Help With CRM Project

lvaughan
Member

Posted 19-Oct-2005 01:13 PM
Our Marketing department is currently using Maximizer. I'm new to Max. and now head up Marketing. I've been assigned to re-evaluate this software vs. others.

Can anyone provide personal experience with Max? I'd like to know what, if any, issues there may be with this system.

Also,
I've recently been assigned to project manage our companies CRM. My issues:
1.No real experience using a CRM never alone project managing it.
2. We currently store all our customer data on one internal database, then a CRM package was purchased (maximizer enterprise) and information was uploaded into Maximizer. The biggest issue with this is that for over a year no one updated Maximizer as it was only opened up to Marketing and as Customer Service has made updates to our internal system and not notified Marketing the data base is out of date.

3. The Marketing department that set Maximizer up were new to our company, weren't really familiar with out customer base, so therefore set up user defined fields incorrectly. Now most of the information is categorized incorrectly.

4. I've been tasked with a project to either clean up the existing database, open it up to all sales and customer service staff, or start a new project to have our IT department finish a CRM interface with our system that they started a few years ago, or start fresh with a whole new CRM, using ACT (which several of our sales team already use to contact manage).

My question...What should I do? Where do I begin? It's all such a mess and it's overwhelming.

What's the best approach to cleaning up a disasterous database? What kind of man power is required to maintain a database? Should this be a full time position?

I'd appreciate any assistance that can be provided.

Thank you!

lvaughan
Member

Posted 27-Oct-2005 01:22 PM
I'm sorry, perhaps I've not asked the right group of people as no one seems to have any suggestions to my problems.

N Hill
Member

Posted 28-Oct-2005 10:38 AM
Hell of a lot of questions here...

Yes I have extensive experience with Maximizer, but your problems are more to do with non Maximizer items.

1. You cannot do ANYTHING until you have clean basic information on your customers, by that I mean name, address, telephone, e mail.

2. User Defined Fields can be sorted out and redone easily by someone with decent Maximizer knowledge.

3. Why on earth are salesmen using ACT if Maximizer is the corporate system? Get rid of Act, annd get those sales guys on side. they sound a bit out of control.

4. Cleaning your data can be best done within Maximizer, there are many features that will show up incorrect data, and missing fields.

5. decide what you want to do from a business viewpoint. Identify your 'top' customers, target lapsed ones, retain existing ones????? Then work out what data you need, who is going to do the activity, and what skills do they need?

6. Split it down into many subprojects with ownership and timescales.

That is a brief starter. Do not confuse things by blaming the software, it's the business that needs to sort itself out, and with some committment from the top, there is no reason why you should not progress sensibly.

Do you have a knowledeable Maximizer CRM consultant available from whoever supplied the software? If not, I suggest you find one. I can advise on a sensible choice if you think it might help.

Thank you!

Vladimir Dimitroff
Member

Posted 28-Oct-2005 12:54 PM
Most forum members have perhaps passed this because of the Maximizer reference—very few have hands-on experience.

As far as I can see, though, your challenges are way outside the application: you will have the same problems with Act! or anything you choose. When Marketing and Customer Service do 'their own thing' and don't synch for a whole year, while Sales 'contact manage' outside the core apps, there is a clear need for business alignment beforeanything is done with technology.

It looks like your company (am I correct to assume it's B2B and your clients are libraries?) would benefit from a good close look at its customer strategy, starting from competitive orientation/positioning, going through segmentation criteria and, particularly, examining how your organisation structure supports customer processes—and only (!) then deciding how IT platforms will run those processes...

Fixing Max, replacing it or developing in-house may end up perfectly automating less-than-perfect processes, cementing functional (organisational) disconnects and thus contributing little to your company goals.

Consider initiating a discussion with your colleagues from all functions, ideally involving top management to agree where you want to take Coutts over the next period and what capabilities are needed to get there. This will make your decision about a technology platform a lot easier and the implementation a lot more manageable.

Just my 2 cents of random thoughts, others may still offer Maximizer help or their own solutions, perhaps consulting services. Best of luck!

Vladimir Dimitroff
PRISM Consulting (UK)
vdimitroff@prism-gb.com

lvaughan
Member

Posted 01-Nov-2005 01:46 PM
thank you for your help. I have a Maximizer rep coming on Friday to basically "resell" the product to me. I've taken some on-line training for Max. and found it informative but really need to sit and go over it's full capabilities. Once I've spoken with the rep I'm going to sit down and draw up a project for the re-implementing Max and start a clean up process, assigning each area manager to thier territory to populate the user defined fields.

I believe the Area Managers that use Act do so because our company was not offering any other method to organize thier territories. Internally our customer service team uses an internal (non user friendly) maintenance system.

If we decide to stay with Max then we will open this up group wide and set into policy the sole use of contact management through it. In other words, no more act!

I've been given a deadline Mid December to have Max fully usable in the hands of the reps to start the clean up process...

I'm feeling the pressure!!

Graham Hill
Guru
Member

Posted 25-Jan-2006 11:16 PM
lvaughan

I agree with Vladimir and N Hill. The problems you face are more to do with a lack of a coherent approach to CRM and its implementation in your company, than with Maximiser.

Work out what your 1-year CRM goals are and use that to focus on the things you need to do now to get your project back on track, what you need to next to build on early successes and what you need to do later to deliver your goals in full.

The key thing in your situation is to be pragmatic, yet still focussed on achieving your goals. That may mean reloading recleansed data from your central database into Maximiser. And making regular data updates from the database as it is updated by the customer service system, until Maximiser meets their needs fully. It may also mean allowing the salemen to continue to use ACT, until Maximiser meets their needs fully too. And even when Maximiser does meet their needs fully, you will still have to train, coach and cajole the business to adopt it in full.

You don't need to read any CRM books, buy any CRM checklists, or enlist the help of a "CRM Coach". You do need to sit down, think about what you want to achieve, work out a simple roadmap to achieve it and then enlist the help of your business colleagues to get you started.

Graham Hill
Independent CRM Consultant

CRM Coach
Member
Picture of CRM Coach

Posted 26-Jan-2006 05:00 AM
When I hear the poster saying things like "No real experience using a CRM [let] alone project managing it", "really need to sit and go over it's full capabilities" and "I believe the Area Managers that use Act...", "I've been assigned to re-evaluate this software vs. others", I have to wonder if there was a rush to jumping into a software package that may or may not be suited.

Perhaps the poster can take Graham's advice and "think about what you want to achieve, work out a simple roadmap to achieve it...". Perhaps the poster needs to take a step back and look at the overall project and get some help from an Independent CRM Consultant such as Graham.

As Graham mentions, a successful CRM project begins with "think about what you want to achieve". I'd take it a step further...and suggest writng a set of business requirements in business-speak. An easy way to get started with it is to answer the question "What do I need to be able to do"...ask the question of everyone who will be using the system, Marketing, Sales, Service.

Good Luck!

Scott Gingrich
The CRM Coach
(519) 538-4619
Author of the "Insider's CRM Success Toolkit" that holds nothing back and gives you the hands-on detail you need to succeed with CRM. Free reports with Insider CRM Street Smarts.
http://www.thecrmcoach.com

Graham Hill
Guru
Member

Posted 26-Jan-2006 06:53 AM
Scott

I heartily agree with your suggestion to develop a set of high-level business requirements to guide the roadmapping. But with one caveat; the list really needs to be developed by the business with lvaughan's guidance. This ensures that they really are the business' requirements, that they understand the inevitable changes to business practice that they are suggesting and that they make the requirement trade-off's that must be made for the project to be deliverable in the short-term.

However, I wouldn't recommend involving a consultant in the process at this stage. All a consultant will do is add cost and complexity when lean thinking is all that is required. If lvaughan sits down with the business and together they think through what they want to achieve, how they will do it and how they will know it when they do, they will have the answer much more quickly. Simple really.

Graham Hill
Independent CRM Consultant

CRM Coach
Member
Picture of CRM Coach

Posted 26-Jan-2006 12:59 PM
Graham...Totally right (thanks for helping clarify my post)!

One of the key recommendations I have for companies is to write business requirements *themselves*...they may need some help (especially smaller companies that are unfamiliar with this) knowing "how" to do it...

They know their business the best and the exercise is a very good one to clarify their operations in their own minds...often, they'll find a lot of improvements to make BEFORE hiring consultants or buying software.

That's why I advocate starting with a simple question such as "what do I need to be able to do?"

Scott Gingrich
The CRM Coach
(519) 538-4619
Author of the "Insider's CRM Success Toolkit" that holds nothing back and gives you the hands-on detail you need to succeed with CRM. Free reports with Insider CRM Street Smarts.
http://www.thecrmcoach.com

Graham Hill
Guru
Member

Posted 27-Jan-2006 12:51 AM
Scott

I can see that we are in full agreement on this one.

One of the most challenging things for the business when developing business requirements is managing the flood of "improvements" that appear like magic out of thin air. Wouldn't it be great if we could do this and that and then all of a sudden, everything!

This requires considerable focus on the project's goals and an appropriate weighted scoring method to assess the priority of the different improvements (and to avoid management's "pet projects" being inappropriately favoured).

The factors and typical weights used in scoring improvements include:
1. Supports the project's goals—a project factor that keeps the focus on in-project improvements (18%)
2. Supports the business' customer strategy—a business factor that keeps the focus on the larger business (8%)
3. Positive impact on customer—a customer factor that ensures that benefits flow to customers as well (15%)
4. Low cost to implement—a project factor that ensures the project spends money only where it can gain the most advantage (21%)
5. High financial return—a returns factor that ensures that the project focusses on money-winners (14%)
6. Easy to implement—a project factor that recognises that implementation is often the hardest step (20%)
7. Provides the business with a temporary competitive advantage—a business factor that recognises that business have competitors that need to be defeated too (4%).
By scoring and then adjusting the raw scores with the percentage weights you can quickly prioritise the improvements into must dos to be done immediately, desirables to be done straight afterwards and nice to dos to be done sometime, (or more often never).

Graham Hill
Independent CRM Consultant