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Last month I was sitting in on a meeting with the COO of a prospect that we had presented to about a year ago regarding a CRM project. We didn't win the project at that time - they went with another vendor.
Here's how the conversation went:
COO: "Last year we evaluated and pulled the trigger on a CRM solution within a week … it was critical to get it up and running quickly so we selected a vertical solution that would work out-of-the box for us … it was faster and less costly to go with something we could use right away."
"The demo was great. But once we started using it, we kept running into limitations we hadn't thought of. Now only a few people on our team are using it, and those few aren't sure if it is helping or hurting their productivity."
We hear that kind of story all the time. In fact, 59% of the projects that we are asked to provide a quote on are what we would call "recovery projects" - CRM projects that might have started well, but have now come off the tracks.
When you think about it, this is a pretty common experience for all of us. For example:
We recently had the inside of our house painted. Shortly afterwards, on a free Saturday afternoon, my spouse and I decided to hang our flat-screen TV on our beautiful newly painted wall. I would be the first to admit that we're not very patient when it comes to these kinds of projects. We proceeded quickly and not surprisingly, our measurements turned out to be way off. The TV had to be taken down and re-hung, leaving a massive hole in the otherwise pristine wall that then needed to be patched, sanded, and repainted.
Lesson learned. The hard way. Measure twice, cut once.
So when you’re ready to embark on a CRM implementation, save yourself a whole bunch of time, money, and the agony of defeat. Take the time to do it right the first time out. In other words…
When implementing a CRM project, you’re effectively transforming part of your business AND transforming how people work. Your top 2 goals should be to:
To accomplish that, you need to win the hearts and minds of your team members. And to do that, you need to give them a CRM system that’s intuitive and easy to use. One that will make their jobs easier. It’s going to require a steady hand on the wheel to guide your team through the process, with plenty of up front planning (measure twice) to ensure not just a successful implementation, but adoption as well.
If you’re about to embark on a CRM project and want to avoid the pitfalls, download our "CPR for CRM" study.
If you’re already in the midst of a CRM implementation, find out if it’s delivering on its promises. Ask your users! Download our "Rate Your CRM" survey and check their pulse.
Contact us to discuss how to get started with implementing a successful CRM project.
The complementary paper includes over 12 years of research, recent survey results, and CRM turnaround success stories.
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