Congratulations! You’ve decided to select Microsoft Dynamics CRM and found a great Microsoft CRM Partner like Logan Consulting to help you make the most of your upgrade. You’ve already pumped up your team and your big project kick-off meeting is completed, but sometimes just as the kick-off meeting ends issues start to arise. Don’t be discouraged if you start to see problems emerging with your project; the good news is that these issues can be addressed before the project even begins. If you start to see any of these 4 pitfalls emerging within your new implementation, don’t hesitate to bring it to the attention of your partner so they can resolve things on the spot, keeping you and your team happy and productive.

• PITFALL 1: Lack of Executive Buy In: Some CRM projects are IT-driven. Other CRM projects are business-driven.  Regardless of who’s pushing for a CRM project, it is critical to ensure that ownership and/or executive management supports the project, embraces the objectives, and understands the risks, costs, hard work, and additional effort required by internal personnel.   But most importantly, you must get their buy-in before the project starts.  Your CRM project will not be successful if you try to build buy-in and excitement from the executive team once the system is up and running.  At some point during almost any CRM project, there will be tough times.  When and if a tough situation occurs, it is critical for business leadership to stay the course and encourage the team to move forward.  Remember, there were a number of good reasons for choosing a CRM software solution. The executive team won’t be willing to support the choice if they haven’t even bought in themselves.
• PITFALL 2: Failure to Properly Define Requirements: Out of all the CRM design and implementation areas, requirements and definitions are given what is arguably the most attention. As a result, at Logan Consulting we believe it’s important to focus more precisely on your specific industry requirements, and even more specifically, the things you do as an organization that gives you your competitive advantage, and the business processes which support them.   Defining these critical requirements up front before you start your CRM software review will help you narrow possible CRM candidates down to a short list.  And every key group of users must be represented and present their key requirements
• PITFALL 3: Failure to Anticipate Project Impact: Here at Logan Consulting, we have been involved in quite a few CRM implementation projects where no one has really considered how the customer will benefit from this project. If companies can spend countless hours performing deep CRM Software Comparisons, then they should also be spending the time to ask themselves the question, ‘How will my customers benefit from this CRM solution?’
• PITFALL 4: Inadequate Budget: We get it, no one wants to break the bank for a project when they don’t have to. We understand that all companies have cash flow and budget considerations, which is why we often suggest that the CRM implementation project be integrated in phases. Taking the time to properly plan and budget for each phase has its own benefits, but properly allocating the budget is what is most crucial. CRM projects require the proper funding to be done correctly. Don’t sacrifice the quality of your CRM project for cost effectiveness, instead break your process into phases to properly allocate funds for each phase.

We are dedicated to helping businesses start and finish the best CRM projects for their business to run more effectively. If you want to learn more about Microsoft CRM and how to avoid these common pitfalls, contact Logan Consulting your Chicago based Microsoft Partners to ensure that you get the best CRM solution for your business.

by Logan Consulting

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