I love to hear this. 

It tells me we are doing things right by listening to the employees to understand what they want out of the CRM system they will use every day. When end-users are not included in the discussion they become fearful that some arbitrary system will be imposed on them that only makes their jobs harder. They might simply choose to not use the new system properly or worse, sabotage the whole project in order to protect their own sanity at work. This results in a failed CRM project and a waste of the business owners' development money.

I can't provide the name of the client company because I'm actually a sub-contractor on this project for another Zoho Partner. The client is not my direct customer, even though I'm working alone with the owner to build this great new system for their medical services company.

What they had:

It's not uncommon for me to encounter Zoho CRM installs that were done with the best of intentions without the help of a Zoho expert that result in a poorly designed system. It's understandable that many smaller businesses simply don't have the development funds at the beginning to hire an expert, and the business owner is too busy keeping their business afloat to learn the necessary skills to at least get the basics right. This leads to many problems such as this client experience:

• Too many fields that make it time consuming for users to find the right fields to enter their data. This results in a poorer experience for their customers and frustration for employees.
• Wrong field types being used. Dates are put in text fields. Picklists are not used, or when they are, they are a mess. This creates a mess that needs to be cleaned up if the business owner ever wants to generate useful reports or create any automation triggers down the line.
• Bad data relationships from the lack of using the right modules or creating custom modules. This impacts reporting, automation, and even makes it difficult for users to find the information they need in a timely manner.
• Inconsistent data because data normalization techniques are ignored, such as using well thought out picklists that map to the desired sales process.
• Inconsistent business practices because from a data entry point of view, it's the wild west with each user doing their own thing with no understanding of how it impacts others in the organization.
• Inability to get business insights. As mentioned above, good business intelligence is based upon reports that can focus on data filtered precisely. Such filters can't be trusted when the data is inconsistent or not even in the proper fields.
• Inability to use time-saving automation features. These depend on triggering conditions that in turn depend on consistent data in the right fields.
• Leads fall through the cracks because there is no way to escalate issues beyond what each sales rep is able to remember. These lost opportunities are lost revenue.
• Delays in the sales process. without proper data checks and reminders in place, overwhelmed or forgetful employees may miss that certain prerequisites have been overlooked, and the client they thought they were ready to close isn't. These delays result in lost deals and more lost revenue.
• A real headache to clean up. If the company is able to finally prioritize development with skilled help, it will cost them more in the long run than if they would have done a few basic things right at the beginning.

The overall result is a CRM system that users hate to use and that does not provide any useful insight into company operations or measurements - exactly the opposite of what CRM systems promise.

What I've built for them:

First, I've guided them through a continuous process of discovery to understand their desired business processes, their reporting goals, and what their users need to be able do do their jobs in a more efficient and less frustrating way.

A key part of this was to map out their sales process and them represent that with a well thought out picklist type status field for Leads and Deals.

Next, we are cleaning up their data using proper fields, field types, and modules. They were not even using the deals module until I showed them how it would allow them some key benefits, such as tracking multiple deals per lead and projecting future revenue based upon probability mapping.

I'm also helping them design a simpler, user-friendly interface with Zoho CRM's wizards, Canvas, layout rules and workflow automations. With these tools, users can more easily find the fields they want, and redundant or duplicate data entry is eliminated. 

With those parts in place, this is where the really awesome stuff becomes possible! I've designed a Zoho CRM Command Center Journey and blueprints for the Leads and Deals modules that:

1. Make data entry easy.
2. Ensure that leads and deals always follow the established sales process, never falling through the cracks.
3. Automatic service level alerts and messages are generated to keep other users or departments informed of important events.
4. Ensuring that only appropriate staff are able to advance leads and deals to the next step.
5. Even more automation is leveraged getting rid of the boring busy-work that users no longer need to worry about.

We are not quite done, but the users already see the potential and are excited. In fact, the more they see that I and the owner are building this system to make them more successful, the more they are contributing great ideas. 

Are your CRM users happy with what they have? 

Are owners and managers happy with the business intelligence their CRM generates? 

If not, drop me a line. Perhaps Raging Sanity Consultants, with an awesome tool like Zoho CRM can build your dream business solution!

This world can make us jaded. This is particularly the case for veterans like myself who in their service have dealt with scary times, had to endure disability,  seen the darker side of humanity, and deal with a soul crushing bureaucracy thinly veiled by motivational platitudes. This is why many of us veterans seem to posses slightly cynical attitudes towards large organizations and motivational buzz-words. This is why my encounter with a sale rep at Salesforce on Veterans day was so surprising... and refreshing

.

I've been helping the non-profit Operation Enduring Gratitude with their Salesforce implementation and needed pricing on one of the Salesforce products. The sales rep, working on veterans day while others were enjoying a day off, called to give me the information I needed. During our conversation, he explained that he just got off a difficult call with an abusive customer. I don't know about you, but I find it challenging to keep a good attitude after such situations. But not this rep. He was wonderfully cordial and helpful. Then as we chatted further about Veterans Day and the friends and family members of his that were veterans, he asked me something incredibly thoughtful and heart-warming.

"What does Veterans Day mean to you?" he asked. I was taken aback. I've never been asked that question. While rambling out a less than coherent and lengthy response, the question was making me think about Veterans Day, and veterans and their needs perhaps more than I had ever thought before. It made me think of those that sacrificed much more than myself, only mildly disabled from my service.

It brought to mind a friend that I had served with in the First Gulf War who made it back like myself. But the day I got back to my base, I picked up the base paper and saw his name as one of those killed in a recent helicopter crash. For many of us, this day is a day to enjoy ourselves, to rest ourselves, thinking mostly of ourselves. It was a reminder of how important it is to think about others, their difficulties, their sacrifices, and that of their families. My friend had two small children who were since fatherless. We should remember that on Veterans Day we should also be remembering the families of veterans, because they sacrifice too.

But my main point in writing this is to call out and offer a salute to Miles Robertson of Salesforce for taking the time to hear the story of this old veteran when he was probably feeling deflated from his previous call. And to salute Salesforce for hiring such a rep and creating a culture that fosters such attitudes.

If you are ever exposed to the Salesforce community, you will hear this term Ohana used quite often. My experience with Miles Robertson that day demonstrates that it's not just the typical marketing buzz-word employed by so many large organizations. but an example of an aspect of corporate culture done right. And it made this former Marine, perhaps a bit less cynical..