7. Implement current technology.

When you choose a CRM system, make sure it’s based on current technology. Don’t let a salesperson talk you into product vaporware based on future promises. Insist on seeing a current version of the product as it can be deployed today. Equally important, don’t accept old technology that’s past its peak performance curve. You don’t want to have to replace the system in the near future.

Modern CRM systems are:

• Web-based, so you get 24 / 7 access from virtually any location, any time.
• Fully integrated with back-office systems at your company.
• Easily customizable to meet your company’s evolving needs.
• Able to be implemented quickly with minimal expense.
• Easy to use and intuitive, with little or no training required.

8. CRM is not a point solution.

CRM solutions should provide company-wide benefits. But many products that claim to be CRM applications address a single functional area such as marketing, sales force automation, or customer support. True, these vanilla solutions may be adequate for their specific intended purpose. But what happens when your requirements broaden? If you implement a dedicated sales force automation solution, for instance, and down the road realize that you also need to automate your marketing efforts, you have to start from scratch, looking for vendors, trying products—and wasting time. Plus, you’ll be faced with two separate products, two separate vendors and no single point of contact for support and problem resolution. Even worse, with multiple point solutions, how will you share information across your company? Will information captured by the sales force automation solution be leveraged in new marketing campaigns? Will marketing campaign data find its way to the customer support center where cross-selling opportunities could be made or lost? While it’s true that custom code can be written to integrate products, a true CRM solution provides the functionality of any point solution, as well as a cost-free, seamless way to add features and capabilities whenever you need them. So don’t settle for anything less than a comprehensive solution that delivers on the true promise of CRM:

• Marketing campaign management
• Sales force automation
• Customer care
• Contact management
• Task management / scheduling

9. Speed ROI through back-office integration.

One area many companies overlook when evaluating CRM solutions is the fact that accounts payable and accounts receivable data are an integral part of CRM. If a customer calls to order a product, for example, wouldn’t it be beneficial to instantly know whether that customer’s accounts are up to date? Although some CRM solutions offer patches to link back to an accounting system, others offer this seamless integration out of the box. The cost benefits of this approach are so great that some companies report an immediate ROI because they were able to get their application up and running without incurring the high costs of custom integration. Look for a CRM solution that provides standards-based integration with your other business management applications. Insist on being able to deploy on different technologies (databases and operating systems) as your needs change, support for Web Services, strong Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for integration, and the ability to integrate out of the box with other technologies—such as your phone system (Computer Telephony Interface) and your Web site (Web self-service).