2010 The Year We Make Contact: Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for CRM

Welcome to 2010 !  No we aren't doing movie reviews, but as I was contemplating how "space-age" 2010 sounds, it reminded me of the best selling Arthur C. Clark novels: 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010 Odyssey Two. These novels were released as as films in 1968 and 1984 respectively.

When these books and movies were released, the years 2001 and 2010 seemed so far out, and therefore we considered any of the subject matter to be "possible." As a side note, CRM as we know it today didn't exist.

Now that we have actually reached 2010, I reflect on the 2010 movie, "2010: The Year We Make Contact".  In the movie, as the Planet Jupiter is about to transform, the character Dave Bowman returns to the spaceship Discovery to give HAL (an artificial intelligence computer system) a last order to carry out. HAL begins repeatedly broadcasting the message, "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE."

As we sit on the front-porch of 2010, I suggest the movie title is a wonderful metaphor for all of our CRM efforts in 2010 and the decade ahead. We must make contact with our constituent audiences (prospects, customers, partners, suppliers, employees, etc.) in more effective ways, we must be easier to do business with and we must expect and embrace great advances in technology (see SaaS Technology For Start-Ups for a comparison on technology advances in the past decade). With that in mind, we offer up our Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for CRM. These are aimed at CEOs, Presidents, Group Leaders, Sales Leaders and System Administrators.

Top 10 New Year's Resolution for CRM:

1. I will understand my data. Embedded in your CRM system is a wealth of information, that when properly organized and exposed can serve as a decision support system. Utilize views, reports and dashboards to ask and answer key questions. Analytics is what salesforce.com does best. If you can't get at the data, it is possible your system isn't configured properly. Your system set-up should be driven by the analytics you need.
2. I will give my Salesforce CRM deployment a health check. Each year, salesforce.com releases 2 or 3 major releases, each with hundreds of improvements. In my near decade of experience with salesforce.com, I find that most companies are not aware of the new features where were release after the initial deployment and never enabled. Consequently, they aren't getting the value that they are paying for. See our cost-effective Health Check service for unleashing your potential.
3. I will make sure our CRM system is aligned with executive and organization objectives. As people join your company or depart, personal objectives and company goals change. Ensure that your Salesforce CRM system is tracking the metrics and objectives that the company is currently focused on. Do you know what they are?
4. I will review my data quality and take steps to improve it. Missing data, duplicates, records assigned to inactive or incorrect users, unpopulated fields, absence of data validation rules, inappropriate field requirements, out-dated pick lists and business cards sitting in desk drawers.  These are just examples. Contact akaCRM to discuss how our data therapists can get your data into top shape and create processes and automation to ensure it stays that way.
5. I will survey our Salesforce CRM users and understand how well we are serving them. Sometimes it is so obvious that we forget to do it, but ask the people that are using the system and find out what is missing, what is wrong and what help is needed. Consider brown-bag lunches, surveys or bring in akaCRM to facilitate a session to understand the top 5-10 actions that could be taken to get the most out of your Salesforce CRM investment.
6. I will offer and provide training to our CRM system users and get additional training for myself in order to best leverage our investment. Assuming you trained your people when you deployed salesforce.com in your company, I'd bet that some people may have left and others have joined.  I'll bet there are advanced features that exist today that weren't there when you did your training.  I'd also bet that the skill level that people have with Salesforce CRM has grown and they are now ready to move from the basic features to advanced features. You've already paid for the system, why not invest a little in the people to make sure their skills are keeping up with the pace of change?
7. I will not be afraid to ask for help. I don't know what I don't know and can't finish what I don't have time or training to do. There is no shame in asking for help and failing to do so, can actually be a sign of weakness. At the request of a number of our clients, we put together cost-effective support packages ranging from 4 hours to 40 hours to help you finish your projects, tune your systems and get set for the new year.
8. I will commit to understand social media this year and learn how it intersects and leverages CRM. Your competitors, prospects and customers are having a dialogue right now in the social media that involves your industry and potential your products, services and brand. Will you choose to participate and moderate these dialogues or choose to be oblivious to them? Let us create a simple social media plan for your business as a starting point.
9. I will understand my personal metrics, how I am measured and make sure they are incorporated in a personal dashboard. We all have bosses, we all want to get better and we all want to be recognized for our accomplishments. One of the best ways to get the recognition you deserve is make sure the way you are evaluated is reflected through metrics in salesforce.com. That way, there are no surprises for you, your boss or your company. Once you see where you stand, you can now take steps to improve (and receive recognition for your achievements). Additionally, measuring relevant data points gives you ground for which to request support and resources. 
10. I will make sure my team's personal metrics are exposed to them and will provide updated quotas/expectations for them. If it's good for you, it's good for them. Transparency within the team and the organization is a good thing. Recognize your top performers and let your bottom performers understand their ranking so they might be motivated to improve or re-think their career choice. If you have new expectations for 2010 (quotas, measurement points, critical-success-factors) communicate them early in the year and your Salesforce CRM system is a great way to do this.
11. BONUS:  I will participate or lead an annual review of our Salesforce CRM deployment. Don't count on someone else to drive the items in this list. Take charge or forward this article to another individual if you have someone that is responsible for this initiative. The sooner you get started, the sooner you get the benefits.