Updated · Originally published
The 4 Stages of CRM Adoption
Whether they are starting a new CRM initiative or salvaging an existing one, organizations must have the mindset that implementing a new CRM system is a transformative process that involves organizational culture, project rigor, and perseverance from your CRM project leaders. CRM adoption won’t be realized overnight. Your organization will ultimately go through each of these CRM adoption stages; the goal is to get through them as quickly as you can.
1) The Honeymoon
The CRM system is about to get implemented!! The time and money we spent was well worth the investment to transform our company into the well-oiled machine we know it can be. We will be so much more efficient and will finally unify people, process, and technology across the organization. When are we going live again?
2) Living Together
You want me to do what? In this “self-awareness” stage the user base will quickly voice their opinions on the new processes and procedures, especially the ones that interrupt their old way of doing things. Oftentimes, their old way of doing things is quicker and allows them to be more productive – at least while they’re not used to the new method. Executive sponsors need to stand tall and quickly address users’ concerns and justify the benefits and reasons for the “new process in CRM”. This stage is a battle of wills where only the strong survive.
3) Building Momentum
We can now do ‘X and Y’, but ‘Z’ is still an issue. Once an organization hits this stage, the Executive sponsors are in a great position to keep focusing on the positives and evangelize the successes realized from the new CRM system. Commonly, these successes will be in a certain department or in the form of a solution to a once challenging business function, but it’s these isolated successes that will start spreading to other parts of the organization.
4) Full Steam Ahead
Your organization is a well-oiled machine and your CRM system the very core of your corporate culture. People, process, and technology are unified and no one questions the value of the CRM system. This stage usually takes years to reach. Once you attain this level of CRM adoption, it’s a constant process of maintaining behaviors and solving that “next challenge” by leveraging the information and structure of your CRM system.
ForgeXRM has been implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems for over a decade, and we understand the psychology, methodology, and “key ingredients” necessary for a successful CRM implementation and high CRM user adoption. Our people first, software second approach has been the key to our customers’ success, and that’s how we measure our success.
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By Ryan Plourde, ForgeXRM,
Thanks for sharing these tips on