Making the case for internal CRM adoption (page 1 of 2)

Five years ago, Sealing Devices was running outdated and inefficient software that made it extremely difficult for our sales staff to perform effectively.

Different departments were using different computer systems to update customer data, resulting in customer lists that were full of repetitions and inaccuracies. The disorder created by the technology was affecting the bottom line. Revenue growth from top customers who regularly bought our sealing products was slowing, and new business leads were falling through the cracks.

To fix our problems, we installed a new CRM solution from Oracle - part of a larger enterprise resource planning (ERP) rollout. The new system integrated our data, streamlined record keeping, and eliminated costly communication gaps between our sales teams.

In that first year of going live - after years of flat sales - business started to improve. To date, we have increased business opportunities by a factor of three. Our closing rate on new business leads has steadily risen. Salespeople have been freed up to spend more time in the field. And executives have better information to make better, more informed decisions.

Undoubtedly, ours is a CRM success story.
But getting there was not easy. The irony of our situation - and one that is extremely common - is that the people who had the most to gain from the CRM system were some of the toughest to sell on the software. We faced a great deal of internal resistance from our sales staff. Our project succeeded only because we were prepared to address their concerns upfront. What follows are five lessons I offer for companies to consider when undertaking a CRM rollout.

Challenge the "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It" Mentality
Once management decides to move forward with a broad software upgrade, the real challenge of converting employees begins. At Sealing Devices, I found the sales staff was staunchly in favor of preserving the status quo. "I don't need a computer to do my job for me," was a common refrain.

Many of them saw the new system as nothing more than an oversight mechanism for management. The key was to get them to see the technology for what it was - a productivity tool. I thus kept a record of all the business opportunities we were missing to track the mistakes that could have been avoided with the new software. When I showed the sales team the results, the benefits of a new system began to become clear.

Sometimes we were losing business because a salesperson forgot - or didn't know - to walk a new lead over to another person's desk. Other times, customer orders were not being filled because their contact information had never been entered into our database. Or an order would fail to process because our system did not allow us to enter multiple billing addresses for one customer.

Making believers out of a skeptical team of sales reps won't happen over night. For me, it was a process that took the better part of a year. But it probably would never have happened had I not been able to show them in plain terms how it would make their jobs easier.

Engage Management Early
Managing a company in the midst of a major technology transition can be particularly difficult unless everyone has agreed upon a purpose and methodology.