CRM Software is a FRAUD that Fails 100% of the Time

CRM has been hijacked by a den of software thieves and I’m blowing the whistle on this diabolical shambles. Walk into any marketing expo and you will be attacked by vicious sales reps seeking to suck you into their black hole of data darkness. It has to crack.

For the record and with my hand on my heart, I hereby swear that I am qualified to give this opinion. I have performed hundreds of CRM software implementations over the past 15 years.

0% of CRM implementations are successful.

Let me assure you that, in all of human history, there has never been a full scale success of a CRM implementation.

If Uber is not working 99.9% of the time, Uber fails. If a heart monitor worked only half the time, it would be a disaster. Imagine a financial planner proudly telling you that she has a 30% success rate in making you money!

STOP! JUST STOP!

Here is why CRM software doesn’t work, cannot work and will never work:

1.      The tech is broken and it cannot be fixed. No matter how many programmers you throw at the problem you will always uncover annoying little things like date fields that are not compatible, a UX design that is too simple or too complex, data that is not integrating with other systems and reports that show incorrect data. You see, the problem is not with the programming, it’s with the underlying logic.

2.      Nobody knows how to use the damn thing. All the training in the world is not going to help your staff figure out the complexities of CRM. Your CRM will turn your salesforce into a snailsforce (yes, that pun was intended).

3.      Your staff hate it. In every company about half the staff will reject the project hands down. In public they will tell you how wonderful it is, they may even give you a cute testimonial for your website. It only takes one person to silently push against it and they will bring everyone down around them. You will never know who this person is.

4.      The data is always wrong. Poor data in means poor data out. Some organisations hire staff that advocate a particular CRM tool so they can ensure it gets used correctly. Eliminating talent based on the fact that they are aligned to a specific CRM agenda is as dangerous as it is stupid. You will never, ever get the right data into a CRM system. Accept that now.

5.      Insane and completely useless reports. You spend your life bumbling around with fields and figures until you wake up and realise that it’s easier to shoot yourself. Managers, marketers and business owners pull their hair out trying to makes sense of these dazzling dashboards which are of use to absolutely no one. They are scared that if they don’t understand them, they will be considered stupid. Trust me, you are not stupid, the system is.

6.      CRM companies are greedy. The goal of a CRM company is to line you up in their sights so they can milk you for more services, more training, more plug-ins, more training on those plug-ins until you die. CRM software is a FRAUD. It was never designed to solve a problem, it was designed to keep creating new problems and turn your business into a cash cow for the greedy monsters.

7.      A changing legal framework. Data protection and privacy are now major concerns. The cost of ensuring that your company is compliant is going to put an already impossible system out of the price range for most businesses. Goodbye CRM: Rest in Pieces.

8.      It's built on a lie. Top players in the CRM software industry are power hungry control freaks with a specific agenda: convince the world that, without a CRM, your business will die. That is sheer nonsense. I have worked with so many great companies who still run off simple old fashioned databases and spreadsheets. And guess what? They are doing just fine, thanks for asking.

FACT: If a business has great vision, great products and a customer orientated approach to sales, it will be successful with or without a CRM tool. I have seen companies successfully throw away their CRM and go back to using Excel, Google Docs and good old fashioned personal communication.

There is a solution.

Conventional CRM logic dictates that building your business around customer data is critical. This logic is wrong.

Get away from ‘CRM software’ and focus on great communication!

I can tell you right now that using just 15% of the software will rock your business. Alas, you will never know which 15%! Think about it, software should help you be a great communicator, not burden you with admin. Your staff will love and embrace a tool that turns them into great communicators.

I’ll say it again: “serve the message, not the data!” First, get your communication strategy right and then implement only those bits of software that will serve that strategy. Do this and your CRM system will grow itself and everything will fall into place.

It has taken me 15 years to have the guts to say “Goodbye CRM” and “hello great communication!” Suddenly our clients are enjoying response rates 2000% higher than industry average. Their staff give us hugs when we visit the office. It’s been a revolution of thinking which is why I needed to get this off my chest and share it with you today.