Saul Fofana, Penrod’s Client Engagement Manager, believes that all great customer experiences start with “Why?”. He enjoys the challenge and process of building products our clients need and ensures our clients are fulfilled, motivated and valued throughout the implementation process. In this four part blog, he will share his experiences with Salesforce.com and how to get the most out of your next project.
Why CRM?
Any organizational change, whether it be people, process, or product – should start with “Why?”. Understanding the “Why?” for your CRM implementation is crucially important to the success of the project. Sure you could rattle off the standard benefits of CRM – tracking customer interactions, opportunity pipelines, notes, or my personal favorite “increased profitability” – but the goals and reasoning behind this change should be much more personal, and unique to your organization.
Understand You
Your company has unique challenges, goals, and objectives. Before implementation, make sure you understand what those goals are, and how CRM can help. Salesforce.com is just a tool, not a magic bullet. It won’t fix broken business processes or make your organization better merely by existing. Aligning your organization’s overall goals to your Salesforce.com implementation will increase
Ask the Right Questions
Remember that people are at the heart of all of the strategy, data, and insights you’ll get from CRM. User adoption and acceptance is everything. Share with your team how it will affect their personal day-to-day. Will they spend less time manually entering data? Will successful adoption of the system cut down on mandatory meetings? Will having all of the customer data in one place help the sales team get paid faster? Will everyone finally have access to the most up-to-date marketing materials? Will mobile access to all of this information make everyone more productive? Using the right tools, the right way, should make everyone’s work life easier and achieve the goals set out by your organization.
That being said, allow your end-users to share their “Why’s” – ask them to share their challenges, wants, and needs – and include them from the start. Adapting to change is far easier for people who are asked to be involved in building the new process. Incorporating feedback and listening to your users will make the change more compelling and prevent pushback and resistance. Working towards this goal as a team is far more fruitful and rewarding than trying to go it alone.
Drive Customer Engagement
The last “Why?” should be all about your customers. Your CRM implementation should help drive a better customer experience. Platforms like Salesforce.com are built for engagement. Anyone in your organization that engages with customers (sales, marketing, service) should have all the information they need to deliver value to their customers. Using CRM, anyone in your organization will have visibility into the journey the customer has taken so far. With that historical data your company should be able to craft a vision for where the customer should go next through cross-selling and up-selling your services. You should also be able to react to customer trends and feedback to ensure you’re delivering the right solution to your customers. Continuously inspecting and adapting your customer experience through CRM benefits every piece of your organization.
Stay tuned for Part 2!