Get the Most Out of Your CRM
In today’s connected world, continuous optimization of enterprise applications to realize your digital strategy is key.
Member Challenge
- Application optimization is essential to stay competitive and productive in today’s digital environment.
- Enterprise applications often involve large capital outlay, unquantified benefits, and high risk of failure.
- Customer relationship management (CRM) application portfolios are often messy with multiple integration points, distributed data, and limited ongoing end-user training.
- User dissatisfaction is common.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
A properly optimized CRM ecosystem will reduce costs and increase productivity.
Impact and Result
- Build an ongoing optimization team to conduct application improvements.
- Assess your CRM application(s) and the environment in which they exist. Take a business-first strategy to prioritize optimization efforts.
- Validate CRM capabilities, user satisfaction, issues around data, vendor management, and costs to build out an optimization strategy.
- Pull this all together to develop a prioritized optimization roadmap.
Research & Tools
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should optimize your CRM, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.
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Get the Most Out of Your CRM – Executive Brief
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Get the Most Out of Your CRM – Phases 1-3
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1. Map current-state capabilities
Gather information around the application:
1. Identify CRM optimization team.
2. Inventory current system state.
3. Complete the CRM business model to create goals and organizational alignment.
4. Identify key CRM processes (optional).
| Name | Actions |
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Get the Most Out of Your CRM Workbook
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2. Assess your current state
Assess CRM and related environment. Perform CRM process assessment. Assess user satisfaction across key processes, applications, and data. Understand vendor satisfaction
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CRM Application Inventory Tool
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3. Build your optimization roadmap
Build your optimization roadmap: process improvements, software capability improvements, vendor relationships, and data improvement initiatives.
| Name | Actions |
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Onsite Workshop: Get the Most Out of Your CRM
Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Do-It-Yourself Implementation
The slides in this Best Practice Blueprint will walk you step-by-step through every phase of your project with supporting tools and templates ready for you to use.
Project Accelerator Workshop
You can also use this Best Practice Blueprint to facilitate your own project accelerator workshop within your organization using the workshop slides and facilitation instructions provided in the Appendix.
Module 1: Define Your CRM Application Vision
The Purpose
- Define your CRM application vision.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Develop an ongoing application optimization team.
- Realign CRM and business goals.
- Understand your current system state capabilities.
- Explore CRM and related costs.
| Activities | Outputs |
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| 1.1 Determine your CRM optimization team. |
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| 1.2 Align organizational goals. |
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| 1.3 Inventory applications and interactions. |
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| 1.4 Define business capabilities. |
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| 1.5 Explore CRM-related costs (optional). |
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Module 2: Map Current-State Capabilities
The Purpose
- Map current-state capabilities.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Complete a CRM process gap analysis to understand where the CRM is underperforming.
- Review the CRM application portfolio assessment to understand user satisfaction and data concerns.
- Undertake a software review survey to understand your satisfaction with the vendor and product.
| Activities | Outputs |
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| 2.1 Conduct gap analysis for CRM processes. |
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| 2.2 Perform an application portfolio assessment. |
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| 2.3 Review vendor satisfaction. |
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Module 3: Assess CRM
The Purpose
- Assess CRM.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Learn which processes you need to focus on.
- Uncover underlying user satisfaction issues to address these areas.
- Understand where data issues are occurring so that you can mitigate this.
- Investigate your relationship with the vendor and product, including that relative to others.
- Identify any areas for cost optimization (optional).
| Activities | Outputs |
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| 3.1 Explore process gaps. |
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| 3.2 Analyze user satisfaction. |
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| 3.3 Assess data quality. |
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| 3.4 Understand product satisfaction and vendor management. |
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| 3.5 Look for CRM cost optimization opportunities (optional). |
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Module 4: Build the Optimization Roadmap
The Purpose
Build the optimization roadmap.
Key Benefits Achieved
Understanding where you need to improve is the first step, now understand where to focus your optimization efforts.
| Activities | Outputs |
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| 4.1 Identify key optimization areas. |
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| 4.2 Build your CRM optimization roadmap and next steps. |
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Testimonials
We really appreciated Tom flexibility in adapting the workshop content to our needs. He was quite accommodating during the planning phase and even to our day-of requests. Tom facilitation style was excellent and he guided the discussion well and kept u...
The best part was the feedback I was given when asking questions that are specific to my situation. I feel everything is being tailored to me rather than just some canned course of action. The experience went really well so I don't have anything negative...
Overall this was a great experience. I was able to see things from a different perspective.
Feedback on questions to ask during vendor demos and additional research she did on the ones we are considering.