When Forming Your CRM Selection Team, Don’t Forget the Users

(Editor’s note: Thanks to Chris Bucholtz, who wrote the original version of this post for CRM Outsiders in July 2012).

When our sales team is in the early stages with potential customers, one of the first lengthy discussions is about who should be in the room and part of the CRM selection team. These are the folks who mull over what’s important and what’s not in the CRM they ultimately select.

Most companies pull in the big shots – the vice president of sales, the head of IT, maybe the chief marketing officer, whoever’s in charge of customer service, etc. They huddle up (and, perhaps, bring in their seconds-in-command) and out of this esteemed group comes a choice.

That sounds reasonable, right? Well, perhaps. However, the biggest hurdle to new CRM deployment is adoption – and that doesn’t mean the VP-types using the application. It means the people on the front lines in sales, marketing and service embracing the application and using it to its full potential. When that happens, the efficiency improves and people become better at their jobs. Oh, and the VP-types get complete their coveted reports full of comprehensive and complete data.

But in order for that to happen, you need an application that the front-line folks will use. Sadly, the VP-types don’t always guess right; they look at applications through their own set of agendas and needs, and the choices they make sometime end up alienating the front-liners, thus setting the stage for adoption challenges.

So, back to the CRM selection team – the best way to prevent a misalignment between the front-line users and the executives is to make sure front-line users are included on the CRM selection team. Furthermore, it shouldn’t be people selected at random, but people with some experience, knowledge of the processes that CRM is intended to help improve, and a decent understanding of their fellow employees’ behavior.

Not only does this get past the traditional issue of the application being selected by people who may not use it every day, but because it also creates a set of advocates who can hype the virtues of the new CRM for their peers. The perception becomes not that the application is something picked by management and dropped on the front-liners, but something that their peers helped select to make their lives easier. It helps with both the logistical and perception issues that can hinder CRM adoption.

This all sounds pretty reasonable right? I can almost feel your heads nodding. So, how often does this happen? Sadly, not very often. No matter how logical it seems, there is often pushback: choosing a CRM is too important to be left to the people who most frequently use it.

This is upsetting for those of us that live and breathe CRM. But, it also gives smart companies a chance to gain an edge. If you can be one of the few mavericks to reject the status quo type of thinking, you’re much more likely to have a smoother implementation and a quicker rate of adoption – which will mean better ROI from your CRM, happier employees, and a better and differentiated experience for your customers.

And that’s what you want, right?

If you’ve included front-line users on your CRM selection team, drop me a comment below and let me know how it went.