Slammed
Do you remember the Phi Slama Jama?
Yes, it is March Madness time – when college hoops go crazy starting with the frenzy of conference tournaments to get into the dance up to the pinnacle of NCAA sports, the Final Four. Back in the 1980’s there was a particularly popular team (U. of Houston) with a set of impossibly tall forwards who were peculiarly fond of dunking the ball as a means of racking up two pointers. Their specialized fraternity of verticality contributed maximally to the madness of the tournament. Those were good times.
There is something about slamming the ball through the hoop that gets folks fired up. A team can be in a listless impenetrable lull, but one steal and fast break that leads to an artful but violent slam dunk will fire up both the team and crowd, potentially changing the momentum of the game into a checkmark in the W column. My personal preference is the alley-oop – where an assist and a score happen in one arc of the ball. That is just pure unadulterated enjoyment.
So, when it comes to B Ball, I am truly good with a slam-in. But, when it comes to CRM, the slam-in is an egregious affront to everything I have learned that produces positive outcomes. Let me explain.
As everyone knows, the hot topic today in CRM is all about the cloud and at the center of that storm is CRM platform-as-a-service – the use of a CRM application that you rent, as opposed to buy. This new approach to the software ownership has changed some of the economics, both in reality and perception. The reality is that it is possible to have world-class CRM technology on the cheap. If you use the technology straight out of the box you can rent some pretty good software for not a lot of investment, particularly up-front investment. This reality has significantly changed some of the dynamics of the sales process – much of the messaging is around getting a lot for a little. This in turn has attracted a lot of folks who are interested in the little part.
This is where the slam-in comes in. Those who are selling cloud oriented CRM technology are focused heavily on the affordability angle and they are promising a lot for a little. Now, this is where the perception part enters. If you believe that you can get your company up and running on rented CRM software without any other investment, such as preparing the organization for the changes involved in automating processes , then your perception of the economics are skewed. SaaS sales reps are out there right now promising companies all the benefits of CRM automation with literally the flick of a switch. They are selling slam-ins. You too can enjoy all the benefits, and all you need to do is install it.
Unfortunately it does not work that way.
Virtually all of our experience with this approach – a rapid implementation of the technology with no focus on preparing the organization for its utilization – results in the same outcome: the adoption of the technology is marginal at best and totally abandoned at worst. I guess you do get what you pay for.
Now, I recognize there can be logical reasons for justifying the slam-in. I have heard some reasons that were hard to argue with. The results are still the same. The software does not provide the necessary business benefit. Which leads us to the proverbial fork in the conversation – we can talk about what you should do if you are contemplating a slam-in. Or, we can talk about what you can do if you were lured into the snare of the slam-in and now are unhappy with the results.
The first discussion is short. Don’t do it.
The second discussion is a bit longer. When I encounter a slam-in I attempt to do a number of things. First, I try not to be judgmental. Second, I like to understand what is working in the eyes of the user and what is not. Then, I like to find ways to preserve what is working while I look to find ways to improve what is not. Some of the typical improvement areas include:
- provide more training
- make process adjustments
- fix the reports
- clean up the data
- build a plan to add enhancements and potentially some data integration
These are pretty standard activities that would have likely been identified if the company had spent a bit more time with CRM preparedness. The difference is that the slam-in costs less initially, costs more in the long run, and does a marvelous job at convincing everyone that CRM software is bad because of the poor results.
So, don’t be lured by the faux allure of the low-cost SaaS implementation. It is merely an illusion of economic misperception. The person selling you on the idea will be gone when you learn the truth, by the way. It is easy for them to make the case when they have no accountability for the result. They are not rewarded on whether it works for you, just a commission on the contract value of your rental agreement. Less is more – they are making their money on volume, so they are happy to sell you a lowest cost approach.
Getting positive results from any CRM technology, whether you rent or buy, requires some effort and investment. The quick, low-cost slam-in will not deliver positive results (well, the odds are dramatically against you). Get your slamming fix at the NCAA or NIT tournaments, not within your CRM program.