CRM – When the going gets tough

By Mike Driver, Director at logiCRM

Times certainly are tough, with lack of confidence in the financial markets, prices falling, budgets being cut and an unwillingness to start new projects. It may be tough with less business being done but it is out there – for those who are prepared to look!

Increase client activity and focus on quality - especially in hard times

An old boss of mine always used to say "there is no business in the office". What he was actually saying was why aren't you out in the market talking to clients and potential clients, and looking for business?

He was right, communicating with clients is the most important activity to do. There is a close correlation between time spent "interacting" with clients and getting business done. 

In the good times when orders are regularly coming in, forgetting the odd client call was not an issue, but now it's different. Keeping in touch with existing clients is a top priority.  Getting out of the office to see them is crucial at this time. Not only will it give you a better chance to pick up what business there is, but it will pay dividends when things improve.

There are two important assumptions here - that you talk to the right people and have a good understanding of their business and what they are trying to achieve!

Being Informed about your Clients - the power of CRM

CRM comes in here and is the tool to boost activity. It should be at the heart of business operations not in a corner where staff feel either obliged or told to use it. It should work in conjunction with the "business" to provide the right client information for regular day to day analysis, gathering and reporting requirements - data in the right place, the right format at the right time.

CRM has been closely associated with sales and marketing, however it is much broader than this, and should incorporate all business areas as the graphic below shows. Many departments have client contacts and all the relevant data from each of these different functions can enhance the quality of data available to all.

This is particularly true in international business when dealing with cross border clients across different product areas. There is a need for a consistent approach to clients, irrespective of location, culture, language or time zone.   

Users will be rightly concerned about security, others about "giving up my information" and there will be Chinese Walls. These issues can be addressed with pragmatic solutions to satisfy correct legal requirements, while giving considerable benefits to all underlying business departments.

But CRM doesn't work?

CRM has been maligned a lot and with some justification. There have been costly failures.  A typical comment follows: "We have a CRM system, it's ok. Some use it and some don't, it's not that easy to use and the data isn't always up to date"

Clearly it does depend on who is making this comment. There will be different responses from the project manager who rolled it out, compared to the sales or marketing staffer who has to use it! They will each judge success in a different way.

Asking who is responsible for keeping data up to date is illuminating and throws up answers which will give an extremely good insight into how successful the CRM roll out has been and whether it is really part of day to day operations or not.

While being more in favour of the stick over the carrot, the sales force won't use it consistently unless there are benefits in it for them. There is no point in forcing use. Data from other systems should be added to provide more benefit and reasons for use from day one. 

Often difficult data integrations programmes are delayed until Phase 2, having a significant negative effect on user acceptance and initial enthusiasm.

A Philosophy for CRM success

Of course there have been CRM success stories and based on experience gained over a number of years, there are four crucial steps required to make CRM work. To be central to daily operations, just as much as email or accounting systems:

• Clearly defined and measurable objectives which fall in line with business strategy.  To set manageable user expectations throughout.
• Commitment and on-going support at senior level to focus on the customer. To implement a programme which implements the necessary cultural change across the board.
• To implement rules for data management, ownership and operational process which are obligatory for all, included in job specifications, targeted and measured. 
• To provide systems which meet business requirements, are fit for purpose, easy to use and flexible to change with market conditions

Clearly defined objectives

The CRM system must flow from the requirements of the business. For example, if the main objective is to gain market share in a certain geography or product area, a key requirement is the ability to set a target (at whatever level) and then measure it on an ongoing basis. It must be possible to record the activity of sales and account management personnel to determine best performers and to set a benchmark for others to attain. 

Once these objectives and detailed requirements have been determined all aspects of the programme flow from them. They will be used for design specification, testing, process flow, data identification requirements and ownership, benefit communication, reporting, training definition and the user adoption programme. Everyone working from the same principles.

Management must Manage

Successful CRM requires management commitment across the board and at all levels, ideally a senior "visionary" who wants improvement and change. All staff use client data so to make it work requires "joint responsibility" as well as team and corporate collaboration. 

This will necessitate change in culture and operations from the top downwards. The Client should become central. Data ownership should become more formal, with management and staff becoming accountable for making it work with agreed and measurable targets.  When it works your business will fly!

Comprehensive Data Ownership and Process Rules

CRM and Client data is far more about people than systems. This is not to say that systems are not important, they are. However the best system in the world will struggle, if not operated consistently.

One of the main reasons why CRM is unsuccessful is due to the lack of comprehensive data rules, then the management commitment to make it work.

Key data items need to be defined up front. Adding a new company is an excellent example. If there are no rules or checks around this process, staff will create duplicates and information will be added to the easiest to access record. Staff will quickly become frustrated and disillusioned.

Rules do not have to be onerous on busy people. Management should be responsible for data - not necessarily for entering it. CRM should free up sales personnel to be in the market, particularly at these times. They should provide data nuggets. Then responsibility should be given to admin staff for verifying and updating data on an ongoing basis.

This is basic but fundamental. If there is no sound foundation, the rich functionality which will be added in future will flounder.

The application must be easy to use and fit for purpose

This sounds obvious but we often hear the comment "its not user friendly" or "it doesn't work the way we work".

The application needs to work the way in which the business works. Even though there are many similarities between the way financial institutions work, actual operations can be different so the CRM system needs to reflect this.

It can be difficult to gather what users want so use the "day in the life" approach which pulls out their daily working activity. Working with a number of different user types and management will amalgamate this into a cohesive set of needs.

A good example is the use of email. Saying "It must synchronise with Outlook", is not good enough. What level of detail, when should it sync, which is the master record etc is required etc.

Once all your requirements are defined and signed off, ensuring that any potential solution "does what it says on the tin" is important. Test that it performs in the way you want, the tyres to be kicked! It must be easy for all users to use, flexible, simple to change and open to legacy systems and data transfer.

CRM - Set high standards then stage to achieve them

Rolling out CRM is a major task. It requires across department collaboration and communication as well as the amalgamation of a number of agendas which may be different but all of which must be accommodated.

It should aim high with a declared and ultimate goal which will be achievable with the right approach, willingness and commitment from management. It must be flexible to account for the ever changing market conditions which we have seen.

There must be stages and quick wins along the way, focusing on priorities which relieve the immediate pain.

Successful CRM not only enables the business to function far more smoothly and productively, it improves intra-department communication and adds significantly to the bottom line. Good luck!

About logiCRM
logiCRM is a proven, successful, hands-on business and technical consultancy, focusing on the finance and banking industries. We provide a range of services to enable us to review your current operations. Our solutions will enhance the data management, business processes and information flows within and between all departments in your organisation.