Business people tend to search for a CRM solution among SW developers and vendors. "They know the technology, which I (the business manager) don't know, so they will know my needs and how to implement it". If a business manager would object to such a suggestion he would be labeled "old" and "overdue". In today fast business lane, fortunes are made fast, and young managers tend to "buy" a CRM software solution. CRM should already be in place, functioning, BEFORE starting IT implementation (who has to forward which info to whom to be ready for who, when? Who has to respond to what in how much time?). CRM Software solution is only a TOOL for procedures already in place. Let me draw a parallel.

With the invention of cars, the way we conduct business changed. We could do much more business and do it better. But never once, it occurred to us to let auto designers lead and ENFORCE the way we are building relations with our customers. So why does everybody think that software designers are capable of that? They might be brilliant SW developers, but still they wouldn't know how to better customer retention in a company manufacturing furniture. So why do we try to do that? Because it is easier not to lose time over enforcement of customer retention rules in our own company, when we can pay someone to do it. Because we have the money, but we don't have TIME. Well, we can't do that. We cannot avoid our involvement in the process (and our hours, of course), although I know most of you didn't want to hear this. Which brings us to the misconception number three.

You search for an SW solution for your CRM, buy it, and let those people do their job. As good manager, you organize weekly meetings to have your finger on things. Because you selected a SW vendor which is a respectable company, the first thing those people do, is to organize internal audit. They pass out forms to people in different departments, to find out exactly what are the needs of different parts of your company. Alternatively, they conduct interviews. And that is good. That is much better then them trying to force their "proven" flow of documentation upon your company. But what they are actually doing is LEARNING the way your company functions. And the teaching is done by people who work in each department, that most probably, don't have the whole picture. So the integration of the whole picture is done by the SW vendor. Can they learn in a fortnight or a month?

I would suggest another approach. Find an "oldie" within your company, preferably one year from retirement. The one that does know how your company lives, who preferably worked a bit in sales, a bit in procurement and a bit in support or reclamation. If he doesn't like computers, all the better. If he later likes the results, you can be sure everyone else will. Assign him full time as a liaison, and let him guide the implementation. Have everyone know all the doors must be kept open for him. Remember, CRM implementation is about KNOWLEDGE of how your company functions. It is about how EXISTING customer care procedures (remember misconception number one?) are automated (complemented, modified) by computers. And if there is no such person(s) within your company? Well, that leaves YOU. I bet you didn't want to hear this, but remember that everyday customer relation procedures will be done by your people, not the SW vendor. Which brings us to misconception number four.

After the first year of coughing and hiccuping, your CRM solution is finally in place and humming nicely. You are getting all that nice data you needed, and you are finally able to watch and build your customer relations. So you are home and free. If you need an extra report, or an extra field, you'll call the SW vendor and he will make the necessary changes. Well, that's not entirely true. The life of your company is not static. It changes daily. The same way, your CRM solution cannot be static. If your sales person needs to call an IT liaison, explain to him the change he needs, then to the SW developer, then wait for implementation, you can be sure that he will not do it. He will rather scribble it into his note book or the Excel sheet on his notebook. He should be able to do just that in your CRM solution. Which means you should have a modifiable solution, one in which you can add fields and tell the system how to handle them. But that means you will have to invest time to learn how to do it. Or leave it for later when you will have more time. Which is misconception number six.

People tend to search for a CRM software solution when they cannot cope any more with the traffic. By then, it is too late. It is late in the sense that you have to implement a solution in which you have to invests time, and time you don't have. That means that the implementation will be much longer, it will cost much more in hours, lost business, poor customer service, which means you will spend more hours dealing with a customer, you will have less hours in sales, you will have to hire more people... There is no nice way to tell you, so I will say it straight out: You should start implementing a CRM system, the moment you start using PC in promotion and sales. And that is now, isn't it?