CRM Diagnostic Overview

The CRM Diagnostic is a sophisticated online assessment tool that quickly and efficiently collects input from multiple internal stakeholders, identifies what to fix first and why and provides a comprehensive roadmap for moving forward with a CRM solution. 

The CRM Diagnostic accurately and objectively pinpoints your most critical needs, so you can deploy the highest-value features first and realize value quickly from new investments. In short, it delivers real ROI early and often.

Most CRM selection projects focus mainly on the technology.  Companies have multiple meetings to document, categorize and prioritize everyone’s requirements. Endless meetings result with full whiteboards and multiple spreadsheets, but without a clear understanding.  Selection committees spend months with vendors to explain their 700+ important requirements and evaluate the vendors’ features and functions against their requirements.  They score the various vendors then select the one with the highest rating and best value. 

What is often missing from this evaluation process is a focus on the company’s capabilities and how they will be enabled with technology.  Companies need something to organize and translate their business requirements into CRM requirements so they can pick the right CRM solution.

The CRM Diagnostic measures a company’s business development capabilities and provides prioritized recommendations for areas that need improvement in conjunction with the implementation of a CRM solution.   The emphasis is on capability improvement – without that companies risk not getting the full benefit of any CRM solution.

CRM Diagnostic Purpose

The purpose of the CRM Diagnostic is to provide insight into a company’s customer strategy; all of the elements required to be successful in attracting and retaining customers.  By providing clarity about all of these often overlooked and misunderstood capabilities a company can determine which CRM solution fits best and create an implementation roadmap that ensures long-term success. 

4 Key Benefits of the CRM Diagnostic

1. Confidence that nothing was missed; all of the requirements have been considered and the right vendors were considered.
2. A prioritized CRM implementation roadmap that matches your capabilities and reduces your implementation risk.
3. Structure and tools to organize your requirements into a meaningful framework that translates your business requirements into CRM requirements.
4. Internal alignment (management, business users, and IT) around realistic goals for the CRM project and the complimentary capability improvement efforts.

The CRM Diagnostic process is comprehensive but quick and affordable because of the proprietary framework and on-line tools that replace hours of your time, or a consultants time, to walk through the discovery process.  

When to Consider the CRM Diagnostic

Companies use the CRM Diagnostic at several stages in the lifecycle of their CRM solution:

1 – CRM Planning and Visioning

When companies are considering CRM project it is beneficial to understand the organizations strengths and weaknesses in its customer experience; what is working well and what is not to determine if the current technology supports the business appropriately

2 – CRM Selection

Companies leverage the CRM Diagnostic at an early stage in CRM selection or evaluation project. The results provide additional insight about the current state requirements and provide clarity about possible future requirements as well.  The complimentary framework provides confidence that no requirements were overlooked.

3 - CRM Implementation 

Companies have utilized the CRM Diagnostic at the front end of an implementation cycle to help determine the best way to phase the implementation. The results allow them to deploy CRM in areas where the business is mature (ready for the automation CRM provides) and get an immediate ROI.  Furthermore, it points out areas where more process work is needed before the CRM solution should be deployed.

4 – CRM Catapult

The catapult process is the optimization of the exiting CRM solution.  Companies use the CRM Diagnostic results to determine the best areas in which to deploy additional CRM features; the ones that will have the highest ROI for the organization.