CRM for the Common Man
Excerpted with permission from "CRM for the Common Man," by Russ Lombardo, Copyright 2003. Published by Peak Sales Consulting, ISBN 0972826300. For more information about this book and other similar titles, please visit Peak Sales Consulting.
Chapter 4: Why Bother
If we look at why CRM initiatives fail, we can get a sense
of why success will require better planning. Perhaps you've
read the myriad of articles that state the high failure rate of CRM projects. Typically, survey results say that anywhere
from 60% to 80% of CRM projects fail. What exactly do these
studies mean when they use the term "failure"? In these cases,
failure means, a) the project was late, b) the project was
over budget, c) the project delivered less functionality than
originally planned, or d) some combination of any of these.
Usually, "failure" is a combination of at least two of these
situations, which is pretty bad.
The reasons for these failures are varied. From management,
you hear them say that they still don't have a sense of their
business. Sales people say they don't find the system useful
and end up not using it. Senior executives complain about a
lack of return on their investment. I recently met an insurance
broker for a very large, national insurance provider who said
they were given a "contact manager" that none of them used.
He complained that they got new senior management who
"thought" they knew the business. They decided on a product
that fit the needs of management and gave it to the sales
reps, who hated it. Thousands of these reps are out there not
using a very expensive solution, in whose selection they had
no input. How long do you think it will take for the executives
to realize they won't get a return on that investment?
Given this definition of "failure," let's now look at some of
the reasons why.
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