Having an optimal CRM system in place — one that addresses your business needs, serves your customers well and pleases your employees — is a high-stakes proposition. The right solution and partner can bring it all together.
In planning for a well-used CRM system consider the various involvement with your CRM users.
(Our thanks to Jeff Hanrahan, Infor CRM product manager, assoc., for his input.)
Capturing User Feedback
Once a user group is in place, your CRM partner will get his hands dirty. That involves spending some time with members to see how they use the system and how it can be tailored to their needs. The partner can offer insights from a different perspective along with best practices that can be applied. Knowing the CRM system’s capabilities will provide the pilot members with better ways of doing things that have occurred in the past.
“Sit with them and watch what they do,” Hanrahan advises. “Treat it like a conversation. As they go through their day, ask them questions. ‘Are there any steps in your daily activities that would be better if they were automated or had fewer steps involved?’ Then just sit back and watch what they do. Any time you see them going back to do something again or having their workflow disturbed, take note of it. Then try to find ways to alleviate the problem.”
Incorporating User Feedback
It’s unrealistic to expect that all user feedback captured by your CRM partner will make it into the final implemented solution. Inevitably, issues will need to be prioritized. A glaring hole or shortcoming in the system that’s affecting multiple people? That must be addressed. A minor User Interface issue mentioned by one person? Your partner might be able to get to it later on.
In the latter case, though, people shouldn’t be left hanging. “Never let feedback fall through the cracks and get lost,” Hanrahan says. “If something gets deprioritized, I try to let the person who provided the feedback know the situation. It’s all about being a good communicator — telling the person what you would want to hear if you were in their shoes. Ultimately, people want to know that they’re being heard and will be taken care of.”
Promoting User Adoption:
According to Forrester, “The cost of poor adoption is twofold: underutilized investment and unmet business objectives.” The key to getting users to actually use a CRM system for the long haul? Understanding how they work and finding or tailoring a solution that meets them there.
For example, someone in lead generation might answer emails all day — you’ll want a CRM solution that lets them work out of their email application rather than bouncing back and forth all the time. (Infor CRM makes rich data easily accessible via the Xbar panel for Outlook.) It’s all about giving people a solution that tailors to the workspace in which they operate, Hanrahan says.
“A lot of companies fall into a trap with CRM systems, where users are forced to use the tool and have to change how they think and work to adopt it,” he explains. “Your goal should be to provide a system that people actually want to use, versus have to use. That’s how you get strong user adoption.”
For more on this topic, check out our e-book, “Make CRM Stick – Eight Ways to Increase CRM Adoption in Your Organization.”