Top Ten Questions to Ask Your CRM Consultant
For companies struggling to sift through the piles of information available on CRM solutions today, a good consultant can be indispensable. Choosing one, however, can be just as tough as choosing a CRM software vendor. How do you know which one is right for your company?
According to Yacov Wrocherinsky, President and CEO of Infinity Info Systems Corp., finding the right consultant is simply a matter of knowing what to look for. He suggests the following questions:
1. What is your primary business focus?
Dedication to CRM is vital. Look for a consultant whose primary business is CRM, not one who consults on CRM as a small piece of a larger business. Equally important is to make sure your consultant is committed to building an on-going relationship with you to stay on top of your needs.
2. Does your sales staff have a methodology to determine what solution best fits my business?
Look for a truly independent perspective that is service-focused, not product-focused. A consultant that only deals with one or two vendors may try to fit your business into their solution rather than finding the right solution for your business challenge.
3. What industries do you specialize in?
Make sure to choose a consultant that has expertise in your industry. A consultant who has worked with companies similar to yours will be able to understand your unique business challenges and devise the best CRM strategy to overcome these issues.
4. What experience do your project managers, developers, trainers and IT staff have?
Look for a consultant with a large and experienced technical staff. Make sure they have advanced general IT certifications and that all staff members have up-to-date certifications in the specific applications and services they support.
5. How do you train and support users after an implementation?
A robust training department is key. A CRM project is only as successful as the least-skilled end-user. Entrust your CRM implementation only to a consultant who understands the importance of getting users thoroughly trained and offers an ongoing support system long after the implementation is complete.
6. How long have you been in business? Always ask how long a company has been in business to determine the stability of your consultant. Do you really want to work with a company that may not be around next week?
7. What is your client base? While you want stability in a company, you also want to be sure your consultant has successfully completed numerous CRM implementations.
8. What is the average size company you typically work with?
Find a consultant that’s the right size for your company. You want a consultancy that is large enough to have the resources to carry out your project, but small enough to give you personalized attention. It is also important to determine how many people will be managing your project and who will be available for any special needs or requests.
9. Do you have solid references?
Always choose a consultancy that can back up its claims with a list of satisfied clients. Look for references in your industry that are approximately the same size as your company. Ask those references: How long have you been working with this consultant? Was there anything in the scope of your project you were not satisfied with? Were there any problems that cropped up and if so, how did they resolve them?
10. Can you help your clients measure their ROI? Your investment in CRM can and should be measured. A good CRM consultant will have a solid ROI model for you to manipulate. Look for a consultant that can measure increased sales, greater customer satisfaction, accurate forecasts and better communication.
Don’t Let Your CRM Implementation Fail
When CRM implementations fail it usually has very little to do with the CRM solution itself. CRM is a people-centered application and a good consultant can ensure a successful implementation by creating a clearly defined CRM business strategy and design implementation plan, selecting a project champion and keeping the lines of communication open between the implementation team, management and users. Most importantly, documentation and end-user training programs are imperative to success.
Dedicated to excellence, Infinity has implemented more than 2,500 contact management and customer relationship management
solutions, trained over 100,000 professionals in contact management and CRM usage and received numerous top industry awards for both strong sales and customer service.For more information about Infinity’s services and products please visit Infinity'swebsite