Implementing a Davton CRM system Summary The implementation of a CRM system is much more than a purely technical project to install and make available the software.there are three elements which must be aligned for a successful Customer Relationship Management project - People Processes Technology The project to manage the change for people and processes is more influential in the success or otherwise of the project than the effective roll-out of the technology. To that end, Davton offers the following overview of the different elements of a CRM project which need to be considered. We hope it is helpful in thinking through some of the wider requirements when implementing a Davton CRM system. The Big Picture CRM is not a technology, it is a journey a business embarks on! It is a strategic (and on-going) process to improve the business s internal processes through effective use of technology. 1. Goals, Objectives and the Business Case Fundamental to the whole process is understanding what the measurable objectives of the project are. The kind of objectives which Davton CRM might help achieve are: Provide a system for assigning, managing and reporting on sales leads Provide a system for logging and finding all customer communications so that x hours a week are saved Enable account managers to respond to email communications using email and document templates to save time and increase consistency and results Improve the standard of communications sent to customers Enable marketing campaigns to be created and managed in house - and efficiently followed up by the account managers
Increase effectiveness of marketing campaigns by allowing effective follow up by the sales team Track sales team metrics so that best practice can be established and implemented, and long term sales trends can be monitored and managed. Provide a system for sales opportunity pipeline management so that the sales team can be more effectively managed and close rate on sales can be increased by X% Allow the sales team to have easy access to marketing information in outlook so that they save x time and are able to increase the number of calls made by y% Reduce the time spent managing emails by 30 minutes per day It is important to be clear about the objectives, and where possible not to have too many objectives to start with. Keep it simple, and stay focused on the goal and you are more likely to achieve success at the end of the project. 2. Who owns or sponsors the project? Implementing a CRM project requires that someone is able to smooth the way and take necessary decisions when required. The person needs to be sufficiently senior that they can overrule or mediate when two parties within the project have seemingly conflicting requirements. The seniority required will depend on the size of the company, and the departments involved in the implementation. The sponsor will need to have more than a cursory interest in the project, and should be prepared to be available to resolve difficulties when required. Typically this person will need to be from within the business rather than IT, and is likely to be a senior sales, marketing or operations manager/director. The Processes 1. What are the key processes which will be automated / changed? In order to achieve the goals outlined above, changes will need to be made to the business - and to the processes which are used to conduct the business. Some processes may be formally documented, some may by just dictated by the company culture - its just how we do things round here!. Small changes consistently applied can have a large impact on the effectiveness of an organisation. The kind of processes which might be automated or changed by a Davton CRM implementation might be: Reading, sending, logging and filing emails Creating marketing campaigns for personalised email and letters Following up marketing campaigns
Assigning, tracking and reporting on marketing leads Calling and communicating with sales prospects Recording information in telephone calls and sales meetings Recording information on sales opportunities Measuring and rewarding (remunerating) the sales team Creating and logging sales quotations Requesting pre-sales support from sales support, production planning, other operations teams. Initiating and communicating requirements for customer projects Managing RFP and tender responses Tracking customer requests and sales orders 2. What are the benefits to the organisation of changing these processes? What will be the impact of changing and improving the processes. If the problems are resolved and you achieve the goals you have set, what impact would that have? Measure hypothetical results in terms of reduced costs, increased revenues, time saved for other tasks, customer satisfaction increases, increased lead conversions etc. Typical benefits for a Davton CRM system might include: Each sales person would have time to create 3 additional proposals each week resulting in a 10% increase in sales. Communication and requests between sales and production planning would be clearly visible and measurable so that responses would be turned around in under 24 hours, giving increased customer satisfaction and reduced loss of sales to competitor A. Leads would be followed up in a timely and managed way so that lead conversion is increased from 5% to 7% giving a 40% increase in sales. Marketing would be able to initiate 3 campaigns a month instead of 2, resulting in a 20% increase in leads generated per month. Consider best case and worst case scenarios, and include what happens if you do nothing at all! 3. What are the key issues that will stop us making any changes? Face the truth - acknowledge current challenges. As part of the definition of what needs to be fixed and why - it is important to acknowledge the potential obstacles in the way. Most often these are people issues ( Joe has always done it this way and he won t want to change ), but they can also be about technology, or the impact they may have on other areas of the business.
The People - Managing Change We have established that implementing a CRM system is about making changes in the business processes in order to achieve certain business goals. How those changes are managed - and how we help people to make those changes - is the most crucial element of the project. Organisational Change Management is a subject in its own right. John P Kotter s books 'Leading Change' (1995) and 'The Heart Of Change' (2002) provide a classic model for understanding and managing organisational change. His eight step change model can be summarised as: 1. Act with urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant. 2. Build the guiding team - assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort; encourage the group to work as a team 3. Develop a Change Vision - create a vision to help direct the change effort; develop strategies for achieving that vision 4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. 5. Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements. 6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks. Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones. 7. Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change - encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones. 8. Make change stick - Articulate the connections between the new behaviors and organizational success; weave change into culture. (Kotter's eight step model is explained more fully on his website www.kotterinternational.com.) All of Kotter s points are relevant to a CRM implementation project, but two are worth further examination here. 1. What s in it for me? (communicate for buy-in) When it comes to change, very few people will act altruistically for the business - they need to know what s in it for them. Each of the key groups who will be impacted by process changes needs to understand clearly why the changes are necessary, what the positive impact will be on the business, and what the benefit is to them personally. As a part of a presentation of the vision for the overall change, each group should be presented with a view of what the benefits are to the organisation, and what the benefits are to them.
2. Consultation and Shaping (empower action, remove obstacles) Each key group should also have a chance to review the process changes and make constructive suggestions for how they can be improved or to point out potential problems which had not been considered. While this needs to be handled carefully, it is a useful stage in winning commitment and support for the project as well as providing valuable corrective input. The Technology 1. The CRM system needs to be able to implement the new processes Fundamentally, the technology needs to be able to manage the required processes and achieve the goals which have been set. It is unlikely that any system will meet all the requirements without any changes or customisation, so the selection process will need to explore how best to achieve the goals with the available technology. 2. Design and Manage your Data Start with the end in mind Your project will need to review both the data you already have on your customers and prospects, together with a template for the data you need to collect in order to achieve your goals. For example, if one of your goals is to be able to create marketing campaigns based on a particular criteria of company, and your data does not consistently track that criteria, then part of the project will be to add that criteria to each of your existing contacts. Cleaning and de-duplication There is a truism - no matter how bad you think your data is - its worse. One aspect of your project will need to be cleaning your existing data and preparing it for the new system. It may be that you are bringing data together from multiple data sources, or even buying fresh data in. The process of cleaning and importing the data will be a key stage in your project - and will take at least twice as long as you initially think. 3. Test and Pilot Any system should go through a pilot phase where a small group of users can use the system for a period, provide constructive feedback, and enable the system to be changed before it is rolled out to the remaining users. For a small 5 user system, this could be one user running the system for a trial period. More usually it should be a formal stage including representatives of each of the key groups involved. For example it could be 3 regional account managers, their sales manager and the marketing
co-ordinator using the system together for 1 month, with a review after 2 weeks, and formal feedback at the end of the month. It is important that the pilot users are able to test out the system in terms of how well it helps them to achieve the goals which have been set, as well as how easy it is to use, and how well the training prepares them to use it. Time should be allowed at the end of the pilot project for changes to be made to the system or the processes and re-tested by the pilot group before the system is rolled out to the full group. 4. Training Training is integral to the success of the project. Training needs to include not only the basic which buttons to press and when, but is also a chance to re-inforce the vision of why we are changing, what the benefits will be, and what s in it for me. Training almost always includes a one off event where the system is presented and users have a chance to see and test the system in action, and ask questions. Training also needs to include ongoing support and re-inforcement of the changes required, both in informal settings and potentially in formalised one on one follow up sessions. 5. Review and Improve Once the system has been in use for a short while, it is important to review how it is being used, to measure results, and to make further changes where necessary. A post launch review is a chance to iron out any issues which were not spotted or dealt with earlier, and to discover improvements or changes to the system which have been identified as a result of continued day to day use. Conclusion Implementing a CRM system is more than just rolling out a technology. Understanding what goals are going to be achieved, identifying processes which need to change, and helping people through the changes are at least as important as the technology itself. By paying attention to each of these elements, the people will become more efficient and effective, the business goals can be achieved, and the implementation will be successful. Copyright Davton Ltd 2011 www.davton.com