Here we need a distinction between the well known consultancy organizations such as Accenture, Bearing Point or Deloitte and freelance consultants or small specialized companies.
Large companies will tend to talk to large organization, so let’s start there. Accenture and similar organizations will tend to give the impression that due to their size, they have specialists for everything. To a certain extent this is true, but it is generally surprising how few specialists for each topic there are and it is also true that there will be virtually no people with in depth knowledge of several products, so be sure to look carefully at the qualifications of the staffing proposed. Of the three main project phases
- requirements definition
- product selection
- implementation
these organizations are well suited to assist in phases 1 (maybe) and 3 (recommended), but should not be involved in phase 2. Large organizations are interested in selling large numbers of consulting days and this is more likely with a product such as SAP than of say Pivotal CRM, so it is not difficult to guess which product will be recommended.
Freelancers and small partnerships may well be involved in phase 2. Do not expect these consultants to know all the CRM Products in detail. They will know however, which suppliers have a good track record in your line of business and will be able to assist you in the selection process. The selection and the responsibility for the selection remains with the buyer. These smaller organizations may will be involved in phase 1 if the number of potential users is not too high.
Tags: Accenture, crm, Deloitte
Once again I have met with a person charged with creating an RFP for a CRM System for a medium sized company. This person, straight from university, has a very difficult task and is unlikely to come up with the best document for the company having received no input on the real needs of his employee. This happens surprisingly often. I would not delegate the purchase of a new car for myself to a person who does not know my needs and preferences!
What is the solution? I am now repeating myself but try this:
- Develop the business case
- Define the processes to be implemented or improved to meet the business goals
- Define the hard facts which may limit the choice of product (required interfaces, infrastructure for example)
- Transfer the process requirements to the RFP, not lists of functions
- Speak to the implementation partners before requesting an offer. An offer from an unknown source is worthless to you and to the supplier
- Ask your preferred implementation partner to show you how your processes will be implemented with their product. This will produce some surprises
- Make a short list
The rest is more difficult. I will go on with that later.
Looking down the empty aisles during the CRM exhibition in Mainz, it seems that CRM is no longer a theme which attracts visitors. This gave me time to go and visit other vendors and hear what they had to say. Not much to my surprise, I heard the same story many times over, only the product name changed. The various CRM products have become so similar to each other, that there really is no need to visit a fair. The products do differ under the surface, but trade fairs are not the place to get under the surface.
The major products are becoming toolkits for the development of individual CRM applications, so companies need to look more at their potential project partner than at the software manufacturer. Smaller products such as cobra CRM PLUS are there for those looking for an out-of-the-box solution. instead of adding more and more unnecessary functions to the products, companies such as cobra should be expanding the technology base to allow customers to install distributed applications.
Tags: cobra, crm, crm plus, CRM Software
Knowing what you need is the key to making the best selection, but how do you go about defining your requirements? Frequently an unhappy employee is charged with checking the functions of the products on the market in order to come up with a set of ideas. This is just not the way to go and will lead to a choice of a product with the most functions but not necessarily the best fit.
Start with the business case and clear business aims which may be anything from reducing sales and marketing costs to increasing customer satisfaction. Évidently, this is a management task, so management must be involved.With these aims in mind, look for the processes which may be installed or improved in relation to your goals. In a few days I will add a document to this blog with ideas on how to find the processes and listing a selection of the most important items. There is too much information for a post.
Sometimes this process will show that no complex solutions are required, a solution based on address and contact management may be adequate. Alternatively you may find that your requirements are not available in any standard products, meaning that customizing becomes a major issue. Whichever way it goes, it should be possible to relate each process to the business aims and subsequently to select the most suitable solution.
It can offer help to look at your company from the customer point of view. Even if the business aims are limited to increasing increasing sales efficiency customers should register an improvenmt in sales service.
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Tags: CRM Applications
In the past few weeks, I have been concerned with a number of companies starting a new CRM project. In a surprising number of cases the process has been something like this:
- Check the internet for possible suppliers
- Download product descriptions and request informations from suppliers
- Watch online demonstrations
- Attempt to read the mass of information gathered
- Give up, prepare a list of requirements and start over
This is evidently not the right way to go about it. Not only is it time consuming and unproductive but it can also lead to false results. It is absolutely essential to determine requirements before looking at any products at all. Products are around to improve and optimize business processes, not to define them.
The process could look like this:
- Define the requirements
- Build a business case
- Prepare a document describing the required processes (NOT functions)
- Select a number of potential suppliers on the basis of product reputation and market positioning
- Ask these suppliers to show how the processes could be implemented with their products
If you have no resources for defining the requirements, then go to a qualified consultant (preferably not a potential supplier). This may be appear costly, but time saved will more than compensate this. Even reading this blog may help!
Tags: crm, RFP, Sales, Vertrieb
Reading a proposal for a CRM solution may sound easier than it is. Suppliers may supply visually attractive documents loaded with text or limit their offer to a bare description of the project steps and prices. Of the two extremes, the second has distinct advantages. Long texts may look good, or may even make interesting reading, but have the tendency to hide the really important facts amongst the many trees in the wood. The shorter texts are easier to read and have less danger of embedded pits.
No proposal can contain a full description of a standard product, the information can be found anyway in product documentation which should be supplied or form part of the proposal. The document must contain a full description of the project steps, all costs related to the project, and what happens if parameters change during the project. If the standard product is to be customized, then a detailed description of the modifications must as a separate document be identified.
Many companies underestimate their requirements. Functions are either overseen because they are part of everyday routine or because it is assumed that they are naturally part of a standard solution. This makes life easy for suppliers to make a low bid, well knowing that there will be no difficulty in changing the terms of the contract later when the hidden processes are unveiled.
Tags: Proposal, RFP
CRM Auswahl