CRM Implementation: 8 Steps To Adopt The Strategy

CRM Implementation: What do you need to run your business efficiently? This is a question that many entrepreneurs and managers constantly ask themselves.

And when finding an answer, it is clear that a CRM is among the most accurate alternatives. But, in practice, do you know what it takes to implement a CRM?

In short, a good CRM allows companies to simplify their efforts and create an automated process of continuous communication with their contact base, whether formed by customers or leads.

Many people know the solution but end up stopping at this part precisely because they don’t know what steps are needed to carry out an exemplary implementation of a CRM. To help you get started, we’ve prepared a list of the eight essential steps you need to take.

Make A Good Plan

Like any other system implementation project within a company, the first step should be planning. Having the alignment of what to expect with the arrival of this new solution is essential to understand what the process will be like from now on.

It is common for a project manager to be designated someone responsible for monitoring and actively working on implementing a CRM. It is he who must describe the deficiencies in the business processes that led to the search for this solution and the proposed schedule to complete this change.

Define Your Main Needs

What goals does your company want to achieve by using a CRM? To successfully implement this tool, it is necessary to analyze the needs of the business.

In most cases, the project team skips the assessment of current processes and starts looking for technology options without determining what you need. In this case, there is a high chance that the choice will be made wrong.

At this stage, some meetings should be held to understand the needs of the customer service, sales and marketing teams. You must establish a shared vision of how CRM impacts each department.

Know The Main Variables For Choosing A CRM

Focusing on the main variables of CRM choice is one of the basic principles that help you choose the best solution provider for your company.

• Evaluation of those who already use it: try to know the assessment of other platform users. For this, it is worth talking to other colleagues and seeking reviews from others. Sites like G2crowd and Gartner concentrate on total reviews and comments from other users.
• Level of technical support: Assess whether the CRM vendor has ongoing technical support. This helps your team to be more relaxed in case you run into any problems;
• Assistance in implementation: another variable that generates a tremendous impact on organizations is the assistance of the company responsible for the CRM at the time of execution. The contact with a new solution causes several doubts, which is why it is essential to have support now.

Analyze If You Need To Integrate With Other Systems That The Company Uses

CRM is a tool that already brings a series of features. Still, to get all the benefits we already know, it is essential to understand if there is technical feasibility to integrating with other systems already used.

This step comes before choosing your software, so you don’t only find out later that the effort was in vain because of these compatibility issues with other programs.

All systems used by the company must work flawlessly for truly effective software integration. In addition, there are several features that you should consider when selecting CRM system technology :

• the set of available tools;
• database support;
• data synchronization;
• the security;
• real-time integration.

Choose A CRM

The objective in choosing your CRM software is to promote and support the customer service process and sales and marketing optimization, correct? This means that software selection should be based on functionality for these areas.

That’s why it’s essential to ensure that each supplier has demonstrated how you can use their products and services. A good tip is to check out their success stories.

Selecting a vendor that communicates well, meets business requests and needs, and has extensive market experience is essential as it shows that they will support you properly and be with you for the life of your CRM system.

Train The Teams

The training process is vital in implementing CRM. It allows users who will contact the solution daily to understand how it works and become familiar with the system. The team ahead of the implementation must ensure that the most critical set of features is the focus of training.

Never skip this step; this is your opportunity to show how your new system works and teach your users how to perform essential tasks. It’s also time to establish best practices and demonstrate how the system will work according to your company’s goals. Don’t wait until your users appear frustrated or stop using CRM for lack of qualified training.

Start The Testing Phase

Once you’ve gone through this training step, it’s time to get your hands dirty. But first, each section of the CRM must be tested by the users who depend on these functionalities.

Some interesting topics to start the testing are going through report management, doing a sales test, running test contacts through the pipeline and filtering the most relevant communications.

This entire testing period ensures that the system works as expected and has the accuracy in the processes used to close a new deal.

Make Practical Use And Management

With everything ready, paying attention in the first days of practical use is essential. Measuring the operational performance of the CRM is critical, as it helps to understand if there are constant crashes that could hamper the progress of activities.

The team or person responsible for implementing a CRM must obtain continuous feedback on the system from users and keep this information open with the supplier. This information helps generate insights into new features, which can further leverage the possibilities with this system.

Also Read: Five Practical Tips To Put The Customer First In A Business