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"Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that automate and streamline financial, customer relationship, and supply chain processes in a way that helps you drive business success."
Source : Microsoft Dynamics
Deploying Customer Relationship Management Effectively: Beyond Implementation
Project Management Office (PMO) also known as : CRM System, Customer satisfaction, Customer Relationship Management Association, CRM Success Strategies Customer relationship development crms software, crm definition, define crm, 
compare crm vendors, crm success strategies, use crm, Also stood for contact management, crew resource management.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Overview: Successful CRM Deployment
- The Challenge
- The Solution
- Implementation Methodology
- The Role of Methodology
- Phases Defined
- Comprehensive Training
- Completing the Methodology
- What is Training?
- Training Best Practices
- Teach
- Reinforce
- Assess
- Inform
- Nurture
- Feedback and Follow-Up
Introduction
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions are one of today's standard business requirements. With origins as a system for sales teams, CRM has clearly evolved as a requisite tool to provide a more global benefit to the entire organization. However, without the correct CRM system in place, companies risk losing both new and existing customers.
To ensure the successful deployment of any CRM solution, two critical success factors must be incorporated into the implementation: methodology and training.
While the importance of the CRM solution's technology infrastructure cannot be diminished, it is the incorporation of proven methodology and training that transforms an implementation from a software installation to a business solution.
A well-defined implementation methodology provides the foundation for a smooth installation and thus improved processes. Here typical steps in an implementation methodology:
- Establish the business objectives to be achieved by integrating CRM.
- Align managers, departments, and users with the initiative.
- Conduct a detailed and focused assessment to match the best CRM solution with a company's infrastructure and business requirements.
- Develop a configured and customized solution that mitigates a company's specific pain points.
- Identify the strategy and plan for implementation.
- Execute the implementation.
For many businesses, once these steps have been completed the deployment of a CRM system is considered complete. But a truly integrated and fully utilized CRM solution is contingent also on how well employees know what they use and use what they know. Training is an essential component of the implementation process; and, just like the CRM solution itself, the training must support the different contexts in which users will be using the system. For example:
- End users consist of employees in departments such as sales, marketing, support, and service, and cross-departmental groups such as accounting and operations. These users benefit from hands-on user training where they can learn how the system will support daily activities.
- Administrators benefit from a detailed understanding of how the system can be managed to keep all information proprietary and secure.
- Managers benefits from additional training in reporting and deeper insight into the system so that they can make real-time adjustments to business priorities and tactics.
This paper explores how methodology and training play instrumental roles in the successful implementation of CRM solutions; if designed well, these critical components will promote organizational adoption of the solution.
Overview: Successful CRM Deployment
The Challenge
One of the most common challenges reported by midsized businesses is that departments within an organization operate and depend on many disparate systems. Sales may be using a sales automation system; operations may be accessing data through a proprietary tool; and, employees across the company might rely on the Microsoft® Outlook® messaging and collaboration client for e-mail communications. Functionally, individuals can complete daily tasks with relative success. However, collectively, these same individuals cannot make the best use of important information both intra- and interdepartmentally. Ultimately, the result is inconsistent or inaccurate communication with customers, which may compromise the ability to obtain repeat or new business.
Not surprisingly, since its introduction customer relationship management (CRM) has evolved to become a widely embraced tool for uniting critical business and customer information into one data source. CRM does not supersede data generated by each department; rather, it becomes a window into those departments that is accessible and usable by all parts of the organization.
Naturally, as the number of CRM implementations has grown, so has speculation about why implementations fail and what can be done to ensure a successful deployment.
The Solution
While CRM software itself allows companies to establish customer management practices, two important success factors ensure the true utility and benefit of the software: methodology and training.
More than just concepts, these two factors play a significant role in whether a CRM solution is considered good or bad. Again, the technology of a CRM solution cannot be undermined; a CRM system equipped with the right balance of functionality, usability, and a true collaborative view of customers can be employed to great success.
But a poorly crafted system, with weak features, too many unnecessary features, or features that can't support an entire organization, can be the cause of its own demise. Likewise, a stable system with strong and useful features that was poorly implemented has the potential of being nothing more than a desktop icon. In these cases, users don't care to distinguish between the merits of the technology versus the merits of the implementation process; rather, users are simply disenchanted with the system and thus don't use it.
To avoid this pitfall, sound methodology and targeted training help guide implementation by enrolling an organization in the change process and by quickly empowering users to know how to use the new solution.
Implementation Methodology
The Role of Methodology
Embarking on a CRM implementation with a defined methodology serves several purposes: It manages risk; it sets expectation; and it provides a mechanism to monitor change and milestones.
This practice is precisely how Spinnaker Network Solutions Inc., a Microsoft Dynamics&8482; CRM business partner in Irvine, California, approaches each CRM solution deployment. With years of experience, and through the changing tides of CRM, Spinnaker created an implementation methodology to ensure that its CRM deployments are tailored to a client's particular requirements.
Figure 1. CRM methodology flow
While the methodology itself is never compromised, the details of each phase within the methodology may shift according to the project scope. For example, the percentage of time allocated to each phase may vary: A smaller company or a subset of a larger company might require less time at the stakeholder alignment phase if there are fewer issues to be considered; however, that same company might require far more detail in the solution assessment phase due to a lack of pre-defined business processes. Understanding how a business works and how time should be allocated across the phases is a critical consideration for any partner deploying a CRM solution
Phases Defined
Phase 1:
Define the vision and business objectives that will be supported with the CRM technology. Examples of common objectives include:
- Better customer interactions by all departments through access to more accurate and timely information.
- Effective customer-centric procedures that can be easily adopted by all employees.
- Greater revenues and increased market share as a result of operational efficiencies and more targeted communication.
- Shared view of prospects and customers by the sales, marketing and support teams.
Phase 2:
Align all users, departments, and managers with the vision set forth for the CRM initiative:
- Identify stakeholders and their roles within the organization.
- Prepare a plan for how change brought about by the CRM implementation will be managed.
- Ensure that all managers and stakeholders understand, embrace, and support the plan.
Phase 3:
Conduct a strategic assessment of the company infrastructure and solution requirements to best match a CRM solution:
- Develop an outline that maps pains to the best practices of CRM.
- Detail business processes that will offer measurable improvement.
- Identify a CRM solution that alleviates the identified pain points.
Phase 4:
:Develop a solution that is configured to users' specific needs:
- Define the level of customization required versus out-of-the-box functionality.
- Identify user groups and usage requirements.
- Recommend add-on products that will enhance the solution.
Phase 5:
Develop an implementation plan that can be realistically and effectively executed:
- Define a strategy for the solution rollout and for data management and migration.
- Assign roles to initiate adoption of the CRM system among user groups.
- Identify a team to handle internal quality assurance and user testing.
Phase 6:
Roll out execute the implementation. During the implementation, additional considerations will help prepare users for the transition:
- Reiterate expectations of the new system.
- Assign "go-to" people within the organization to help support users as they transition to the new system.
- Recommend an approach for measuring process improvements.
Methodology is the foundation for ensuring that an organization's requirements are heard, understood, and answered throughout the CRM solution implementation; organizations willing to explore and accept a methodology as a part of the deployment stand a far greater chance of success in incorporating CRM into their business.
Take for example one solution implementation involving Microsoft CRM software and VLSystems, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in Southern California that specializes in secure collaboration and workflow solutions.
VLSystems relied on several tools to help various departments manage daily routines. Sales used ACT! to keep track of customers; operations and engineering used a proprietary system, vTrack, to manage projects and data; and, employees across the company used Outlook for email and calendaring activities. The question for VLSystems wasn't if or when to deploy a CRM solution, but which one and how.
By way of an introduction through Microsoft, VLSystems united with Spinnaker to drive the CRM implementation. Spinnaker met with VLSystems to determine the company's requirements and goals for the system. At this point, Spinnaker recommended that VLSystems consolidate the information stored in its disparate tools on a system based on Microsoft CRM software.
VLSystems chose Microsoft CRM for three main reasons: The solution had the strongest potential for supporting the company's information needs, it had capabilities to connect all aspects of the business, and using it would help empower customer service to exceed customer expectations.
By mapping out the process, Spinnaker was able to identify additional tools that would help VLSystems fully take advantage of the capabilities of Microsoft CRM. Further, because the process was documented, stakeholders could easily understand how the changes would impact and improve the way they work.
"I cannot stress enough how valuable Spinnaker's process was in defining our pains, identifying how Microsoft CRM would affect our business, and managing the transition smoothly," states Lee Green, Vice President Marketing, at VLSystems.
The end result was that the solution not only paid for itself in a matter of days, but, ultimately, VLSystems was able to operate with much greater efficiency.
Comprehensive Training
Completing the Methodology
While they are discussed separately, it is important to note the relationship between training and methodology. As previously mentioned, a CRM deployment is often considered complete once the implementation plan has been rolled out. However, training is just as critical as the solution itself. Without proper training, CRM systems may be improperly used or completely disregarded as a viable business tool.
Again, by way of example, when VLSystems entered the final deployment phase of its Microsoft CRM solution, it mandated a companywide training initiative that was recommended and conducted by Spinnaker. Like many businesses, VLSystems couldn't afford downtime to train employees on the Microsoft CRM solution. But the intuitive structure of Microsoft CRM combined with Spinnaker's training expertise provided a streamlined learning curve.
VLSystems employees attended a six-hour, hands-on class at Spinnaker's training center. "We provided VLSystems' employees with a replica of their new Microsoft CRM infrastructure so that we could walk them through real scenarios and applications that will be encountered on a day-to- day basis," states Mitchell Cannady, President of Spinnaker.
The response from VLSystems' employees was positive and immediate, and the training allowed all users to learn about the system in a coherent and consistent manner. The capabilities of the Microsoft CRM solution were described in terms of VLSystems' business practices to show employees how to use the new solution in their daily work.
Ultimately, having all employees actively using Microsoft CRM was a clear return on investment for VLSystems' management. "If you had a way to quantify how our operational needs were met, it would probably indicate that the solution paid for itself in less than a week," offers Green. "Customers could immediately tell the difference in how fast and how accurately we responded to them."
What is Training?
Like any other discipline that requires preparation, instruction, and practice, becoming proficient with new software solutions demands adequate training according to both the type of user and the manner in which that user assimilates information.
The goal of training is to provide users with knowledge: how to use the system; how the system will facilitate daily tasks; and how it will improve the way business is done. To do this effectively, training must focus on the processes and functionality of the new CRM system but do so in a manner that will help users embrace and absorb the information.
Table 1. Sample Training Strategies
| Group | Training type | Timing |
| End user | Classroom hands-on, computer-based | Completion of implementation |
| | Reference quick reference guide and cheat sheet | Completion of classroom instruction |
| | Advanced hands-on, computer-based, and online; topic-specific | 6'12 months after implementation |
| Administrator | Classroom hands-on, computer-based | During implementation |
| Online topic-specific | 3'6 months after implementation; in conjunction with any system upgrades |
| Manager | Classroom management-specific, hands-on, computer-based | Prior to the completion of implementation |
| | Attend end-user training to demonstrate management support | Completion of implementation |
| | Documentation specific attributes for supporting employee use of the system | Prior to the end-user training | |
| | On-site function-specific; i.e., training on reporting functions | During or at completion of add-on integrations |
Training Best Practices
Regardless of the type of training, several fundamentals help foster the adoption of current technologies and stimulate interest in more advanced usages.
Teach
Learning and understanding a new CRM system requires well-organized knowledge of the technology and the concepts that have motivated its deployment. Simply telling a group of users to accept a new system at face value rarely provokes adoption. However, if given a strategic foundation for why the application is being introduced and how it will make their lives easier, users are much more likely to embrace and use it.
Involving users from testing through deployment and into formal training not only involves them in the process, but it also empowers them to be advocates of the project.
Reinforce
Repetition is one of the best ways to absorb information and learn how to become proficient in a new skill. The adage "practice makes perfect" rings true, but "perfect practice makes perfect" is more precise.
It is important to construct a plan to reinforce the information being taught so that using the CRM system remains a standard practice within the organization. Examples of reinforcement methods are: documentation, department and company meetings, the posting of tips and tricks by CRM administrators, and refresher trainings.
Assess
Stakeholder groups have different requirements of the CRM system. As such, evaluating the progress of teams as they learn and adopt the new system helps identify places where behavioral or technical adjustments may be needed. While a CRM system can yield immediate and easily identified improvements, it is also a dynamic tool that can and should be adjusted to accommodate users' performance and functional needs. Likewise, training must remain dynamic and pliable according to users' learning and adoption curves.
Inform
As with any technology there are causes for upgrades, and training must not be abandoned as a part of the process. Quite the contrary, training is a critical factor in gaining the full utility of additions and enhancements. Keeping users informed of and trained on ways in which the CRM system will provide greater benefit instills trust and confidence in the tool.
Nurture
Human behavior proves that positive reinforcement yields positive results. If training is interesting, informative, and easily applied, users are far more excited to embrace the change and accept a new protocol. Offering rewards, whether physical or verbal, will create momentum and inspire adoption.
Feedback and Follow-Up
The introduction of any new technology incites a wave of change throughout an organization. The methodology and training outlined earlier is designed to help mitigate the potential conflicts that may arise and to facilitate the successful adoption of a CRM system.
As with most programs requiring employee participation, it is important to have a line of communication that gives users the opportunity to offer feedback upon which management can take action. Not only does feedback support the ongoing training process, where employees are active participants in how the system supports daily activities, but it also yields insight into possible improvements direct from the people who use it most.
With a well-defined methodology, an organized and customized training approach, and an accessible feedback loop, a CRM implementation will succeed in facilitating internal processes and thereby improve customer interactions.
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like and with familiar Microsoft software, automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship and supply chain processes in a way that helps you drive business success.
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White Paper
A review of two critical components of a successful CRM deployment: Methodology and Training
Date: July 2006
www.microsoft.com/crm
About the Author
Kate Dennington Ackerman served as Director of Marketing for GoldMine Software prior to its acquisition by Bendata, and during the merge of the two entities into the new corporate identity of FrontRange Solutions.
After her time at GoldMine, Ackerman founded Green Tea Consulting and continued providing marketing services to software providers and partners within the Customer Relationship Management space. Included in Green Tea Consulting's services are: Web development, brand initiatives, marketing strategy and communications, and program management. Green Tea Consulting's clientele extends beyond technology and into areas such as entertainment, consumer products, professional services, and non-profit.
For more information, visit:
www.greenteaconsulting.com
About Spinnaker Network Solutions Inc.
Spinnaker Network Solutions is a leading provider of Sales Effectiveness solutions designed to fit the specific needs of small to mid-sized businesses.
Spinnaker has fostered relationships with an array of partners in order to offer the most advanced solutions while adhering to its belief in making implementations simple in form. Spinnaker's product and service offerings award clients with an infrastructure for knowledge capture and sharing that will enable them to develop value-driven relationships with their customers.
For more information, visit:
www.spinnaker.net
About VLSystems
VLSystems is a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner that specializes in designing solutions with Microsoft products such as the Microsoft Windows Server® 2003 operating system and Active Directory® service, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, SharePoint® Portal Server, Systems Management Server, Operations Manager, SQL Server&8482; 2000 and other supporting Microsoft products. VLSystems also provides secure information solutions that involve collaboration and workflow, Cisco security, and advanced infrastructure.
For more information, visit:
www.vlsystems.com