The Seven Rules for Upgrading Your CRM System

You’ve got your CRM system up and running. Your sales team is using it to track leads, contacts, and forecasts. The system is a success and you’re pleased with the results. Now you want to extend your CRM system without losing any of that hard-won productivity. Here are the seven rules you should follow:

Rule #1. Focus on the customer experience. Every time the customer interacts with your firm, that customer should have a consistent experience, regardless of the nature of that contact. If your customer calls customer service, the service reps shouldn’t be telling the customer something different than what they’ve heard from their sales reps. Use this as a touchstone for any proposed CRM upgrade.

Rule #2. Keep it simple. Prioritize the functionality that the CRM upgrade will address. Sales managers need to look one year to 18 months into the future and envision what will become important in that time frame. A CRM project is far more likely to be successful and useful if future needs are anticipated and the implementation is targeted at those needs. Remember that CRM must serve three constituencies: customers, sales reps, and managers. Make sure that all three sets of needs are taken into account.

Rule #3. Limit your risk. Hiring any outside contractor, such as a systems integrator, always entails risk, because it’s impossible to be completely certain that the contractor can deliver as promised. Be sure to look at the financial strength of the vendor, the technical strength of the product, and the opinion of industry analysts. Be sure that you contact some of the vendor’s existing customers – but don’t just call the people they give as references. Dig around on the Web and find some customers that aren’t on the vendor’s list.

Rule #4. Don’t assume best-in-breed is best for you. Most software vendors claim that their product is “best-in-breed,” meaning that their product is superior to everything else that the competition has to offer. However, history has shown that attempts to build integrated systems out of “best-in-breed” applications have generally been unsuccessful, resulting in a mish-mash of user interfaces and programs that don’t work well together. In many cases you may find it more convenient to extend an existing application with a mediocre upgrade, rather than jump onto a best-in-breed that isn’t right for you.

Rule #5. Work the corporate politics upfront. Upgrading your CRM system inevitably impacts the other departments in your organization. Changes will probably have to be made to their computer systems, forcing them to suffer through everything from system down time during software upgrades to additional technical training to use new features. Make sure everyone understands this and buys in – before you start the upgrade process.

Rule #6. Avoid future legal hassles. There are many reasons that software projects fail, including loss of key personnel, unrealistic expectations, and unforeseen technical problems. Therefore, before signing any contract, obtain the services of a lawyer who specializes in software litigation. It’s unlikely that your corporate lawyers have enough experience to understand software integration contracts. Making this extra effort upfront can literally save your firm millions of dollars if the upgrade goes sour.

Rule #7. Don’t request extra functionality. Integration projects typically begin with a written specification that defines what features and functions will be part of the upgraded CRM system. However, as the project proceeds, it is inevitable that additional requirements will surface, creating a desire to have additional features tacked onto the original specification. Don’t give in to temptation. Keep the project on target but limit it to the original intent.

The above is based largely on a conversation with John Wookey, senior vice president for applications development at Oracle Corporation.