A CRM solution is a long term commitment. It is such a broad and deep piece of software, the limitations of which are often determined by user implementation, or lack of. It is something that needs to be adopted and learnt over time. Like learning to play an instrument - it's not something you can pick up right away. However sooner or later CRM becomes second nature and the benefits are clear to see.
It makes no sense to try and learn everything from the outset; the likely result is that you will simply give up disheartened. By breaking the system down into chunks, you are able to absorb it piece by piece. As time goes by much like the music lessons where you add more complex songs and techniques, you can open up further modules in the CRM system and add customize those parts of the system you already use.
Of course one of the principle benefits of a CRM solution is the 360 degree visibility of an organisation that it offers. Although learning how to use ALL areas of CRM is a great challenge, there is a major shortcut. Your entire team will need to learn the basics, but much of the work can be divided up between the various departments within your organization. Your support team can concentrate on learning how the helpdesk and support areas work. Your marketing team can learn how to use campaigning and lead management whilst your sales team masters the use of leads, opportunities, quotes and sales orders. With the records being held together in one cloud location, the teams all work together on the data building it up to create a rich company database. As time goes by and as confidence is gained, you can extend the system implementation and educate your teams further.
By chopping the system into bite seized chunks you can make it easy to digest for anyone. Each section is broken down and made simple to understand. This in turn makes the bigger picture less of a daunting task - as users progress and master each phase, the rest of the system becomes more intuitive with modules generally being built along similar principles.
If this learning taking place before the system goes live, this gives your team the chance to learn in a low pressure environment. Mistakes that occur at this early stage will not prove costly if they happen on a trial system containing test data. This is a good opportunity for users to learn the basics of and play around with the system without the risk of damaging valuable data.
When you do go live, there are no nerves and your team is able to start using the system in confidence. Of course your CRM provider should be on hand to answer and queries as well as being able to provide knowledge material in form of documents, FAQs and video tutorials to provide additional "refresher" information.
With advanced planning your CRM system can hit the ground running and start giving your business the support it needs right from day one. As we stated at the start, CRM is a long term commitment. This also means that support for the project should extend far beyond a three or six month window. The solution will only fail if it is not used properly and not because the CRM solution itself is at fault. The key is to have the vision to see that whilst CRM can seem like a huge and daunting task, with correct management and guidance this can be broken down into simple to use components designed to make your system users' day to day work life so much easier and more productive.
OpenCRM is a UK based provider of fully featured hosted CRM software that is easy to use and intuitive with a familiar interface and powerful features. We also offer a flexible bespoke Consultancy, Training and Support service which can be tailored to suit your needs by our clever team of professionals.
For all matters CRM including links to a demo please visit OpenCRM
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