1. CRM Strategy – if you are going to implement a CRM system you need to have a CRM Strategy. That means you need to know what it is the company is doing, and what it want's to accomplish with it's customer relationship management. That will determine which functionality and features you will want in your CRM software.



2. ROI Calculation – Do a ROI calculation for every CRM module and then use the results to determine your implementation priority schedule. Each CRM module can lower costs and increase revenues so each will return your investment. How quickly depends on the module and that's why the OROI is so important.

3. Ask Your Customers – Talk to your customers and see what they are looking for out of a business, what frustrates them the most, what they would like to see improved, and what is the most important to them. Having this information allows you to develop the best CRM package for your business.

4. Reduce Costs – System implementation teams look for ways to reduce the installation and implementation costs of your system. They analyze how your business runs now and how you can reduce costs even more with your CRM software.

5. Know Your Data Definitions – Great discussions occur with implementation teams when it comes to data definitions. Marketing, sales, and finance tend to go to bat for their division but all divisions need to come to an agreement for the implementation to occur, and of course they do eventually.

Now that you've got five major things to deal with when implementing your CRM software there are things you need to also avoid for a successful install.

1. Don't Start With Sales – Although you may think this is the best place to start it is not. Don't start with sales even if it is the major component in your CRM software strategy.

2. Go Slow – Don't give all the functionality to the end user at once and expect them to “get it.” What's going to happen is they are going to be overwhelmed. Instead go slow and let there be time to digest things.

3. Contact Center Isn't The Revenue Generator – Don't make the mistake of thinking it is. Too many companies are entrapped in putting too much emphasis on the contact center becoming the profit center.

Don't Go Cheap – A common mistake is to try to minimize training hours but at the end of the day being cheap on implementation will actually land up costing you as much as three times more.

You made a wise choice when you decided to invest in CRM Software. Goldmine is just one package that's worth exploring. Next to making the right software choice, implementing your CRM software is the second most important task you will undertake.