CRM Implementation: A Software Designer's View

Braintree Security Software Eyes Project as Developer Themselves

Companies that plan carefully when they implement CRM do the best job. So, one would expect that a company that develops software for others should do an even better job of implementing their own CRM system. Tom Turner ought to know something about relational databases, the informational backbone that gives CRM systems their power. As the Marketing Director of Braintree Security Software, a Norwell, Massachusetts, company that is a leading international supplier of relational database security software, Turner knew he needed to improve on his text-based contact management system. ñAt one time, it may have served our needs, but the system was clunky. It wasnÍt easy to search for information, nor could it automate tasks.î

Product Selection

Braintree Security Software began its search in March 1999, and Turner viewed the project through the lens of someone who helps his own clients with software implementations. ñRight out of the gate, I knew I had a big task. We had product information in one system, customer info in another, sales data in a third system and our prospect profiles in yet a fourth system. I knew that a relational database would be the way to go.

Turner first looked into some of the main players in the industry: GoldMine, ACT!, Clientele and Siebel Systems. He downloaded evaluation copies from the vendors websites and looked at some installed systems. "ACT! was discarded right away: It's a contact-based system and that wouldn't work for us because we need an account-based system, one where we can see all of the contacts at one account." GoldMine shared the same drawback and, says Turner, "it didn't seem like it would be powerful enough."

He looked at a customized system, Target, but discarded it out of concern that his company would be too dependent on the creator of a "from-scratch" system. And Clientele and Siebel Systems, while powerful applications that might have met Braintree's needs, were passed over due to their cost and support requirements.

An on-line demo of SalesLogix, an account-based relational database CRM product created by Interact, a Scottsdale, Arizona company caught Turner's interest. "The product seemed to have what we were looking for, and I was impressed that SalesLogix was founded by Pat Sullivan, the creator of ACT!, the first industry's CRM product."

Turner decided that it would be easy for his sales reps to use and that it would be quite powerful out of the box. "We knew that we didn't want to do a lot of customization right away, that we wanted something 'vanilla' but that we could tailor more to our needs in the future."

SalesLogix offered several features that fit Braintree's selling process. "Sales reps could track customers account-by-account and see all of the activity associated with the account. Sales managers could track the progress of each individual rep and of the team as a whole and marketing could use the application to send targeted communications to any subset of our database."

Vendor Selection

Turner looked at several vendors before settling on Compulan, a CRM vendor located in Woburn, Massachusetts. Compulan had been doing implementations of many different CRM applications over the course of the previous 14 years and had expertise with SalesLogix, ACT!, GoldMine, TeleMagic, Lotus Notes and a half-dozen other packages. "We liked the fact that Compulan reviewed our sales process and ultimately validated our choice of SalesLogix. They seemed to keep an open mind so that we could be sure that weÍd selected an application that fit our selling activities."

How much homework did Braintree do before selecting Compulan? "To tell you the truth, the choice wasnÍt that hard. One vendor wanted to do a lot of expensive customization out of the gate and that didn't suit our style. Another was a very small organization and we werenÍt sure that they could give us enough attention. Mark Engelberg (CompulanÍs president) spent a lot of time understanding what we wanted and that was important to us and we noted that the company had adequate resources such as an entire technical department including project management, integrators and programmers, operations management and a strong back office as well as a training expert."

Installation

The implementation was straightforward, but not without a few challenges. Says Turner, "We had a bit of customization and it didn't always go smoothly. There were some join problems in the database at first." Turner states from experience that itÍs not uncommon to have a few hiccups when implementing new software, so it's important to be sure that the vendor has adequate resources. "If you choose a 'one-man band' you will increase the likelihood that your project will take longer than you expect and cost more than your budget" he adds.

Turner also suggests that organizations considering CRM look at their processes with an expert. "The processes need to be improved so that you don't automate a bad process. We believed that our vendor had the ability to review and evaluate our processes. If the vendor you select doesn't have that experience, you may do well to spend some time finding someone who can help with some process engineering."

Benefits Real

What changes has Braintree seen as the result of the implementation? "We have a much better handle on how we're talking to our customers. We're able better to evaluate who is attending shows and we've been able to streamline the leads process. Our sales reps are able to shorten the sales cycle and sales managers can get a quick snapshot of what is going on in an account. The intuitive interface helps because the easier a system is to be used the more likely it is to be used properly.”

What would Turner have done differently, now that the implementation is over a year-and-a-half old? "I might have thought about doing more customization, but itÍs hard to go from practically nothing to something very complex all at once and do it properly."

Pointers for Others

TurnerÍs advice to those considering CRM might be taken from the pages a textbook on software implementation. “You should have realistic expectations on how you will change your processes when you put in the software. A lot of our practices become more standardized such as letters and literature fulfillment. That helped us because we were able to know what a customer is receiving and hearing. Now we can make sure that our own guidelines are being implemented. We can track calls made, how well a territory is being covered, how quickly things were being followed up on.

“Information is useful if you have the processes to exploit it” Turner concluded. “Make certain that you have good processes to use what you automate.”

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