Sep 18, 2010

CRM Strategists or CRM Software experts - which one to choose?

When you compare various profiles of CRM software, you see many of them mapped to particular features promoted by software developers like SAP CRM, Siebel, SalesForce.com, etc. None of the information packages really address the issues of implementation. Notably absent is what’s required to get the maximum from them.  The CRM software expert leans heavily on the popular features of their main CRM supplier. They ‘strongly encourage’ you to purchase the package which they know how to implement the best.

You certainly want such technical expertise in your implementation partner, but you shouldn’t confuse this technical familiarity with overall CRM expertise.

As a business owner, you really aren’t looking for a CRM, you are looking at a way to improve how you do business. That would suggest you find someone who knows CRM from a business context, what it can do to help a company, and how to avoid pitfalls. Such a person would be more adept in analyzing your specific requirements. They could then provide you with options for technology and outline the advantages and shortcomings of various packages, including the strategist’s recommendation for the solution which fits your company best.

Generally, sellers of CRM solutions do not think about the business value of a CRM installation because they are most often technologists. Until the business case is evaluated, the customer doesn’t know if they need CRM, nor which of the many choices give them the best ROI. All too often the strategic elements of "CRM" get lost in the technology discussion.

The problems start to rise because CRM has become almost synonymous with the use of technology, or specific software, as a result of the term being coined by the software development industry. Customer Relations, (the CR part of CRM) in its truest sense is far more encompassing than just the use of technology. Management (the M part of CRM) has little or nothing to do with the technical administration of thousands or millions of customers via a software solution. Most purely IT focused people misunderstand the M part and they still do.

CRM in its truest form is a business strategy focusing on relationships. This means understanding behavior, identifying needs and making your business really care about that relationship and focusing on your customers. This means everything you do is from an outside-in perspective.

CRM means different things to different people and to different industries. It includes other components of the business, such as Order Processing, Service Delivery, Knowledge Management, Document Management and Data Mining to name but a few. Using “marketing” as a justification for "CRM" activities does bring on preconceptions about what exactly is marketing. The training and experience of most marketers does not make them instinctively outside-in in their thinking.

CRM initiatives should start with defining your organizations vision and strategic direction. Some organizations may decide to compete on Price/Cost or Product Variety and they would not consider "being customer focused" as a core part to their strategy. All they would need is technology, and processes, that enable them to achieve those objectives, not CRM software.

Other companies may decide to build their whole strategy around being customer focused. It will be these companies that need to evaluate everything from the customer’s perspective. This means designing processes, services and products that thrill their customers and will generate loyalty to them while creating customer advocacy. It is this evaluation process that should be the focus of any "CRM initiative" and the results will be handled by people, using processes and, usually, enabled with technology.

But, if you begin with CRM software experts, or functional expertise, then the evaluation and selection of a CRM suite, and implementer to deliver, install, and configure the new solution, there will almost always be a tendency to focus on features and functionality rather than considering improved processes for the benefit of the customer.

This is generally due to the participants and decision makers looking only at what they do, or have, today and not searching for better ways of doing things. So when evaluating software, and its demonstration, the functions of the technology become tangible and easier for all to see. This leads to the features and functions being the deciding factors even if they bring little relative value to the organization. The focus often becomes ensuring the new “CRM” tool can handle what they are doing today; rather than new ways of doing things that the tool could support. Adding little, or no, additional value to the customer.

Working with a CRM Strategist, on the other hand will help organizations work on the overall customer strategy, see how the CRM processes needs to be aligned to fulfill the goals and objectives. Then, develop an evaluation matrix on which the different CRM software can be compared. This helps identify the gap which may not be supported by a particular system and evaluates all the options until one, or more, passes the evaluation.

In order to make that easier, you first understand the business needs and goals, then the specific requirements and then find the CRM that is the best match. By focusing on the business strategy and requirements and you can work in partnership with a vendor or CRM software expert when it comes to install and configuring the system to your specific needs.

This approach works well, but needs an enlightened client to understand there are both business skills and technical skills needed in CRM deployment. If only the techies control the show, they underestimate the business and change management needs. Yet, if the marketing department or sales staff run it, they don't understand the complexities of the technical side.

To have a successful CRM initiative and implementation requires skill sets that are grounded in knowing what the business is seeking to achieve, how tools can enable this and how that tool can support the future Customer Strategy.

Want CRM Strategists or CRM Software experts?  We are here to help.

Name: CRM Strategists or CRM Software experts - which one to choose?
Author:  David Brydson - BestFit Solutions