Time to replace our CRM software?

February 13, 2010 Richard Boardman

He was the last of the Mohicans. As I watched him he followed the prescribed process. The system hadn’t been well set up, so it was a prolonged and laboured procedure, but he followed it to the letter, key stroke after key stroke. This would have been great if everyone, or maybe even anyone, was doing the same. But they weren’t. His hard work was in vain. A waste. The system was long since obsolete.

I was there to answer a simple question, but I was actually answering a different, slightly more complex question. The simple question: ‘what should we replace out current CRM software with?’ The more complex question: ‘how can we make CRM software work for us?’

As I continued looking it was clear that there were business issues that needed solving. Leads were not being followed up, the marketing department was reliant on expensive advertising campaigns rather than the more cost effective direct marketing they wanted to do. Service procedures were long-winded, error-prone, and customer satisfaction low.

The problem wasn’t the choice of CRM software, it was how the software was being used. There was an easy solution, and it wasn’t new software. We simply took the CRM software the client already had and re-implemented it to better support their operations. There was no need to invest heavily in new software, we simply helped them take what they had and made it work. Investment = minimal, return on investment = huge.

I mention this because I often get asked what I think of product x as a replacement for product y, and it’s not a question I can easily answer.

The problem with most CRM software is that it isn’t set up, and/or used, in a way that will generate beneficial business outcomes. The technology itself is often not the problem. But unless this is understood, organisations investing in replacement CRM software are destined to make the same mistakes again, and in a few years time will again be looking to replace their CRM software.

All too often we dispose of software that’s more than capable of getting us where we want to go. Applications are unfairly maligned because the set up was wrong, the usage patterns were never established, or through lack of knowledge of its capabilities. And, at the same time, we are lured by the siren song of the software vendors into believing that new software is the answer to all our problems.

The answer is to forget technology for a while and focus on what we are trying to achieve. If we can answer that question, the technology question should answer itself. With clarity as to our end objective and how we will get there, we can make an informed judgement on whether our current platform is help or hindrance.

The outcome of taking this approach is that for many organisations making better use of what they have already may prove the most attractive option. Not good news for the CRM software industry perhaps, but the bottom lines of CRM software users may well benefit.