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Make CRM stickEight ways to increaseCRM adoption in your organization

On average, On average,1. Succeed whereothers fail with CRMJust a decade ago, fewer than half of sales organizations took advantage ofCRM, but today, nearly 83% have implemented CRM.1 Achieving a competitiveadvantage is no longer about being the first of your peers to deploy a CRMsystem; it’s about making the wisest use of customer information to evolve yoursales, marketing, and customer service best practices.CRM can only help improve sales and the customer experience if it’s fullyand consistently adopted throughout the organization. Many companies haveimplemented CRM solutions, but too often, actual adoption and usage amongemployees remains low.In a recent survey of sales and marketing professionals, 87% indicated they wererequired to use CRM, but 79% of those professionals admit they just “check thebox” to satisfy their bosses.2 Adoption requires more than forcing employees tocheck the box. Employees need to add real value by inputting useful informationinto the CRM system and following business processes that take advantage of itscapabilities.Insteadof gettingmaximum valuefrom CRM,79% of employeesadmit they just“check the box” tosatisfy superiors.22

What makes a CRM initiative fail?Change is hard and some people will try to avoid it—even if the change is forthe better.Many CRM initiatives fail because the solution selected won’t work in the way thatthe organization’s sales, marketing, and customer service departments are usedto doing business. Instead of adding technology to enhance your existing recipefor success, many CRM vendors will ask you to up-end established businessprocesses in order to force fit their technology. CRM adoption can also fail if anorganization doesn’t properly communicate its CRM policies or adequately trainits employees.Choosing aCRM solutionthat adaptseasily to yourorganization’sunique businessmodel can helpyou win higheradoption rates3

The secret to successful deploymentIs there a secret to successful CRM deployments?In many ways, the “X factor” is you.That X factor is your company’s unique value proposition, your way of doingbusiness, and how you build relationships that drives your success.A new CRM solution will contribute to your organization’s success only in as muchas it can help enhance what makes your company unique. To win more sales andincrease profitability, a CRM system needs to help you scale up your company’ssuccess factors and deliver the same great experience to more customers. High adoption rates are the key toCRM successYour CRM initiative will fail if nobodyuses the system. To make CRM“stick” throughout your organization,you need to choose the right solutionand plan your implementation well.4

2. Create a solidimplementationplanBefore you begin evaluating CRMsystems, do some careful planningIn fact, do a lot of planning. Consider how youwill use a CRM system in your organization, so thatyou can roll it out the right way and in the rightbusiness areas.Review your existing business processes. Do theywork? Are your people productive and efficient? Ifyes, don’t change those processes. Don’t choose aCRM solution that forces you to work differently inorder to use the software.However, if your business needs someimprovements, now is the time to plan a better way.Don’t be afraid to create new workflows if the oldones don’t work well. The right CRM vendor cangive you a lot of good ideas for creating efficient,automated workflows in sales, marketing, andcustomer service.5

Your team won’t adopt a CRM systemunless it’s easy to use wherever theyare working. You need a system that’sdesigned for use on smartphones andtablets. Mobile devices are widelyemployed in the sales profession,and more than three-quarters ofchief sales officers think mobileCRM improves overall sales teamperformance.3 Of organizationsalready using CRM, 74% have enabledmobile CRM.476%of Chief Sales Officers (CSOs) thinkmobile CRM improves overall salesteam performance.574%of Chief Sales Officers have enabledmobile CRM.14.6%A successful CRM system shouldhelp you meet up with customers andprospects anywhere. CRM has to bemobile in order to go with you—acrossthe office, out on the sales floor andinto the field.the increase in productivity whenselling organizations add mobileaccess to CRM.626.4%the productivity increaseresulting from using social-andmobile-enabled CRM.7Give employeesmobile access to CRM6

3. Choose a highlyflexible solutionYour CRM solution must have the flexibility to adapt to the way you alreadydo business. That’s what will help your new CRM grow and adapt as yourbusiness changes. It’s the best way to ensure the long term viability of yourCRM investment.Take time to understand the philosophy of each CRM vendor. Get to know thetype of software platform that each CRM system is built on. Is it designed withopen architecture that makes it easy to integrate the CRM system with your otherbusiness solutions?The bestCRM solutionswill be: Flexible Adaptive IntuitiveChoose a solution designed to maximize flexibilitywhile minimizing complexity. Selecting a CRM systemwith adaptive architecture can help your organization: Efficient Integrated Scalable Mobile Create cost-effective, purpose-builtapplications Automate existing businessprocesses for greater efficiency Scale up what already works aboutyour customer experience Securely access, update andshare information on thedevices you prefer Social Enjoy a minimal learning curve7

4. Choose a CRMsystem that’s easyto personalizeGive your team a CRM solution that worksthe way they doAs previously mentioned, your CRM system will need to work naturally withinyour business processes. And where it doesn’t, you’ll want a system that youcan configure and personalize without having to involve your IT departmentevery time you want to make a change.Many CRM solutions have enhanced configuration functionality built in thathelps CRM users and administrators to: Tailor the CRM system to captureand preserve unique businessprocesses Adapt processes to accommodateunique user, team, company andindustry requirements Easily create rich, personalizeduser experiences Ensure greater user adoption of theCRM system and higher productivityCRM must adaptand evolve withyour businessTo go the distance in a rapidlychanging world, your CRM systemshould scale up as your workforcegrows. Being able to customize thesystem without coding will helpmake it easier to adapt the softwarewhen your business workflowschange.8

5. Use email to youradvantageEmployees are most productive using the productivity tools they know and love,such as Microsoft Outlook . Giving your sales professionals a CRM solutionthat incorporates these tools, instead of trying to replace them, helps drivehigher CRM adoption rates and helps ensure that your organization captures theinformation needed for successful operations.Lacking a CRM system, many sales professionals try to manage customerrelationships with Outlook. Sales managers can be frustrated to discover that afterimplementing a new CRM system, important customer information still residesin sales reps’ email streams. Instead of fighting sales people about the way theyprefer to work, choose a CRM solution that harnesses the power of both systemsto help employees move from email to action.Put CRM inside your inbox to drive higher CRM adoption by sales professionalsand make it easier for occasional users in your organization to access and editCRM information.Put CRM insideyour inboxto drive higherCRM adoptionby salesprofessionalsand make it easierfor occasionalusers in yourorganization toaccess and editCRM information9

On average, On average,6. Select a systemwith social mediacapabilitiesSocial media gives your sales and marketing professionals the opportunityto understand more about your customers than ever before. The Millennialgeneration researches products and services online and shares opinions aboutbusinesses like yours with their social networks. Your CRM system needs tohave social media capabilities, so you can find your customers online and gatherimportant information from their social conversations.Social CRM increasesthe productivity of salesprofessionalsby nearly 12%8Understand your customersGet to know your customers on a more personal level and reduce theawkwardness of cold calls by first reviewing social media profiles storedas links within your CRM. Choose a system that also enables you to reviewwhat customers or prospects post on social media apps such as Twitter andLinkedIn . It’s helpful if you can see a customer’s entire social media stream on asingle, unified timeline. You should be able to easily reply to any post from withinyour CRM.Take action and connectIt’s important that your CRM provides capabilities to translate social media postsinto actionable responses such as notes, leads, opportunities, to-dos, tickets, andfeature requests. Track social activities and topics trending with your customersusing search terms or hash tags, so you’ll be able to create better social buzz foryour company and its products or services.10

7. When you go live withCRM, don’t turn backWith any new system or new way of doing things, there will be someinternal resistance to change. It’s important to communicate theimportance of your CRM initiative and make it clear that buy-in forCRM comes from the top down. Explain to employees how the CRMsystem will help them work more effectively and help the companymeet objectives.Develop a set of procedures for employees to follow when theycapture new customer information in the CRM system. Once thesystem is ready to go live, set the date for employees to adopt thenew system and procedures. Shut down any systems your new CRMis meant to replace.Don’t make many exceptions toyour new CRM procedures orallow multiple systems to runconcurrently.If you do, change-resistantemployees will slip back in to old,familiar habits, jeopardizing overalladoption of the new CRM system.11