5 Reasons why CRM implementations fail

Reason 1: technical implementation

In many cases we see organizations implementing CRM as a technical project. The focus is on configuration and go-live. The project is focussed on issues like data migration, unified data, system configuration etc. Of course all of these issues are relevant and should be tackled. But this is not enough to implement a CRM system successfully.

Reason 2: no buy-in from commercial organization

The CRM project is owned by IT instead of the business. Of course commercial teams will be trained and involved to some extent, but to them it's not clear why we do this and what is the benefit for them. Usually this approach leads to demotivation or even outright resistance. 

Reason 3: lacking commercial best-practices

Many of today's CRM systems have advanced capabilities like marketing automation, case management and predictive forecasting. However, these capabilities are only effective when commercial capabilities are implemented in the organization. E.g. marketing automation can be very effective but requires an organization to have an effective marketing team and the right strategic, tactical and operational marketing processes.

Reason 4: missing talents

To harvest the potential benefits of modern CRM systems new commercial talents are necessary. E.g. the implementation of Strategic Account Management requires talents which are usually not available in a sales organization which is focussed on opportunity management. 
The commercial transition to a high performing commercial organization requires implementation skills which may not be available in the organization. Our experience is that a successful CRM implementation requires stakeholder management across different disciplines and different organizational layers to get buy-in and commitment. 

Reason 5: no time available

Delivering business results and delivering commercial transformation results seem to be contradicting each other in  many organizations. Commercials teams are fully loaded with their day-to-day operations and have not enough time for CRM implementation. The key to success is to change the way of working of the commercial teams and introduce CRM as an enabler for this. 

Want to know more and learn how to grow your business by implement a high-performing commercial organization enabled by advanced CRM capabilities?
Please contact us and let’s talk business!

Jord Koot
+31-6-54676176
jord@road2results.nl

Roeland van Delzen
+31-6-51446085
roeland@road2results.nl

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