4 CRM Best Practices-User Adoption

In my personal experience as a CRM consultant, the question of end user adoption comes down to 4 simple matters – and most of these are “management issues” rather than “system issues“.

(1) TOP DOWN BUY IN FOR THE CRM SYSTEM

If your upper management isn’t using the system or doesn’t understand it, then I would say they dont’ really care about it. And this perception will be felt throughout the user base. The last thing you want is for users to feel like the CRM is simply an accountability system or only for the pawns of the company.

(2) IMMEDIATE EXPECTATIONS

People need to get over the usage hump immediately. Don’t wait one or two weeks. Bottom line, this is change, and it is definitely uncomfortable. If you let down your expectations at the beginning, then forget about your success! At the beginning they have gone through training and it is somewhat fresh in their minds. If they don’t implement the knowledge immediately, then they will forget it within a few days.

(3) NICE GUY MANAGER

This goes hand in hand with the above point. If you aren’t willing to ruffle some feathers, then kiss your investment goodbye. This is particularly challenging when it comes to employees with longevity, especially successful sales reps. They feel like they don’t need to use the system. And you are scared to make them upset. Keep in mind that if you allow those exceptions, then the other users will also find a way to use the system less than needed. I guarantee you that your CRM project will fail if you like being Mr. Nice Guy.

(4) CRM USAGE REPORTS

You can easily create some usage reports. KPIs can include the following:

• - Who is entering the most/least activities?
• - Who is entering the most/least new records?
• - Who is logging the most/least histories or notes?
• - etc…

You get the picture. Create some simple KPI’s and look at them each week. If you like, you can even automate a report that will get emailed to the users – showing them who is and is not really using the system. There is power in peer pressure.

But these KPI reports are not just useful for accountability. They, more importantly, reveal areas where the users do not feel comfortable with the system. This provides an excellent opportunity to do refresher trainings. We recommend weekly refreshers at the beginning of each CRM implementation. Keep these refreshers focused on the areas of the system that employees are not really using. Ask them if why they aren’t using these functions. You might be surprised at their answers! Then you can launch into your explanation.

Video – CRM User Adoption Strategy

Bonus: Free Microsoft CRM Evaluation

Click here to download our Free Microsoft Dynamics CRM Analysis.

Topics addressed include:

1. Salesforce.com vs Microsoft CRM
2. Pros and Cons of SaaS vs On-premise CRM
3. Crucial User Adoption Factors
4. Total Cost of Ownership of Microsoft CRM

Free TCO Calculator for CRM Projects

Click here to access our Free CRM TCO Calculator Tool.

With this tool, you will be able to identify the key TCO line items that are relevant for any CRM implementation. We have also included data for comparing CRM software systems such as Microsoft CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM, Sage CRM, Sage SalesLogix and more. You will be able to view the 5 Year Total Cost of Ownership for both SaaS (Online/On-Demand) and Licensed (On-premise) pricing models.

TCO line items include:

1. Annual License/User price
2. Support
3. Hardware (incl. Server and Users)
4. Implementation
5. Staff
6. Network
7. Mobile
8. and much more.

Free Bonus Excel Tool to Compare CRM Systems

Click here to download our Free Excel CRM Comparison Tool.

With this tool, you will be able to identify the key similarilites and differences between 9 of the top CRM systems, including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Sage SalesLogix, GoldMine, Sage ACT!, Pivotal and more.

Comparison Topics include:

1. Key CRM Features
2. Pricing (Licensing, etc..)
3. Available Modules (e.g. SFA, Marketing, Service, etc)
4. Feature Details (Sync, Call Center, Quoting, E-commerce, Lead Management, Security, Workflow, and much more.
5. Hardware and Network support (Microsoft, Linux, etc…)
6. Industry/NAICS

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Review Webinars

Join us for our webinar series as we explore the points outlined below – and hope to provide you valuable insight about this top-rated CRM solution. We hope that our comparison with Salesforce.com will help you on in your CRM evaluation.

Microsoft CRM 2011 Outlook Integration

Majority of users at companies work with Microsoft Office Outlook, and therefore its not uncommon to hear CRM users always requesting more functionality for CRM in Outlook. Well we believe Microsoft CRM heard those requests.

One of the greatest benefits of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 is the native integration with Microsoft Outlook. This new CRM Outlook client has been fully rewritten. This means that not only will there be synchronization between CRM and Outlook but now you can have full CRM functionality and visibility from within Outlook. Unlike all other CRM systems that only integrates with Outlook to some extend, Microsoft CRM 2011 fully Integrates with Outlook and they are basically one product.

This will be a next-generation Microsoft Outlook experience giving the user familiar Microsoft Office functionality. A new contextual CRM Ribbon delivers consistent Microsoft Office navigation and increase user productivity. Your CRM information can now also take full advantage of native Outlook functionality including previews and conditional formatting.

Now CRM can work the way your users work, all in Outlook. This will make it a lot easier for the users to learn how to use the CRM system and will assist in maximizing your CRM user adoption.

Join us for our webinar on the Microsoft CRM system in Outlook as we look why we believe the new CRM for Outlook will increase user adoption:

• - CRM Inside your Outlook
• - Your CRM views in Outlook
• - Converting Emails to Leads/Opportunities
• - Tracking emails in CRM
• - Conditional Formatting of data

Webinar Series (each Wednesday at 11am PST)

Accent Gold is excited to be hosting a webinar series over the next two months underlining the much talked about new release of the Microsoft CRM system. Please register below.

The next version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, officially named Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, is being eagerly awaited by business partners and end-users alike. It will offer a whole range of more than 500 new features, changes, additions, add-ons and enhancements that promise to strengthen Microsoft CRM’s position as a frontrunner in the CRM market.

Join us for our webinar series as we explore the above points and hope to provide you valuable insight about this much anticipated CRM solution. We hope that our Microsoft CRM system review will help you on in your CRM evaluation. We will be hosting this series every Wednesday at 11:00 am December – February. See below dates for upcomming Webinars.

Whether you need CRM training in Austin, Texas or a CRM Implementation in Las Vegas, Nevada, please don’t hesitate to call us! We would love to help you find the best CRM software system for your company.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online vs On Premise: Pros and Cons of Cloud and SaaS CRM

In the world of CRM the most talked about topics of late are “Cloud CRM” or “Online CRM”. As we saw Cloud Computing become more and more popular last year, we especially noticed Cloud CRM solutions being implemented more and more. Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers computing in the cloud and the capabilities are advancing continuously. Although some might still be unsure about cloud computing, one thing is clear; it reduces costs, increases efficiency and makes business convenient.

Will the online version of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 be a good fit for your business? It seems to clearly be the CRM strategy that Microsoft is pushing right now. In fact, when doing a TCO analysis of Microsoft’s online vs. on-premise solution, it’s a no-brainer. Online is the way to go.

You might still be wondering which deployment method for Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 will be the best. Join us for our webinar on On-line vs. On-premise CRM in which we will delve into the Pros and Cons of having an on-line CRM.

We will be discussing the following:

What is Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Online?

This is Microsoft’s Software plus Service model. With this offering, the user pays a monthly fee for the following services: (a) Microsoft installs and (b) maintains the server (c) including upgrades and backups.

A few of the Pros of Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online

1. No long implementation time. The rollout is almost immediate – because Microsoft configures and maintains the servers.

2. No software installation is required, save the plug-in for MS Outlook

3. No server purchase is required.

And more…

Cons of Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online

1. You are limited to 2,000 users

2. Database size is limited to 20GB (Professional Plus) or 5GB (Professional)

3. Custom Entities limited to 200 (Professional Plus) or 100 (Professional)

If you’re interested in learning more about cloud computing and especially on-line CRM, join us for our webinar as we will be exploring the Pros and Cons of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 online.
This live webinar will be hosted by Microsoft certified consultants Carol Bargabus and Chris van Staden.

Join us for our webinar series as we explore the above points and hope to provide you valuable insight about this much anticipated CRM solution. We hope that our MS CRM review will help you on in your CRM evaluation. We will be hosting this series every Wednesday at 11:00 am December – February.