How Well Do You "CRM"?

Few business tools are still as unwieldy as CRM - Customer Relationship Management. I'm not sure why, either. Boiled down, CRM systems are fairly simple things. They are Rolodexes on steroids. The best way to describe them is to know that every customer or important name and phone number you add can offer up an entire customized history of your relationship with that person, or it can give you just the kind of basic contact information you very well may have kept in your Rolodex. It goes without saying that you can, and will access your CRM from anywhere you can get to the internet and that you can slice and dice the information to create reports and bulk correspondence easily. Calendar events and "to do's", sometimes described as tasks, round out the basics. Take all of this a step or two further into automating some of the parts of a process you repeat often, and making sure the CRM interacts in some way with the email program you use most often, and you're in business.

So do you CRM? I'll bet you do because today companies with less than 25 people now make up a large part of the market. It's even common for companies with 10 and fewer employees to use a real CRM instead of just Outlook or ACT.

If you're in the market for a CRM, here are some things to consider. Your CRM should be customized to your industry. It needs to have simple rules about what needs to go in and how the information will be kept current and relevant. It will need to be able to measure activity and produce reports. Lastly, it should let you connect with others on the "outside" - your customers and partners.

Don't bother to implement a system unless everyone in the company understands the value of having a CRM. Remember, even those who "get it" and recognize the value, won't necessarily like it or use it right from the beginning, but that doesn't mean they don't need to agree that it has value. Think of the old line..."You can lead a thirsty horse to water, but you can't make it drink". Adoption of CRM systems, or more accurately, lack thereof, is very common. Address this issue early and give lots of people the opportunity to weigh in on the design and rules of use. Trust me, there's no way to get a good picture of your customers and internal processes if you're not able to have honest conversations within your organization. Don't pick or develop something that has pages and pages of input screens and expect that they'll get filled out. They won't, and you'll simply wear your users out for no good reason.

Next pick a system that starts out with the basics and can be easily customized (understand that "easy" means you can do it yourself, in most cases). Still, our general rule of thumb is plan on at least a one-to-one ratio between your software and customization costs. This article may shed some light.

Finally, be prepared to spend some money. For a company of 25 users or less, be prepared to spend $500 - $1,000 a month. On average companies tend to spend $10,000 per user for the first year of operation, and just over $5,000 for each year following. Oh, and watch out for support costs that aren't disclosed. Remember poor support is the biggest problem.

If the cost numbers scare you, do some web researchon the top systems and the productivity benefits you should expect. Remember, don't buy a Winnebago when all you need is a Smart car or scooter for basic transportation, but don't ask your folks to ride in a go-cart when they need a high performance car. Quick deployment through easy set-up and ongoing customer support are key. And remember, when it comes to the cost, the only thing that is really too expensive to have is a failed CRM.

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