Challenges associated with successful implementation of CRM
Most small businesses are beginning to implement credit risk management (CRM) into their system after realizing its benefits. But the implementation of CRM comes with its own challenges and a lot businesses are battling with it.
In this post we’ll discuss some of the challenges that mitigate against the successful CRM implementation and ways to overcome them.
1. The CRM software doesn’t fit-in
Lack of flexibility is one of the problems with most crm products. Most of them cannot accept multiple deployment options such as On-Cloud, On-Premise, Private Cloud, etc. They are not flexible enough to allow customizations that fit the business needs of some organization. The needs of a growing business often changes, CRM software should provide enough options for growth. Also, some products are either not up-to-date i.e. not following the latest CRM trends like Mobile CRM or Social CRM or not suitable for the future. Therefore, ensure that your CRM product fits not only for your current business needs but also for changes in needs due to organizational growth.
2. Lack of required expertise
A lot of CRM implementation vendors do not have adequate knowledge about the CRM product. And sometimes, they don’t have enough experience to handle CRM projects of a magnitude like that of yours. Such lack of competency can result in unforeseen hurdles which may be difficult to deal with when the CRM has been fully implemented. In order to avoid this, ensure to assess the capabilities of your vendor and verify their credentials before signing a formal contract.
3. Inability to integrate with other IT systems
Another challenge that hinders the successful implementation of CRM is the inability to integrate it with other existing IT systems. CRM works better when it’s integrated with systems such as ecommerce, marketing automation, ERP, etc. Lack of integration capabilities can be a huge burden that will consume hours of your staff working time. The support team of an existing system that needs to be integrated with CRM should provide integration needs in advance to avoid CRM implementation overkill.
4. Lack of User Adoption
For success implementation of CRM, it is important for the end-users to have a good understanding of the system. Most organizations often overlook this aspect. They believe that once the software is in place, their staff will just dive into it and make good use of it. This is not always the case. User adopting is critical for CRM success and organizations should have a proper plan for comprehensive staff training. They should be educated about the need to make the CRM software part of their daily activities in order to know how best to use it and enhance its effectiveness.
Other challenges to successful CRM implementation include:
* Inefficient data management – When you’re unable to access the right data when it’s needed it causes unnecessary delays.
* No universal risk modeling framework – Without a risk modeling framework banks and other financial institutions can’t generate complex, meaningful risk measures and they can’t get a deeper insight of the risk.
