-Scott Fuller, Xception

This is the third in a series of six articles looking at how to successfully deliver your CRM project.

Taking the time to look past the functional capability offered by a company will determine if you want a Partner or a Vendor. There are very good reasons to purchase your CRM solution from a Vendor, implement it asap and then just pay the Licence Fees for the term of the Agreement. Full Stop!!

There are however more and far better reasons to look ahead to see how your full CRM ecosystem (Refer to Article 2 in this series) will support the evolution and growth of your business in the long term and how valuable a Partner can be. The behaviours of your Partner, vs a Vendor, are highlighted in Table 1 below.

In short, a Vendor will give you exactly what you asked for and how you can leverage the generic capability and services. A Partner will take the time to understand your business, as well as technology, requirements and use them to drive out the right solutions.

Project Factors	Partner	Vendor
Shared Vision	Drives the program	Fits it to the tool
Detailed Requirements	Designs solutions	Presents capability
Functional Fit	Customises for purpose	Allows configuration
Acceptance Testing	Fully involved	Facilitates how-to
Training & Support	Personalised / Periodic	Modular / Static
Resources – Time & $$$	Quoted / Evolves	Fixed / Inflexible

Table 1 – Partner vs Vendor

So before starting your search for the right CRM, start by deciding the characteristics of your Partner, or Vendor.

• Will you deal directly with Vendor or via an implementation Partner?
• Either way, how do want to engage, what involvement do you expect, what services will you require to compliment your in-house resources?
• Is it more cost effective to pay an external partner than divert internal teams?

The answer to all these questions will direct you to the type of relationship that will best suit you in successfully delivering your CRM Project. Model 3, which is not a Project Plan, illustrates the Pre- and Post-Evaluation activities as part of the full selection process.

1. Market Research
   1. Expert Rating Sites – Sites such as Gartner and Forrester will give you detailed independent analysis of multiple options. Others will give you their opinion of the best 3, 5, 10 solutions in respect to Quality of Product and Price. It is uncommon to get any indication of the Quality of Service
   2. Demonstration & Introduction – Although the purpose of the demonstration is for the Vendor to show they have the required capability, the additional value is did they listen to what you specifically wanted to see and were they flexible enough to follow the conversation. These are key indicators of how the relationship will develop
   3. Reference Checks – Reference sites provided by the vendor will be positively biased but tough questions will still elicit honest responses. This should be complemented by identifying from your own networks other similar businesses who have deployed the same solution.
   4. Long List – The Long List will be as long as needs to be to include the best options

2. Evaluation Matrix
   1. The Matrix – It is worth taking time to design and build a robust Matrix, normally in Excel and can be built to produce results at a Requirement, Requirement Group, Focus Area, Urgency level. These results can then roll up into the Functional Assessment
   2. Fit for Business – Does the solution fit the size of our business? Does the Licence Type and Technology used fit with our IT Strategy?
   3. Functional Assessment – The detailed Requirements assessment is rolled up as either Requirement Category or Focus Area
   4. Total Cost of Ownership – Hard Costs (Licencing, Hosting and Delivery) and Soft Costs (Internal Support for development and version releases) will collectively give the Total CoO.
   5. Weighted Score – All the above along with a Priority Coefficient(s) will give each Potential Vendor a Weighted Score in order to Short List and ultimately Recommend the selected solution

3 x Critical Success Factors

These are CSFs for the Selection Process, not the Project:

1. Focus on Cost of Ownership not Price

The Evaluation Matrix pulls together all aspects of the decision as to what is the best solution and who is best to partner with to deliver it. The Quality of the Product (Does it do what we need) is paramount but the Quality of Service (How well will they do it) can have a dramatic effect on the Total Cost of Ownership by increasing the Soft Costs of internal effort

2. Aligned Attitude is as important as Great Kit

Having an Aligned Vision for the project may not be enough in itself to sustain the right attitude through the project, having guiding principles as well will give it legs – 80/20 (Get the solution up even if not fully finished); Future proofed (Ensure building blocks can be built on); Group first (Make sure the solution supports all Users Groups); Usability over Capability (Better to be User friendly than sophisticated). These types of principles will help the Partner deliver the right solution.

3. The Why Not is as important as the Why

The most common approach to buying CRM solutions is to find the most high-profile options, compare capability and pick one that fits the budget. That’s looking at the Why and What. However, the hidden stumbling blocks will come from the questions not asked and these answers will not be readily forthcoming from a Vendor, but will from a Partner who is in for the long haul

2 x Reasons how this is Unique to Manufacturing

Sometimes it is subtle variances that make the difference in approach and each industry has its own idiosyncrasies:

1. Experience can be misleading

CRM for Manufacturing, as in B2B, has specific requirements that those solutions experienced in delivering to the industry have learnt, sometimes the hard way. There are great solutions that are not right for a business that needs certain capability and support for certain processes. The providers of these solutions may have reference sites a mile long but the relevance of them is vital. Before you place your trust in a provider, make sure they have earnt it.

2. Customisation is almost Inevitable

Not desirable but almost inevitable. Even solutions that specifically support B2B and have Manufacturing Clients on their Referral list, will have customised the solution based on Customers, Products, Processes, Rules, Reporting. When you go down the customisation route it is even more important you have a Partner, not a Vendor in your corner.

In Summary

Clarity – The clarity of who is the right Partner comes from the work leading up to the Evaluation Phase. This will clearly define what is required, what is important and the type of Partner who is best to deliver it

Simplicity – The decision on who is the obvious candidate will be simple, once you follow the Evaluation Process. Having completed steps 1-4, the obvious candidate, the one with highest Weighted Score, will fall out.

Certainty – The Matrix needs to be developed so that the result is obvious. It needs to account for Aligned Attitude and Approach, Functional Capability as well as Hard Costs and Soft Costs.