Diving Into CRM Part 2 – Getting Into the Pool

It doesn’t matter how you end up getting into the CRM pool. Whether you step, walk, jump, dive or even belly-flop into the water, once you are there it’s sink or swim. Soon after you’ve taken the plunge, it suddenly becomes very important to find a way to stay afloat. Once you have made the CRM investment, you’re committed, for a lot of reasons. (By the way, if you haven’t yet done these CRM basics, you need to – right away.)

• You’ve spent a lot of time, money and, often, credibility.
• You’ve convinced the firm of the importance of purchasing a system.
• You’ve juggled budgets to get the money for the necessary software, hardware and staff.
• You’ve entered into a multi-year ongoing relationship with a CRM provider.
• You’ve partnered with IT to utilize some of their resources.
• You’ve hired an internal or outsourced data steward.
• You’ve had your data quality evaluated to figure out how much it will cost and how long it will take to clean up.
• You’ve put communication and training plans and incentives in place.
• You’ve committed to the change management that will be necessary to successfully roll out the system.