| Many CRM projects are not successful because | | | | developer, lead tester, and lead integrator from |
| the big bang approach is attempted to solve all | | | | the third party vendor and a business lead that |
| needs at once. Others are not successful because | | | | understands the business process for each |
| of politics between IT and business stakeholders. | | | | system function. If offshore development teams |
| However, there are successful CRM projects that | | | | are in place, two employees/consultants from the |
| have proven to not be as painful in terms of | | | | client are available to challenge and explain |
| time, money, and resources. These projects | | | | business logic that is normally lost in translation - a |
| follow 8 key trends that combat the key issues | | | | Senior Project Manager that understands |
| often found in CRM projects, thereby increasing a | | | | developing checkpoint analyses, scorecards, and |
| successful delivery of a solid CRM vision. | | | | detailed project plans and a Technical Lead |
| What Are The Trends? | | | | (consultant with years of experience in delivering |
| Trend 1. The Right Solution is Selected for | | | | the CRM solution). |
| Reasonable Implementation Time | | | | Trend 5. Bad Processes are Eliminated as Part of |
| If the solution does not fit the business model or | | | | CRM Readiness |
| revised business processes with out-of-the-box | | | | Successful CRM projects have executive |
| functionality, it should not be considered if it can | | | | stakeholders that understand a bad process |
| not be implemented with minimal customizations | | | | implemented in a CRM solution is nothing more |
| or integrations with external systems. Instead of | | | | than an automated bad business process that |
| relying solely on the input of long-term employees, | | | | requires more customization - ultimately spending |
| executive leadership usually hires an independent | | | | more in time, resource, and budget. |
| vendor selection committee to work with | | | | Trend 6. Data Quality and Reliability Is Planned In |
| business and IT management to determine which | | | | Early Phases |
| solution best meets the business needs. | | | | Recognizing that data conversion must be planned |
| Trend 2. Choosing the Right Implementation | | | | and developed at the same time of development |
| Vendor Makes the Difference | | | | is key to a successful CRM vision. Data migration |
| While it is great to choose one of the Big 5 | | | | and data integration are planned with data quality |
| Consulting spin-off firms to implement the CRM | | | | (cleansing) initiatives at the forefront of the design |
| solution, the most successful CRM projects chose | | | | stages - not after development of system |
| smaller referenceable consulting firms based on | | | | functionality |
| feedback from prior and existing clients. Smaller | | | | Trend 7. Reporting Is Not an Afterthought |
| consulting firms yield more efficient results (usually | | | | Successful CRM projects keep the purpose of |
| three times the quality of the deliverables | | | | management visibility in the forefront of all |
| provided by Big 5 Consulting firms) from the | | | | planning and designing. Since this is always a |
| design to production phases and painstakingly take | | | | priority and top reason for implementation, |
| more pride and ownership in the success of the | | | | reporting is planned early in the design stages by |
| CRM implementation. | | | | ODS and Data Warehousing experts. |
| Trend 3. Negative People Are Never on the Core | | | | Trend 8. Testing Time Is At Least Double the |
| Team | | | | Development Time |
| There will always be nay-sayers but negative | | | | The standard rule of allotting two times the |
| energy destroys CRM projects. The lazy, | | | | development time for accurate testing still applies. |
| nonchalant, disgruntled employees are better | | | | Successful CRM projects have 5 testing phases |
| served either removed from the project or | | | | that involve unit/functional testing, system testing, |
| engaged at the system testing phase where the | | | | user acceptance testing, and regression testing to |
| negativity will force them to try to break the | | | | re-test errors that are resolved by the |
| system, thereby identifying potential bugs and | | | | development team. |
| missed functionality that can be resolved before | | | | In summary, CRM projects can be a success if |
| user acceptance testing and ultimately | | | | these trends are adhered from the onset of the |
| implementation. | | | | project. Following these common trends will |
| Trend 4. Hybrid Teams Yield Better Results | | | | increase the likelihood of a successful CRM vision |
| There is always a hybrid team consisting of a | | | | put into action. |
| counterpart on the client side to the lead | | | | |