My previous blog was titled “50% CRM Failure Rate? Really? And nothing has changed for 3 decades?” 

I talked about how, over the last 30 years, the failure rate for IT projects, including CRM, has hovered around 50%. 

Now in all fairness, this is the end users’ perception of failure/success, which means that there is a disconnect in what IT sees as success and what the end users desire for success.  HOW DOES ONE BRIDGE THIS GAP? 

 The solution is simply to ensure that all stakeholders agree on what constitutes success, and then all work toward that objective. 

Too often, projects are made far more complex than they need to be.  It is so much easier to break a project down into small parts that are more achievable, understandable, and deliverable.  And at the end of the day, the same overall objective is met! 

This approach does take more time than an all-or-nothing approach, but is it worth taking a 50-50 chance that the project will fail or go way above budget?  Every business leader WANTS a very high probability of getting a ROI, and I for one, am NOT willing to invest in an initiative that only has a 50% chance of success. 

What I have observed in my practice is that creating a series of small successes, results in a 90%+ probability of succeeding!  And the reason is clear – every person at all levels in the organization is now able to chew and swallow what they are being asked to bite off.  It’s the answer to the age-old question “How do you eat an elephant?” – One bite at a time! (Apologies to all animal lovers) 

This approach holds for CRM implementations and guarantees initial buy in and user adoption.  The result is increased efficiencies and productivity, resulting in lower costs. 

If you are considering embarking on a CRM project, or are looking to fix a CRM that is not working for you, give me a call, or email me at cfarias@ebsoftware.com – who knows, I may just be able to help!