Customer relationship management (CRM) roadmap: getting a CRM strategy off the ground.Many CRM initiatives fail to get off the ground successfully because they lack organizational consensus on a common vision. One useful tactic for getting a CRM strategy off the ground is to develop a roadmap that guides the organization through the significant changes and challenges often associated with a renewed focus on nurturing and managing customer relationships and fostering a customer-centric culture. Nothing is easier than communicating your commitment to customer relationship management (CRM). When implemented properly, an organization’s customer-centric focus can provide significant productivity returns, cost reductions, and enhanced customer loyalty and retention. But, CRM initiatives often fail to produce the benefits for which they were intended in the first place. Many executives tasked with implementing CRM solutions often face three common challenges, all of which can derail any well-intended commitment. - They lack consensus within the organization about what CRM is and what it will achieve, and when.
- They have an unclear mandate from management (often without unwavering support)
- Simply, they are not sure how to get started.
Effective customer relationship management is, after all, not a project, but a journey comprised of many steps that build on each other. The direction in which you go in one instance can affect how and when you reach your desired destination. One useful tactic for getting a CRM strategy off the ground is to develop a roadmap that guides the organization through the significant changes and challenges often associated with a renewed focus on nurturing and managing customer relationships. What is a CRM roadmap?A CRM roadmap outlines specific capabilities that the organization wants to achieve, with an associated timeline that prioritizes program elements in order based on dependencies and potential benefits. For example, your organization may have determined that it needs to address sales force automation, email marketing, and customer service support over the next two years, but trying to do all of that at once will strain resources and potentially overwhelm your customer-facing teams. The roadmap can provide a schedule and sequence for organizing implementation activities in a way that is manageable and best supports your business goals. Why create a roadmap? A well-crafted roadmap can help you get to the root of common CRM stumbling blocks by ensuring that the actions you take—from acquiring technology to streamlining processes—are aligned with business strategy. In addition, it can be useful for: - Creating consensus among key stakeholders about what CRM is and isn’t and about your organization’s definition of customer centricity.
- Developing a common understanding of key objectives, expected benefits, and “pains” and “opportunities” for each of the areas involved, such as sales, customer service, marketing, HR and IT.
- Building executive support and sponsorship.
- Communicating benefits and actions effectively throughout the organization.
- Providing a sound business case for the strategy as a whole.
- Creating a customer-centric mentality that should drive all major decisions and help resolve conflicts.
The key is to develop the roadmap before investing time or dollars in CRM technology or significant process changes. Steps toward creating a CRM roadmap.There are four key steps involved in developing a CRM roadmap. Preparation. The first step is to define your stakeholders. Many organizations have a tendency to develop narrow stakeholder groups from marketing and IT and, for example, they may go well into the implementation process before involving Human Resources. But, customer relationship management, as a discipline, typically requires organizational alignment and the need for groups of individuals to develop new knowledge and skills as a program is implemented. Involving Human Resources in the development of a roadmap will help to establish training and reinforcement at the correct points in the process. Similarly, it is important to make sure that involvement in the process corresponds to business goals, not politics and stature in the organization. Politically driven CRM initiatives rarely end up serving the broader needs of the business—let alone customers. Discovery. The roadmap must incorporate the perspectives and needs of diverse stakeholders; thus it typically requires a diligent “discovery” process that uncovers this information and ensures that it is on the table throughout the planning process. In many cases, it is helpful to begin with one-on-one interviews, but in order to achieve consensus and develop a strong understanding of impact across the business, you eventually will need to bring all parties together for facilitated discussions about operations, the competitive landscape, each party’s respective needs and pain points, and, most importantly, insights about current customer-facing processes. Definition. Once all stakeholders understand each other’s needs and perspectives, it is then possible to begin defining the foundation for the roadmap. This step includes two distinct, parallel efforts. One defines the strategy and the strategic objectives. The strategy defines what you aspire to be and how you want your customers to view your organization. The strategic objectives define the capabilities that will allow the strategy to be executed. In the end, the roadmap will support this business strategy and objectives, striking the desired balance between operational effectiveness and customer intimacy. The other effort defines key processes—analyzing existing and new processes and prioritizing those that are most vital to the customer relationship. Again, collaboration and involvement of all key stakeholders helps to define a direction that individuals throughout the organization understand and are willing to support. Roadmap. Now, you have a common vision. The final step is to plot out the sequence of initiatives and activities necessary to move your organization from its current state to this defined future state, beginning with those activities most vital to customers and to the program’s long-term success. This is your roadmap—a plan that, if created through open stakeholder collaboration, can help you avoid some of the biggest CRM pitfalls and achieve your objectives. West Monroe Partners works with clients to create and implement effective customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. For more information, please contact Dave Tilson,
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