CRM - January 2009 - (Page BPS3)

Sponsored Content January 2009 3 Straight Talk: Advice from the Trenches of SaaS CRM By Robert Kane, CRMlandmark.com WORST PRACTICE: BELIEVE THE “60 DAYS TO GO LIVE HYPE” Reams have been written by analysts and pundits about the right and wrong ways to select, implement, and manage CRM software systems. Based on surveys, studies, and hands-on experience, there is certainly no lack of opinion for those about to embark on a CRM initiative. However, while theory and generalizations prevail, readers often seek practical and specific recommendations that they can immediately apply to their CRM projects. Rather than contribute more of the same to the theoretical mass, we decided to take a different approach – we asked CRM vendors for their most practical advice and best practices with the highest impact. BEST PRACTICE: SELECT FOR THE LONG RUN BUT IMPLEMENT FOR THE SHORT RUN There was strong consistency that the most successful organizations planned enterprise CRM solutions but phased their projects into manageable pieces and delivered incremental results over time. Most customer facing organizations struggle with the amount of change that comes with a new CRM as invariably processes and culture evolve in conjunction with new technology adoption. Phasing the roll-out by CRM module, business unit, or geographic location grants the CRM implementation team greater focus and manageability. The key to a successful phased approach is to thoroughly understand the larger project and to link the design and configuration decisions of each component to the big picture enterprise strategy. Once you have selected a CRM solution, begin the project thinking about how to phase the roll-out so that you deliver the greatest value early and gain momentum during the longer haul. Much of the SaaS community has done a disservice to itself and its customers by setting unrealistic expectations about the amount of time necessary to achieve a successful SaaS CRM implementation. Real world experience shows us the time to go live follows a bell curve where an average of 60 days can be achieved with thoughtful planning and limited scope, however, at least one third of accelerated implementation projects historically take longer. For simple implementations, where the company has well-defined sales and support processes and does not require software customization or significant changes to software configuration, on-demand CRM implementations can actually be live in as little as a few weeks. But remembering the bell curve, that rate of occurrence is comparable to the number of implementations consuming upward of a year to go live. You want a vendor who can deliver a tailored implementation project that provides you expertise where you need it – not where their canned methodology mandates it. And most of all, you want a vendor who aligns with your sense of urgency for the project. Many are quick to sell software and slow to get engaged. Most companies agree that getting the implementation right matters far more than doing it fast. Set realistic expectations that are grounded in the facts and reality of your firm’s operating maturity or complexity in CRM-related processes. WORST PRACTICE: BUYING ON FEATURES AND NOT ON OBJECTIVES marketing campaign or advertising run. Some emphasize the hype of their newest features in an effort to change your buying criteria to align with their latest product announcements. This dynamic adds even more complexity and confusion to the already arduous task of selecting a CRM software solution which best aligns to your most strategic objectives and resolves your biggest pain points. Worse yet, force fitting new, never before considered features into an implementation effort may unnecessarily add risk and cost. Focus your software selection on the most salient and concrete criteria gathered during your internal information gathering phase and which most directly supports your company’s most strategic business objectives. WORST PRACTICE: DEMAND FIXED PRICES WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT Getting enamored with gadgets, bells and whistles during the software selection process is a recipe for failed ROI. Some CRM vendors are excellent at hype and only too proud to boast of their latest Negotiating software contracts is fraught with risk – paying too much, being unclear on SLAs, not defining what is to be delivered, phasing in the licenses as they are needed, etc. Most buyers only want to go through this procurement and negotiation process one time so they tend to try to lock-in a variety of contractual items to avoid revisiting them. This puts vendors and buyers in an awkward position of attempting to lock in fixed efforts and fees to unclear, variable or speculative future conditions. In the end, vendors feel compelled to account for the uncertainty by cushioning their cost estimates to allow for unknowns or lack of specificity. When it comes to pricing SaaS CRM, be sure that you have a well-defined scope that vendors understand and that really allows attainment of specific project goals. If you know your needs go beyond common features, look past the mass market vendors to those that offer a greater degree of http://www.CRMlandmark.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CRM - January 2009

CRM - January 2009 Contents Front Office Feedback Reality Check Customer Centricity The Tipping Point The Shots Heard ’Round the World 30,000-Foot Views Of the Cloud Stuffing the Ballot Box— With Complaints The Marketing Line for ’09 CRM on Twitter Technology Helps Insurance Weather the Storm Required Reading The Google-ization of CRM The Feedback Funnel Email: What’s Inside? Shake Your Moneymakers Lead Sweet Lead Incentives at the Speed of Lightpath Sales Contentment for Content Management A Worthwhile Excursion Into Call Recording Secret of My Success Re:Tooling Connect Pint of View

CRM - January 2009

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