BLOG PERMALINK

ARCHIVES BY CATEGORY

ARCHIVES BY DATE

BLOGROLL

PGreenberg | 56 Group
GovernmentBlogger.com
ERP Blogger
CRMgonewild.com
HaileyBlog.com
MySaaSblog.com
CRMblogguy.com
iblogERP.com
Mark's Software Blog
Tim Jenkins Blog
ITchump
CRM-compare.com

April 17, 2008

Top 5 CRM Mistakes You Can Avoid
Reading about failed CRM implementations can be disheartening, to say the least. However, it can be very beneficial to look closer at failed attempts, as we can all learn from these errors. Though any number of problems can occur in CRM, the following five mistakes are common and avoidable:

Pushing the Customer Aside –
The "C" in CRM stands for customer and far too many professionals lose sight of that once they become too involved with numbers, products and new technology. No matter how grand your strategy or how dependent you become on cutting-edge tools, the customer must always remains your number one priority.
Taking on Too Much at Once –
Must I use that tired cliché again? Here it goes: Rome wasn't built in a day. You need to plan a CRM schedule that takes on projects logically and sequentially. You won't see instant results and you aren't supposed to, so be sure to break each project into measurable steps in order to change the big picture.
No Strategic Vision –
Sure, Aplicor provides great CRM software, but do you know what you really want to do with it? You need to tackle the business side of things before you begin using the technology. Determine exactly what needs to be changed so you won't get sidetracked or lost along the way.
Too Few People on the Team –
If you want to implement positive change on an enterprise level, you need a CRM team with executive sponsorship and broad representation. Unfortunately, many executives aren't familiar with CRM, so they either wash their hands of dealing with it or just go through the motions. This is a big mistake, as everyone needs to be privy to what is going on with the company's CRM strategy.
Reports Are Not Shared –
Are you effectively sharing project reports with everyone in real time? When team members can't freely collaborate, they will throw a monkey wrench into things by stepping on each other's toes or taking their own projects in the wrong direction.

Many of the problems start small and snowball rather quickly if they aren't resolved timely. Communication is obviously a huge key in moving things in the right direction. It is also easy to get too involved with technology and departmentalized projects. Remember, CRM implementations are about the customer and changes should be executed across the company and incorporated into the culture.

By-line:

Heather Johnson is a freelance business, finance and economics writer, as well as a regular contributor at Business Credit Cards, a site for best business credit card and best business credit cards offers. Heather welcomes comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address heatherjohnson2323@gmail.com.

Technorati: Aplicor, SaaS
Del.icio.us: SaaS, Aplicor Save this page to del.icio.us
View CC license
Posted by Heather Johnson on April 17, 2008 in CRM Strategy
Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)