The following situation may sound familiar to you: Recently, the chief sales officer of a well-known service company told us that he had found three CRM systems in a closet left behind by his predecessor. What’s interesting is:
Although two of them were procured, they were never put into service.
This example is just one of many. An important insight can be drawn from numerous similar cases: CRM systems are often purchased, but only partially implemented, and even more rarely used successfully. The desired results often fail to materialize, and in reality, the tools do not deliver what companies had originally hoped to achieve by purchasing them.
The key question that arises is: What accounts for the low level of effectiveness in the use of CRM systems? BRCG’s many years of experience and numerous completed projects have shown that: Decision-makers receive too little support for analysis and planning when implementing CRM tools. The focus is often too heavily on operational processes, master data, and appointment management. Essential functions—such as those in the areas of analytics and dashboards, as well as the mapping of sales processes that will be relevant in the future—are theoretically available in many common CRM systems today, but cannot be used in practice. As a result, the support functions that are actually relevant are missing.
But how is something like that possible?
The problems mentioned can essentially be traced back to two major mistakes that lead to a project's failure.
First: Many companies’ sales processes are not documented—which essentially makes designing a system pointless.
In most cases, relevant processes are not documented in writing—making a requirements specification impractical. Without such a specification, however, it is not realistic to integrate a tailor-made system that includes input fields, queries, and reporting.
A CRM tool cannot meet the requirements of the decision-makers responsible for its implementation in this way.
The second major reason why CRM projects fail is also strategic in nature: Systems are designed based on raw sales data and do not take information requirements into account. What is missing from this approach is a so-called backward-looking analysis, in which the system is aligned with the desired evaluation goals and content, as well as the required KPIs.
The flawed design of the CRM system sets off a downward spiral. Employees realize that data they have painstakingly entered goes unused in subsequent processes. As a result, the lack of clear answers to questions about the system’s benefits and usage on the part of users leads to inadequate documentation. This, in turn, results in a poor data foundation, and information remains unstructured and impossible to analyze—
The system's benefits are fading away.
To prevent exactly this kind of scenario, BRCG recommends—based on its consulting experience—that the following points be taken into account:
1. Design and Documentation of Data-Driven Sales Processes
Even before launching a CRM project, existing and future sales processes must be defined and documented, or simulated. It is often advisable to have an external consultant review the documented processes to ensure they meet CRM requirements. In addition, it is recommended to define a so-called target dashboard—that is, to develop a requirements specification based on the desired outcome.
2. Finding the Right System
Whether a complex CRM system implementation is a good fit for a company’s current situation depends on various factors. Therefore, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with potential alternatives in advance. BRCG recommends structuring sales processes in app form—even in anticipation of a system implementation—and making them available as digital workflows. A customized application can be created for each sales team to not only capture basic workflows but also make them digitally accessible in a simpler way. This approach can serve as a test or preparation for a system implementation—or possibly even replace it. The discussion surrounding low-code or no-code programming will accelerate this trend. Employees first become accustomed to new processes and are introduced to an easy-to-use system. BRCG can provide support in this regard by creating the data model and guiding the implementation using a low-code approach.
Are you also wondering whether implementing a CRM system makes sense for you? Do you need help using an existing tool correctly?
We look forward to hearing from you and addressing your concerns and questions!
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Dr. Bergmann · Dr. Rohde & Consulting Group GmbH
Dr. Holger Bergmann
vertrieb@brcg.de
Steinring 125
44789 Bochum
0234/ 77796-0
www.brcg.de