Simple Steps to Selecting the Right CRM

Most companies talk about putting the customer first. The reality, however, is that this is extremely difficult to do without a customer relationship management (CRM) system in place.

Take, for example, a medical device contract manufacturer with different product divisions and service offerings. Without a CRM tool, one division might be at the stage of building a prototype for a prospect, while another division might be placing initial sales calls to the same company and unknowingly quoting against the other division.

When the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing, companies don’t come across looking professional, organized or customer-focused.

Fortunately, with advances in technology, today’s CRM software allows client information to be aggregated and easily accessible. This helps multiple departments and divisions know the status of each customer or prospect in the pipeline, provide them with consistent, relevant information, and focus on enhancing the relationship.

Whether you are a medical device company in the early stages of evaluating CRM systems or looking to transition to a different type of CRM, the following tips are designed to help ease the process of determining the right CRM system for your company.

1. Determine who will use the system. The CRM solution you choose really depends on who will be using the system and what their needs and goals are.

If you are a contract manufacturer, your accounting, repairs, engineering, regulatory and business development departments all may need to access the system. Therefore, in order for the CRM tool to offer them the most value, it’s beneficial to have representatives from those different departments give their input about what their needs are on a daily basis.

Because training on the new system also will be necessary, their input will provide clarity about how much and what type of training will be required.

2. Develop a checklist. Once it’s clear who your core group of CRM users will be, it’s important to collectively create a list of absolutely must-have CRM features, as well as capabilities that would be nice to have.

Some things to consider:

Redundancies. If you put contact info in one section, will you have to input that information again in a different place? Does the history that you import follow the customer through all interactions and engagements, or will you have random bits of information about a customer or prospect that don’t relate to one another?

Training. Is training on the CRM software and how to use it effectively included with purchase? Is it Web-based or can it be done onsite? If the CRM company doesn’t offer training, are they aligned with a consultant who will be available to conduct comprehensive and specialized training for each individual user (no matter how elementary)?

Compatibility. Can the CRM system be integrated with other platforms and software such as Constant Contact, Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Adobe Reader, and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software?

Tracking. Is it simple to track and report email response rates, lead sources and website traffic?

Scalability. What is the amount of work that the CRM software efficiently can handle before getting bogged down? Can the system be enlarged to accommodate growth? How many users can access the system before additional equipment is needed or performance declines?

Mobility. Is the CRM system limited to laptops and desktops or is it also accessible on smart phones? Can people in the field (sales, marketing, etc.) receive live and current data from their remote locations?

Housing. Will the data be housed on your server or does the CRM system use Software as a Service (SaaS) where the data is housed on the internet (cloud computing). If it’s designed to be installed on individual computers, how much IT support will be needed? If it is a SaaS offering, what kind of data security does the company have in place?

Ownership. Who ultimately owns the data (customer and prospect names, companies, contact info, interactions, etc.)? If the CRM company owns and controls the data, does it have the ability to sell that data?

Implementation. How long will it take to get the CRM system up and running? What options are there to integrate your existing data (contacts, names, notes, etc.) into the new CRM system? Will it be necessary for individual users to take the time to input that data? Or does the CRM provider offer data integration? Is that an extra cost?

3. Survey suppliers, customers, and strategic partners. Any company selling a product is going to make it sound like the best thing since oxygen. It’s the job of the CRM sales rep to be biased and have nicely wrapped answers for every question you ask. This is why a critical step in your CRM search is to get unbiased perspectives from people you trust and respect.

In addition to inquiring about the CRM system they use, ask suppliers, strategic partners, and customers to candidly share with you what they like and dislike about their CRM. Was implementing it a smooth, seamless process or was there a lot of frustration around learning how to use it? Has it helped them improve business? In what way? If they had to do it all over again, would they choose the same CRM system or would they have gone with another one?

This type of impartial feedback—especially from customers, suppliers, and strategic partners with needs similar to yours—can shed a great deal of light as to whether a particular CRM software will be right for your company.

4. Submit RFPs before interviewing potential CRM partners. After narrowing down the CRM companies under consideration, send them a request for proposal (RFP) and be as specific as you can.

For example, if you need your CRM to have additional fields for the company profile of your customer and prospects, include what you’d want those fields to be (e.g. size of company, type of product).

If your core group of CRM users determined that a must-have is the ability to create sales reports in your CRM, be specific about how many and what you want each one to include. Specifics such as these will help the CRM provider know what their system must do for you before you even get to the interview stage.

After you’ve determined the companies that propose to meet most, or all, of your must-have requirements, the next step is to interview them and have them conduct a demonstration of their CRM software.

The questions you ask during the interview process should delve deeper into the information included in the RFP and on the checklist the core group of users created, such as:

• How will your system help our organization—from customer service to our repair department—be more consistent in how we communicate with our customers and prospects?

• What type of training do you have in place so our team of users can find whatever answers we’re looking for?

• How does your CRM system allow us to integrate our sales funnel? What will that look like?

• How much flexibility does the CRM software offer in terms of creating our own process?

• If you house the data, what guarantees are there that our customer’s information will be protected and won’t be sold?

If this process sounds a lot like hiring a new associate, that’s because it’s in your best interest to evaluate a CRM company in a similar way. Like an associate on your team, a CRM company should be an active partner in the success of your company. The better they can demonstrate that they are equipped with the resources to align with you as a partner, the more likely your team will use their CRMsystem confidently and effectively long after you’ve purchased the software.

5. Regroup after every interview and call references. Using the checklist that the group of users came up with, regroup after each CRM company interview and evaluate how well its solution meets the must-haves and nice-to-haves on the list.

At this point in the process, you’ll have a much better understanding of the CRM solutions available and may even discover that you actually can do without some of your must-have features. Or you may find that one company’s CRM software has all the user features you need, but the CRM provider isn’t aligned with the training needs of your company.

Additionally, each CRM provider should give you at least three customer references. Be sure to call and speak with each reference. While these discussions aren’t as impartial as conversations with strategic partners, customers, and suppliers, they still can offer important insights that may help you cement your decision.

Put the Customer First

An effective CRM system gives multiple departments and divisions a clear window into each customer relationship. Before contacting a prospect or customer, an associate in one division can access the system and see that another associate in another division already has established a fruitful relationship with them. This helps streamline conversations and allows customers and prospects alike to be treated in a more personalized manner.

In a business environment where developing relationships with customers is becoming more challenging each day, taking the necessary steps to select the right CRM system for your organization transitions your company from one that touts putting the customer first to one that actually does.

Tricia Rodewald is director of marketing & strategic alliances for Pro-Dex, Inc. an Irvine, Calif.-based company that designs, develops and manufactures surgical devices, motors, metal components, and sub-assemblies for world-class medical device OEMs.