CRM Projects: Why They Fail and How to Prevent Failure

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The goal of a successful CRM implementation is to boost efficiency, improve customer satisfaction, simplify access to customer data and make the most of up-sell and cross-sell opportunities. Ideal implementation should make it easier for users to acquire actionable data in real-time from a range of sources and convert the CRM data repository into a key resource.

However, this is easier said than done. According to a CIO magazine report from 2017, one-third of all CRM projects tend to fail. This figure was based on calculating the average of a dozen analyst reports. The actual numbers range from 18% to almost 70% failure rate.

Now, failure to successfully implement a CRM solution can be attributed to a range of factors, such as technological limitations, problems with data integrity, and a limited budget. But, the real reason behind the failure is improper implementation.

More often than not, organisations use CRM systems for the wrong purposes. For starters, it is mainly used to inspect processes, including reporting on the progress of a sale, providing accurate forecasts, increasing visibility, and forecasting project delivery dates. As you can see, none of these goals have a direct impact on increasing sales.

Then, there’s the issue of many masters. CRM systems usually tend to serve multiple departments, each with their own agendas and needs. This forces them to cater to varied objectives when the actual objective is to increase sales and boost revenue.

Here are a few suggestions to fix these issues.

Focus on Revenue

As stated earlier, the main goal of CRM implementation is to boost revenue. It is the sales team that should be driving the CRM strategy. The rest of the departments, except for the marketing team, do not get to shape the purpose of your CRM solution. It is not to be used for satisfying administrative reporting requirements.

Sales teams should be encouraged to use the system to manage their sales and access customer data resources with ease, especially during the sales cycle.

Focus on Improvements, Not Reporting

It is sales management that drives CRM success. They decide how sales teams should use the system. If the sales management team decides to leverage the CRM system for inspecting call volume, activity, or any such metric, it’s going to result in the generation of useless and irrelevant data.

Sales management must learn to leverage CRM as a tool to develop sales strategies and exploit opportunities. The management side must coach the sales teams on this.

Integrate Marketing & Sales

Finally, marketing and sales must see eye to eye and start focusing on opportunities that are worth pursuing. This means developing a shared perception of what is a “qualified lead” and what an ideal customer profile should look like. This will help businesses avoid leads that are worthless.

As they progress further in the sales cycle, marketing and sales should collaborate to create materials that are in line with specific customer objectives and case studies. This should be done instead of developing a standard or low-value collateral.

Your CRM solution should be the glue that holds marketing and sales together.

If you are looking to implement a CRM system or need some advice on how to best use your current system, contact us today for more information! With iMovo’s technical expertise, implementation will be smooth and seamless, and we provide ongoing consultancy and training, tailored to your company’s needs. Our team of experts are also certified to answer all of your queries.