Do you want to ensure that your CRM project stays at least close to your planned budget?

To avoid a project, CRM or non-CRM, budget blowout - focus on Understanding.

This is a true story.

• A client, badly misadvised by their trusted partner
• Thousands of dollars wasted
• Thousands of hours of effort wasted
• All because understanding was missing

CRM projects are rarely found to be easy.  Budget blowout - and sometimes massive blowout - is surprisingly common.

If you want to ensure that your CRM project budget stays close to your planned budget, rather than falling victim to budget blowout - focus on understanding.  Ensure that you have people in your internal team who understand

• Project Methodology
• The selected technology
• Your business

Every member of your team should understand at least one of these three factors, and ideally, you have some people who are across all of them.  This is how you avoid the 'lost in translation' effect as requirements (or desires) pass from the business to the implementation team.  It is a sound investment to upskill team members in any of these areas where they are lacking.

While this story focusses on a CRM client of mine, much of the content is applicable to non-CRM projects.