As a follow-up to my last blog post, Start from the Real Beginning, following are some brief tips to help your organization get started with a CRM.

Guiding Principles

• Planning:

• Start from the “Real Beginning” (link to previous post). Codify each of these building blocks and share them with your entire organization.

  • Document, document, document!
  • Don’t work uphill; obtain buy-in and sign-off early, and at the highest level appropriate.

• Technical implementation:

• Don’t break/reverse/ignore native functionality

  • Exhaust all configuration solutions before approaching coding solutions
  • If you need to conduct data migration, triple the time in your project plan

• Transition and adoption:

• Ask your executive sponsor to lead the charge!

Getting Started

• Focus on simplicity: Business requirements and end user preferences often change after a few months of system use.

• Define reports first: Understanding the information that needs to be retrieved at all levels of your organization will inform the requirements for data entry.

• Ask for help: Partner with like organizations, user groups, or a consulting partner to discuss implementation strategies