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After considering it, many companies rcs database package opt for the implementation of a CRM ; however, they later encounter problems in the process. At an event promoted by Impulse Growth Partner, Eduardo Eneque, its CEO, shared the method of choosing and implementing it efficiently to avoid the errors and failures that usually occur in these processes.
Why implement a CRM?
CRM has often been conceived as a platform for managing contacts, sales pipelines and customer service tickets; but is that really what a CRM should do? For Eduardo Eneque, this network should help companies grow faster and generate more revenue.
“When a client asks us to implement a CRM, they basically need it to fix things like the entire sales team using the CRM instead of Excel to enter all the information, for example,” he says. This makes the implementation very complicated and without a clear objective.
In his experience, these are the 5 most common reasons why CRM implementations fail:
Adoption: Low user adoption.
Fragility: Heavy customization, difficult to make adjustments and changes.
Prioritization: continuous changes without planning.
Support: Lack of training and support.
Data: lack of integrations.
“All of that usually makes a CRM implementation project-based. It’s an outdated system for the times we live in, but it’s the industry standard. And the other thing is that, once it’s implemented, it’s not built on a foundation of how it helps me create a revenue model that’s predictable and helps me scale the business,” he sums up.
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The CRM implementation cycle
The cycle followed to implement a CRM normally has 3 phases:
Phase 1: Implementation (6-9 months). Depending on the size of the company, it may take longer.
Phase 2: Declining use (1.5 to 2 years). There is a rush of excitement at the beginning, but then it subsides until people finally return to their usual practices.
Phase 3: Repeating phases 1 and 2. Here, companies assume that the CRM implemented did not work and look for changes, buy a new stack or integrate new tools, repeating the cycle.
As a result, the process becomes fragile and, instead of generating revenue, CRM becomes an expense that ultimately leads companies to lose money.
How to get out of this vicious cycle?
For Eduardo Eneque, the answer lies in thinking about CRM implementation as an agile product management process. And we have called this process “ Growth Driven CRM .” This basically consists of adopting an agile mindset and a concept called minimum viable product and implementing CRM in a lean way and thinking about CRM as something that will be iterated over time.
“In this way, it becomes a step-by-step process that never ends, that renews itself and accompanies the growth of the company, instead of being a friction and an expense within the company,” he says.
Adopting this CRM implementation framework requires four fundamental principles:
1. Adoption
Processes fail not because the technology is bad or because the company does not have processes, but because people never adopted its use. Not because it was imposed, but because they did not see a benefit, that is, they did not understand how it was really going to help them be more efficient, productive, obtain better income or results.
Beyond the process and the tools, a way or mechanism is needed for the company to adopt the use of technology. One way to do this is through a Champions team that drives a multiplier effect and spreads it to the rest.
2. MVP and then iteration (agile)
Start with the minimum necessary to solve the most pressing need of the organization, and then increase or iterate depending on the results, adding functionalities, features, integrating with other data sources, etc.
3. Prioritize training and problems
Asking someone to adopt a new tool requires an uncommon level of attention, answering user questions and fixing small bugs immediately.
4. Revenue Growth as a differential
The ultimate goal of a CRM is to answer business questions quickly and help improve decision making, acquisition strategy, activation, sales or customer service.
person learning how to implement a crm
How to implement a CRM in a company?
Impulse follows a 4-step framework to implement a CRM in companies:
Step 1: Define the data model
In order to provide answers to business areas about what they need to know, it is necessary to understand what data needs to be processed to produce insights or findings for sales, marketing or customer service teams.
This process is important because it defines the volume, conversion, time and behaviors to be collected. “If it is not clear what is going to be collected, processed or what the deliverable will be, it will be very difficult for the CRM on its own to do that magic,” says the CEO.
Another important factor is understanding the customer life cycle, lead scoring, forecasting, etc.
Step 2: MVP Requirements and Features
This means setting out the requirements and the minimum necessary features (MVP). Normally, you start by drawing up the process that will help solve the organization's problem and, from there, redefining the parts that are essential.
This is intended to ensure that implementation is neither painful nor long. The idea is that CRM implementation can take place within 1 to 3 months and then, from there, start creating an iterative and improvement process.
Step 3: Prioritize the MVP
Then, it is a matter of prioritizing the features of the tools that can generate the most impact. “What we do is sprint-based management, so we have a tool to manage them and our teams define the objective to be met and thus define all the activities that must be executed week by week,” shares Eduardo Eneque.
Step 4: Start the sprints
Finally, carry out the implementation process using a working method called sprint management in which each week the team generates a deliverable in the implementation process.
All of this is supported by two ongoing processes. One is issue tracking, where a team is constantly present to make the adoption process as smooth as possible. The second is documentation of the entire process.
Final learnings
Eduardo Eneque advises keeping four big ideas in mind:
Not managing your own implementation: Cascading plans create delays and lengthen the impact that CRM implementation could have on the organization and end up costing much more.
Adoption: Adoption is the key over processes and technology. That is the true north.
MVP and repetition: you should always start with a minimum viable product and then iterate, make changes or do incremental things.
Revenue Growth: Don't stop focusing on building a revenue model.
If you want to know more about our process and what a CRM can do for your business, we invite you to learn more about our Hubspot CRM service and schedule a consulting session .
