The subject of this post was prompted by a discussion about CRM implementation failure that I saw in the CRM Experts forum on LinkedIn this week, which prompted me to summarise my thoughts on the main reasons CRM projects fail. Just to give this a bit of definition, when I Continue Reading

I’ve worked with a lot of clients who have, or have had, home-grown CRM systems. In other words, they’ve decided to develop something themselves rather than buy one of the many commercial CRM offerings. The rationale has often been that they had a very specific set of needs and wanted Continue Reading

I wrote a blog post a week or so back about the merits or otherwise of recruiting in-house developers as part of a CRM project. I put the post on LinkedIn’s CRM Experts Group for comment, and one of the things that got mentioned was the alternative of using contractors Continue Reading

I’ve had a few conversations in recent weeks with organisations who are considering recruiting an in-house developer for their CRM system, rather than use, or solely use, the services of a third-party implementer.  Please note I’m referring to the in-house developer implementing a commercial CRM application such as Salesforce.com or Continue Reading

At some point, either during or after implementation of your CRM system, someone in your company is going to ask you for some reports. Inevitably, the one report they ask for will be the one for which you either don’t have the data or the one that requires you to Continue Reading

A lot of businesses invest in CRM technology, but surprisingly few use it that well. The majority of systems that get implemented sort of get used, but don’t necessarily make a fundamental difference to the bottom line. By contrast a relatively small minority use CRM technology very successfully, and often Continue Reading

When you’re looking at CRM pricing, which is generally stated on a person per month basis, it’s easy to underestimate the long-term cost of a system. £70 per user per month might not sound that much, but over the life of the system it’s going to add up – £420,000 Continue Reading

Often, one of the most technical parts of a CRM implementation project is the integration of the CRM platform to other back or front office systems. In my experience, organisations are often happy to let their implementation partners worry about the technical detail as long as the business outcome is Continue Reading

Picture the scene. You and your implementation partner have been working for months to implement your carefully thought out CRM system. The requirements specification has been met and the day to set the system live has finally arrived. Your excitement levels are at maximum as you look forward to the Continue Reading

A couple of weeks back I wrote a piece about what I saw as the key roles in a CRM project. In this article, to help anyone planning a project, I’m going to outline what I see as the key phases. So, largely in sequential order: Initial planning and feasibility Continue Reading