Gartner issued a statement that more than 50% of CRM implementations will be viewed as failures from a customer's perspective. The document lists reasons for CRM failure as including a lack of business objectives, planning, commitment at all levels of an organization, user resistance, and resources. It provides tips for ensuring CRM success such as establishing business objectives and a plan, gaining executive commitment, allocating dedicated resources, focusing on user adoption, and leveraging the technology appropriately.

1. Gartner issued a statement that said, “...more than 50 percent
of all CRM implementations will be viewed as failures from a
customer's point of view."
"Connecting Customer Needs with Business Solutions"

2. WHY?
 No business objectives
 Lack of planning
 Lack of commitment at all levels
 User resistance
 Lack of resources
 Technology focused

3. HOW DO I ENSURE SUCCESS?
 Before embarking headlong into CRM, it is crucial that you
understand it’s capabilities so that you can leverage it to meet your
business needs.

4. WHAT IS REQUIRED TO ENSURE SUCCESS?
1. Business Objectives:
 All executive stakeholders should identify the objectives that they want to
achieve using CRM to benefit their business and their customers.
 Identify wins/benefits for key users (Critical for sales team to have
customer service visibility? Think about implementing customer service
first).
2. Business Plan:
 All businesses have a process. Review existing process with each
department and create a flow chart. A standard process will help reduce
errors and improve productivity. It will give you a means to measure and
manage for future improvements.
 Prepare a CRM strategy plan and get implementation budget approved.

5. WHAT IS REQUIRED TO ENSURE SUCCESS?
3. Commitment:
 CRM cannot survive without executive/management buy-in. They must
commit to the objectives and enforce CRM usage without exception.
 Invite key department managers and executives to be part of the CRM
vendor selection process. This will help ensure that CRM is successful.
4. Resources:
 CRM implementation MUST have a champion/implementer. They should
understand your business and your customers, be a visionary, work well
with all employees at all levels and be able to sell!
 Create a “CRM Success Team”. This team should include a representative
from each department. Members should be team players, good
communicators and should be early adopters who can champion new
procedures to their colleagues. This is critical in ensure 100% adoption by
the sales team.

6. WHAT IS REQUIRED TO ENSURE SUCCESS?
5. Successful User Adoption:
 If one executive’s objective is to have an accurate, global sales funnel and
forecast, what will be the repercussions of one rogue sales person? One of
the largest reasons for CRM failure is user resistance. Good planning, user
interaction/communication (sense of ownership), eliminating some of their
pain points, training and executive enforcement are some elements to
include to ensure user adoption.
 CRM requires cultural change. Users must live and die by it. Once this is
achieved, you will have 100% user adoption and CRM will become a
breathing, living entity!
6. Leverage the Technology:
 If you have the attitude “It will solve all of our problems”, you need to
rethink going down the path of CRM. It is only a tool. But, if implemented
correctly, the benefits to your organization and your customers will be
significant and will set the stage for future growth.

7. FINAL THOUGHTS:
 Think Big/Start Small
 Plan for the Unexpected
 Keep it Simple
 Data Cleansing and Accuracy before Importing
Following these guidelines will maximize CRM success for you organization.
For more information call CRM Connect at 905-337-0404.
"Connecting Customer Needs with Business Solutions"