A properly planned and timed CRM implementation is a major contributor to its success. Don’t sabotage your CRM by under valuing this phase of its adoption.
Many financial institutions are experiencing the value-added benefits of customer relationship management (CRM) technologies. As more banks and credit unions determine that adopting a CRM is an important part of continuing to meet customer expectations, finding the right CRM partner and seeing an installation through to success and a changed business environment is in many institution’s strategic plans.
Making the decision to add a CRM to the business process is not a small one and requires planning, buy-in, dollars, and labor to make it all happen. All these requirements for adopting a CRM are important, but the often-overlooked implementation phase of adoption touches all these areas and can make or break the success of this valuable tool. In Forbes, George Larkou notes, “ . . . when a new CRM is accused of ‘wasting time,’ it is more often an implementation failure.” Perhaps because implementation appears at the end of a long adoption plan, it’s easy to feel it’s a downhill stretch from there. On the contrary, proper planning and focus at this stage is a necessity. Here are four keys to a successful CRM implementation.