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Seven Success Steps for your CRM project – a checklist for your success
"A project is like love; it has clear intentions at the beginning, but it can get complicated." - Gerry Geek
Many people find (unexpectedly!) that a CRM solution has to be implemented three (or more!) times to get it right. This usually happens because the project was started without some (or all) of these key foundation steps. Not infrequently, someone has jumped into a trial and started tinkering - without any planning whatsoever.
In the CRM space, this complexity often comes from trying to use a software development approach to a project that is really the configuration of an existing product. Just because it is configuration does not mean that it is easy. However, it does mean that you will do better if you approach it from an understanding that it is configuration. In other words, you have most of what you want, and your efforts should be on the final detail that makes it perfectly meet your needs.
Where projects go wrong is when there is a feeling that the client can have everything/anything that they want. This is rarely true. If this feeling is added to a technical team, who are so keen to please the client, or a particular user that they agree to everything, the problem, and of course the cost of the project, gets bigger. If we complete the trifecta with technical people who have limited knowledge of the technology in use and the methods available to change the technology – and this trifecta is commoner than you may believe – you can see why projects go awry. I call this the trifecta of project failure, but it could also be known as the Trifecta of Trouble. Thank you, Ian.
To understand this better, think about a birthday cake. Many people buy a birthday cake from a patisserie, where you choose the base cake and then you add to this cake the icing, perhaps some candles, and some writing, to make it perfect for your birthday person.
In the CRM space, choosing the base cake is equivalent to selecting a specific user requirement or user story.
Even in the comparatively simple world of buying the perfect birthday cake, you need to specify your requirements: What are the interests of the birthday person? Do we have any guests who are allergic to specific ingredients? Are we expecting the cake to keep for a period of time? etc...
Once you have chosen a cake that meets your base requirements, you can then choose the decoration. Not all cakes will allow, or work well with all of the possible decoration options. So, you will do better if you are guided by someone who knows the limitations of your chosen cake and the decorations. If you have a limited budget, there may be some decorations that you cannot have. With this information, you will create the cake of your dreams.
This seven-step CRM Project checklist will start your CRM project correctly.
If you get these seven steps correct, it will help you navigate the complexity that will likely occur later in the project.
