The Art of CRM

A white paper by cloudfortyseven Limited

Author: Michael Fleming

 Copyright © 2023 by cloudfortyseven Limited. All the text, graphics, design,
and other works are the copyrighted works of cloudfortyseven Limited. All
Rights Reserved. Any redistribuCon or reproducCon of any materials herein is
strictly prohibited without permission.

About the author
Michael Fleming's journey began in the Royal Navy, where he learned invaluable lessons about
the importance of rela@onships and effec@ve teamwork while living and working in close
quarters with others. His experiences in various departments taught him the essence of
achieving a cohesive unit, always prepared for ac@on.

In 1987, Michael embarked on a new career in Informa@on Technology as a Communica@ons

Customer Engineer. Drawing from his Navy engineering background, he understood the
significance of superior customer service and collabora@on. As a result, he excelled in providing
excep@onal support, ensuring customer sa@sfac@on was at its peak. Michael's dedica@on to
teamwork extended to his colleagues, where he readily aided them to help meet their service
level objec@ves. CSATs were always the best, and the knowledgeable customer service team
understood the complexi@es of scheduling the best engineer with the required parts closest to
the customer to deliver the best ‘one and done’ outcome.

Breaking into sales, Michael established his first customer rela@onship database, managing over
500 contacts from Times Top 100 companies. The excep@onal results and subsequent sales
success over-achieving his sales plan earned him execu@ve sponsorship to lead a pan-European
project, driving the crea@on of a company-wide CRM solu@on. AXer careful evalua@on, an SQL-
based CRM solu@on was chosen, featuring a core database accessible through various interfaces
for finance, sales & marke@ng, and customer service departments. This experience proved
invaluable in understanding the value of CRM systems, where partner channel deal conflicts
were overcome, and partner performance insights iden@fied traits in poor pipeline
management—overcoming challenges like these drama@cally improved sales volumes,
profitability and partner rela@onship management.

Throughout his sales career, Michael con@nued to work for global companies, several of which
needed help to implement CRM solu@ons successfully. Drawing on his previous experiences, he
mastered CRM pla^orms such as Siebel, SalesLogix and SAP, leveraging them to his advantage
for con@nuous sales success. By establishing himself as a CRM champion, he was able to work
with IT teams to implement improvements that created unified quote processes for channel
partners, reducing lead @mes from hours to minutes. The output of the new quotes assisted the
order administra@on teams in loading complex orders into the ERP system in 5 minutes
compared to the previous average of 45 minutes.

Michael's exper@se enabled him to realise the true poten@al of CRM systems beyond being mere
pipeline management tools. He harnessed the power of these pla^orms to enhance customer
engagement, streamline sales processes, and drive business growth. By effec@vely
communica@ng the purpose and benefits of CRM within his team, he fostered a culture of CRM
adop@on that ul@mately led to sustained success.

Now, as an experienced Salesforce Service and Sales Cloud Cer@fied Consultant and an
Accredited Data Cloud Professional, Michael brings over ten years of project experience across
mul@ple industries to help customers design their transforma@on visions and create a solu@on
architecture that is both func@onal and scalable. The discovery goes beyond the Salesforce
pla^orm, challenging customers to address change and communica@on management as part
of the project.
Management Summary
A customer rela@onship management system needs to be a company-wide solu@on used by
individuals to record customer interac@ons in their unique way, with the combina@on of
these interac@ons give a defini@ve picture of a customer rela@onship that enables any user
to provide a superior level of customer service.

A CRM system must be highly adap@ve in real-@me and records meaningful informa@on
that enables the company to perform its ac@vi@es efficiently and provides a
dashboard of data, allowing sound decisions and planning ac@ons to be made.

A CRM system is a living source of informa@on that must be con@nuously ‘fed’ and
maintained to produce a complete picture for all who view it from any angle.

Awareness of the Data Protec@on Act 2018 rela@ve to your CRM systems is essen@al.
Introduc4on
CRM – Customer/Client Rela@onship Management is a tangible subject, yet successful
rela@onship management outcomes are almost intangible.

Top salespeople are not necessarily great rela@onship managers; it’s been scien@fically proven
that they are great listeners. They give their customers what they ask for; they don’t sell them
anything. Their rela@onship with customers is listening. A customer may think the salesperson
has an awful personality, but if they listen and deliver, that’s an almost intangible rela@onship.

CRM systems are not designed as sales forecas@ng or pipeline management tools. That’s why in
so many implementa@ons, they fail. CRM is about intelligence gathering. You can’t buy it; you
build it.

If you gather intelligence over @me, it will guide ac@ons that make outcomes self-fulfilling.

CRM is customisable; you must tailor the system to suit your business. Most systems will address
about 70% of your requirements out-of-the-box. But the rest is up to you. Like intelligence, it
will develop over @me. The key to a successful CRM implementa@on is being able to develop the
system in real-@me. If you want to gather a par@cular piece of intelligence, you need to be able
to specify it and see that new field in the system in hours or days. Don’t take IT’s or your solu@on
providers' excuses about wri@ng code or changing configura@ons. It's baloney! Customising a
system to gather intelligence is simple and should be instant.

So, a successful CRM system gathers intelligence and is easily customisable?

Yes, but it is only one-half of the equa@on.

Once you start gathering intelligence, you need to be able to see that informa@on meaningfully
to act upon it. Tac@cally at a field level (read – sales team, call centre, customer service,
accounts), you will act on informa@on based on an individual or periodic record level will be
instantly available in the system with only a need for cogni@ve analysis.

Strategically though, the informa@on takes on a different value; it is looked at as a whole and
will show trends that will confirm and surprise, empowering managers to make sound decisions
and give good direc@on.

Access to reviewing the informa@on at a strategic level shouldn’t be just for management. If you
do that, you kill innova@on. Strategic informa@on needs to be secure; you just need to know
who’s accessing it and what they are looking at.

So, a successful CRM system is good at gathering intelligence, and the informa:on is
accessible to all. So why aren’t CRM implementa:ons successful?

Management wants informa@on to make decisions. This is interpreted by sales that the
management wants sales informa@on and drives the sales teams to put in all their deal
informa@on only.
Marke@ng interprets this informa@on requirement as details about all their campaigns and leads
generated. And that’s about as far as it gets. Pinpricks of informa@on from sales about a handful
of current customer interests and a pile of generic data from marke@ng provide no value to the
organisa@on.

Sales forecast informa@on is typically 20% accurate, and marke@ng informa@on looks great when
expressed as percentages.

CRM systems are unsuccessful because people do not record real informa:on in them!

Typical failures are a lack of contact informa@on and incomplete forms. Suppose sales and
marke@ng people use a CRM system purely for sales forecas@ng and campaign results. In that
case, they will only put in the minimum amount of customer data relevant to that task.

Marke@ng will register a campaign, but will they purchase and import third-party data, as the
company data is incomplete and unusable?

So, the CRM system needs to do something to develop the rela@onship.

CRM systems are successful where customer data is con@nuously and accurately updated.
Everything about the rela@onship needs to be captured. Where there is an intelligence gathering
need, create a data input field and promote the need for the data through a planned campaign.

Once data is started to be gathered accurately, burdens are reduced. Management can drill into
sales opportunity informa@on without referencing the sales team (through cadence
calls/reviews, etc.). Marke@ng can start to segment customer data and accurately target
campaigns.

So, the CRM system is in place for the sales and marke:ng teams?

A CRM system should be in place for every employee in the company. If we all put in our nuggets
of informa@on, every user will have a comprehensive view of the customers. Work will become
more proac@ve as ac@ons are taken autonomously on the informa@on provided rather than
seeking explana@ons before ac@ng. One line of informa@on in CRM could save 5 minutes each
for two users not having to confer.

Suddenly, the CRM applica@on is a knowledge system. Customers start to appear more joined
up, which enables the company itself to work more joined up.

For example, Finance can see a Case about a customer sa@sfac@on issue related to a sale
associated with an outstanding invoice. They can see the contacts involved and get their finance
contacts to talk to the sales contacts. Poten@ally you have enabled a resolu@on to a situa@on,
but at the very least, there is understanding!

So, a CRM system is for all people in the company. Where do we start?

A good CRM system must be based on reliable intelligence. From the outset, the user mantra
must be – ‘You only get out what you put in’. If your data is poor, so is your intelligence. From
the off, contact and account data must be ‘cleaned’, and the users must be trained in its design
and func@ons.

Once your internal teams have verified your contacts and accounts, you can request an update
allowing your contacts to view and update their contact records and specify if they wish to opt
out of emails and telephone calls. (These Opt-out preferences are only for sales and marke@ng
ac@vi@es.)

From this solid founda@on, you can start to build a picture.

• What is the rela@onship between contacts in an account? Who reports to whom?

• What is their turnover, number of employees, vendor profiles, etc?
• What contracts exist between your companies?

Building the picture can be gradual, ins@lling users to adopt the correct approach to using the
system and keeping the informa@on current. Alterna@vely, you can undertake a dedicated
ac@vity with incen@ves if you need to quickly achieve a level of informa@on.

Once a picture starts to be formed, take user feedback, and develop new features they think will
be helpful. You could create polls on the various ideas, and based on the popularity, you will be
able to priori@se which features to develop first.

Changes should be affected quickly and communicated to remind users of the new features and
benefits they should derive from them.

Users will be mo@vated to con@nue using the system properly when they see ac@on being taken
on their sugges@ons. Remember, the system must deliver value to ALL users, not just
management.

Now all users, especially management, can start to see a proper picture which you had not
envisioned of their customer base that will;

• provoke ques@ons,
• reveal insights and,
• prompt ac@ons

The new value will be delivered through a clear vision of your company, customers and business.
Congratula:ons, you have just successfully implemented a CRM system! What now?

Two things are now possible with the system; you can communicate accurately with your
customers and record those interac@ons, and individuals can record their daily interac@ons.

This is where a CRM system can stall. Users need to be clear about the purpose of the system
and why they must use it.

The key word here is rela@onship; we are trying to build rela@onships. These are made through
knowledge; about knowing what the customer is doing in their business and what ALL
departments in your business are doing with customers.

Users must be able to use the system to interact with all your channels, so it must be capable of
sending emails, aoaching documents, social media interac@ons and even making phone calls. It
also needs to record and store informa@on created in other tradi@onal email and word
processing applica@ons. All this func@onality needs to be only one click away or even an
integrated ac@on for everyday use.

Management is not ‘above’ the CRM system. They are the captains of it. A CRM system must be
driven from the top with guidance on changing the system's intelligence to benefit the company
more significantly in developing customer rela@onships. Whilst management is the system's
driver, the organisa@on's rank and file must con@nuously maintain the system with live
informa@on about the people and companies upon which the company depends on its
revenues. The system must become addic@ve, where users rely on other users' informa@on.
Each holds unique informa@on but, assembled, provides a complete jigsaw picture of each
valuable customer.

A properly maintained CRM system becomes a key asset to the company, accessible by all and
enabling almost any user to handle any customer enquiry on a 1st call basis. Users can make
customers happy, and that happiness reflects in the organisa@on, enhancing an employee’s
percep@on of the company they work for and their well-being. As men@oned previously, a well-
managed CRM system becomes self-fulfilling.

Conclusion
A CRM system needs to be a company-wide solu@on used by individuals to record customer
interac@ons in their unique way, with the combina@on of these interac@ons giving a
defini@ve picture of a customer rela@onship that enables any user to provide a superior level of
customer service.

A CRM system must be highly adap@ve in real @me. It records meaningful informa@on that
enables the company to perform its ac@vi@es efficiently and provides a data dashboard, allowing
sound decisions and planning ac@ons to be made.

A CRM system is a living source of informa@on that must be con@nuously ‘fed’ and maintained
to produce a complete picture for all that view it and from whatever perspec@ve.
Awareness of the Data Protec@on Act 2018 rela@ve to your CRM systems is essen@al. We have
consistently talked about the accuracy of the informa@on contained within the system.
This is par@cularly important when recording informa@on about individuals, where that
informa@on can be processed, and decisions made. Comments made about individuals that can
be used in decision-making processes also make that informa@on relevant for informa@on
requests under the Data Protec@on Act. It is highly recommended that all users of a CRM system
are made aware of their obliga@ons in recording informa@on about individuals from your
organisa@on's perspec@ve and the Data Protec@on Act 2018.
About Us
cloudfortyseven was founded in 2009 with the specific objec@ve of providing solu@ons based
on SoXware-as-a-Service and Cloud compu@ng technologies.

We recognised that the tradi@onal business partner business model needed to be more
convenient and affordable for customers requiring cloud-based solu@ons. Our organisa@on is
orientated to discovering a client's exact IT environment rela@ve to their interest in a CRM
solu@on, iden@fying their migra@on and integra@on requirements, implemen@ng the solu@on
for the client, and providing post-migra@on support services where required.

We don’t have to architect solu@ons for our clients, but we know how they must integrate into
CRM solu@ons. Our skills and exper@se provide a cost-effec@ve method of engaging cloud-
based CRM solu@ons promptly and gepng it right the first @me.

Phone: 07855 454333

Email: mike.fleming@cloudfortyseven.co.uk

Website: www.cloudfortyseven.co.uk

Blog: cloudfortysevencrm.blogspot.com