• Business Capabilities
  • Relationship Quality
  • People Capabilities
  • Privacy Policy
Customer Attuned
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Home
  • Expertise
    • Business Capabilities
    • Relationship Quality
    • People Capabilities
  • Knowledge Centre
    • Blog
    • Publications
    • News
    • Insight Webcasts
  • Who we work for
  • Who we are
    • Our People
    • Our Partners
  • Contact us
  • Menu Menu
Dr Mark Hollyoake
B2B Trust, Building Your Capability & Competency Framework, Business Case Development, Business Requirements Definition, CRM, CRM Readiness, Customer Management Systems, Customer Proposition Development, Intermediary / Broker Management and Development, Key Account Management, MBTI for Sales, Planning

CRM Steps for Success – Managing Expectations, Part 5 of 7

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Email

Many CM and CRM systems are over-sold and over promise on the capabilities they can deliver from day one. This generates a high level of expectation and anticipation which puts pressure on the new systems and its ability to perform. No system is a cure-all and is unlikely to deliver excellence the moment it is implemented.

The reality is that during the first few months, everyday tasks will take longer to accomplish and information will be harder to find. For those using the system, excessively high expectations can generate high stress levels compounded by information overload and a feeling of disappointment. Experience leads us to suggest that it is far better to aim in the early days for a base level of use and then consolidate benefits before moving forward.

In the early days and weeks of implementation, the support infrastructure may ‘wobble’ and the help desk ‘fall over’. For a toddler, this is a natural part of the process of learning to walk, but for employees used to functioning efficiently with the old system, these setbacks can pitch them in to a trough of disillusionment.

The Customer Attuned process avoids this because a high level of reality is injected back into the user base. From the start it is made clear that:

  • Your start point will determine the level of frustration that you experience
  • This frustration should be confined to the first few weeks or months
  • Over time problems will be ironed out and you will find shortcuts
  • You will probably only ever use 20% of the rich functionality offered by the system
  • In the first instance therefore, mastering 20% of the system will more than meet requirements

Get staff involved and engaged by getting them to start thinking about the system and the part that it can play in helping them to do their work easily and more productively:

  • How might it impact the way they work with other individuals and departments?
  • What difference could it make to the way in which I fulfil my role and responsibilities?
  • What opportunities does it create for customer interaction?

Download the entire CRM Steps for Success Series e-book, fill out this form and we will email it to you

[Form id=”15″]

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Dr Mark Hollyoake
Mark is a co-founder and Director of Customer Attuned Ltd. He holds a Doctorate from the University ofSouthampton, his thesis focused on Trust as a dynamic within business to business customer relationships.

He is an expert in B2B Customer Experience and Customer Management. This includes CM strategy development; execution of improvement plans (incl. organisational modelling for customer management); programme design; and partnership & alliance development.

Mark's applied work across FMCG, industrials, medical devices, financial services, business services and construction has led to organisations making, significant improvements to their customer management. A large focus of this work has been moving organisations up the Trust Ladder to enable them to benefit from reduced cost to serve, while continuing to innovate and deliver mutual value.

Mark is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Member of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management. He holds an MBA in strategy from Henley Business School.
Latest posts by Dr Mark Hollyoake (see all)
  • Dr Mark’s Virtual Tea Time Chat with Andrew Hough, Institute of Sales Professionals - May 17, 2022
  • Utilities need to improve the customer experience for B2B key accounts. - March 16, 2022
  • Why is Trust key in Financial Services? - March 3, 2022
May 1, 2015/by Dr Mark Hollyoake
Tags: CRM, Planning
Share this entry
  • Share on WhatsApp
https://customerattuned.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo.png 0 0 Dr Mark Hollyoake https://customerattuned.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo.png Dr Mark Hollyoake2015-05-01 14:36:252016-08-04 08:43:17CRM Steps for Success – Managing Expectations, Part 5 of 7
You might also like
Customer Experience: Digital or Human?
Listen to what it’s like studying for a Doctorate
Awards Magazine recognises Peter Lavers as Top Influencer
Think 2019
Six lenses of best practice for Customer Charter development
Peter Lavers Voted as top CX Professional
Popular
  • Featured Video Play Icon
    Dr Mark’s Virtual Tea Time Chat with Andrew Hough,...May 17, 2022 - 11:13 am
  • The Great Debate – First in the series of debates...November 13, 2013 - 2:33 pm
  • The Great Debate – Event 2 – Making B2B Partnerships...February 11, 2014 - 3:19 pm
  • The Great Debate (2) – Making B2B Partnerships work...February 11, 2014 - 3:57 pm
Recent
  • Featured Video Play Icon
    Dr Mark’s Virtual Tea Time Chat with Andrew Hough,...May 17, 2022 - 11:13 am
  • How do you manage customer value?How well do you manage customer value?May 6, 2022 - 1:18 pm
  • Customer Management across industriesAdopting A Customer Centric Culture Demands One ThingApril 11, 2022 - 5:00 pm
  • Playbook in Customer ExperiencePlaybooks in customer experience managementMarch 28, 2022 - 9:04 pm
Comments
Tags
#events AI analytics B2B B2B Customer Management B2B Customer Strategy B2B Trust capability framework change management CM Coaching COMMERCIAL BENEFIT CRM CRQ customer centricity customer experience Customer Relationship Quality customer service cx CXP data data science Distributor Management Employee engagement Financial Services GDPR healthcare Influencer Marketing KAM leadership learning and development marketing NPS CRQ OMNI-CHANNEL People capabilities Planning Research sales sales capability Strategy thought leadership training training and development Trust virtual learning

Blog Categories

Exact Selection Building Better B2B Relationships
-

CONTACT US

CUSTOMER ATTUNED
Albion Mills,
Albion Road,
Greengates,
Bradford,
West Yorkshire,
United Kingdom,
BD10 9TQ

Latest News

  • How do you manage customer value?How well do you manage customer value?May 6, 2022 - 1:18 pm
  • Customer Management across industriesAdopting A Customer Centric Culture Demands One ThingApril 11, 2022 - 5:00 pm
  • Playbook in Customer ExperiencePlaybooks in customer experience managementMarch 28, 2022 - 9:04 pm

QUICK CONTACT

    © Copyright Customer Attuned, All rights reserved 2022    |    Website by ZeroDotNine
    By using this website you consent to our use of cookies, for further information please refer to our privacy policy.
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Mail
    • Business Capabilities
    • Relationship Quality
    • People Capabilities
    • Privacy Policy
    CRM steps for success – Part 2 of 7 Are you suffering deep dependence with your B2B customers?
    Scroll to top