5 Biggest Roadblocks to a Successful CRM Rollout (and How to Overcome Them)

To stay ahead in today’s fiercely competitive landscape, businesses must embrace the latest tools, methods and expertise to meet growing customer demands and cut through the clutter of countless promotional materials. Neglecting this could prove disastrous.

Incorporating a Customer Relationship Management system can prove to be a game-changer for businesses by boosting sales, revenue, and customer satisfaction. However, if not implemented correctly, it could lead to adverse consequences. This article sheds light on some of the common complications enterprises may face while deploying a CRM solution.

Lack of Adequate Support from Top Management

In order for significant undertakings to succeed, having support from advocates across different levels of an organisation is paramount. To ensure optimal outcomes, it is advantageous to have the backing of senior executives, middle managers and individuals from different departments.

Top management must not only endorse the solution but also play a proactive role in executing it and encourage employees to adopt it. Middle-level managers should harness this enthusiasm to advocate the solution among their underlings. Additionally, other users, particularly those with clout, can set an example or offer guidance to their colleagues.

Inadequately Defined Strategy

Were you under the impression that your business needs a CRM prior to this conversation? While it’s a positive first step, it’s not sufficient reason in itself to deploy one. The rationale for doing so should stem from your need to streamline operations or address persistent issues. For instance, let’s assume that each salesperson in your company follows a different workflow and the sales process is ambiguously defined. This could result in some leads falling through the cracks due to employees taking time off, forgetting to follow up, etc.

Implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can simplify operations and minimise the risk of lost leads. By redirecting leads to other salespeople and issuing reminders to track pending tasks, a well-defined approach can be devised to realise your objectives. It’s crucial to identify the hurdles you’re up against, benchmarks of progress, and the outcomes you’re seeking, along with how a CRM system can aid in achieving these goals.

One of the several courses of action available is

  • Increase the sales call volume by 25%
  • Minimise missed calls by 99.9%
  • Achieve a 50% hike in customer satisfaction by enhancing customer service by 50%.
  • A sales-to-marketing pipeline that results in a 75% increase in case studies developed can lead to higher sales.

The video below elaborates on some other benefits of using a CRM system:

Insufficient Readiness

Failing to involve the right personnel at the appropriate stage or overlooking the sequence of steps while deploying the CRM system can result in missed deadlines and more issues than solutions. It’s critical to incorporate all essential steps into the implementation plan.

  • Evaluation.

    Assess the benefits and drawbacks of your current configuration, and define your objectives for the new system (refer to #2).
  • Evaluation of CRM Systems.

    When seeking a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, it’s recommended to explore several Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) solutions. Scrutinise the options available to determine if they meet the required specifications, or if a custom solution is necessary.
  • Building a CRM system from the ground up.

    Developing a bespoke CRM can be extremely time-consuming and require significant effort.
  • Data Migration.

    Ensure that the data is accurate and complete before initiating the transfer process to a new system.
  • Collaboration.

    Connecting the CRM system to the ERP or e-commerce platforms is a typical business practice.
  • User Training and Handover.

    Prior to deploying the CRM system, ensure that adequate training is provided to the end-users. Introducing the system incrementally aids in detecting and resolving issues before its full implementation.

Failing to Evaluate Risks

It’s crucial to thoroughly evaluate the potential benefits and drawbacks of implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. Accordingly, it’s vital to be mindful of the potential risks that might arise as a result of adopting a CRM system, which includes:

  • Overcommitting resources or time.

    If your organization needs a tailored system, ensure that the development costs and timeline are agreed upon in writing with the provider. Careful planning and researching available options (refer #3) can help avoid this issue.
  • Ineffective CRM system.

    Deploying a system that employees are reluctant to use is not recommended. To guarantee the system’s success, it’s best to obtain input from employees on the required features at the outset and design the system accordingly.
  • Incompatible CRM system.

    It’s critical to ascertain upfront whether the CRM system under consideration is compatible with your existing setup.

Incorrect Response

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution should fulfill three fundamental criteria, such as compatibility with existing infrastructure, user-friendliness and cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, it must successfully deliver its intended outcomes. Here are some of the key benefits that a CRM system should provide:

  • Cohesive Collaboration.

    Facilitating seamless information sharing between customers and employees is crucial for any effective Customer Relationship Management system.
  • Effortless Segmentation.

    A comprehensive customer management platform provides numerous benefits, such as centralizing all of your customer data in one place. This allows for quick and efficient collection and storage of information, enabling you to create more precise marketing strategies by dividing your customer base into segments.
  • Accurate Predictive Analysis.

    As we adopt CRM practices, we can establish a sales activity timeline over a longer duration. This data can be utilized to identify potential trends and outcomes, which helps us prepare better for the future of our company.

CRM Success: Avoid these Pitfalls

It’s evident that introducing a new CRM system can be a daunting undertaking, but one should not be discouraged by this. Deliberate consideration of each step and avoiding the common errors described can help guarantee the successful implementation of a powerful CRM system and the realization of its numerous benefits.

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