Key success factors of an CRM implementation

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4 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS OF YOUR CRM-IMPLEMENTATION Summary: International journal of customers relationship marketing and management.

Transcript of Key success factors of an CRM implementation

4 KEY SUCCESS FACTORS OF YOUR CRM-IMPLEMENTATIONSummary: International journal of customers relationship marketing and management.

Scientific proof on key success determinants of sales tools and CRM implementation.*

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF SALES BASED CRM SYSTEMS AND TOOLS.

Stages of a CRM implementation process

Key success factor 1:make users happy

Key success factor 2:make managers happy

Key success factor 3: make your board room happy

How to get started?

KPI’s for managerial decision making

International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, 1(1), 1-15, January-March 2010 1

Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Globalis prohibited.

Keywords: CRM System, Implementation of CRM, Sales Force Performance, Sales Technology, Salesperson

introduCtion

Academic and managerial interest in sales-based CRM systems has been increasing in recent years (Ahearne, Jones, Rapp, & Mathieu, 2008; Hunter & Perreault, 2007). Indeed, companies spend a great deal of their budgets in implementing CRM systems into their sales organizations (Sims, 2007). In spite of these investments, however, evidence has been ac-cumulated suggesting a high failure rate of

these implementations (Dickie, 2006; Speier & Venkatesh, 2002). Although a number of research studies have been published in this area, there has been no systematic attempt to integrate and synthesize the extant literature. Against this backdrop, the overriding goal of this article is to offer academics and practicing managers a concrete set of guidelines regarding effective sales-based CRM system implementa-tion. The remainder of this article is organized as follows. Firstly, we outline a process for effective sales-based CRM implementation in the sales organization. Secondly, we review the

effective implementation of sales-Based CrM systems:

theoretical and Practical issuesGeorge J. Avlonitis, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece

Nikolaos G. Panagopoulos, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece

aBstraCtInterest in sales technology (ST) and sales-based CRM systems has been increasing in recent years. Indeed, companies spend a great deal of their budgets in implementing CRM systems into their sales organizations. In spite of these investments, however, evidence has been accumulated suggesting a high failure rate of these implementations. Although a number of research studies have been published in this area, there has been no systematic attempt to integrate and synthesize the extant literature. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to increase knowledge in the area by offering a synthesis of prior work into (a) what companies need to consider to effectively implement a CRM system into the sales force, (b) how CRM’s impact on a sales force’s performance can be assessed, and (c) what key performance indicators (KPIs) might be incorporated into the system in order to aid managerial decision making processes. The authors’ framework addresses issues of relevance not only for scholars but also for practicing managers by drawing on the authors’ practical experience in this important area. As such, the article adds layers of knowledge for both theory and practice.

DOI: 10.4018/jcrmm.2010090401

IGI PUBLISHING

This paper appears in the publication, International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, Volume 1, Issue 1edited by Riyad Eid © 2010, IGI Global

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ITJ 5531

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STAGES OF A CRM IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

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STAGES OF A CRM IMPLEMENTATION PROCESSA

STAGE 1Organizational CRM

system adoption

STAGE 2CRM system acceptance

(adoption)

STAGE 3CRM frequency of usage

STAGE 4CRM infusion

Selection of CRM system.Internal communication.

Reactions of sales team.Decision of sales team onadoption.

First daily usage.

Fully integration in the sales team’s daily work flow.

Main objective sales team = facilitate own work activities and imrpove performance.

Organizations base their decision to accept a CRM technology on different factors than salespersons do(Parthasaranthy & Sohi, 1997)*

"*International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, Vol 1/1, 2010

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KEY SUCCESS FACTOR 1: MAKE USERS HAPPY

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KEY SUCCESS FACTOR 1: MAKE USERS HAPPYB

Sales executives aiming at increasing the acceptance rate among members of the sales force should work towards making tasks easy and purchasing CRM systems that are user-friendly

"(Avlonitis, Panagopoulos, 2010)*

*International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, Vol 1/1, 2010

System ease-of use: sales people expect the technology to be free of effort.System usefulness: sales people expect the technology to increase his/her job performance.

"Sales executives should strive to assess what benefits salespeople seek from a CRM system and then try to match these needs to the specific CRM features."*

KEY SUCCESS FACTOR 2: MAKE MANAGERS HAPPY

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KEY SUCCESS FACTOR 2: MAKE MANAGERS HAPPYC

"One way to reduce this type of reluctance is to provide salespersons with thechnical support (24/7 online support) and training classes"*

One shouldn't overestimate the power of information; more is not always better when it comes to CRM imple-mentation. It's always better to rely on a few selected bytes of information rather than to overwhelm the sales force with an inordinate amount of data that they just cannot handle*

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*International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, Vol 1/1, 2010

Salesperson age, educational level and previous IT knowledge impact willingness to adopt.Sales experience: less experienced salespeople have a more possitive attitude toward CRM systems.Perceptions and attitudes towards the CRM system might impact adoption (big brother/ loss of control).Demanded effort needs to be managed.

KEY SUCCESS FACTOR 3: MAKE YOUR BOARD ROOM HAPPY

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KEY SUCCESS FACTOR 3: MAKE YOUR BOARD ROOM HAPPYD

"Two major categories to assess effectiveness/efficiency gains from CRM system:"outcomes of sales performance and outcomes of sales force skills, knowledge and abilities..."*

Companies implement CRM systems with the aim to increase salesperson performance, enhance customer satisfaction and leverage customer relationships.*

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*International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, Vol 1/1, 2010

Increase in the ability to enhance communication with customers.Increase in selling time.Faster access to relevant and timely information.

HOW TO GET STARTED?

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HOW TO GET STARTED?E

"Integrate CRM usage in salespersons' compensation, however watch out for salespeople that might manipu-late usage in order to gain their bonus"*

The first step that managers should take is to define specific and measurable goals and a clearly communicated purpose for CRM implementation

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*International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, Vol 1/1, 2010

Set realistic, specific, relevant, and measurable objectives for CRM usage.Actively seek for feedback from the sales force.Communicate the CRM objectives and benefits.Set goals and metrics to continuously evaluate the project and its outcomes.Foster an entrepreneurial climate, customer centricity and willingness to learn.Install a formalized training process and technical support.Develop a change process to reduce resistance.Supervisors and managers play an important role in leading by example.

(Honeycutt, Thelen, Thelen & Hodge, 2005)*

KPI'S FOR MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKING

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KPI'S FOR MANAGERIAL DECISION MAKINGF

"During the final stage, executives should decide on the KPI's needed for achieving the overall business objective."*

An important module of a CRM sys-tem should be a 'sales management dashboard' that contains relevant KPI's.*

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*International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, Vol 1/1, 2010

Outline the business objectives of a sales management dashboard.Collect the raw data that will provide the input for developing the relevant KPI's.Extract and consolidate data from various sources in a single database.

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