A company’s CRM journey should be viewed as a marathon, not a sprint. It’s not a one-and-done project with a start and end date. You don’t just set out to buy or implement a CRM. To do it right, there’s a lot of pre- and post-work and many challenges along the way.
The first step to success is to have a CEO for CRM map out the company’s CRM journey. Similar to a road trip across the United States, the CRM journey requires careful planning. What sights do you want to see? What is the goal of the journey? Points of interest?
A good CRM rollout starts on top of a firm foundation: a detailed audit and a clear statement of work – governed by the one-hand rule.
The CRM Audit
A common mistake companies make when choosing a CRM solution for their business is focusing on features instead of the pain points a CRM can improve. This is why performing a CRM audit is a critical piece of the CRM puzzle.
An audit uncovers gaps in efficiencies and provides detailed information to guide their decisions. Additionally, it provides a baseline to calculate success in a CRM implementation.
Related: The CRM Implementation Plan Your Business Actually Needs to Get ROI
For the audit to be successful, egos must go out the window.
This is why the CEO for CRM’s role is crucial. Their job is to effectively communicate the CRM journey, alleviate fears and address employee concerns. To do this, the CEO for CRM must believe in the process and the results of that process.
Buy-in is everything.
The audit requires openness and honesty because the more open you are, the better the roadmap will be for success. During the audit, we’ll ask individuals to evaluate their roles, where they see inefficiencies and what improvements they would like to see.
The most important part of this assessment is making everyone feel comfortable enough to share their insights. The team must understand that we are trying to understand the role, not attack the person. Over the years, we learned that most people work hard and do their best in their roles, but ineffective processes don’t allow them to reach their full potential.
Remember, this isn’t a problem-solving or vent session, it’s a gap analysis to uncover root problems. We often find insights like these:
- Not enough customer follow-up
- Not focusing on the right accounts
- Missing or incomplete data or account information
How many gaps would you expect to uncover in this audit? Twenty? Forty? You may be surprised to learn the average number of gaps identified in a company audit is between 80 and 100.
These findings can be overwhelming. That’s why I recommend taking it one step at a time. For each gap you uncover, ask these questions:
- How difficult will it be to fix that gap?
- If we fix this gap, how will it impact growth and revenue?
From there, a gap matrix can help you develop a structured and systematic plan, starting with the low hanging fruit:
| Low difficulty/low reward | High difficulty/high reward |
| High difficulty/low reward | Low difficulty/high reward |
Front-loading this evaluation makes it easier to choose the right CRM system, close the gaps and formulate a clear Statement of Work (SOW).
Develop a Clear Statement of Work: The One-Hand Rule
The statement of work (SOW) serves as an agreement between a company and its CRM service provider. It outlines the scope, objectives, timelines, deliverables and other important information so everyone remains on the same page.
It’s in this area that CEOs for CRM have a significant challenge. They have to believe in the process and help their team believe in it, too.
The CRM audit is used to drive the statement of work, ensuring that the CRM provider aligns solutions with the company’s true needs. When combined in this way, the SOW essentially sets the tone and keeps the project focused and on target.
The SOW includes results from the audit and an analysis of the gap matrix which outlines the game plan going forward. Your list should include no more than five priorities at a time by role: This is what I call “The One-Hand Rule.”
Why take a phased approach?
It goes back to my belief that a successful CRM is a marathon, not a sprint. Taking on too much at one time can overwhelm the team and water down the results. You don’t want to change too much at once and overwhelm your team. The phased approach helps your stakeholders and super users get and stay on board.
Break it into manageable phases, not moving on to the next until that phase is complete.
How the SOW Informs Your Next Steps
The Statement of Work sets the stage for the evaluation of potential solutions.
When evaluating CRM vendors, a focused Statement of Work puts you on the offensive versus the defensive. You’re now driving the process. You’re letting them know what you want the CRM to do.
If you don’t, the vendors will come in and try to wow you, which can overwhelm your team.