Need a better Sales process? Then don't leave it to the system
/Can we agree that your business performs better when everyone's approach is thoughtful, somewhat consistent, and continuously improved? And that making the necessary changes is not easy?
If so, let me suggest that using business systems as the primary driver of change is a path to failure.
I remember when "CRM" was the big buzz in IT. Every business needed a new Customer Relationship Management system so Sales Management could deliver the best results. Turned out that CRM implementations exhibited a 90% failure rate. I'm glad to say that I've had considerably better success—otherwise, I wouldn't be sharing this article—but the projects are easier when you approach change first, system second.
Information systems have been used as a blunt instrument for change, and sales systems have been the most extreme example. The thinking went that you provide a tool to the sales team that required them to track every activity in their sales funnel following a rigid process. Sales management would then know exactly what was happening, and could change approach on a dime in order to bring home the deals.
But sales is not amenable to very rigid process. And good sales teams will resist being confined in this way when they see little benefit in the system. Change management cannot succeed in this environment, nor should it.
CRM has moved on over the last few years. Sales systems are now a commodity—most mature solutions will do the job you need.
Turns out that the art is in deciding what that job is, and successfully changing the habits of the organization to do the job consistently well.
While I've used Sales to illustrate my point, the principal applies to every area of your business. Figure out your change goals thoroughly by assessing benefits for all parties, and do this before looking to any specific system solution.
So how do you do that?
Think about a major change that you are trying to introduce, or would like to introduce:
- What are you looking to change? What is the vision? What is your timeline?
- How confident are you that you know how the details must be altered? What unknowns remain, and what might change as you role out the change?
- Who will be impacted within and outside your organization? How will each party benefit?
- What role could a business system play in the change? How much will you depend on the vendor to determine the details of your change?
Now assess how you can reduce your dependency on the business system vendor, at least until you've figured out the answer within your organization. Share your answers to questions 1-3 with your team and fill in any gaps before you ask a system vendor for input.
Let's discuss your results. Contact me at graham@primeFusion.ca to let me know when you'd like to talk and we'll set something up.
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