Customer Relationship Management
How did such a good idea go so wrong?

While attending a meeting of proposals managers, the rather academic, tell-us what-we-already-know speaker alluded to Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Even with the high level of inattention he was generating, the reaction that emanated from an otherwise polite audience was a very loud groan.

The groan woke me up.

How could such a good idea as CRM have gone so very wrong-- and with a group of improvement minded people who were voluntarily spending their lunch hour going to a professional meeting? A less improvement-minded audience might have lynched the speaker.

Later that month a colleague mentioned he was visiting with a VP of Sales for a large Fortune 500 company who had 1700 licenses for a popular CRM software application sitting in his desk unused (or should we say unusable?).

            If you’ve experienced difficulties implementing change, here are some basic rules of thumb you can use to power the big change drivers.

 Rule 1. Technology is a small change driver.

 If your people are not actively listening to your customers, do you really think a computer program can improve that?

CRM is a way of thinking, of doing business--of listening to what customers mean--it's not a computer application per se. Used effectively it helps an organization discover emerging customer patterns and preferences.  If your people don't think and behave from the customer's viewpoint, a computer application will gather dust. The thinking (intent) must change and the process must change. If you can't do it on paper, computer technology introduces more confusion faster and can actually get in the way of achieving the desired results. Technology is a support system, a tool to make work easier and more efficient, or it should be.

If your sales methods aren't easily replicable and very focused, automating them can be daunting. You must  “build up” to this level of customer relationships. A computer program alone will not do this. Too much technology can also make your sales people seem like “salesbots” to customers—is that a relationship?

Rule 2.  Use the power drivers for change first.

Research shows the power drivers for change are in the following order:

·        Leadership and direction—a commitment by leadership insisting that change happens, providing clear targets that people understand, and remaining personally involved.

·        Structure and Metrics—we’re not talking about simply re-arranging the boxes on organization charts that businesses seem so fond of doing. We’re talking about whether the way your business process really works encourages or discourages high performance? Does it reinforce the behaviors you need? Do you have the metrics to know? Are the metrics simple, followed and used? Do you tackle the high value, easy to do projects first? Do you use each success to create more momentum to tackle other obstacles?

·        Rewards and Communication—do people feel they are “making a difference?” Do you communicate often to let people know? Is there a sense of progress maintained? Finally, are sub-projects identified so progress and completion can be shown?

 Rule 3.  If users can’t identify a project to make technology work, it probably won’t.

Used as “stand alones,” technology, skills development and resource allocation are small change drivers that lead only to modest performance improvements.

Yes, modest improvements do happen, but not the really big gains that inspire even higher performance and build more capability. We’ve found time and time again that allowing individuals to discover what they believe they need leads to committed, real changes where employees are innovative and productive. If your change initiatives allow choice to choose how (the what or goal is not optional), employees find extremely inventive ways around barriers. If no leadership, structures or intrinsic rewards for performance exist, projects generally drag at a snails pace, the wrong work gets done, or worse, everything grinds to a halt—and you have 1700 unused CRM licenses in your desk!

Employing power change drivers coupled with the support systems employees use builds vast competitive capability in organizations. Yet, these powerful tools are rarely consciously aligned to make it easier to get things done. On the contrary, they are often in place to maintain the status quo. Technology does not necessarily make things cheaper or faster. One of our clients was very surprised to find their trained and motivated workforce was cheaper than a state-of-the art facility in Mexico—the committed innovation of our client’s plant employees made the difference. Another found their California factory competitive with anywhere in the world. Those are real examples of using the big drivers for change instead of the small ones!

Rapid alignment of Power Drivers with Support Systems Drivers can produce dramatic results.

            Think of focusing performance like a funnel with the Power Drivers at the top of the funnel, your business process below that and the Support System Drivers of resource allocation, skills development and technology nearer to where the funnel narrows to focus performance (results). Which systems do we often start with? Unfortunately, it’s often the Support System Drivers. It doesn’t take a physics major to see how much more potential and output there is from starting at the top. 

New tools exist to rapidly bring your unique capabilities into confluence for change—much like creating a perfect storm that blows down that old building you’ve wanted to get rid of for years—but it was too expensive to do—and now your insurance is paying for it. However, if you don’t know the nuances of creating the perfect storm, you may not take down that old building—but take out Miami.

More resources . . .

For a short assessment of whether your sales area is ready for CRM technology, contact Janice at 281-261-2320 or email janicescanlan@earthlink.net. 

  To read more about pulling your change drivers into confluence, visit www.synchrosconsulting.com/powering_performance.htm.

 Janice Scanlan helps organizations identify how to rapidly create momentum in their organizations to better serve customers and power change when they don’t have much time to get it right. Contact her if you would like to bring about some dramatic improvements in your performance at 281-261-2320 or email janicescanlan@earthlink.net. 

Do your change initiatives build new levels of performance by building  on existing capabilities or are they  disappointing?

If your people aren't listening to your customer, do you really think a computer program can improve that?

Technology unless it supports what your people are already doing, normally introduces more confusion. It can become a performance inhibitor rather than a performance driver.

What obstacles do your people believe limit performance?

Vast differences in performance improvements emerge when you employ the unique change levers in your situation to full advantage.

Do you focus on power drivers for change or on support drivers?

Creating the Perfect Storm for Change
Unless you fully understand the nuances for creating the perfect storm for change, instead of the old building you've been wanting to demolish, you may take out Miami!