Getting your money’s worth from a CRM system means having skin in the game and organizational commitment from the top.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Williams: Hey bankers, Steve Williams from Cornerstone Advisors and we want to share a couple data nuggets for you guys. 19 percent of financial institutions looking for a new CRM system this year, but 42 percent trying to get better utilization out of the CRM system they already own and I’m here with Scott Hodgins a system expert from Cornerstone Advisors.
Scott that 42 percent number does not surprise you does it?
Hodgins: Doesn’t surprise me in the least no, because a lot of these CRM projects our clients what we see is they go into them without a clear definition of what the heck they’re trying to do and and they make some hormonal decisions when they go into it and therefore it’s very hard to be successful.
Williams: And a lot of people already paid the money but they’re not getting the value out of it now a lot of very trendy right now you see people out there doing customer journey maps building systems ecosystem maps and you say there’s two keys to success with CRM and it has nothing to do with that trendy stuff I just mentioned I want you to share with the bankers out there what are those two keys to success?
Hodgins: Real simple, one is having an executive sponsor with real skin in the game, so someone who stands to benefit from just not the project working well but also from the results of that project that could be additional revenue the cross selling someone who’s really has a stake in that.
Williams: So big United Way thermometer about the business impact not we just deployed CRM
Hodgins: Right
Williams: What’s the second thing?
Hodgins: The second is having a CEO who’s not afraid to pound the table tell people they’re going to use it tell people how they’re gonna use it and tell them they’re gonna like it
Williams: So one CRM system one organization so you can’t have mortgage and retail and wealth all doing different things and basically it’s not I can opt-out it because I think it’s too hard or cumbersome I’ve got to adopt it so you’ve heard it there CRM is very trendy but getting your money’s worth depends on none of the trendy stuff it’s about skin in the game and organizational commitment from the top we’re gonna use it we’re going to get a payoff from this
This is the folks at Cornerstone giving you the so what on CRM.
“Hormonal decisions.” That’s a great quote.
We are seeing the same challenges with marketing automation.
And like CRM, it takes buy-in, commitment, and content to maximize MA value.
In my experience, banking CRM systems are used in one of two ways:
1) To provide the sales team with the tools that will make them more efficient and knowledgeable, thus resulting in a shorter sales cycle; or
2) To track and monitor the sales team, placing an emphasis on dumping data into the system without regard to the likelihood that a real deal will come to fruition.
I would estimate the industry’s usage is 2% the former, and 98% the latter.
The organizations that embrace the former and stick with it will have a massive advantage over the latter.