Implementation Steps

Carol Smalley
Managing Editor, CRMGuru
Member

Posted 30-Sep-2003 08:31 AM
Posted by Carol Smalley (Editor) on behalf of Tamara Kebuladze [kebuladze@geo.net.ge]

What are the major implementation steps for CRM project management?

Carol Parenzan Smalley
Managing Editor
www.CRMGuru.com
carol@CRMGuru.com

Bill Brendler
Member

Posted 13-Oct-2003 08:22 AM
Low prioity or after thought on people change issues and how people must be integrated like the data often is with the CRM Solution.

Silo dysfunction—implementing CRM must be a cross-functional team effort. Employees mirror top management and if management is behaving like a CF team no one will.

Go to my website to read more www.brendler.com

Bill Brendler

CRMGuru panelist specializing in Change Leadership & Organization Development

Jay Rollins
Member

Posted 04-Nov-2003 02:32 PM
Below is an over-simplified view, but you should get the gist of some key pain points...

First and foremost, make sure that the executive sponsor knows what he/she is in for. Depending on how much of a customer-centric organization your company already is will dictate how much shock/change the organization will have to go through. The scope of that change and how to overcome it will be challenging and the executive needs to be prepared for the long haul.
Next, know what you want to achieve and how you are going to measure it. Creation of a CRM Scorecard is an optimal way to begin. This ensures that you align what you want to achieve in your CRM effort with the goals of the organization as a whole.
Only then should you go down the path of requirements. This makes the prioritization of requirements less emotional as you will be able to identify those functions that contribute most to the overall goal of your CRM project objectively. Prepare to spend a lot of time here, as there will be a lot of business processes that will need to be evaluated and either induced into the deliverables or changed wholesale.
Both of the preceding steps must be undertaken with a cross-functional team that takes into account their functional contributions to the program. Team make-up is important as members will need to evangelize and build support within their functions.
RFP development and vendor selection is next. I have no conversation for you here. This can become a religious conversation depending on who you talk to. Regardless, most of the big vendors have implementation best practices. I do recommend getting the vendor’s professional services organization to implement your systems. They should know their system better than anyone else. Besides, back doors to the support and engineering organization within the vendor company can come in handy when you are in the throes of an implementation.
Finally, measure and improve. Use your scorecard to constantly measure how well the systems/processes are working. A Six-Sigma approach works well here. Identify trouble areas early then build action teams around the poor performers. Implement and test changes until the situation improves. It is important that adoption rate is included as a measure of success.

Good Luck!