So you want to implement a new CRM system, part 1
The first in a series.
👋🏾 Hi, this is Lloyd with a new issue of The CRM Chronicles. In every issue, I cover CRM developments, strategies and technology through the lens of sales and marketing managers, product owners and the C-Suite. Subscribe to get issues like this in your inbox every week.
Hello, fellow CRM enthusiasts! This week, we’re kicking off the first instalment of our CRM Implementation series. In this series, I’ll walk you through implementing a CRM system step-by-step. We’ll go in-depth on each of these in future issues.
Enjoy!
1. Define Your Objectives
Before diving into CRM implementation, it's important to get clear on what you aim to accomplish. Are you looking to enhance customer satisfaction, streamline sales processes, or improve data management? What does each of those look like? Are you trying to improve your NPS or customer service score? Your strategy should align with both your long-term strategic and financial goals while addressing immediate business pain points.
Of course, everyone wants to sell more, but since this is CRM, be specific about what aspects of the customer journey you want to enhance. Do you want more repeat purchases? More sign-ups for and usage of the loyalty program? Do you want to spend less on acquisition and more on activating the existing database?
Rank them. Which of these will ensure your business can keep its lights on? Which of these are nice to have but aren’t critical? Which are longer-term ( 2 - 3 years) objectives?
2. Assess current systems
Evaluate your existing CRM system if you have one. Identify what isn’t working and why. Is it a matter of outdated technology, poor user adoption, or a mismatch with your business needs?
How’s the rest of your IT landscape? No company has it perfect, but if your systems are a patchwork of poorly integrated siloes, consider whether adding another CRM system is the priority or if you should first clean up what you have. It’s just going to cause headaches if you add more complexity without careful consideration.
Understanding these issues is key to setting realistic goals for your future system.
3. Evaluate performance against your objectives
If you have a CRM program in place, assess its strengths and weaknesses. What aspects are functioning well, and which ones need improvement? By identifying gaps and opportunities for improvement, you can better understand what you need from an upgraded CRM system. Be realistic and honest: have you met your targets both from a revenue and functional perspective? If not, why? Technology is great, but it can’t do everything. Before you dive into undertaking an expensive implementation, be sure the system will actually help you.
If you don’t have a proper CRM program in place, make sure you spend the time designing one before you go off and build a system. If you don’t, you’ll end up doing everything twice. A good CRM program, with detailed customer journeys and data analysis is the foundation for what the system requirements will be.
The most successful implementations I’ve worked on are where we started with very clear, detailed customer journeys. First, we evaluate those and then jump to the technical requirements. It’s much easier to change a drawing than an API!
4. Know your team
Think of the capabilities of your team and organisation when planning your CRM implementation. What kind of system can they realistically handle? A complex, feature-rich CRM might be overwhelming if your team isn't technically proficient or lacks training resources. And make sure you’ve considered training and new hires, freelancers or agencies when looking at the budget.
5. Define requirements
Identify both business and technical requirements to ensure your CRM system will effectively support your organisation's needs. Keep in mind that striking a balance between ambitious goals and realistic expectations is key. Think about user needs, desired functionalities, and integration with other systems. What does the system need to do on day 1, and what can wait 3 or 6 months? If you’re expecting everything on day 1, either you’re not being realistic or you have all the time in the world.
This is when you should consider bringing in an outside consultant to help you evaluate your team and systems and help you draft the requirements.
6. IT architecture and infrastructure
Before making any changes, it's crucial to evaluate your current IT architecture and infrastructure. If it’s a hot mess, address any issues before implementing a new CRM to set yourself (and the future system) up for success.
Some of these topics were covered in more depth in our chat with Lukas Lunlow a couple of weeks ago, so make sure to check out that interview if you missed it.
7. Budgets
Of course, there’s a budget. You (or someone else) have made a business plan, and it was approved. The good news is you have the budget. The bad news is that you’ve probably underestimated how much the system will cost to set up and keep running.
If you haven’t done the numbers yet, make sure you plan at least 2 years ahead. With Salesforce, you often sign 3-year contracts, requiring you to plan even more for the future.
Budgets aren’t just about license fees. They include the costs of setting up the system, the time for employees to write down what they’re currently doing, the time the team will spend on testing and the disruption during go-live. The budget must include the costs of operating the system after it goes live. This could mean one additional hire or, depending on the size and needs of your company, several. Failure to account for operational costs is one of the biggest mistakes I have seen companies make repeatedly. When I manage implementations, I always provide a staffing plan with sample salaries so it’s clear how much investment will be needed in the years ahead.
8. Choosing and negotiating a system
Typically, this is an RFP. How detailed you go depends on your business and industry. Financial service companies have different requirements than online course providers. Turn the list of requirements you generated earlier into a questionnaire to send to the systems to determine whether they can achieve what you're looking for.
Thus, the selection process will vary accordingly. Always compare at least two systems, including costs. This will also help you in the negotiation stage.
Aside from requirements and costs, there are other things to consider, such as whether the company is easy enough to work with, whether there are enough people working on this system in the marketplace to source talent to operate it, and how complex the change process from your existing system to the new one will be.
Negotiations should be based on your budget (don’t go for systems you can’t afford) and the market. Find out what other similar companies are paying. Benchmarks make it easier to negotiate costs downwards or to receive add-ons to the price. Be realistic about growth. Will you really need 100 licenses in two years or 10?
Procurement should be able to take the lead in this. If you don’t have a procurement department or they don’t have the capacity for this, you can still do it; it will just take some detective work and networking. Again, an independent consultant can help.
One important note: try to delay paying for the licenses until as late as possible. If the implementation phase goes off the rails, you could end up footing the bill for months for software you can’t use.
9. Implementation & timelines
Once the costs and contracts have been agreed upon and settled, you’ll need to set up the new system, achieve the requirements, connect it to your existing IT infrastructure, and migrate relevant data from the old system.
To do this, you’ll need to engage an internal team that will own the project and an external vendor (also known as partners) with expertise in the new system and can help you do all of the above. Again, you’ll need to do a pitch of sorts, gather fee schedules and meet with the vendors. As important as the fees is the cultural fit. You and this group will work closely together on a stressful project for months. You need to get along. Many projects fail because of team clashes.
Once the partner is selected, you’ll work together on the implementation. Strive to meet a deadline, though add in a bit of a buffer. Be strict and also willing to go live in phases. Thinking everything will be done by launch is folly and will only lead to disappointment, spiralling costs, delays and a demoralised team on both sides.
The plan should also include change management: how will the employees be trained on the new system, what processes will need to change as a result, etc. Here, you need to work with every department of the business that the system will impact.
We’ll talk about project methodology in the future, when to go agile and when to set it aside, whether you need a project manager and more.
10. Go-live and what comes next
Migrations and go-live are the most painful part of any project. Here, you see what was built correctly and what wasn’t. Testing is one thing, but when it’s time to use the system, the stakes are suddenly much higher, and users pay more attention. No matter what was signed off in testing, things will always go wrong in go-live.
Be prepared.
Colleagues will suddenly remember critical functionality only they knew about and forgot to mention. APIs that were working fine no longer are.
The migration will be bumpy. Go-live will be rough. But hang in there.
This is the part of the project where critical decision-making will happen. What can the company live with? Can a requirement be implemented 3 months from now?
Once you’re live, the project enters a new phase. A system, like a house, is never quite done. Improvements must always be made, new features being released, general maintenance etc. Your business also evolves, so it makes sense that the system will need to.
Here, the implementation partner can start to step away and handover to the internal team to manage. Remember, part of the plan and budgets must include proper staffing to maintain the system in the years to come.
Next week, we’ll talk about Defining the Objectives aspect. Stay tuned and happy managing!
Are you or your company looking to implement a CRM system? Have questions about breaking into the CRM field? Have ideas for future topics? I’d love to hear from you. Just reply directly to this email. Or, if you’re reading this on Substack, add a comment below.