Customer Experience Management

The story goes that when tennis star Jimmy Connors missed a crucial point in a match, he walked back to the sideline muttering something to himself. When asked later what he was saying, he said he was reminding himself Keep your eye on the ball. Keep your eye on the ball.

This reporter is in the process of teaching his sons tennis, and its the first thing theyre told. Keep your eye on the ball. They think theyre beyond such prosaic advice by now, but if a world-class player misses a crucial point in a professional match from forgetting the most basic coaching possible, theres no reason why anybody buying a CRM system shouldnt tape the following advice to their bathroom mirror.

Eric Hunt of Manhattan, Kansas-based Boomer Consulting might fairly be called a master of the obvious in giving these seven steps for choosing seven, as opposed to six or nine steps at all. But as Connors shows if you forget the basics everything else you know does you zero good.

After extensive research, Hunt writes, we at Boomer Consulting decided to implement a new CRM system to replace one that wasn't providing us the desired functionality. Not surprisingly, this turned out to be a long, involved process.

So not only is it the voice of business consultants, its the voice of actual business experience. Lissen up, everyone. Based on our experience, here are seven steps we found to be useful when implementing a new system:

Decide what you want out of a CRM system. CRM is a tool to track customer information, not a sales tool. The best approach is to put together a cross-section of employees to devise a list of everything they want to see in a new system. The goal is to get as many suggestions as possible and prioritize them. This step also helps to obtain team buy-in on the system you end up purchasing.

Research systems and determine pros and cons. Once you develop a list of needs, research several systems. Don't make a final decision until you compare the pros and cons of each system. You should end up with two or three systems that fit your needs.

Obtain referrals from systems users. After narrowing down the selection, get referrals from users of each system. Ask questions that focus on your priorities. Also ask users what they like and dislike about their CRM systems. The benefit of an outside opinion is that you don't get a sales pitch.

Decide on a system and develop a CRM Team. After gathering referrals, it's time to decide on a CRM system and create a CRM Team. Choose the system that fits your needs. At this stage, turn the process over to a small CRM Team, including a technical person who is responsible for system set up and installation. Drag them out of bathrooms, but get the people you want. Be sure to also include a main user who understands the firm's processes and procedures and can help guide the customization of the system.

You may need more people on the team depending on firm size and complexity. If so, make the team representative of the areas that will use the new system. Creating a team takes the bureaucracy out of the process and streamlines decision making.

Next, customize and develop the system to meet your firm's needs. This part of the process is time-consuming and intense. Do not rush this step. It is important that the team keep in mind the priorities, while also thinking about the end-users. The system should be simple, straightforward and easy to implement and learn. The system also needs to be designed to capture customer information accurately.

Develop and implement a training program. The CRM team must become penultimate experts on the system, as their transfer of knowledge is essential to the system's success. Employees with an understanding of the system will be more apt to use it correctly. Individual training is best, since it allows employees to ask questions and improves the learning process. Regardless of how you train employees, make sure everyone is on the "same page" when you switch to the new system. Have a solid date to complete training.

Rollout, and after a few weeks review it for improvements. Is everyone using it correctly? Is it as functional as desired? What changes can improve the system? Also conduct periodic reviews and make improvements based on end-user feedback.

Remember, Hunt writes, CRM is a total company function. From the top of your organization to the bottom, everyone must be on board.

David Sims is contributing editor and CRM Alert columnist for TMCnet.