Implementing an Enterprise CRM - · White Paper: Credera’s Management Consulting Practice 3 Implementing an Enterprise CRM T H E P O W E R O F P E R S P E C T I V E

T H E P O W E R O F P E R S P E C T I V E

Implementing an Enterprise CRM

Authored By: Manish Limaye

Matt Allen Katherine Moffitt

Credera

www.credera.com

Austin Office

9020 N. Capital of Texas Highway

Suite 345 Austin, TX 78759

512.327.1112 Phone 512.233.0844 Fax

Dallas Headquarters

The Towers at Park Central 789

12770 Merit Drive, Suite 100 Dallas, TX 75251

972.692.0010 Phone 972.692.0019 Fax

Denver Office

4600 South Syracuse Street

Suite 900 Denver, CO 80237

303.623.1344 Phone 303.484.4577 Fax

http://www.credera.com/

White Paper: Credera’s Management Consulting Practice 2



Contents

Introduction 3

Governance 4

Organization and Culture 5

Business Process Management 6

Technology Considerations 8

Conclusion 10

About the Author 11

About Credera 11

White Paper: Credera’s Management Consulting Practice 3



Introduction

Assessing an organization’s readiness for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution is only the first step of the

process. Once an organization is ready, it must take the next step to design and implement the solution. The set of

processes and technologies that support a customer-centric culture must be designed and built – keeping in mind the

strategic end-goal of the organization (i.e., acquiring, cultivating, retaining, and growing customers by identifying and

satisfying their needs). As you begin project efforts you will be faced with a myriad of questions that cannot be avoided if

you are to ensure a successful implementation.

Executive support is crucial for success. Strong leadership with a clear vision eases the implementation of the solution,

enabling project teams to procure resources, resolve issues, and drive change within the organization. How will executives

drive the results of the solution? What frameworks will need to exist to enable this leadership? Who will be involved in the

decision-making process, and who will ultimately be accountable for the outcomes? What operating rhythm will be

established to facilitate ongoing engagement with the executives?

Executives will provide direction and policy, but project teams will actually implement the solutions. Who needs to be

appointed as the lead of each of the project teams? Who will be on the teams? Those involved need to understand the

importance of process definition and adherence. How will processes be assessed, modified or created, and implemented?

How do you make sure these new processes are followed?

Technology is the means by which processes are implemented and measured. To facilitate common measurement, a

common language is needed. This language is the data. How does your organization’s data look? Is there one common data

model or have disparate systems led to disparate data models? Are they able to communicate with each other with the

appropriate translations? A new CRM tool could greatly change your data architecture. What do you have in place to enable

this change, and what will you do to make it a positive change?

In the second of three CRM White Papers, we discuss what it takes to successfully implement an enterprise CRM. What

structures should be in place to increase the likelihood of implementation success? What considerations must be addressed

to ease the transition to an enterprise solution? An organization might be ready for an enterprise CRM, but that is only the

beginning of the process. Now, the solution must be planned and implemented.

Implementing an Enterprise CRM 4


Governance

Governance must be the starting point for any enterprise

implementation, especially one as transforming as CRM.

Why governance? Like the rudder of a ship, governance is

responsible for steering large initiatives toward successful

outcomes (or the metaphoric icebergs). Unfortunately,

governance tends to be one of those ambiguous terms

lacking real definition or substance. Your ability to move

beyond concept and into action will determine the success

of your program. With that in mind, governance must

consider more than the immediate project team or those

directly affected by the project; those indirectly impacted

should be included, too. Also, it is imperative to provide

the group with all of the information to better understand

the successes and obstacles that a project is encountering.

Governance is a Team Sport

Any large implementation effort requires program

oversight and governance to be effective. As you embark

on your CRM endeavor, the initial question to ask is, “Who

should be on the Steering Committee?” Obvious members

include the project sponsor and sales leadership. The

inclusion of IT is quite common given the technical nature

of any CRM implementation. Unfortunately, most

organizations stop at this point and fail to include

Operations and back office executives (e.g., COO, CFO,

etc.). The rationale being that CRM supports Sales Force

Automation hence the emphasis on “sales.” Project

management and even the sponsor may purposely elect to

avoid leaders in other parts of the business due to the

natural friction between sales and operations.

Instead of shying away from conflict, embrace it! A

healthy tension among leaders ensures course correction.

Include leaders from Operations, Accounting, Finance,

and even Legal. CRM is about the entire organization

becoming customer-centric. It is important to remember

that downstream functions such as Operations and

Accounting are also selling through delivery. When all

parts of the business understand and have access to

customer information, they begin to include these

insights into their day-to-day processes. This inclusion

organically develops the customer-centric culture that

leads to success in CRM. As you forge ahead with your

new CRM program, include all aspects of the business,

for only then will you build a solution that truly

maximizes the lifetime value of a customer.

Death by Stop Lights

Most steering committee meetings are laden with

useless information. Are you part of steering or

leadership committee where presentations are status

rich and typically take the form of stop lights? Do you

find yourself losing interest, checking your mobile device,

or maybe even texting for help? As a project manager,

do you elect to leave out the details on purpose? Do you

take the contentious issue off the table to avoid painful

dialogue? If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Conflict is tough. Still, nothing that is worthwhile is ever

easy. In your next CRM steering committee meeting,

leave the stop lights out, spend 5 minutes on status, and

engage the group around those two or three critical

decisions you have needed answers to for the past few

weeks. Let your leaders be leaders. Most attained their

respective positions by making critical decisions based on

limited information. Use a simple framework to present

the options and their relative pros and cons. Be sure to



discuss risks associated with each approach and the

overall benefits to the program and the business. At that

point, open up the floor for discussion and allow an open

dialogue to occur. Be sure to clearly state the ground

rules up front around reaching a decision, and be

prepared to facilitate and step in if the discussion is

moving in the wrong direction.

One thing is certain: this type of approach will increase

attendance, lead to better decisions, and an overall better

outcome for the program. In the end, leaders like to make

decisions; that is exactly what this format requires. On a

final note, prior to what you might anticipate to be a

heated discussion, be sure to remind the group of its

purpose and the need for unity among leaders. While

they may not agree on every play in the playbook, they

must agree that the objective is to score a touchdown and

not a field goal.

Organizational Change Management

Large scale implementation efforts typically result in large

scale changes to individual and departmental day-to-day

activities. While the topic of Organizational Change

Management (OCM) is embraced by most organizations as

a key to overall success, it can be difficult to truly get your

arms around what it means to deliver OCM throughout

the lifecycle of a project. For starters, the common

terminology is ambiguous. After all, what is a sponsor

assessment, audience analysis, or readiness assessment?

Furthermore, how does the organization receive value

from these deliverables? Once you’ve made the

commitment to channel company resources into CRM, it’s

time to make the business of managing change real.

Here’s how to do it.

The Change Champion and Communication

So what does it mean to manage change? Simply stated

it means taking an individual, department, or company

through a series of stages designed to ensure end user

adoption of new processes and systems.

Put another way, it’s a structured method for winning

the hearts and minds of the user community. Some

individuals will be easily moved. Perhaps, they have

been asking for a new CRM and have played an active

role in getting the project approved. Others will start in

the middle. Be warned there will be outliers that will be

incredibly resistant to change. To make matters more

complicated those who are change averse may occupy

leadership positions in the company where scores of

employees look to them to determine how to act. The

first step to making change ‘real’ is to put a face on

change. This role is commonly referred to as the Change

Champion. This is a highly visible person within the

business known for their honesty and integrity by all

employees up and down the line. Depending upon the

project and the organization, this could be the sponsor or

maybe a member of the steering committee. Bottom

line, this is a senior leader that people trust.

The next step is to establish a comprehensive

communications plan that is actionable. Prior to the

construction of such a plan, all stakeholder groups are

identified. This is followed by a series of communication

pieces using one of many mediums. Each communication

item (e.g., webinar, emails, tweet, blog, newsletter, etc.)

is directly tied back to one of the stages of change (i.e.,

Aware, Understand, Accept, Commit, and Reinforce). All

communications originate from the Change Champion to

ensure consistent messaging.



A sound OCM solution not only articulates the benefits of

a new system such as CRM to the masses, it also recruits

change agents and project advocates to go out and spread

the gospel. Known on some projects as the extended

change team, these employees typically reside within

operational roles with day-to-day responsibilities.

Including them during the design and testing stages shows

that you’re involving the business. Hit a homerun with

this group and it will come back to the project in spades.

Think of them as a referral of sorts for the project. In the

end, it’s a two-pronged approach that involves constant

communication around the facts of the project along with

first-hand testimonials from peers they know and trust.

Measuring Adoption and In-Flight Adjustments

It’s not enough to simply communicate. You have to

measure adoption throughout the lifecycle of the project

to determine if you’re managing change effectively. This

can be as simple as a survey or readiness assessment with

10 – 15 questions intended to measure the stages of

change mentioned above. Questions around awareness

tend to be more general such as, “Are you aware of the

new CRM initiative?” As you move towards acceptance

and commitment, the questions should become much

more focused and specific. For example, CRM systems

typically rely on a “pay it forward” concept where an

individual makes a decision to enter customer information

that may not be critical to his/her opportunity, but may

benefit someone in the company at a later date. One

question to measure commitment may be, “Are you

willing to enter additional information into CRM?” or “Do

you believe others are willing to enter additional

information into CRM?” When analyzing the responses,

be sure to plot the results on the change curve.

Plotting the data can provide a stunning visual to support

key themes observed as part of the readiness assessment

process.

Furthermore, where there are issues formulate and put

into place a remediation plan. This may involve the

creation of targeted messaging and necessitate new

delivery methods. There is absolutely nothing wrong

with changing planes mid-air, especially if the landing

gear is broken. Finally, be sure to measure adoption

again after go-live with additional questions around

reinforcement.

At the end of the day, the ability for any organization to

fully realize the benefits of CRM requires users to change

old habits from both a business and technology

perspective. This means a steady flow of information

about the pending change and its impact. The manner in

which this information reaches the user community

should be deliberate utilizing various channels. It should

be consistent with key messages and delivered by

someone the organization trusts.

Business Process Design

With governance established and the appropriate leaders

in place, the project implementation effort should begin

to focus on processes. Effective business processes are

specific, clear, and applicable. Successful business

processes are adopted by the organization and enforced

by the company culture. The key to defining effective,

successful business processes is to ensure the correct

people are involved.



Process vs. Technology

Defining a customer-centric strategy that puts the

customer at the center of the organization is crucial to a

successful CRM program. This culture or mindset of

customer service needs to be enabled by the right

technology and supported by the business processes.

The ‘best’ practice is to define process first and then select

the technology. However, practically speaking, the

technology is often selected based upon the current

process and a few ideas of the future state. To the

greatest extent possible, the business needs drive the

requirements for the tool (e.g., the Customer Account

must enable me to capture the Customer’s birth date so

that they can be contacted for a special discount in the

month of their birth, etc.). After the tool is selected, the

processes can be discussed, documented, and finalized

with any technical constraints taken into consideration.

Business Process Objectives

Defined business processes highlight business-specific

best practices for ensuring that the full potential of the

technology is leveraged. The purpose of the CRM tool is

to support the business to manage customer

relationships; the processes define how the tool enables

the business-user to maximize the value of interactions

with their customers.

The business processes should define the most logical,

common path taken for a specific scenario. The processes

should primarily focus on the situations that occur the

majority of the time. Though there may be less common

scenarios that deviate from the common path, only the

high priority exceptions need to be documented.

The Best and Brightest

Who needs to be involved? Easy answer - the best

people. They are the key influencers and high

performers in your organization who are recognized for

excellence in managing relationships with customers.

Your business leaders will know who they are. Work

with the business leaders to nominate key participants

and obtain approval for them to dedicate time to the

business process design initiative.

Involve at least one representative from each business

area that will use the CRM tool. It is critical that the

specific needs of each area of the organization are

understood and considered. Though standard processes

should be identified, designed, and followed whenever

possible, there may be instances where there is a

genuine need for an exception to the process. These

instances should be rare. When they do occur, accept

and embrace the differences. Chances are these

processes represent the ‘secret sauce’ that allows you to

differentiate yourself from competitors.

Ensure that a good cross section of the organization is

involved. Having a good selection of varied experiences,

tenure, and business area representation will ensure that

any exception processes are identified and discussed.

This is a good opportunity for cross-pollination of ideas

across business units, encourage each business unit to

share recommendations, and work together to agree on

a process that meets the majority of the needs. On a

final note, avoid ivory tower thinking at all costs. Involve

real-users in the field as much as possible during design

sessions.



Ensuring Business Process Adoption

When the right business leaders are engaged, they will

drive enterprise-wide buy in and adoption of the

processes. Use the business process design participants as

champions of the processes within each of their own

business areas. Leverage the Organizational Change

Management techniques of Sponsorship, Communication,

and Training to introduce the redesigned processes to the

organization. Train the organization by showing how the

CRM tool will be used to execute the processes. By making

the training process focused will show the value of the

CRM tool, as well as, reiterate the processes.

Technology Design

Regardless of the software selected or the business

processes designed, a poorly implemented technology will

torpedo any project. CRM will most likely be a new tool

suite in your technological landscape. If your enterprise is

like most, there are many other systems already in place.

How will you ensure all of your systems talk to each other

at the right time and in the same language?

Love the Data

Data and the processing of it are at the heart of any

technological solution. In fact, one sure way to ruin an

otherwise perfect solution is to neglect the data involved.

The organization can be culturally ready to go with

processes defined and well-documented, but without a

comprehensive data strategy, all will be for naught.

The data in the solution must be available (i.e., able to be

collected), accurate, and accessible (i.e., able to be

consumed by users). A solution that factors in such data is

more credible (and useful) to the users. The software

selected by the enterprise will determine how to manage

the data so it is available, accurate, and accessible. For

example, several SaaS providers have add-on

applications that serve as data cleansing tools. Many

have somewhat robust analytics engines to aid in user

presentation. Along with tools and add-ons, the project

team should design the enterprise CRM solution such

that data entry is quick and easy. This will improve

user- adoption. In addition to data collection tools and

processes, the solution should include tools for cleansing

and augmenting the data, as well as, developing

processes around the purchase of third-party data sets to

enhance or expand existing data sets (a.k.a. data

enrichment). The CRM project should define end goals

and needs around data analysis and reporting to ensure

it can deliver what the users require.

Underpinning the above data discussion is the

assumption that the organization will develop (or maybe

already has) a strategy for a future-state data model. If

one does not exist, the enterprise should develop a

strategy and implement a plan to get there. It will take

time. There are legacy systems throughout the

enterprise, each with its own data model. There are

interfaces that fire back and forth between those

systems with custom maps to transform the data from

model to model. The enterprise needs to review the

technological landscape and determine what will be part

of the future and what needs phasing out. The question

to answer is this: Does this technology support the new

customer-centric focus? Plan for time to build out the

data solution; it may be best to do this in a phased

manner. Document each data element in each affected



system to ensure that each system manipulates the data

appropriately throughout the solution. In the end, data

must be defined the same throughout the organization.

This does not necessarily mean the data elements

representing each data concept must be identical (an

MDM could be used for that). Instead, when an employee

uses a word (e.g., prospect, etc.), he or she must mean the

same thing as everyone else. Bottom line: the metadata

must be consistent.

Often overlooked in system implementations is the

centrality of the data. The organization cannot fall into

the trap of believing that the data is secondary. It is of

first-order importance, and it must be treated as such.

Keeping the Trains Running

If data is the language, the interface architecture is the

means by which systems speak to each other. To change

the metaphor with a more industrial one, the interface

architecture is the rail system that keeps the trains

running. Regardless of the topology of the enterprise

network, the interfaces must keep the data flowing in a

timely, accurate manner. If one function of the CRM is to

collect order data, but the accounting side sits on a

separate ERP, the network must communicate the data

appropriately. The data transforms must occur and the

data must be available when each system needs it.

How can this best be accomplished? First, determine the

enterprise needs. What are the business requirements?

Is real-time integration required, important, or a nice-to-

have? Inherent in this is a definition of “real-time”

integration. Ask 10 people what that means; you will get

ten different answers. Agree to the definition and then

discuss the requirement. What about batch processes?

Pursuant to the aforementioned discussion over data, a

combination of real-time and batch interfaces can greatly

aid in data quality. Documented use-cases greatly

enhance this effort of understanding business needs.

With a clear understanding of requirements, the

enterprise must ensure the interfaces all speak the same

language. This does not refer to communication

protocol; the interfaces must tie back to the enterprise

data model. What transforms will be needed along with

how they will be accomplished? Does a status of

“Active” mean the same thing across systems? Does that

status even exist in all of your systems? Every individual

system is replete with obvious and not-so-obvious

nuances in the data. Document them all.

Do not assume anything. Define and communicate the

interface schedule. Ensure everyone involved

understands the data nuances, especially how those

nuances affect the data transforms.

Finally, clearly assign the transform responsibilities to

each system so that everyone knows what everyone else

is doing. A tight schedule is the only way to keep the

trains running!



Conclusion

Implementation of any enterprise-wide initiative can be a scary proposition. The Internet landscape is filed with a plethora of

failed projects and horror stories around a lack of sponsorship, poor communications, non-standard business processes, and

marginal technology decisions. Ask any seasoned CFO and they will tell you that projects such as these take twice as long at

double the cost. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Get your implementation efforts off on the right foot with a collection of business leaders charged with steering the project

towards success. Take the time to understand your organization and their overall aversion to change. Build a real, tangible

plan that includes a visible sponsor for moving users and stakeholders forward along the change curve. Demonstrate your

genuine desire to include the field (i.e., real users) in key business process decisions. Not only will you end up with a better

result, these individuals will become agents of change positively influencing and potentially accelerating fellow peers towards

commitment and acceptance. Even if the organization is ready, a lack luster technology solution can mean the demise of all

project efforts. Data and interfaces are critical and should not be overlooked.

In the end, implementation of large scale projects requires a coordinated effort from multiple disciplines to be successful.

Buck the trend and turn your CRM implementation into a shining example of how to run a large scale endeavor. Doing so will

bring the organization considerably closer to realizing the vision of customer centricity.



About the Authors

Manish Limaye is a Principal with Credera. He has more than 16 years of information technology experience, and has

managed several client engagements in a variety of industries — including financial services, healthcare,

telecommunications, distribution, and electronics. Manish has served Fortune 500 companies, medium-sized business and

private entities in the areas of strategic planning, process improvement, customer relationship management, governance,

infrastructure, project management, application design, and technology outsourcing. He holds an M.B.A. from Southern

Methodist University and a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Kansas.

Matt Allen is a Manager with Credera. He has more than 12 years of management and IT experience, specializing in data

quality (analyzing data quality, developing cleansing strategies, etc.), business intelligence (data management, conversion,

and reporting), business process redesign, enterprise software strategy development and implementation (ERP and CRM),

and project / program management. He has worked with Fortune 500 and mid-market clients across numerous industries,

including: financial services, chemical, consumer products, electronics, and high tech. Prior to joining Credera, Matt

worked at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) as a Manager and at GE Capital as a Program Manager and a Senior

Financial Analyst. Matt received his MBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University and BBA in Management

Information Systems from Texas Tech University.

Katherine Moffitt is a Senior Consultant with Credera. She has over 6 years of management and technology consulting

experience for clients in the retail, government, nonprofit, and industrial manufacturing industries. Katherine’s projects

have included organizational change management, training development, executive communications, business process

modeling, and data warehousing. Prior to joining Credera, she was a Consultant with Accenture. Katherine received her

B.S. in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station, TX.

About Credera

Credera is a full-service business and technology consulting firm. Working with Fortune 1,000 companies, medium-sized

businesses, government organizations, and clients across a broad range of industries, we provide the experience and

commitment necessary to solve today's toughest business and technology challenges. Because it's not just about meeting

expectations - it's about exceeding them. Founded in 1999, Credera is headquartered in Dallas, TX and hosts offices and

staffing locations around the country, including Austin, Denver, and Seattle. For additional information, visit

www.credera.com.

Copyright © 2011 Credera. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. 06/11 [MC-ML]

http://www.credera.com/

Documents

Implementing an Enterprise CRM - · White Paper: Credera’s Management Consulting Practice 3 Implementing an Enterprise CRM T H E P O W E R O F P E R S P E C T I V E