If your company is integrating a customer relationship management software (CRM) to store customer contact details, track customer interactions and manage customer accounts, then you should know this is going to require a lot of planning, training, and patience for your employees. In an effort to not overwhelm your staff or inefficiently use the software, it’s best to prepare a CRM implementation plan. A CRM implementation plan not only prepares your staff, but it also ensures your CRM will be running as smoothly and effectively as possible, with correct data and organized workflows.
What is a CRM Implementation Plan?
What is a CRM Implementation Plan?
A CRM implementation plan is a step-by-step process that is designed to carefully rollout and integrate the new software to a business. The plan of how to implement a CRM should be built around saving time, having accurate and valuable data, and getting all your staff on the same page using the right information.
To ensure all areas are covered and integration is seamless after you’ve chosen the CRM software for your business, follow this detailed 7-step CRM implementation process:
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Assemble Your Implementation Avengers
The key to your CRM implementation success is having the right team helping support the process. Dedicate team members to be the organizers and biggest cheerleaders for this software rollout and integration. This team should include your company’s IT manager, sales team manager, and a CRM project manager. These instrumental employees will be responsible for installing, integrating, and optimizing the software as well as encouraging employees to use it. They'll also monitor post-implementation progress, and get feedback regarding ways to make the CRM software work best for the company. -
Define Your Goals
Outline specifically what results you want to see come out of a CRM implementation. Your goals must include specific and tangible results you can measure your business performance against within a specific period, also known as SMART goals. Having clearly defined goals helps you come up with a realistic action plan. These goals should also include a timeline from the beginning of implementation to completed integration. -
Collect and Clean Your Data
If your company has never used a CRM before, then customer data is probably in spreadsheets and harddrives, maybe even physical paper copies in filing cabinets. This data should be audited carefully to remove any inaccurate, invaluable, or duplicate information that will not be needed in your CRM. If you are moving data from an old CRM to a new one, the idea remains the same in that the data you move over should be clean and accurate.
Related: 8 Excel Hacks for a Squeaky Clean Mailing List -
Set Up Your Settings
Prior to launching your CRM, all the settings should be customized to your company. This includes user permissions and roles, workflows, dashboards, reports, contact fields and entities. Some CRMs include customizations like branding, with the opportunity to choose your brand colors and upload your logo. -
Integrate Third-Party Apps
Make sure to connect all the dots and integrate third-party applications like email clients, calendars, messaging software, and social media platforms to streamline work processes and effectively track customer interactions. How easy or difficult this step of this process is, depends on your CRM and your third-party apps. Integrations can be done natively through your CRM software, or through integration tools and API development. -
Testing, Testing, 1..2..3..
Your implementation avengers should be testing every feature, integration, and function of the CRM to be sure it is ready for users. All of the data should be tested for inaccuracies or duplicates, third-party app integrations should be tested for functionality and performance, and all user permissions should be tested to ensure correct configuration.
Related: Are You Collecting the Right Data from Your Website Visitors? -
Train and Support Your Users
To some, change is exciting. And to others, change can be scary or stressful. Big changes to long established processes and workflows can definitely be overwhelming to all those that it affects - and implementing a CRM is just that. A big change. Fortunately, there are ways to train your staff in your CRM implementation plan to remove the stress and unknowns, creating a smooth transition process. Schedule training sessions virtually or in-person, and put together training documents and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for employees to refer to while getting acclimated to the new software. Your CRM implementation team should also be available to receive feedback from users in an effort to make the CRM better for everyone.
Putting Your Plan into Action
Implementing a new CRM is a monumental task. But with the right plan and preparation, you can ensure a seamless, frictionless process with organized customer data right on the horizon! If you are interested in learning more about how to implement a CRM or how to generate leads into your CRM, contact Ironmark. As a Hubspot partner and full-service digital marketing agency, we know that any software is only as good as the strategy behind its use - we’re here to help!
