Get your organisation CRM ready

Many individuals find the task of managing an organisation’s transition to a new CRM system daunting. At this point organisations often have data stored in multiple locations, staff of varying levels of IT skills and limited resources and/or time.

Here are some tips to make the task of moving to a new system manageable and alleviate potential issues.

Employees

1. Make sure your colleagues are informed about the change and that you have outlined the benefits of moving to a new system
2. Provide regular updates on the progress of the move
3. Keep colleagues involved throughout the process. This means that they feel valued and are ready for change, as opposed to resisting it.
4. Remind staff that this is an opportunity to develop and learn new skills

System design

1. Know your data. What needs to be recorded and what reports do you need to present to funders?
2. Think about what is vital, and what you'd like to have. This will help you sort out your priorities; maybe the desirables can be left for future development?
3. Be open to new and innovative ways of working, a change of system is an opportunity to revitalise your processes
4. Rationalise your data and data collection, are you collecting information unnecessarily?

General

1. Compile your data. Pulling all data sources together and weeding out usless/out of date information means that transferring data will be seamless
2. Be proactive in learning the system so that you can help your colleagues adapt; but remember, we are always here to help

Keep in mind that the rewards of having a CRM system will be worth the time and money spent on setting it up, by reducing time spent on data entry and duplicating work, and enabling you to provide a better service for your contacts.