CRM Articles

Critical Success Factors

What Are The Critical Success And Risk Factors For Implementing A CRM-On-Demand Approach And Solution?

There are numerous potential reasons why CRM deployments at organizations often fail:

• Missing the basics principles for launching CRM on-demand (IT and business)
• Post-launch issues potential failure, spiraling out of control, lack of knowledge on how on-demand CRM works, benefits and are different from traditional on-site or consultative, IT-intensive and costly services.
• Lack of clear business goals, case and objectives – missing the purpose and intent, which business problem/issue to solve/address, measurable benefits to justify the investment – lofty goals are often too general in nature and scope, leading to problems in expectation, design, execution and functionality or expectations.
• Lack of active sponsorship, project-lead or executive championing to ensure above details are voiced, discussed, addressed, met and providing impetus and regular process and progress checks, ensuring sustained momentum and outcome.
• Often seen as a technology-driven or an IT-led project, the project often takes on the character of a technology focus, rather than a project or business focus – not given the same priority, urgency, budget etc. and diminishes user buy-in in the end. It is mistakenly thought of as systems and technology issue mainly, rather a basic concept, business process approach, linked to business, process and people.
• Lack of organizational readiness for CRM – maturity and business process sophistication can halt or hinder project progress.
• Unrealistically wide project scope – huge challenge, multi-faceted goals, across sales and order management for example all at once, as of day one.
• Needs to be planned with meticulous attention to detail, terrain and uncertainties of the road ahead – a modular approach is required and prudent – gradual.
• Insufficient change management resources within the business to nurture the change effort and solution once in place, mistakenly seen as IT support and does not get a lot of allocated training, maintenance dollars, insufficiently budgeted for.
• No buy-in from end-users – naturally motivated to use it – is a wrongful assumption ,deliver tangible benefits that will make their jobs easy – need to demonstrate how and why it is helpful.
• Allocating funds only to work miracles with no clear defined goals and objective and expecting wonders. Unrealistic expectations.
• Organizational change and company politics – companies do not starts CRM, people do – dynamic visionaries, not finding allies amongst decision-makers.
• Absence of a sufficient dry-run, pilot period initially – validate business goals and objectives, functionality and product delivery – normally damage-control or short-term need focus only.
• Poor data quality – rubbish in rubbish out! Will affect credibility and usage.
• Complex international, global solutions, costly with no real business justification – for the sake of having it – an expensive exercise –seen often as a subtle way of HQ control and not bought into right away.
• Poor international and cross-functional project and database management.
• Business cycle approach as opposed to real-time, quarter-cycles, workshops and prototype-like environments and deployments.
• RFP’s and statement of requirements are a lengthy process at times, detailed customization, sometimes unusable end-product, due to same followed process.
• In the increasing web-enabled world and business-environment, there are also very real concerns about security and compliance and the sharing of confidential information, encryption, mobile solution challenges, multi-platforms and standards and other issues to consider early on in any project.

eSalesTrack takes all of the above into account, with our business innovation, partners and clients, collaborate, and co-create solutions that best suit individual needs, requirements and budgets. Empowering and enabling the processes and channels through which your business operates, adding infrastructure, fuel and efficiency to the main driver of your business undertaking: namely, customers, is what we do and excel at. If this pivotal dimension of your business is left without proper care, attention, service and satisfaction, it will lead to business, relationship and or transactional failure, not easily recovered from in the marketplace today.