Identify CRM Benefits So Your Justification Is Strong

You need to identify the CRM benefits, once you know where you are in your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) evolution. This will help your company know what it can expect to gain as a result of this investment. Let me be perfectly upfront and honest. If you are not willing to go through this process, your project will fail.

Sure, you'll eventually have slick looking CRM Software, but it will be cash invested in a project that will likely focus on minor efficiencies and not the huge, measureable, economic CRM benefits that you could have. Many CRM consultants resellers will talk about automation and processes as though the mere act of installing software will make your business button click simple.

"There is nothing Turnkey about CRM!"

Let's be real about CRM Benefits. Here are some things you may hear from the wrong CRM Consultant.

• We can automate your pipeline - They will spend time telling you that you will no longer need your weekly meetings, or conference calls, to discuss outstanding opportunities. And your sales reps will be more effective since they will have more time to do what they do best...sell.
  
  Problem: The sales reps need a reason to use this system. This is no CRM benefit. Sure, a handful will think it's cool and then they will go off and use it their own way. The rest will either use it half-heartedly or not at all. Think about this a minute. If you're a low level leader who threatens employees with their paychecks, they will see nothing in it for them.
  
  
• We can automate your monthly newsletter - You'll be able to create campaigns and launch them thru mass e-mailing. You'll also be able to track clicks and open rates right there in your CRM software!
  
  Problem: This will be a lot of time and money invested to do something that will probably send your confusing message to your clients and prospects on a more frequent basis. Making it easier to send the wrong message simply makes them run away faster.
  
  
• All of your business groups will be able to share the same data - You'll no longer have separate databases so you'll be able to work together seamlessly and see exactly what your counterparts in department "A" are talking about with your customer.
  
  Problem: Do your departments use the same terminology? Growth thru acquisition can be funny that way. Are departments competing in any way, and would that present a scenario where sharing is bad (from their perspective)? How many duplicate accounts will you create and will critical data be destroyed with a data cleansing initiative? People just don't start working together well because you've installed software!
  
  
• You'll have those cool looking reports and dashboards you've always wanted! - After all, your golf buddy has them and he keeps making you feel inadequate without them.
  
  Problem: If you don't know what you're looking for as a company, then you have to hope your departments know what they're looking for as a business unit. That means double or triple the consulting to get these reports and dashboards created. The end result....You still don't have a good snapshot of where your company is going because everyone is still doing their own thing.
  
  
• Customer Service will have Telephony Integration - A timer will popup on inbound and outbound calls and the rep will be able to take notes without having to click a button.
  
  Problem: All this addresses is a minor inefficiency. It saves a few keystrokes. Don't get me wrong, every type of efficiency like this helps with intangibles like moral. But those are harder to measure and the return doesn't justify the effort accept when you take all of these into account in the aggregate.  Don't worry, you'll still be addressing these later.

I could go on with these pseudo CRM benefits but it would just waste time. A better picture can be painted with truly powerful benefits that we can quantify. These are the sort of things that make you lose sleep at night (or should).

• Revenues are Flat or Declining - This can happen for a lot of reasons. It could require innovation on your part with regard to your product and service offerings. But you would need to know a lot more about your customers and competitors to determine the best direction to go.
  
  
• Market Share is Eroding (new and effective competitors) - It sure was great while it lasted but finally, someone noticed all the money you were making and decided to get a piece of the action. Or, maybe your customers needs have changed and you didn't change as fast as your competition did (or at all).
  
  
• Margins are no longer in line with industry standards - This could represent many things. But the outcome is the same. You're no longer as profitable as you once were. Many factors can create this scenario; such as an inability to retain high value and low cost existing customers. We all know it's far more costly to acquire new customers than it is to keep existing customers.
  
  It could also be related to rising production costs, so understanding your product mix and customer needs is critical. Your accounting system will only go so far. Your feet in the street should be able to contribute valuable information on customer and prospect needs.

I'm saying in a Nutshell...

Something caused you to get all excited about CRM and it wasn't a button or a screen. Whether it's subliminal or not, something about the performance of your business has you losing sleep. So, I'm suggesting that you're losing sleep over the big, measureable things. These are the CRM benefits on which you should focus.

Don't worry, when you start developing your new CRM Strategy, you will begin to understand the strategic, and tactical, things you need to do (as a company) to achieve your CRM benefits. Here are a few things that you may implement in your strategy to fix the bigger issues we just discussed.

• You will identify and understand that not all customers are the same and become better at segmenting them appropriately
  
  
• You will be much more successful at retaining existing customers which will give you the opportunity (with your new knowledge) to grow their value to your business over time.
  
  
• You'll have a more significant outcome in future product development because you will know more about your customers. This will improve margins thru customer retention (existing customers cost less to acquire) and a smarter product mix (you'll stop carrying low margin items your customers don't want or need).
  
  
• Since you will know your customer, you will know what to look for in new customers!
  
  
• Your marketing costs will go down because you won't need to experiment with your message, or create and manage multiple messages.
  
  
• Your operating costs will go down because you will become more efficient and more effective with the resources you have.
  
  
• You will know your competitors as well, and this will allow you to react more quickly to changes in the market and their behavior.
  
  
• You'll be able to make decisions more quickly because you will have information, and not assumptions, to work with.

As you begin gathering data, creating information and understanding it better, you will clearly see your unique CRM Benefits and your plan will begin coming together. Just remember that this cannot be done by a single person. It takes your entire team and must be led by an enthusiastic executive with the authority to carry it through.

Return to CRM Strategy from CRM Benefits

Next - Quantify CRM Benefits

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