CRM Vendor Proposals: 10 Items You Need Most

If a significant CRM system project is on your agenda in this new fiscal year, here are checklist items that you need to look out for in vendor proposals.

10 Things You Want:

1. A project plan focused on user adoption. As I've written endlessly in this column, a CRM system without active users and a rich set of data is just an empty shell. This is not a matter of training or even indoctrination. In the project plan, every delivery phase should be focused on things that will attract communities of users because the new features will inherently make their job easier.

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If a significant CRM system project is on your agenda in this new fiscal year, here are checklist items that you need to look out for in vendor proposals.

10 Things You Want:

1. A project plan focused on user adoption. As I've written endlessly in this column, a CRM system without active users and a rich set of data is just an empty shell. This is not a matter of training or even indoctrination. In the project plan, every delivery phase should be focused on things that will attract communities of users because the new features will inherently make their job easier.

2. Incremental delivery. As I've also written here, CRM requirements tend to change more rapidly (and more radically) than other enterprise software. The project should be delivering functionality and data incrementally, so the business users see the system becoming more valuable at least once a quarter. With a SaaS system, the project should be able to deliver something of value to the business at least every six weeks, almost no matter how big the project is.

3. Adaptive pricing. Since there shouldn't be a big bang feature delivery, there shouldn't be any big bucks payments. As noted here, the fixed price isn't always right -- one side or the other is going to lose big if you insist upon a monolithic fixed price. We recommend managing each delivery increment to a budget that's fixed at the start of the increment, not the start of the project.

4. Domain knowledge. To be effective, CRM systems must be molded to the characteristics of your marketplace and the details of your business processes. If you see "cookie-cutter" thinking in the vendor's proposal, run for cover: they'll be delivering something that won't fit your business. The domain knowledge you need is both "vertical" (industry) and "horizontal" (business process), and you need to see it in the people actually bid for your project -- not just the vendor's principals.

5. References in your industry. "References" goes without saying -- but you need proof of the vendor's domain knowledge and project successes in business environments like yours. Don't be overly picky -- references are hard for the vendors to produce -- but make sure there is the right depth in the vendor's team.

6. Integration with marketing automation. CRM systems and Marketing Automation are close cousins. But they're only cousins. The best of breed in CRM systems have weak marketing automation features, and the reverse is also true. Unless your CRM project is focused only on customer support, the system will be incomplete if it doesn't have a tight integration with e-mail blasters, landing page generators, registration systems, and event management features. Make sure that the project uses off-the-shelf adaptors for ERP, order entry, and other related systems.

7. Integration with your email and phone systems. CRM is all about communicating with customers and collaborating with internal staff to win the deal and build customer satisfaction. So your CRM system needs to be integrated with the main channels of communication: e-mail and phone. There's nothing wrong with third-party products here, but you want to make sure that appropriate inbound and outbound e-mails are logged for each 'touch" and that the system provides "screen pops" to inform anyone who has to take an inbound call from a customer or prospect.