Contrary to popular practice, CRM consulting is about putting the customer at the center of your business, not about internal efficiency. In most of the cases I have been recently involved in, customers have been primarily concerned with the improvement of existing internal processes. This makes life easy for the consultant or software sales person, but will probably neither lead to reduced costs nor to increased sales.

Finding and retaining customers is becoming increasingly difficult as loyalty is no longer to be expected and competition increases at all levels. To be successful, it is essential to look at your company from the customers point of view. Is your company behaving the way in which your customers expect? Are you supplying sales and support services which your customers expect? Or is your company more concerned with internal efficiency than with customer needs? You do not need a CRM product to increase sales efficiency – most sales people require little more than a good contact management tool, CRM becomes effective when you prospects and customers notice an improvement.

CRM is not software and in fact most available solutions can support your operation. CRM is about knowing your customer’s requirements and putting a strategy in place to find, develop an keep them. Are you looking at your CRM Software with regard to this aim?

Generally, software suppliers will suggest a workshop to define your requirements. That is generally correct, but whether before or after the sale, these workshops will always be conducted with regard to the limitations of the software offered. Sales people know that your budget is limited and will avoid suggesting improvements which, due to software limitations, will be too costly

You must define your aims and requirements without reference to a product. If you are unable to do this with internal resources, find a consultant who is not tied to a product. However, you are still the only person who can define your business aims.

There is no need to fear that you will then not find a suitable CRM product to meet your needs. There are enough excellent solutions on the market.