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Avoid Common Problems When Choosing a New CRM

Published on 04 April 15
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As a company grows or its needs change, looking around at for a more effective and efficient way to manage sales and marketing usually involves looking at CRM or ERP software options. Because of the complexity of the offerings available, it is quite possible to make a purchase decision that is less than what the buyer intended.

Here are some tips for avoiding problems while you are deciding on what type of CRM or ERP to buy:

Multi-department software requires stakeholders:

In today's sometimes siloed business world, managers sometimes prefer to make as many decisions as their power allows them to. With a CRM or ERP purchase, the entire company will be affected as almost every department could be using the software. Including stakeholders from each department that will be using the software in the planning and purchase process is therefore advisable.

Avoid Common Problems When Choosing a New CRM - Image 1

Plan for growth:

Once a company purchases and implements a CRM or ERP, it is not likely that they will change their software for a while because they have invested a lot of effort to ensure that it does what the company needs it to. Thus, they should plan for their CRM platform to be extensible at a minimum so that they can incorporate future company changes and growth.

One good example of this is finding a CRM that offers multi-channel support for the same or multiple pipelines. Because companies are prone to selling different products in different ways, firms that expand with new products or services may find themselves in a future situation where their CRM does not allow them to utilize the same pipeline across different channels.

Pamper salespeople:

While building requirements and planning what can make the company more efficient and effective, it is important to remember that buy-in from the sales staff will bring the greatest productivity gains. If an interface is too complex, the features might not get used. If the feature set is too simplistic, the sales staff might miss information that they need to do their jobs. A win in the design process, therefore means not only providing them with the software that helps them do their job, but providing them also with a set of tools that they really enjoy using because they are easy to use and they see the value in using them.

Specifically, looking for features like calendar management, case management, and several levels of reminders, notes, and tasks, can help sales staff to integrate the new CRM into their existing workflow.

Don't forget to test extensively:

A CRM or an ERP is a company changing piece of software. Companies cannot afford not to have extensive testing efforts. Several years ago, a major computer manufacturer implemented a new CRM using the latest database engine from another major software manufacturer. Because the database contained a memory leak, for two quarters around 20 percent of the hottest sales leads in the company simply vanished. Finally, a sales engineer discovered the problem and it was corrected. For them, it was a manageable problem. For most companies, potential problems in the workflow are not.

The CRM and ERP business is so lucrative that the traditional win the market and consolidate market share dynamic never took hold. Instead purchasers are faced with a never ending supply of software options. Finding the right package by nailing the requirements process, getting the right features, and testing extensively is a good way to avoid potential problems in a sea of choices.

This blog is listed under Development & Implementations and Enterprise Applications Community

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