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Get the Most Out of Your CRM

In today’s connected world, continuous optimization of enterprise applications to realize your digital strategy is key.

Client 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.

Name Actions
Get the Most Out of Your CRM – Executive Brief
Get the Most Out of Your CRM – Phases 1-3

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
Get the Most Out of Your CRM Workbook

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

Name Actions
CRM Application Inventory Tool

3. Build your optimization roadmap

Build your optimization roadmap: process improvements, software capability improvements, vendor relationships, and data improvement initiatives.

Name Actions

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
1.1 Determine your CRM optimization team.
  • CRM optimization team
1.2 Align organizational goals.
  • CRM business model
  • CRM optimization goals
1.3 Inventory applications and interactions.
  • CRM system inventory and data flow
1.4 Define business capabilities.
  • CRM process list
1.5 Explore CRM-related costs (optional).
  • CRM and related costs

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
2.1 Conduct gap analysis for CRM processes.
  • CRM process gap analysis
2.2 Perform an application portfolio assessment.
  • CRM application portfolio assessment
2.3 Review vendor satisfaction.
  • CRM software reviews survey

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
3.1 Explore process gaps.
  • CRM process optimization priorities
3.2 Analyze user satisfaction.
3.3 Assess data quality.
3.4 Understand product satisfaction and vendor management.
  • CRM vendor optimization opportunities
3.5 Look for CRM cost optimization opportunities (optional).
  • CRM cost optimization

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
4.1 Identify key optimization areas.
  • CRM optimization roadmap
4.2 Build your CRM optimization roadmap and next steps.

Testimonials

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...

Christian Healthcare Ministries, Inc. viaWorkshop

Overall this was a great experience. I was able to see things from a different perspective.

American Realty Advisors viaWorkshop

Feedback on questions to ask during vendor demos and additional research she did on the ones we are considering.

American Realty Advisors viaWorkshop