Many marketers point at the high failure rate of CRM implementations, and
blame different factors. Some may be quite valid but Michael Meltzer of AMT
shows how companies can succeed with true employee buy-in...
Getting the 'people part' right
Marketing publications have often pointed
at the failure of many organisations to generate significant returns on
their technology investments in general - and on their CRM (customer
relationship management) initiatives in particular. Investing in strategic
CRM means, ultimately, that you are investing in organisational change
because you will impact not only the technology that you use, and the
processes by which you operate, but also - more importantly - the people you
employ. For the necessary changes to be effective and deliver on their
expected returns, you cannot afford to ignore your people: getting this part
of the CRM equation wrong will guarantee that your whole effort will account
to little.
The CRM change: mystery, magic, danger?
Spurred by technological advances
and more intense competition, change has become an important element of a
manager's priorities. Yet change management, like CRM, is in danger of being
hijacked by the technology industry.
Already the concepts of the agile enterprise and the on-demand economy are
being thrown around in television adverts. Change, however, is more profound
than just deploying a new platform or trying to change the way you do
things. Any change will undoubtedly impact people: your employees, your
customers, your partners, and your shareholders. Implementing a CRM strategy
will involve considerable change, and ignoring the impact it will have on
your organisation's stakeholders is dangerous.
The route to successful CRM is - like the mythological journey into Hades
across the river Styx - fraught with mystery, magic, and danger.
The mystery
It's a mystery because, despite it being at least a decade old,
the concept of CRM is still not very well understood. Is CRM the use of
technology to manage your relationships with your customers, or is it a
means to better understand how to deliver value to your best customers in
order to create, retain, and grow relationships with them? I believe it is
the latter, and AMT's approach to CRM is to manage the mix of people,
processes, and technology in order to achieve that objective.
Magic
It's partly 'magic' because so many organisations think that all you
need is money and technology for all the problems to go away. Throwing money
at a problem is often too simplistic while technology, albeit an important
element, has never delivered on its promises unaided. The real magic of CRM
is getting senior management to support a strategic CRM programme throughout
its entire development and implementation. This commitment is harder to
obtain than most might think. Yet, as the top levels of the organisation get
involved in orchestrating and leading the changes necessary for CRM, the
chances of turning an opportunity into real improved business performance
become much more real.
Danger
It's dangerous too, because there are many ways of getting it wrong
- getting bad advice, leading to wasted resources, escalating project costs,
and potential damage to existing business processes. With basic up-front
planning and involvement, both people and process issues inherent to CRM can
be overcome.
Why change?
This is not a rhetorical question. Developing and implementing
CRM will change the way you do business. In fact it will probably change the
way you view your whole business. That change is often so dramatic that it
is important you understand why you are going down that road in the first
place.
You will need to precisely define why you feel changes are necessary: what
are the business drivers, what are the benefits to both your organisation
and your customers, and what will be the results of such a change both in
terms of business performance and return on investment? Moreover, you will
need to have some idea of how long the process will take, who will drive it,
and who will manage it.
The role of IT
You must consider whether or not it is your IT team's
responsibility to:
Identify the need for the solution
Identify the right business approach
Identify and map the underlying processes
Identify the teams and business units that will benefit
Build the business case
Ensure all the people issues are addressed
Ensure that business benefits are achieved
If most of the above is not seen as being your IT team's responsibility then
you had better be very clear about whose responsibilities they are, and get
some metrics, plans, and actions in place.
Business is accountable
Because CRM initiatives have traditionally required
some sort of technological deployment (such as a data warehouse or sales
force automation application), IT departments have often been given the
responsibility of managing both the technical and the business process side
of things. Their job has been to manage the whole process, from identifying
needs to ensuring that the business as a whole benefits from the new
systems.
This, however, is a mistake. IT departments are not best designed to manage
change: they usually lack the understanding, skills, and authority to ensure
that any change in systems is implemented and used. The initiative should be
with - and should remain with - the business or department that initiates
the change. IT is only one resource among the many others that you will need
to get involved. If you are currently thinking about developing or
implementing a CRM strategy, do not delegate your responsibilities to your
IT department, however good they are.
People
The main problem with leaving the responsibility of managing change
with the IT department is that they are not in a position to affect the
people side of the change equation. Your employees are probably the most
important part of your CRM initiative. Those employees will implement it and
they will eventually run and use it. But if they don't buy into the
programme, CRM will only ever be an empty promise. Therefore, this is where
your greatest threat lies, and also your greatest challenge. But here also
lies the secret to a successful CRM implementation.
Your challenge will be to coax, coerce, and cajole your staff into 'buying
into' the changes that you propose. That is why a clear understanding of the
reason you are embarking on such a programme is so important. This task
demands that you have a clear view of the unwritten ground rules (the UGR's)
that often define how internal relationships will work, and enable your
organisation to function in its own way.
Another important aspect in understanding the organisation is the level of
'cultural intelligence' displayed by the team involved in the changes. This
is especially important when tackling the necessary organisational changes
that have to be made for your CRM programme to be successful.
Without clear goals, vision, and clear communications, you will find it
difficult to lead your people through what can sometimes be painful change.
Generally, change breeds uncertainty, and it is the uncertainty that most
people fear: worrying that their jobs will be on the line; fearing that they
are signing up for a different job than the one they were hired for; scared
that technology will replace them. They're all fears that are very real, and
they will add many complications as well as barriers to reaching your final
destination.
Sadly, there is no secret formula for success in this respect. It will test
your leadership skills (rather than managerial skills) to their very limit.
Yet there are a couple of practices that, when adhered to, can help and
facilitate the process of change:
Fair process
The concept of fair process is both judicial and humanistic.
Simply put, it requires you to involve your employees in every step of the
change process. That involvement will reduce the level of uncertainty that
surrounds your programme. Through seminars, presentations, workshops,
meetings, let your employees' views be heard; let them know that you care;
let them feel they are humans rather than just cogs in a machine.
If
possible, use independent external facilitators or consultants to run
off-site events where they are led toward accepting the need for change.
This will foster understanding, create expectations, identify advocates, and
ultimately make them feel that they are part of the decision-making process.
The result will be an organisation that might be looking forward to the
changes you are proposing.
Current research on the subject has shown that
even those hard decisions that involve headcount reductions are more readily
accepted when the individuals involved feel the process by which they are
taken is fair and participatory.
Clarify the goal
Ultimately though, your goal has to be clear, and that
clarity can only be achieved through a set of understandable and
quantifiable metrics. This is your second challenge. These should not only
target business performance as a whole but also - and more importantly -
personal performance. You will need to measure performance and develop
relevant reward schemes to keep people motivated and clear on what their new
role is. This will also help you to dispel any sense of uncertainty that
might stand in the way of success.
These metrics should be simple to understand, easy to measure, drive the
right employee behaviour, be easily mapped to your customers needs, clarify
areas of accountability, and support your overall business strategy.
People and CRM
Applying these principles to the development and
implementation of your CRM strategy will ensure that you align your
employees to your vision of customer-centricity. Whether you are building a
customer knowledge infrastructure, developing new customer experiences,
automating your sales force, or deploying new direct marketing systems, this
approach ensures that the resulting new processes deliver the right results.
And by addressing your employees' concerns early on in the process, you are
also ensuring that they change alongside the company, and that the resulting
sense of pride and mission is communicated to customers whenever employees
interact with them.
In fact, the usual rules applied to the way you interact with your customers
are good guidelines on how you should approach the way you address your
employees:
• Build rapport,
• Empathise with them,
• Create a lasting positive impression,
• Demonstrate your appreciation,
• Help them,
• Understand them,
• Actively listen to them,
• Build trust.
AMT calls this Internal Customer Relationship (or I-CR) - applying the
vision of CRM to any relationship within your organisation.
Any programme that admits to being CRM-based must adhere to the simple
principles of action (envisaged in the 'CURARE' acronym) that involve the
customer:
• Cross-sell
• Up-sell
• Retention
• Acquisition
• Resuscitation
• Experience.
These are the basics for any CRM initiative - people make it happen, not
technology. Lead them through the change process fairly and honestly and you
may be surprised at just how successful you can be.
Michael Meltzer link
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