Wednesday, February 6, 2008

5) PACT - Getting the most out of a failed CRM system

You've spent a LARGE sum of money to bring the dream of CRM to your company, but no one is using it despite your use of incentives, threats, and agreements. You've probably heard every excuse in the book as to why the system is not being utilized:
  • "The system is too slow"
  • "Paper notes are just so much faster and convenient"

  • "I don't want to carry my laptop into calls"

  • "Entering stuff into CRM is cutting into my selling time"

  • "You want me to enter my activities into CRM at night, instead of spending time with my family"

Mobile Access to CRM must be the answer then.


You may have tried, or are considering giving mobile access to CRM to users through company Pocket PC's or Blackberries. Technology today allows for quick and secure access to all CRM information by mobile users. I can tell you from my own experience, despite rave reviews during training and implementation of complete CRM access on company Blackberries, it made absolutely no difference in increasing CRM usage. Mobile CRM access was provided at large expense and was designed to reduce the excuses noted above. Unfortunately, mobile access simply added new excuses to the list while maintaining old ones:

  • "The buttons are too small for typing"

  • "The screen is too small for viewing"

  • "Paper is just so much faster and convenient"

  • "I KNOW I should be using the system, but........."

Now that the wedge of distrust has been firmly placed between those needing the information and those being asked to provide it, a completely new approach is needed. This is NOT the best solution, but my research has shown it to be the only solution that has a chance of succeeding against the CRM Dilemma. The key is to turn attention to planning and communication, and away from user activity controls.


Planning

Planning happens at many if not all levels of an organization. Planning involves the analysis of leading indicators (What is happening) and lagging indicators (What has happened) to determine direction and actions. Businesses today are dangerously reliant on lagging indicators because of the relatively easy access to firm information. I offer the following common scenario to illustrate the point:

Sales to one of your largest customers have been steadily increasing month after month. You can therefore extrapolate those sales to a large increase in the next year based on lagging indicators from your ERP system. What you don't know is the leading indicator that one of your low-cost competitors is courting this customer and the customer is considering switching. What could you do if you had this information?


There are several ways this leading indicator could come to you (If it does) before the customer makes a decision:

  1. The customer calls you and lets you know
  2. The customer tells one of your employees and the employee tells you

  3. The information comes through a third party (Supplier, customer, media partner)

Situations like this happen every day in business. What you really need is the knowledge that your competitor is going to make a move on your customer, before they even walk in the door. Let's take a look at some ethical ways you could determine this likelihood, through leading indicators, if you had the information.

  1. Your customer has been unhappy about an element of your value proposition

  2. One of your employees or managers has gone to work for the competition

  3. Your customer has hired an employee, that used to work for a company that purchased from your competitor

  4. Your competitor has just lost a major account

  5. Your competitor has hired a new CEO or executive

  6. There has been a merger or acquisition in your industry

  7. Your competitor has launched a new product line or initiative

  8. Your competitor has suddenly become more aggressive in another area or market segment

In this simple example, several of these leading indicators would be available in the public domain and company executives should be aware of such industry changes. CRM is supposed to solve several of the business problems involved in gathering and communicating leading indicators, between decision-makers and front-line employees. The sad truth is, if users are not entering information into CRM, they probably aren't looking at the information that is being passed to them through CRM either.

For several of the leading indicators in the above scenario, it is very likely that someone within the decision maker's sphere of influence, is aware the occurance has happened. The four questions are:

  1. Are they aware what information is important and needs to be communicated?

  2. Are they aware what information is ethical to pass along?

  3. Do they know who (or whom) to pass the information along to?

  4. Do they know how to best communicate the information to the right person, people, or departments?

The interdependencies of an effective PACT

  1. Planning requires Communication

  2. Communication requires Planning

Field Level PACT


Every sales rep and sales manager has heard the terms "Plan your work and work your plan" and "Fail to plan and plan to fail." While effective planning is critical to the success of sales reps, the personality and skills that draw people to this profession are often not condusive to proper planning. I have traveled with many sales reps that start their days without any kind of plan for that day, let alone the week or month. Effective planning at the field level involves many company directed and self directed competencies and elements.

Arne's Dream for PACT

I want to say up front that while I am highly computer literate and a sought after "Go to" for my exceptional ability to problem solve hardware and software issues, my official computer training consists of a two day course in 1994, called "How to Turn It On"(I am not kidding). I do not fully have all the answers as to how some of the information in this scenario is going to be disseminated and delivered to the user. I get "Google Alerts" every day on various topics, and I love them. I do not suppose to say that Google Alerts could translate to an enterprise, but they are a concept that most people can understand in delivering timely, specific, user-requested information. I am not a network or data warehouse guy, I am a sales guy with a lot of CRM knowledge, experience, and a dream...Just make it all work and I will be happy.

Sales Rep Planning Scenario #1 - Retailer that currently sells a product we manufacture

I will be visiting this customer next week and have created an appointment in Outlook which integrates with PACT. I need to have information that will help me sell my products to this retailer, be of particular interest to this retailer, and show the retailer that me and my company truly care about the success of their business. When I select the customer from my Outlook appointment, a menu pops up with a check list of reports to choose from:

  • Retailer Details Report (Address, staff names and positions etc)
  • Sales, Payment, & Product Mix Analysis
  • Co-op Advertising Report
  • Current Initiatives Report
  • Retailer Goal Report (Goals determined for this retailer)
  • "High Card" Report (What actions have been created by me or others for this retailer)
  • Staff Training Report (Which staff have or have not had training on our products)
  • Value Proposition Report (What our company has to offer this market segment)
  • Demographics Report (Automatic based on where the retailer is)
  • Retailer Competitive Intelligence (What is happening in their industry)
  • Competitive Intelligence (What is happening in your industry based on retailer location)
  • Community Highlights
  • "Google Report" for this retailer
  • Retailer Best Practices General
  • Retailer Merchandising Best Practices
  • Retailer HR Best Practices
  • Consumer Trends
  • Report on Latest Retailer Technologies
  • Give me all reports
  • Always give me these reports for this customer

Depending on the reports requested, they will be delivered in two formats:

  1. Designed to be used by me only, for planning my sales call
  2. Designed to be reviewed the retailer and left behind

The option is then given as to when I would like these reports delivered to me:

  • Deliver these reports the day before my appointment (Via email)
  • Deliver these reports as soon as they are available (Via email)
  • Deliver these reports now and again the day before my appontment

The key is to make the reports valuable and compelling enough, that the sales rep has incentive to PLAN their activities in advance and are specific to the customer. Just imagine the value of these tools when the sales call is made!

Sales Rep Planning Scenario #2 - Prospecting

I will be calling on a particular area or specific prospect next week. Based on the categorized prospect or location in my Outlook calendar, a list of reports to choose from pops up.

  • Leads for the area
  • Current Initiatives Report
  • Goals Report (Goals for this area, prospect or segment)
  • Value Proposition Report (What our company has to offer this market segment)
  • Demographics Report (Automatic based on prospect or prospecting area)
  • "High Card" Report (What actions have been created by me or others for this prospect or area)
  • Segment Competitive Intelligence (What is happening in their industry)
  • Competitive Intelligence (What is happening in your industry based on prospecting location)
  • Community Highlights
  • "Google Report" for this segment or prospect
  • Segment best practices
  • Latest technologies used in this segment
  • Job leads for the prospect
  • Give me all reports
  • Always give me these reports for this area or segment

Depending on the reports requested, they will be delivered in two formats:

  • Designed to be used by me only, for planning my sales calls
  • Designed to be reviewed the prospect and left behind


The option is then given as to when I would like these reports delivered to me:

  • Deliver these reports the day before my appointment (Via email)
  • Deliver these reports as soon as they are available (Via email)
  • Deliver these reports now and again the day before my appontment

These are only examples but hopefully you get the idea. The reports required for your industry may be very different but the focus on planning remains the same. The key elements are the ability to select specific reports that will be considered valuable by the sales rep.

In my next entry, I will move to communication at the sales rep level after the sales call. I will then go back to planning at higher levels based on the information gathered through customer feedback and "High Cards" created after the sales call.

Monday, February 4, 2008

4) P.A.C.T. - A New Way of Looking at CRM

If my research is to be accepted, it means that CRM users will strongly resist recording their "Low Card" activities into a centralized database. It means that users will work individually and as a unified group to defeat CRM. It means that, if forced to record activities into a centralized database, users may sanitize or falsify their entries so as to not "Carry the stick that they will be beaten with." Mutiny against CRM is the preferred method because it deflects blame whereas falsifying records can lead to additional problems for the user.



If my research is to be believed, it casts serious doubt on the ability of CRM to be an effective tool for companies to understand their customer relationships by having a record of activities with those customers. This detrimental view is not considered helpful to the notion that by following proper change management principles, users can be convinced to enter their activities into CRM.



Why Even Bother With CRM Then?

The simple fact is that companies must continue to strive to understand the needs of their customers. They must provide every available tool to their employees to help them sell more of their product to more customers. Employees must have a system to effectively communicate customer feedback and activities that must be dealt with by other employees, suppliers, or partners, in order to increase sales and customer satisfaction. Sales Reps need to be provided with key and timely information that will both help them sell to customers and make them look like heroes in the eyes of their customers.



Steps to A New Perception of CRM



Step 1: Completely remove CRM from our vernacular


  • To a Sales Rep, CRM stands for "Controlling Remote Management"
  • SFA stands for "System Forcing Accountability"

Step 2: Remove the Trust/Don't Trust Dilemma from the Equation by removing the recording of "Low Card" activities

  • If companies truly trust their employees, managers and executives do not need employees to record their "Low Card" activities, but rather they need employees to tell them what customers are saying and doing ("High Card Activities") so they can plan and adapt.
  • If companies do not trust their employees, managers and executives need employees to record their "Low Card"activities so they can direct employee activities. They also need to know what customers are saying and doing ("High Card Activities") so they can plan and adapt.
  • If employers trust and do not plan to direct employee activities, why do they need those "Low Card" activities recorded?
  • If employees truly trust their employers, they would accurately record their "Low Card"activities with no concern that managers and executives would try to direct their activities based on what they are recording. They will also record what customers are saying and doing ("High Card Activities") to the benefit of themselves and the company.
  • If employees do not trust their employers, they would fear their "Low Card" activies will be controlled and directed if they provide this information to managers and executives. Customer "High Card" activities would also be withheld because it would demonstrate the usefullness of the system and reduce excuses for not entering "Low Card" activities.
  • Even if employees trust their managers and executives, why would they record "Low Card" activites, if they did not perceive a personal benefit in doing so?


Step 3: Form a PACT between the company and users

P.A.C.T. - Planning and Communication Tool

  • Pact - No recording of "Low Card" activities will be required (Exception noted below for training or disciplinary action)
  • Pact - Users, managers, and executives will record all "High Card" customer activities and feedback in the system.
  • All "High Card" activities will be attached to the customer record, and will not result in quantitative "Low Card" reporting upon completion ("High Cards" often become "Low Cards" in the view of the user, once the sale or activity is complete)
  • Pact - The system will contain no "Tick Boxes" for the purpose of quantitative reporting of "Low Cards"
  • Pact - "High cards" will not be communicated via email or telephone, unless attached to, or recorded in, the customer record
  • Individuals may be required to record "Low Card" activities for a period of time, in a training or disciplinary capacity. Such recording will be in text form viewed by the manager working with the employee
  • Pact - Users agree to be open about, and accountable for, their "High Card" activity planning
  • Pact - Users, managers, and executives will be provided with useful, timely, and customer focused information that will help them plan their selling strategies and improve customer relationships

In my next entry, I will break down each component of the Planning and Communication Tool and how it can greatly enhance performance and user acceptance.