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7 steps to CRM

Implementing CRM usually seems to be an overwhelming task. You will have to consider technical issues, internal political challenges as well as challenges regarding the working processes involved. Many times, CRM projects have got out of hand and the estimates have been exceeded by a lot of money.

We know this can be done using a very pragmatic procedure and we have summarized this into 7 steps. It is our intention that you will have CRM implemented in a week or even less than a week!!

After the implementation, ChannelCRM will improve your sale and make it much more effective. Furthermore you will have a solid base for further improvement of your sales processes.

Step 0: Which needs are the most important to meet? - How do we prioritize?

CRM is a far-reaching concept with regards to activities, consequences, effects, importance, influence, projects etc. We strongly recommend that you prioritize your needs and start concentrating on the most important one. The ChannelCRM system can meet the CRM needs you will find in almost any organisation, but it will be next to impossible for any company to start with more than one function at a time. Not because our system is complicated - but because the world is complicated! And because employees become much more motivated when they feel that the most important need they have - are met first.

Therefore, identify 2 - 3 challenges which you want to address up front. Most companies choose areas from the "List of inspiration" shown below and we believe you will be inspired by it. But remember: Only 2-3 items to start with!

Inspiration:

• Comprehensive view of all activities towards all customers and prospects.
• Logging of all correspondance with customers and prospects. (Mails, letters, etc.)
• Reliable forecasting.
• Collection of customer information.
• Collection of prospect information.
• Increase the number of canvass calls
• Effectiveness in daily routines.
• Control of - or overwiew of - "who is where - doing what?"
• Employ eksternal ressources for booking of meetings.
• ...

Step 1: Buy a CRM system

This first step is of course very important and also pretty self explanatory. However, much time is often wasted at this point. With ChannelCRM you will have the advantage of very low costs, you will be able to test the solution before you make a buying decision, you can start with a small number of licenses - (if you want to be really careful), and finally your data will be systematized, meaning that even if you regret choosing ChannelCRM, you will be better off than if you had not started with ChannelCRM in the first place! Actually - this first step should take you no more than an hour!! ;-)

Step 2: Install the CRM system

The basic components of the ChannelCRM system is a server component and a client component. The server is installed on the PC, you want to be the "server". It can be a "real" server with Windows serversoftware or it can be a normal workstation with ie. WindowsXP. Only important thing is that the users can get to this PC via a network. The installation on the "server" should take approx 1 minute.

Client components. The client components are installed on the user's PCs. This installation will take you less than a minute. Only thing to remember at this point is to "inform" the PC about the location of the CRM "server" and possible obstacles (firewalls) between the PC and the machine chosen as server must be set to allow the connection. This might give you some challenges if you do not have an internal IT specialist.

If you want ChannelCRM to help you with the technical installation, it usually takes us less than an hour.

Step 3: Implement the users and the basic configuration

As soon as you install the ChannelCRM system, it is automatically configured for the right use. The standard configuration is set up for a generic company selling one or more solutions to other companies.

However, you can make adjustments to this configuration and often it will be beneficial to make some of the adjustments up front. Doing so will make it possible for you and your colleagues to recognize the terms and concepts from your own daily routines: ie your own products, your customer classification, your sales model etc.

Furthermore you will have to identify and set up the users of the system. (Your colleagues)

All of this is done, using the ChannelCRM Admin tool. You can do this by yourself. As an alternative, ChannelCRM or one of their associated partners can help you. On this site, you will find a form which you can fill in and send to us. ChannelCRM will then set up YOUR database. This is FREE of CHARGE, to all first time customers.

Step 3, will only last 1 - 2 hours, if you/your company allready have decided how to segment your market, which salesmodel you want to use and how you want to categorize your sales projects. If you have not thought about this before, you will have to make these decisions first - and this will of course prolong the process.

Step 4: Data Import

Lack of data in a new CRM system usually creates a heavy (and boring) workload for the users, because they simply have to key in all their customers, prospects and contacts. It is therefore a great advantage to have data in the system from the very beginning. This will provide the users with a kick-start and if you get your data from an external source, it will be constantly and correctly updated. Usually it takes a lot of time to clean and update data and this time can be saved.

The ChannelCRM system can use data from any vendors, but you will get extra features, if you use data from NN Markedsdata. Using data from this source will make it possible for the system to automatically update and enrich data through the internet. This data connection will also give you other advantages.

Please note that you can skip step 4 completely simply by using the data of approx. 160.000 danish companies which is included in the system, free of charge! The data is ready for you to use.

Trin 5: Import your own data

If you and your colleagues already have important and valuable data (about customers, prospects, contacts etc.), it will be possible to import these data. ChannelCRM Admin comes with a number of functions, made just for this. The most easy way is to import the data through an Excel spreadsheet or directly from Outlook. Doing so, it will be easy to check whether the data is correct/looks right - before you import it. You will also benefit from this step because it will provide you with an opportunity to clean up your data. It has often been seen that the contacts in Outlook are in a mess - and data taken directly from an ERP system usually contains capital letters, looks old fashioned etc.

Depending on the quantity and quality of the data, this import might take some time to do. Our experience from working with more than 100 customers is that the time spent on the import can be anything from one hour to several days. The technical import it self, is very fast though. You can count on more than 100 companies per second.

ChannelCRM or our partners will be happy to help you with the import. We can also check your import files to see whether the import will be succesful or not.

Step 6: Attend a course!

Now it is time to learn how to use the system! ChannelCRM is a very comprehensive software program with a lot of features included. Therefore your first priority should be to concentrate on the subjects most important to you and your colleagues. Normally a 2 hours start-up course will be the right thing to do. The "superusers" should take an extra 2 hours course at a later stage. Of course, you can always learn even more. If you want to excel in CRM and the use of ChannelCRM, there will always be new areas for you to investigate. But here and now, it is about how to get a kick-start on CRM and thereby how to help you solve the most urgent needs.

The courses delivered by ChannelCRM, are usually designed for each specific company. They will be held at your premises and at a very low cost. Alternatively, you are welcome to use the links to the course material and instruction-videos you can find on the ChannelCRM website. [http//www.channelcrm.dk]

It is our ambition that new customers should be able to implement CRM using internal resources to the greatest possible extent. Also when it comes to education!

Step 7: Plan and execute your first sales campaign

Now the system is ready for use. The basics are in place: The data, your customers, prospects etc. And you have learned how to use ChannelCRM. Finally you also have a comprehensive view of who is doing what, what has been written - to whom, and what you plan to sell to which customers.

Just in order to get to the seventh step :-), we suggest that you plan a campaign towards new prospects. In almost each and every company, finding new customers (cold canvas) is a big challenge, so why not let ChannelCRM help you? Such a campaign has a very nice side effect: It will ensure that all the users start to use the system and they will experience how much ChannelCRM will help them to become more effective and succesful in selling.