CRM Project Roadmap

Speaking about the implementation of any system, the term Project Roadmap is often in use. What is it? Let us try to figure it out.

First, the road map is a deeply elaborated action plan, which, on the one hand, helps balance the company's priorities and initiatives, and, on the other hand, it balances the needs of different internal departments. As the proverb says, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

When creating a roadmap, split your project into a chain of several small-scale projects, put them on a timeline, and consider them separately. It is a so-called phased approach to implementation. In contrast to it, there is a "big bang," where all the CRM functionality is implemented as a single project. We do not recommend this approach because of the following problems:

• The longer the project, the higher the probability of a change of team members, leading to a revision of decisions, approaches and hence - slowing down of the project;
• The longer the project, the more stakeholders who are involved in the coordination of various business decisions regarding implemented CRM system;
• The longer the project, the more time elapses from the moment of the CRM processes design to their implementation – over this time, the business environment and business requirements can change significantly.

The phased approach assumes that each phase is more minor in the scope and time of their execution and fewer stakeholders. When a separate stage is preceded by the successful implementation of previous steps, dealing with resistance within the company (there are some in every project) will be easier.

Another important argument in favor of a phased approach is the relative ease of collecting feedback – what went well and what did not. Lessons learned and leading practices allow you to adapt the methodology applied and gradually increase the quality with each new phase.

Consider in what way to build a project roadmap. First, a thorough analysis (diagnostics) of the current situation "as is":

• Review and document business processes. Find inconsistencies, duplication of functions, and other inefficient things. It will help understand the changes in the techniques needed for the CRM project;
• Describe the existing applications for client collaboration. Create an entire catalog (at the beginning, a simple spreadsheet is enough) of the programs & applications that are used in working with clients. The catalog should contain information about who, how, and for what purpose uses a particular application.
• It must be done from the perspectives: people, processes, and technologies. Find the "bottlenecks" processes. Where is the highest turnover? Where is permanent failure? What systems hinder the work?

After diagnosis, specify/validate your CRM vision and strategic objectives of the project. Here, as a rule, the necessary functionality CRM system becomes more explicit. The concrete initiatives of the project roadmap will be built upon the base of this functionality.

At an early stage, it is crucial to begin the identification of possible risk factors. It will give more time to build a plan to minimize or eliminate them. Gradually update the catalog of risk factors throughout the project. The most common risk factors for CRM projects (basically, any other system):

• Weak involvement of executive management. It will be challenging to implement the system if the functional leader does not believe in the project's success.
• Limited IT resources and unwillingness to engage an external consultant. Companies that do not have sufficient IT resources (e.g., developers, testers) should plan the appropriate budget to attract experts from outside.

Once assessed the "as is," many areas for improvement have been revealed – regarding people, processes, and technologies. The next step in building the roadmap is describing a sequence of improvement initiatives and putting them on the timeline. It is a critical moment in the development of the roadmap.

The only correct approach to the combination of initiatives in individual small projects does not exist. However, these methods of grouping initiatives can be beneficial:

• By importance for business. Based on this diagnosis, you get an understanding of which areas require improvement with the highest priority and where the most significant potential for increasing productivity and efficiency;
• By departments. The initial implementation of the system in one department helps minimize the number of involved stakeholders, which will streamline decision-making.
• By business processes. Automation of the only "piece" of the business process is not recommended because this will lead to a migration bottleneck in other (manual) areas. The effect of automation will be turned off.
• On a geographical basis. Subsidiary companies with geographically distributed teams with their local clients are good candidates for individual CRM projects. Often, the local team supports the idea of a pilot project in their division.
• By duration / efforts. Large CRM can stall and, in some sense, collapse under its weight in endless cycles and phases of development. Therefore, it is recommended to split a large project into smaller pieces with a minimum of risk. Small victories will positively affect the general mood in the company on the success of CRM projects.

It is essential to define what a successful result of small-scale projects is. What are the expectations of the system implementation at the departments involved? Ideally, each small project should provide clear and consistent success factors to do the ultimate calibration of success factors to a large CRM project (company-wide).

After conducting diagnostics and sketched large strokes of a roadmap, the work is yet not over. Next, you need to align the resulting roadmap with the perspective "People." It is necessary to conduct interviews with the heads of the departments that are affected by the CRM implementation to obtain the following information:

• Bandwidth: Does the department have a sufficient understanding of what will be demanded from them in the implementation process? Is a department able to allocate enough time resources to the challenges ahead? You should make sure that each involved department could provide full support to the project.
• Involvement: each business unit head believes in the success of the CRM project to their degree. You must create a unique plan for cooperating with the so-called ?CRM-skeptics": do not start a pilot project in their department. Get early wins in other divisions and then proceed to the "skeptics."

Projects of "Pilot" and "Proof of concept" types. These projects are to test the functionality of a general project idea on a small scale and with low risk before starting a large project. These two terms are often used interchangeably, but there are some differences:

• The?pilot project?concerns the entire project and reflects all the changes planned by the company as a whole but within a small segment. It is neither a simulation nor a test. A critical factor in the pilot's success is a straightforward initial understanding of expected results - when the project will be replicated in the entire company. How to measure success?
• "Proof of concept" is a project with a narrower scope, designed to test the technology before a full launch or development. This project does not affect the actual business; it is only a study of concept/system test conditions. Similarly, the state's pilot project should also be determined when the concept will receive the status "confirmed."

Both "Pilot" and "Proof of Concept" projects are pretty helpful for the CRM project risk control, but it should be taken into account that, at the same time, it is additional time spend and cost.

Takeaways

Thus, the development of a roadmap must follow four essential tips:

• Apply a phased approach to implementation, dividing a large project into several smaller ones. It is more efficient and less risky than implementing everything at once.
• Planning a CRM project roadmap begins with a detailed assessment of the current "as is" situation.
• Ensure that the CRM project will receive the necessary support from the managers and staff and they are motivated enough to support this initiative.
• Consider implementing test projects "Pilot" and "Proof of Concept."