Are Your Business Processes Ready for CRM?
A Business Process Review contributes to a successful CRM implementation
We learned in the previous article, Your CRM Software is Not the Problem, that people — the users — are a key factor in the successful implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. The technology needs to align with the users’ ‘Why’ and their most important goals. In this article, we discover the second secret ingredient for the CRM implementation’s success: the underlying business processes.
Hope is not a strategy
Many companies embark upon their CRM journey and implement the technology, hoping it will solve their business problems. The organization intends to improve corporate efficiency and effectiveness when serving its customer, to enrich the customer journey and improve client satisfaction; thereby anticipating increased revenue. However, many quickly learn the results they sought to achieve become a faded dream. A good CRM system alone is rarely enough to transform a business into a more optimized, customer-centric operation.
CRM is only an enabler
As we know, a business process is a set of activities that accomplish a specific goal. CRM applications are tools intended to implement those processes and manage customer-facing activity. However, CRM only enables the processes it supports. The technology is not the silver bullet companies expect. It is rather a tool that supports the execution of business processes as they are designed.
Implementing bad processes in new technology simply automates bad processes
A CRM application is only as good as the business processes it supports. Frequently when beginning a CRM implementation, I quickly learn the company’s processes are not documented, and most likely not updated to be aligned with current corporate customer strategies. In addition, the business processes were created within the constraints of the technology being replaced.
As a result, the current-state processes are most likely ineffective and not designed to leverage the capabilities offered by the future CRM system. If the business processes are not reviewed, streamlined or improved, the new technology will simply automate the bad processes. We all know the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Jumping straight to technology could be costly
I once had the privilege to work for a custom home builder and see the home building process in action. Before building a new home, the architect meets with the future homeowner to understand their requirements and desires. This process is then followed by drafting a blueprint — a design plan — that defines the specification to ensure the home is built to the homeowner’s expectations. Serving as the ‘big picture’ of what the house should look like, the blueprint also becomes the ‘foundation’ for estimating the construction costs.
If the building process starts without a blueprint, there could be devastating results. For example, with no direction provided, the foundation might have been laid for a one-story home; however, perhaps the home was intended for two stories. The house could be framed for three bedrooms, but the owner needs four. The garage, built for two cars, did not consider space for the homeowner’s workshop. Correcting any one of these issues after the fact would be costly.
Like building a home, if your CRM implementation begins without its blueprint — a high-level vision with updated supporting processes — your CRM solution could be at risk to not meet your business needs. The ‘foundation’ of the system might be built incorrectly, resulting in a redesign of features, or customizations completely rebuilt or thrown away. Reviewing your business processes might stretch your technology implementation slightly; however, correcting the solution downstream will result in an even longer project timeline with much higher costs.
Business Process Review is critical to CRM success
Prior to implementing CRM, companies should take the opportunity to maximize the value of their future technology investment by assessing their current processes through a Business Process Review (BPR). A BPR is a series of sessions that transforms and formalizes the customer-facing interactions.
During a BPR engagement, the organization’s teams collectively understand their current processes to identify the gaps and opportunities for improvement. Metrics are created to monitor the future-state processes, increasing the ability to adapt to changing markets. Then the future-state processes are designed and documented with CRM technology in mind, ensuring to leverage all the benefits from the future application.
This effort makes certain the business processes are streamlined and automated, and improves customer-facing operations, removing all current process inefficiencies once and for all. And most importantly, the CRM supported processes are in alignment with the company’s strategies and business objectives.
Benefits from conducting a BPR
Companies who conduct a Business Process Review prior to their CRM implementation glean the following benefits:
- Vision established & prioritized — CRM mission, goals, and objectives are established and provide a clear direction in prioritizing the impending implementation.
- Improved & optimized business processes — Current-state processes are analyzed for gaps, inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improvement. Future-state processes are designed and documented, ready for the delivery team to implement.
- Business silos dismantled — Cross divisional and departmental teams work seamlessly together to collaborate and create customer-centric processes from start to finish.
- People & processes in alliance with future technology — The business users contribute to mapping out the future-state processes, ensuring each support how they work. The business processes are then designed for and in line with the new technology, leveraging the inherent features and functionality. There is greater assurance the application is what the business “wants” to use, rather than “have” to use.
- Business policy & compliance enforced — With processes aligned to the customer-centric strategies and corporate policies, the system can then enforce compliance to ensure process and data consistency. The corporate information is now reliable for critical business decisions.
- Measurable KPIs created — A BPR begins to identify metrics that monitor the efficiency and effectiveness of the CRM business processes. When off the mark, the company can proactively adjust to the ever-changing market.
- Accelerated CRM implementation — Now that the processes and high-level requirements are understood, the organization is prepared to hit the ground running when implementation begins.
- Reduced project cost & better-estimated implementation — Improving business processes upfront eliminates future non-value customizations and re-work. This also reduces delivery time and implementation costs. A BPR provides a better scope of the future solution, which enables more accurately estimated project budgets.
Are you ready for your CRM implementation?
If you are about to embark on a CRM project — a new implementation, or addition of an operational team or process — ask yourself this question: “Are our customer acquisition and retention processes truly ready for the new technology?” If they are documented, adhered to, inspected regularly, monitored by analytics, up to date and in alignment with current corporate strategies, then congratulations, carry on with your implementation!
If you answer “No” to any of the items above, you might want to consider a Business Process Review exercise.
If you want to know more about a Business Process Review, be sure to read my next article, How to Conduct a BPR for your CRM Implementation. I will further describe a BPR engagement and recommend an approach to conducting this exercise prior to a CRM implementation.
Related posts:
Part one: Your CRM Software is Not the Problem
Part three: How to Conduct a BPR for your CRM Implementation
Author:
Michelle Lessard is a CRM and Salesforce consultant in Phoenix, Arizona. For nearly 25 years she has helped companies select and implement CRM technology to reach their customer-centric goals and high user adoption.
About Slalom:
Slalom is a modern consulting firm focused on strategy, technology, and business transformation. In over 35 markets around the world, Slalom’s teams have autonomy to move fast and do what’s right. They’re backed by regional innovation hubs, a global culture of collaboration, and partnerships with the world’s top technology providers.
