed, that can explain how you will save time and money using their product, that have staff who are proactive, knowledgeable and friendly and who are easy to work with in sales, delivery and support. Successful companies work actively with understanding their customers and are constantly challenging themselves with questions like: Who are we? For whom do we exist? Are we delivering our products in a way that makes both us and our customers successful? In short, companies who are good at CRM! Succeed! How to succeed in your CRM initiatives. What can go wrong? How to avoid the usual pitfalls What are the challenges? Page 2 Page 3 Identify and manage the challenges in your organization. Page 3

2 WHITE PAPER CRM A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS STRATEGY 2 Succeed! How to succeed in you CRM initiatives CRM projects and objectives Succeeding with a CRM project is difficult. As many as 70-80% of all CRM project do not reach the desired objectives for user adoption, improved efficiency, increased sales and quality, securing vital customer information etc. These are daunting numbers that would keep any rational organization away from CRM initiatives. But being good at CRM is a crucial success factor for any company so we believe, on the contrary, that you should focus a lot of your attention to this area. But do it with greater insight, attention and control then your competitors. Five basic principles A well functioning CRM system is a natural part of a successful selling organization. But to get the system implemented correctly, used by the entire organization and delivering the effects you were looking for there are a number of things you need to address. By adhering to Zync s five basic principles you will significantly increase the chances of succeeding with your CRM implementation and getting the increased sales, higher quality, better profitability, more satisfied customers etc. you were looking for (read about Alektum on page 4). Create a common view of the CRM project Focus on structured, implemented and accepted processes Manage the behavioral change associated with new systems and processes Implement step by step in clearly defined projects Choose a user friendly, customizable and stable CRM-platform. Common view of the CRM project To succeed in any CRM initiative it is very important that the project steering group is in agreement concerning both the CRM strategy in general and the specific project objective. Why is this project started? What should it achieve? What has highest priority? How much can it cost? What is the project manager s mandate? When must the project be finished and what do we do afterwards? Focus on structured, implemented and accepted processes Believing that installing a CRM-system will increase sales and quality is like believing that installing Microsoft Word will make you a better writer. Regardless if the project focuses on marketing, sales, delivery, customer service or a combination of these, it will not succeed if there are no clear objectives and business goals tied to structured, implemented and accepted processes. Otherwise you run the risk of getting a very expensive Christmas Card database.. Manage the behavioral change associated with new systems and processes The CRM system is normally the easy part of the project. It is strategy, process and managing behavioral change that requires the most focus and effort, both during the implementation and after go live. Very few CRM systems are difficult to understand and work with, especially Microsoft Dynamics CRM that looks like and functions like the other Microsoft Office products and is totally integrated with Outlook. In spite of this many organizations have problems getting everyone to use the system and thus failing to get the expected results. Why is this so? There are many reasons. It can be weak leadership, a poorly defined and communicated CRM strategy, complicated systems forcing the users to input information that is not used or perhaps a view that salesmen are special people that cannot handle administration or follow common processes and must be given their artistic freedom to perform their craft. These things must be addressed and handled for the project to succeed. You need to make a strategy and plan for how to communicate the project to the organization, map the key users, identify those who might not use the system and how to handle them, decide how and when follow up should be performed and look at the leadership to see if there are any issues concerning buy-in, coaching and driving change in the organization. Implement step by step in clearly defined projects Implementing new processes and IT-systems and getting the whole organization to understand, accept and use these is difficult. Despite this there are many organizations who want to include as many parts of the business and as many CRM functions as possible while they re at it. We believe this is wrong for several reasons. The complexity and risk increases both concerning project economy and timeframe and it particularly increase the demand on the organization to be able to understand, accept and use new systems and processes. Zync recommends instead the Crawl-Walk- Run principle. The implementation of a CRM system and of any new process should be done in manageable, clearly defined steps where you focus first on the areas where you see the best and fastest return on investment. Let the organization adjust with continuous support and commitment from management before moving on to the next step. Do not handle CRM as one of project; see it as a continuous development initiative! Choose a user friendly, customizable and stable CRM-platform Choose a CRM system that is user friendly, easy to customize, developed by a global stable company and has a large community of local partners and professionals. Choose Microsoft Dynamics CRM!

3 WHITE PAPER CRM A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS STRATEGY 3 What can go wrong? How to avoid the usual pitfalls The reasons why many CRM projects fail to reach their objectives are many, but we think the following four are at the top: Product focus Companies in general and Swedish companies in particular often have a very strong product focus. They are very skilled at design, manufacturing, logistics, finance etc, but lack the same structure and control when it comes to sales and marketing. This makes it hard for them to successfully purchase and implement a CRM system with reasonable expectations and requirements. The companies have not done their homework around strategy and processes and believes that implementing a CRM system will automatically generate a number of positive effects around quality of customer information, increased sales, improved customer support etc. CONTENT Inexperienced purchasers Most companies (and especially the departments that are the target group for CRM systems) are inexperienced purchasers of IT systems. They do not how it is done, what you can expect, how to set the right requirements and what you can demand from software suppliers and the implementation partners. Inexperienced project managers Many companies are not used to managing project and especially not internal change management projects. They often assign an employee who has not run a complex project before, who is supposed to also manage their normal day-to-day activities and responsibilities and who lacks sufficient knowledge and mandate to make necessary decisions concerning functionality, priorities, budgets etc. CRM as an isolated project Succeeding with CRM requires an ongoing process and continuous efforts. Unfortunately many companies put too much focus and expectations on the implementation project and revert to the old ways soon after the project is done. What are the challenges? Identify and manage the challenges in your organization In our experience the following challenges are the most common reasons why companies do not succeed with sales, marketing, delivery and customer service. Implementing a CRM system without being aware of and managing this greatly increases the risk of the project failing. General Poorly structured, implemented and accepted processes Lack of relevant information from rest of the organization. Lack of good support systems Sales Unclear marketing process that does not generate leads and sales No understanding of the customers buying process Too few contacts at customers Poor differentiation/segmentation Unclear KPIs The value proposition is not formulated and clearly communicated Weak leadership that does not support and drive change Marketing Sales and Marketing do not act as a team Too little planning, executing, evaluating and too much ad hoc Poor management of No E-marketing and social media Lack of integration between CRM and other marketing systems and tools Delivery Staff introduction time is too long Difficult to do profitability calculations on assignments Future resource needs are not match by recruitment Future competence needs are not match by staff development Poor coordination with sales difficult to plan resources Customer Service Clear separation between Service and rest of the organization Difficult to plan resources IT systems are not integrated to CRM No follow up on satisfaction and quality Customer Service is not used as a sales channel.

4 WHITE PAPER CRM A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS STRATEGY 4 REFERENCE CASE: HOW ALEKTUM WENT FROM PRODUCING TO SELLING MICROSOFT DYNAMICS CRM Thanks to extensive business development and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Alektum Inkasso has transformed itself from a production oriented company into a sales organization. About Alektum Alektum Inkasso is a pan-european debt collection agency. They help companies get their money back while at the same time preserving good customer relationships. Alektum has many large customers like Klarna and Ellos and has grown to be able to support their international operations. With offices in 15 countries Alektum Inkasso is one of the Europe s leading collection agencies. Initial scope When Alektum decided to implement a CRM system the original goal was not to use it to support sales since there was no real sales organization in place. It was rather meant to support key account management and get better control over vital customer information. Step by step implementation The CRM system was initially implemented in the Nordics in Step two meant rolling out to other key countries in Europe and to other parts of the organization and step three rolled it out to the remaining countries in Europe. Alektum was upgraded as a company Zync has been deeply involved in the CRM project from the start. And not only as a provider of IT solutions. Zync did not only upgrade the IT support with the CRM solution, they also helped Alektum upgrade itself as a company. For example they made us realize that the CRM system can be much more that a key account management tool and, among other things, helped us develop our sales processes and brand identity Helena Sallander, Marketing Director, Alektum Working with Zync made Alektum realize they needed a proper sales organization and a global Sales Director to run it. Both of these things are now in place. Our competence in structured sales management was low and they made us realize how much help we needed. Complex implementation The implementation of the CRM system was complex with integrations to the production systems and local databases that were migrated into the CRM system. You have to remember that we were only six persons in Today we are over 300. Alektum has grown very fast and in the 2000s we have established operations in 15 countries. This has created challenges in new areas where our focus and competence sometimes have been lacking. The configuration and technical installation of the system is in many ways the easiest part. Structured sales Since Alektum stared working with Zync they have worked hard with their sales processes and today all counties have a sales operation working the same way. They have focused on their sales and marketing strategy and have more staff dedicated to sales. Just moving to Microsoft Dynamics CRM created a more sales oriented structure. Our organization now matches the inherit possibilities in the CRM system. Helena Sallander, Marketing Director Alektum Create understanding Alektum and Zync are working on establishing a better understanding of the possibilities connected to Microsoft Dynamics CRM system to make sure it is used to its full potential. To fully reap the rewards of using Microsoft Dynamics CRM it is important to have an organization that is willing to use the CRM system and embrace new ways of working. Learning the system is not an issue. The Outlook based user interface is very easy Helena Sallander, Marketing Director, Alektum Next step The next step is to integrate the finance departments into the CRM system to further increase insight and return on investment. The system already provides extensive reports for follow up on customer care and driving sales. We have moved from a production oriented to a sales oriented company. That requires a central, transparent system for all our customer information. We could never have made that transition without Zync and Microsoft CRM Sales Automation Optimize sales with the smart and familiar functions in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Benefit from an intuitive user interface with imbedded Microsoft Office functions to get more time for customers, shorten sales cycles, close more deals and get important information in real time. Creative Marketing Get a marketing functionality that is flexible, easy to use and adapted to every company. Convert every lead intto a business opportunity and discover new possibilities in your customer base. With the familiar and smart marketing functionalities in Microsoft Dynamics CRM companies can market themselves more efficiently, increase productivity and get practical insights into their marketing operations. Personal Customer Service Microsoft Dynamics CRM is well equipped to handle customers changing expectations with a service solution that is both flexible and stable giving users access to powerful and familiar functions and a user friendly interface. In this smart solution customer service staff has easy access to case and customer information as well as a knowledge database giving them a platform for a coordinated, cooperative and integrated customer service. FOR MORE INFORMATION ZYNC CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT AB Tel: +46 (0) E-post: info@zync.se Webb: MICROSOFT DYNAMIC CRM

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