Don't Get Too Crazy
One of the funniest things I have noticed since my last posting is that my meetings are getting more and more dynamic as I meet with more and more teams that are trying to optimize their organizations and get creative with technology when they don't have the people or the resources to meet some of their objectives. Don't get me wrong... I don't think there is anything wrong with being proactive but I do think that there is also value in being practical (thus the name of this blog). Let's talk about do's and don't s with your CRM platform.
STARTING POINT
Whether you are starting from your first implementation or just enhancing an existing system it is important to understand the context in which you are making changes to your organization and/or your systems. It is not uncommon to walk into a situation where teams are looking to make a new set of changes where they are completely ignoring some of the higher priority requests of the users. If you have set expectations in your original project that you are going to do certain things in the "next release" you have essentially made a contract with your users. If you break their trust to jump the line with new priorities the backlash may be ugly. if you are making new priorities and get buy in first you may be just fine.
NOTHING HAPPENS IN A VACUUM
In the same context with considering your starting point it is important to understand that any change has a consequence. It is not a perfect science but when asking people to collect more information or adding more complexity to business rules in your system be sure to stay on top of the feedback from your user population to see if the effect is both positive on productivity and profitability. If you see that the impact of changes are not optimal or if new changes replace prior processes don't be afraid to redo or rollback other changes.
SYSTEM + 1
I am also seeing more and more discussions involving the introduction of new teams or expansion of systems to include more operational elements. The value of CRM for many of my emerging market or SMB customers is that the technology becomes the operational heartbeat of an organization. When adding any team or expanding a system to be more inclusive the feedback process and operational committees that work on the overall solution must be inclusive so that you don't diminish the overall effectiveness of the system by mandating to certain teams and catering to others.
WORKFLOW, WORKFLOW, WORKFLOW
The world of CRM is constantly evolving and many of my current customers are now what I would call "2nd Generation CRM" customers. These customers have captured the essence of their systems in a way that is optimizing their operations. So what could be next? That is fairly easy...workflow is next. If you find that there now the CRM infrastructure is great but you have users spending too much time digging through data or screens to get to higher priority items then you may want to put your attention on workflow. My next article will dive into more detail but if you have no workflow capabilities in your current CRM system it may be time to look around.
On a final note we are heading into the holidays and don't forget to tell people how much you appreciate them and take the time to capture the essence of the season.
STARTING POINT
Whether you are starting from your first implementation or just enhancing an existing system it is important to understand the context in which you are making changes to your organization and/or your systems. It is not uncommon to walk into a situation where teams are looking to make a new set of changes where they are completely ignoring some of the higher priority requests of the users. If you have set expectations in your original project that you are going to do certain things in the "next release" you have essentially made a contract with your users. If you break their trust to jump the line with new priorities the backlash may be ugly. if you are making new priorities and get buy in first you may be just fine.
NOTHING HAPPENS IN A VACUUM
In the same context with considering your starting point it is important to understand that any change has a consequence. It is not a perfect science but when asking people to collect more information or adding more complexity to business rules in your system be sure to stay on top of the feedback from your user population to see if the effect is both positive on productivity and profitability. If you see that the impact of changes are not optimal or if new changes replace prior processes don't be afraid to redo or rollback other changes.
SYSTEM + 1
I am also seeing more and more discussions involving the introduction of new teams or expansion of systems to include more operational elements. The value of CRM for many of my emerging market or SMB customers is that the technology becomes the operational heartbeat of an organization. When adding any team or expanding a system to be more inclusive the feedback process and operational committees that work on the overall solution must be inclusive so that you don't diminish the overall effectiveness of the system by mandating to certain teams and catering to others.
WORKFLOW, WORKFLOW, WORKFLOW
The world of CRM is constantly evolving and many of my current customers are now what I would call "2nd Generation CRM" customers. These customers have captured the essence of their systems in a way that is optimizing their operations. So what could be next? That is fairly easy...workflow is next. If you find that there now the CRM infrastructure is great but you have users spending too much time digging through data or screens to get to higher priority items then you may want to put your attention on workflow. My next article will dive into more detail but if you have no workflow capabilities in your current CRM system it may be time to look around.
On a final note we are heading into the holidays and don't forget to tell people how much you appreciate them and take the time to capture the essence of the season.
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