It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. Someone has to be the one to drive the CRM agenda in your business and get the wheels turning.
In large businesses, they’re called the Business Sponsor – usually the head of the department which has the most to gain from CRM – maybe the GM of Sales, or Chief Marketing Officer or possibly the Head of Operations. Not to minimise their role, but basically they attend a few steering committee meetings and have an entire multi-disciplinary team to advise and do the work.
But when we’re dealing with small businesses, we meet a wide variety of different people who have been charged with getting the business set on their CRM journey. Sometimes it’s the business owner, the Administration or Business Manager, or the guy who was chosen because he looked like he might know something about technology. You may be any one of these, or maybe you’re the one who sees what’s broken and is hell-bent on fixing it.
Whatever your real job is, we take our hats off to you for taking on the CRM champion role. It’s a big job. And it’s got a lot riding on it, because if it didn’t, you wouldn’t be in this position.
As we’ve said, we meet a lot of people and see both the fear and determination in their eyes as they embark on the journey. So we thought you could do with a pep talk.
Here are our top tips for being an effective CRM champion.
1. Sell the dream
Not everyone in your business trips over the same issues as you do. You might be surprised to find opposition to what you see as a necessity. It’s your job to sell it. Moreso in small business, everyone will be impacted in some way by implementing CRM. Some people, (you probably already know who they are) will resist anything new because it sounds like more work. Your job is to make them see how CRM will help them rather than hinder them. Paint them a picture of life after CRM.
2. Sniff out the business problems
It’s your job to get really clear on what problems your CRM is going to solve. What are your biggest challenges? Where are the inefficiencies and frustrations in the way you currently operate? Channel your inner private investigator and learn a little about what everyone does and how. Ask the person that manages your events how she sends out the invitations and receives the RSVPs? Ask the production guys how they know where each job is up to? Ask the sales guys how they know what a customer bought last month, or what’s currently in the pipeline to buy next month?
Then channel your inner Dr Phil and ask them “And how’s that workin’ for ya?”.
3. List and prioritise
Once you know your challenges, make a list and prioritise. There will be urgent problems to solve, but there might be some things that can wait. This is where you might need to enlist the help of your chosen CRM partner because cost and ease might come into the equation when deciding what to do first. A good partner will be able to be pragmatic in helping you make these decisions. You might even find you can do it all in one go.
But from our experience you can still get a great result by breaking up your project into tranches – getting the basics right along with some key transformation essentials, and then start using the system for a few months. As you and the other users use it, you’ll learn more about how your CRM can help you. Then, revisit, and reprioritise ready for Round 2.
When you’ve decided what’s in and what’s out, make sure you go back and set expectations with all of the people you’ve spoken to.
4. Find a partner who understands you
Yeah, ok, we’re a bit biased here, but we’ve made a solid business out of just being good listeners. Well, not just listening – but then converting what you’ve articulated into a system that works for you. Every business is different. That’s why every CRM implementation is different. We work exclusively with Microsoft Dynamics CRM because it is so flexible for any business – it just takes some know-how and an understanding of what you’re trying to achieve.
What are you waiting for? Get out there and start championing the CRM cause!
