What Does Internal CRM Evolution Look Like?

Throughout my career I have constantly engaged with firms that were at different points on their CRM journey. After some recent conversations, I thought it would be interesting to write about the common pitfalls and best practices at various junctures during the journey. In many of my past presentations, I’ve referred to the core pillars of the CRM ecosystem as “people, process, and plumbing,” with the plumbing being, of course, technology. Let’s keep this picture in mind as we examine the CRM implementation journey.

NO CRM or PRE-CRM

Most organizations at this point have at least attempted to implement or had some experience with a CRM platform. Yet in some professions, like accounting, there are still many firms that have never deployed any type of CRM technology. This highlights an important point: Accounting firms have long had both a different organizational model and business development process than most other businesses, but that’s beginning to change because the way their clients buy services, and the digital landscape in general, has evolved.

Inclusion is one of the best practices when it comes to deploying any platform that is heavily dependent on buy-in from the user population. Too many times, when I engage with a firm, the leadership or owners at the top have decided they know what they want to achieve and then direct the CRM implementation to meet that goal. It has worked on occasion but failed much more often. The failure can result from the lack of a clear strategy, and often that comes down to not having included viewpoints and input from the operational side. When you go beyond just the managerial or top-level perspectives, you uncover key insights not just about business structure but also the challenges inherent in any processes that involve selling to and servicing customers. The most important benefit with involving others is that you also get the all-important buy-in. After all, you will never change people’s actions without changing the way they think.

All of these viewpoints together can help a business develop a blueprint for what it’s trying to achieve with the CRM implementation. This is a best practice whether you’re looking to implement CRM for the first time, are seeking to switch CRM platforms, or want to revamp a platform you already have in place. (If you are entertaining the latter, the blueprint should include a forensic review of the platform.) The blueprint can help translate CRM from a tactical construct to a strategic execution, with the appropriate metrics, that can help you manage and run your business.

There are two other components that many organizations don’t account for when deploying a CRM platform. The first one is mapping customer journeys to understand how a CRM platform can structurally support providing the best customer or client experience. In a recent client engagement, I was asked by the management team if journey mapping should start from the point at which the customer agrees to be a customer. I told them that the customer experience starts from the moment the customer starts engaging with your branding. The journey should be mapped from that point onward, including how and where they engage with that branding all the way through to the point where they cease to be a customer.

The other component that many organizations bypass or get wrong is the approach to data, which includes fears around integrating CRM data with other platforms. In today’s world, data has such a huge impact on every organization that it is important to have the right plan and understand how and where critical data should be consumed in CRM and the benefits that it provides in your selling efforts, in servicing clients, and in cross-selling existing clients. Any data initiative should encompass a data quality review and a recognition that you need to make all of your various datasets a priority.

The last piece of advice for those in this pre-CRM or no CRM state is to find external specialists who have expertise in your industry to help you through this process and give you an unbiased perspective. CRM has been around long enough that you do not need to engage with a platform integrator who does not have expertise or references in your specific industry and experience integrating the platforms that you potentially need to integrate. It is likely that they will also have experience with your competitors and have insights on how similar firms are addressing similar challenges or strategies.

POST-CRM IMPLEMENTATION

Whether your CRM platform is about to go live, has been deployed for one day, or has been in place for years, there are specific ongoing challenges that present themselves during its evolution. Markets, competition, buying patterns, and your personnel will all change over time. Technology will innovate and evolve, and your data will become stale and out of date. Knowing and planning for these scenarios will help keep your CRM functional and relevant. You should also approach these situations knowing that CRM will never be perfect, but proactively addressing these challenges is the road to success.

The first thing that most companies do poorly when deploying a CRM platform is the “why?” They don’t communicate well or set expectations about CRM’s benefits to the employees and the firm. Communication plans need to be in place during the implementation, after going live, and on an ongoing basis. For many years, CRM had a bad reputation, and when those misapprehensions are left unchecked, doubt and disdain will permeate many firms. An effective way to address this is to prioritize motivation over mandates. The best CRM platforms in place today also have internal champions and have integrated CRM “wins” into their company communications, reward programs, and leadership meetings.

Changes in markets, competition, buying patterns, and technology can also be managed by instituting an operating model for CRM. An operating model, simply put, deploys a management structure around evaluating requests and changes to CRM and data policies, as well as a committee for regular decision making and investment justification. Lastly, there needs to be a communication plan as part of the operating model that lets the user community know what is changing and why. People are resistant to change but are more willing to accept change if they feel like they have input.

Finally, let’s return to data. Data changes at an alarming rate, and there are two methods for dealing with large volumes of it. The first method is to automate the management of the data with business rules. Most CRM platforms have workflow capabilities, and there are numerous scenarios to improve the current state of data without human interaction. The second method involves the operating model, which should have provisions for data retention, reviewing the state of the data at regular intervals, and investment in purging inconsistent or irrelevant data. Many firms will also regularly look at technology changes like AI platforms to improve the state of their data.

CRM platforms are now a part of our corporate landscape, and there are many aspects of the CRM ecosystem that you need to consider in order to be successful. It’s not just another “app” on your desktop or your phone. The right approach to CRM can make a big difference in your employees’ day-to-day, helping your company grow faster and keep customers longer. 

Danny Estrada is the founder of E Squared, a management consulting firm. Throughout his career Danny has been a CRM evangelist and expert at leveraging technology platforms to create business value. He has been a senior director at KPMG and a thought leader for Salesforce and Microsoft, and he was published in an industry whitepaper by the Harvard Business Review. He also holds an Executive MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.

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