What is Effective CRM Consulting?

Answer: It's Not About Software

Your CRM project is finally over and your effective CRM consulting partner started it all off by listening carefully as you told him how badly you needed CRM software.  He impressed you with his knowledge as he rattled off the various different software packages that you would need to be a CRM machine.

He then put together a quote that outlined each component of the software (most of which was meaningless to you - so he must be really smart) along with the implementation, integration and customization services necessary. You haggled on the software price and the hourly rate and once you were happy that you were getting the best price and not being ripped off...you signed the contract.

And now that you have that shiny box of software sitting on your shelf you're wondering how you will know if it was all worth it.

Why Hasn't CRM Grown Up?

Value-added resellers are notorious for pushing software on you that may not fit. Most of them only work with one or two products, so to them, your problem always looks the same..."You need our software!"' 

Many of these companies have excellent programming resources on hand, which can lead you to a warm and comfortable feeling that everything will be all right. In fact, the biggest no no in the CRM world is letting software features drive your business processes. This is simply backwards. Front office workers are empowered decision-makers. There are no best practices that fits the front office environment of all companies.  The way your company works is a requirement that the software needs to meet.

Beware of the slick software salesman who tells you "yes our software will do that" and then after the sale shows you how to work with their software.

A Very Different Approach

Effective CRM consulting is about putting the customer at the center of your business. Many companies build silos around products or departments. This creates inefficiencies, workplace friction and many faces to your customer.

Stop and take a look from your customers perspective. You'd prefer to keep them, right? That's becoming more difficult to do these days as they demand more and more control. Does your business understand what they want and deliver it? Or are you still busy delivering what you want? If it's the latter, your not customer-centric and CRM will probably have little value to you. The first two words of CRM are key here. Think about it a minute.

Contrary to popular belief, CRM is not software. In fact, Effective CRM is all about knowing your customer, developing a strategy to keep them and locating new customers that look just like your best customer. Does your software do that? It's not a trick question...

It's a common scenario for your VAR to have a requirements gathering session once they've made the software sale. This is the most profitable part of the relationship for them. They listen to what you tell them and then they're programmers go out and build what they can, within the limitations of the software you bought. They'll often come back and tell you that you need to purchase some additional software. It can become a slippery slope.

When you begin your project under the effective CRM consulting umbrella, you will not even allow a software salesman in your office until you're ready to tell them exactly what you require. At this point, they need to prove that they can deliver.  Here's how you get to that point:

1. Develop a strategy for putting your customers at the center of your business

2. Re-align your information and workflow to this customer focused strategy

3. Add or change work processes to support the information flow

4. Develop software requirements that support your information flow and work processes

5. Invite software resellers to show you how their software can support your process.

Let's face it, this process typically starts at Step 5. And steps 1-4 become unworkable at that point.  This site, and effective CRM consulting, is about getting you on the right path to CRM success. Until you do, you won't realize the real potential that CRM can bring to your business.

So Where Do We Start?

Effective CRM Consulting uses a very systematic way of beginning this process. It gives us, and our clients, a great deal of insight into their customer focus, their customer life cycle, the attitude of their employees,  and it ties all of this together with the opinions of their customers.

The result or our assessment process tells us what needs to be done next, with a minimum of expensive onsite time.  Here's what you'll learn

Your Really Want to Read This!

• Where you can improve the effectiveness of your marketing, sales and customer service operations. Read more about our Customer Lifecycle Management Assessment (CLMA)
  
• Whether you're interacting with your customers in a way that's positively affecting their satisfaction and behavior. Read more about our Customer Focus Assessment (CFA)
  
• Whether your employees have a positive attitude, highly motivated and happy with their jobs. Read more about our Employee Insight Survey (EIS)
  
• What your customers expect from you and whether you're building a loyal base of customers. Read more about our Customer Insight Survey (CIS)

More Information About Effective CRM Consulting

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CRM Success Stories CRM success requires a vision, customer awareness, an overall CRM strategy or plan and a thoughtful marriage with the technology that delivers it a measureable outcome.

CRM News One stop shopping for CRM news. And the best part is that it's right in the middle of all of these CRM tips.

Contact Effective CRM Consulting If your business is about to invest time and money into a CRM initiative, or has not acheived the results they had hoped for, feel free to contact Effective CRM Consulting. It's possible one phone call can get you back on track but we're also here with a complete set of CRM related services if you need them.

Sales Force Automation Software Sales Force Automation Software was created to describe a new generation of software designed to fulfill the needs of the sales organization and not just the sales person

Good Customer Service Starts With A CRM Strategy Good customer service is one of those things we all have experience with. Or should I say, bad customer service is something we all have experience with. How do you want to treat your customers, and do you want to keep them?

The CRM Strategic Planning Process Whenever I think of the Strategic Planning Process I remember when I was part of enterprise corporate America. Oh boy, those were the days. Every change was preceded by an army of consultants and/or internal due diligence teams. Imagine how that would go over in a middle market company.

Effective change Management is Required in your CRM Strategy Effective change management is a crucial piece in CRM puzzle. Without it, fiefdoms are protected and people generally feel their value decline as they sense ownership of the process slipping away

Effective Business Intelligence And Reaching Goals Effective Business intelligence is a topic that I've only gotten involved with in the past few years. Before that, the middle market companies I've worked with couldn't afford the entry price. Expensive software with hefty consulting engagements for building data warehouses and business metrics simply made it impossible.

Effective Campaign Management Effective Campaign Management solutions need to provide you with enough bang to support the strategic CRM initiatives of your organization. Getting a glitzy campaign module and then trying to figure out what to do with it is, frankly, what I see in most mid-market companies

Customer Focus Assessment The Customer Focus Assessment recongnizes that every customer interaction at every touch-point is an opportunity to improve or destroy customer loyalty. So it's crucial that all customer-facing personnel meet or exceed customers' requirements, expectations and preferences.

Customer Lifecycle Management Assessment The Customer Lifecycle Management Assessment recognizes that before you can maximize your company's revenue and profitability you need to identify the business issues that prevent you from doing this.

Customer Insight Survey The Customer Insight Survey uses a unique and comprehensive solution for uncovering realistic opportunities to exceed customer expectations and build customer loyalty.

Employee Insight Survey The Employee Insight Survey uses a unique and comprehensive solution for uncovering realistic opportunities to exceed customer expectations and build customer loyalty.

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