Is your company truly ready to move forward with CRM?
You’ve invested in the right CRM solution, followed best practices and secured buy-in from key stakeholders. You’re about to hand off the reins to your IT lead.
It feels like go time.
But hold on.
Treating CRM as just a software project is one of the fastest ways to see it fail.
In reality, implementing a CRM is one of the most strategic and potentially disruptive decisions your company can make. Done right, it becomes your organization’s single source of truth, driving efficiency and profitability through data-driven selling, improved team alignment and better customer visibility.
Done poorly, it breeds confusion, fear and resistance.
This is because too often, companies rely on technical teams to own the rollout, train users on how to click through screens, and send them off with a “good luck.” But without the right leadership and ongoing support, your team will revert to old habits, and the value of your CRM will never be fully realized.
If you're in the early stages of a CRM rollout or revisiting how to get more value from an existing system, here are some practical tips to help you succeed in the first 90 days and beyond.
Appoint a 'CEO for CRM'
CRM success requires ownership, and that ownership should not sit with your IT department.
You need a dedicated ongoing leader: someone who takes full accountability for CRM adoption and outcomes after implementation. I call this person the CEO for CRM.
This individual should be a trusted sales leader, someone with enough organizational influence, a deep understanding of the customer journey, and the bandwidth to lead this change long-term. They must act as both a champion and a change agent, steering the rollout and guiding adoption well after the initial launch.
Communicate the 'Why'
Your team will naturally ask, “How will this affect me?” If you don’t clearly explain the why behind the CRM, they may assume it’s just another tool to micromanage or monitor performance.
Instead, frame CRM as a tool for sales enablement, not surveillance. Acknowledge that manually tracking customer information through endless spreadsheets is a drain on performance and frustrating to boot. Emphasize how CRM reduces manual effort, improves visibility and helps them close more deals with less friction.
Be sure to highlight the value CRM brings, such as:
- Better visibility into the front end of the sales cycle
- A shared view of customer interactions across departments
- Easier identification of upsell or cross-sell opportunities
- Streamlined processes that boost productivity
When people understand the bigger picture, they're more likely to embrace change.
Acknowledge and Address the Fears
We rely on our sales force to be high performers and need to earn their trust. For many sales professionals, CRM has a reputation for being clunky, confusing or irrelevant. You can’t just promise benefits; you need to prove to them through consistent, thoughtful execution.
From day one, the CEO for CRM should:
- Set expectations
- Provide role-specific training
- Reinforce proper usage
- Be transparent about early hiccups and improvements
Remind your team that CRM will not be perfect out of the gate, but you have a plan to adjust processes as needed.
Make Training Fun
Want your team engaged during CRM training sessions? Make a game of it. Instead of merely going over dos and don’ts of CRM, make learning fun. Gamification methods may include:
- Experience points
- Leaderboards for bragging rights
- Badges and achievements
Start with small, interactive groups to promote interaction as they learn. Be sure to allow time to ask questions, discuss experiences and share successes.
Stay Connected with Ongoing Coaching
One of the biggest mistakes I see with CRM rollouts is treating training as a one-time event. CRM success isn’t about just learning the system; it’s about leveraging the data provided by CRM strategically.
Ongoing coaching is an essential component of a successful implementation and includes opportunities for ongoing feedback and potential troubleshooting. For that reason, I recommend the CEO for CRM run training sessions in the following cadence:
- Weekly or bi-weekly for the first 3 months
- Monthly for the first 9-12 months
- Monthly sessions or quarterly, based on needs after year one
These ongoing training sessions ensure long-term acceptance and adoption of CRM, allowing for the opportunity to troubleshoot discrepancies before they become problems.
CRM Is not 'Set It and Forget It'
The biggest takeaway I can provide distributors embarking on a CRM journey is that CRM is never one and done. It’s a living, breathing part of your sales process, a work in progress that must be embraced company-wide. By appointing a CEO for CRM, explaining the “Why” behind CRM and creating a culture of engagement, you can experience long-term success.
Brian Gardner, the founder of SalesProcess360, is the author of “CEO for CRM: Your Roadmap for CRM Success,” the follow-up to his first book, “ROI from CRM: It’s About Sales Process, Not Just Technology.” He served as a sales manager for a major regional industrial distribution rep company for 15 years before building Selltis, an industrial sales team CRM solution with roots in process improvement.
