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Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Archived)

Preparing for a successful CRM adoption - what needs doing?

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Posted on by 95

My employer has asked me to perform some due diligence around what we need to do to make the most of their MS-Dynamics CRM installation. We have been working with MS-CRM 2011 and plan on upgrading to 2015. In reality we use about 5% or less of the functionality the platform offers. To remedy this my boss has asked me to investigate the following:

"If we were to step back and start fresh what would we need to do, and more importantly to know, to really get the most benefit from CRM?"

While I have experience developing on the platform (CRM4 & 2011), the subject of what we as a business need to do to prepare for adopting, or in our case re-adopting, CRM is a hefty topic so any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

My employer is a retail operation with stores throughout the US and a growing online retail operation. We manage credit approvals in house and via a third party for near real time approvals / rejections.

Any links to white papers, blog posts and the like would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for suggestions and guidance.  

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  • Verified answer
    Peter Simard Profile Picture
    95 on at
    RE: Preparing for a successful CRM adoption - what needs doing?

    Answering my own question I've come up with the following:

    Questions

    • what should the system do?
    • Who will use the system?
    • what business processes will meet those people's needs

    Assess

    • Define actionable goals with priorities - avoid specifics in favor or generalities
      • e.g. prefer 'need to know' vs 'must have in x format'
    • Catalogue systems, databases and spreadsheets
    • Identify recommended system hardware requirements
      • CPU speed
      • RAM
      • Free disk space
      • Operating system and service packs
      • Microsoft Office
      • Mobile
      • Phone type
      • Phone operating system
      • Tablet type
      • Internet bandwidth
      • Online/offline requirements
    • Identify software requirements:
      • Which version, or versions, of MS-Office will CRM 2015 support?
    • Determine data stored in those systems
      • Identify data to be stored in CRM
      • Tools for data migration, scrubbing, de-duplication
    • Identify & meet with stakeholders to determine the processes they're using, what isn't working for them now and what they need from the CRM system.
    • Determine the high-priority processes to address for initial implementation.
    • Create a timeline and milestones

    Team

    • Identify departments represented on team
    • Example:
      • IT
      • Finance
      • Treasury
      • Customer Service
      • Accounts Receivable
    CRM works its magic by making deep, fundamental changes in the business processes, especially in sales and marketing…a full-featured CRM solution isn't just a piece of software to install; it includes a host of process changes that are designed to introduce best practices to the company. It is the combination of software and modified processes that makes CRM so powerful.

    References & links:

    http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/preparing-for-crm-63118

    http://blog.toplineresults.com/post/2013/03/14/Preparing-for-a-CRM-Implementation

    http://www.nten.org/articles/2012/5-keys-to-preparing-for-your-crm-system-implementation

     

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