Countdown to Customer Focus: A Step-By-Step Guide to CRM Implementation

Master, step-by-step, the processes that turn CRM initiatives into global successes. Customer Relationship Management solutions are often a multi-million dollar investment. After committing to such a large expenditure, companies must be assured that their CRM investments will thrive. Recent research shows that a customer-focused culture is just as critical as the technology to a CRM implementation success. This Best Practices Benchmarking® Report details how companies effectively roll out CRM initiatives throughout their organizations. It highlights the step-by-step processes and key milestones companies use to realize the potential of their CRM tools.

STUDY SNAPSHOTS

Globalization has widened customer choices by expanding a purchaser's reach across countries and continents.  E-business tools have made it easier for consumer and business customers to evaluate diverse purchase options.  Consequently, the job of building lasting customer relationships has grown far more complex for most companies. Many companies now have corporate-wide contact and account management systems.  However, the strategic and cultural challenges of CRM continue to hamper successful implementation that produces positive financial results. In short, CRM implementation challenges often stand in the way of companies realizing the full economic benefits of customer-focused growth strategies.

CRM initiatives must be carefully planned and consistently supported in order to drive customer retention, cost reduction and higher profitability.  Many companies proclaim that customer relationships are critical to lasting marketplace success.  Yet few companies have successfully shaped their marketing, sales and delivery systems to optimize return on customer relationship investments. This benchmarking study is designed to serve as a roadmap to this end.

The cornerstone of this benchmarking study is the Step-By-Step Guide to CRM Implementation, which details the key milestones and best practices companies have used to successfully execute CRM initiatives. Sample milestones include:

• Integrating Legacy Initiatives
• Allocating Resources for Pilot Programs
• Distinguishing Global and Local CRM Processes
• Leveraging Knowledge Management Tools
• Developing Customer-Centric Employees

The report contains benchmark metrics and best practices employed by partner companies. These practices outline how best-in-class companies turned their multi-million dollar CRM investment into a multi-faceted approach to retaining and maintaining valuable customer relationships. Key topics highlighted by the report include:

• Most useful performance metrics and how performance measurement can be used to build support
• Ramping up CRM from the pilot stage to global roll-out
• Ensuring that ownership and support for the initiative are company-wide

KEY FINDINGS

The operational insights contained in the report give a top-level view of how benchmark partners and other top companies are successfully building highly effective CRM processes.  Benchmark partners emphasize the need to stay focused on concrete economic returns to ensure success for new CRM initiatives.  Many CRM teams have stumbled on the way to theoretical results.  Building a high-impact implementation plan and continuously communicating benefits will help your team succeed. The Best Practices, LLC research team analyzed field findings, organized them thematically, prioritized them by impact. Selected key findings discovered by Best Practices follow:

1. Identify points in the company’s business strategy where CRM can deliver maximum value.  Highlight these opportunities through internal “marketing” of customer-focused programs.
2. Prioritize customer-centric programs based on potential for early wins and immediate positive impact on business.  Dedicate resources necessary to ensure success and then execute a staged implementation to all parts of the business.

If you purchase Best Practice Database document(s), you will have 30 days from the date of purchase to apply some or all of the cost of the document(s) toward the cost of a Full Access Individual, Pharma, Group or University Membership. Write us at [email protected] or call David Guinn at 919-767-9179 if you have any questions.