CRM Evaluation Process
Step One – CRM Assessment
Our consultants work with you to analyze your CRM needs and implementation to determine where the issues lie and how you could be more successful.
Step Two – Planning and Goal Setting
Where do you go from here? Should you find a way to better leverage the investment you have made in your current CRM system, or should you start over and invest in new technology? Our experts evaluate your situation to help you determine the best course of action.
Step Three – Implementation / Configuration Assessment
If you are staying with your current CRM, we can help make adjustments – to system configuration, training, processes and expectations. We’ll help you reconfigure your system and reenergize your users to increase adoption and success.
If you decide to move to a new CRM, we can help with planning, goal setting and choosing the right replacement.
Step Four – Rollout or Redeployment
Our experts work with you to create a roadmap for your rollout and guide you as you implement a new CRM. If you are redeploying your existing CRM software, we help ensure that you have the right training and communication plans and tools to ensure buy-in.
CRM Evaluation Solutions
CRM Success Assessment and Analysis
Useful for these CRM Stages: All Stages (Review – Step One)
The first step in CRM success is analyzing your CRM needs and expectations. The CRM Success Assessment provides crucial information and assistance to guide the CRM selection, planning and/or implementation (redeployment) processes. Detailed interviews are conducted with key stakeholders to gain insight into the organization’s key priorities and initiatives to create a Strategic CRM Plan customized to your needs. The information is synthesized into a document that serves as a roadmap for success. The analysis will identify challenges to and opportunities for success and will provide you with recommendations, information, ideas and best practices.
CRM Configuration Review
Useful for these CRM Stages: Improvement; Review (Improvement – Step One; Review – Step One)
Improper configuration of a CRM can cause a host of problems. A system that has been used for many years can accumulate a surplus of orphaned contact records, dated lists and outdated or duplicative data that can decrease user trust and discourage usage. To help prevent these issues, we review all areas of the system as well as your processes and procedures and create a report on how to optimally configure the system to achieve your goals.
CRM Process and Resource Assessment
Useful for these CRM Stages: Improvement; Review (Improvement – Step One; Review – Step One)
Our consultants review key areas of your staffing and procedures to help you move forward. We investigate marketing processes such as event management and eMarketing and interview key CRM staff to evaluate job responsibilities, technology skills and knowledge of CRM. Our report contains recommendations and best practices for modifications or improvements to make your system and processes more efficient and effective.
Strategic Data Quality Assessment
Useful for these CRM Stages: Improvement; Review (Improvement – Step One; Review – Step One)
When did you last take time to assess the data in your CRM? To be truly successful, a CRM must have clean data. We help you evaluate your data quality and determine the optimal resources that should be deployed for database maintenance and integrity. We then work together with you to formulate a plan for ongoing data quality success.
Targeted CRM RFP Creation / CRM Vendor and System Assessment
Useful for these CRM Stages: Selection, Review (Selection – Step Three; Review – Step Two)
Selecting the right CRM system and provider is essential to CRM success. Some CRM systems ‘demo’ well – with lots of bells and whistles – but have few successful implementations. Other systems have entered the market only to exit a few years later, leaving their customers without support. It’s important to find a CRM provider who takes the time to understand your unique needs and will be there in the future for ongoing service and support. We help you select and assess potential vendors and create a RFP that levels the playing field, so you can make the critical comparisons between systems and vendor responses. We also assist with contract negotiations to ensure you get the right system at the right price.
CRM Configuration Services
After an organization has been using the CRM for some time, it can sometimes benefit from reconfiguration. Our consultants help review and reconfigure your CRM tailored to your workflow and share best practices for success.
CRM Rollout Planning and Assistance
Useful for these CRM Stages: Selection, Review (Selection – Step Two; Review – Step Two)
Targeted CRM Communications Planning
Effective communication is essential to CRM adoption and success. To gain buy-in, you have to demonstrate to users what is in it for them. Our communication plan is focused on understanding your need to communicate value and drive adoption. Emphasis is on how CRM will make users’ work easier, enhance business development efforts and improve service. We can help you craft a communication plan to set user expectations, encourage enthusiasm, enhance adoption and promote success.
Data Quality Planning and Goal Setting
Useful for these CRM Stages: All Stages
Planning is essential to CRM success. In the initial stages of a CRM rollout, a data quality plan must be put into place for cleaning duplicates and standardizing data. If you currently have a CRM, you may have never created a full functional data quality plan. Our team will help you create a plan that allows you to optimize your staffing and avoid missteps that can drain time, money and resources. We can also help you gauge your return on investment by providing periodic progress updates throughout your data cleansing process.
Data Standards Guide Creation
Successful data quality processes begin with setting data standards. Our team will work together with you to create a Data Standards Guide that reflects your organization’s unique style. This guide will assist your end users in consistent contact entry and formatting to reduce the number of duplicates and incorrect data entries in your CRM. This guide will also be an invaluable resource for your data team to help make the cleanup process more efficient and effective.
Data Quality and Cleaning Solutions
Useful for these CRM Stages: All Stages
CRM users can have hundreds of contacts, many of which can be duplicates. As more contacts are entered into a CRM, the resulting “data dump” can be daunting. Our Data Quality Solutions team has the time, technology and expertise to provide you with clean, complete and correct data.
Whether you need full-time data quality professionals to maintain and enhance ongoing data quality or several people to assist you with a CRM rollout or major data quality project, we can muster the right resources for you – and often at significant cost savings !
CRM Training
Your CRM investment will not be fully realized unless the system is used regularly and consistently. To encourage adoption, people have to want to use the system. The key to driving adoption is user-focused training. Our CRM training focuses on the why, not the how of CRM. Training is tied to the needs and business processes of key user groups. We focus on the individual user’s perspective – identifying reasons they should want to use the system and “what’s in it for them.”
Whether you need full training for your entire organization or customized “Train the Trainer” workshops, our trainers can help with training for key groups including: Power users, CRM end users, administrative staff, data stewards, IT and support staff.
Our consultants can also work with you to deliver high impact, easy-to-understand customized training documentation. From complete user manuals to quick reference guides for specific tasks to educational videos and email communications, we tailor our CRM documentation to fit your unique needs.
Let Us Help You Decide
Time to make a decision? Contact us for help in making your CRM initiative successful.
