CRM implementation: start simple and involve your team

Implementing CRM means starting to work with customer information in a shared way. CRM needs a place in everyday work: after a call, before the next contact and when you review deals together.

Start with a limited part of the work. Once you have tried it, adjust the approach and bring in more customers, deals or colleagues.

Plan your CRM implementation

Implementing CRM involves both the software and how you use it. Decide who will lead the rollout, which group will try it first and when you will review the results.

Follow the steps below, from goals and an initial area of work to shared routines, practice and evaluation. If you are also moving information from an older tool, plan the CRM migration and customer data transfer as a separate part of the work.

1. Decide what needs to work better

Choose a problem your team recognizes. Perhaps it is hard to see who owns a customer conversation, or information is missing when someone takes over a deal.

Set a goal you can check. For example: “For our active deals, it should be clear what the customer needs, who owns the deal and what the next step is.”

Include the people who will use the CRM in the discussion. Their examples reveal what information is actually needed. If you have not chosen a tool yet, use the checklist for choosing a CRM.

2. Choose an initial area to try

Start with new opportunities in one team, for example, or a selection of current customer conversations. Decide who will take part and when you will evaluate it.

Also describe where information will live during the trial. If some deals are handled in the CRM while others remain in an older tool, everyone needs to understand the boundary. Avoid having different people update separate versions of the same deal.

If you are switching from an existing CRM, there is a separate checklist for preparing customer data.

3. Agree on terminology and next steps

Review how a deal usually develops in your business. It might move from a first conversation to a proposal and then a decision. Agree on what the stages mean and when you update the status.

Decide what information a colleague needs to continue the work:

• The customer and contact person.
• What the deal concerns.
• What you have agreed.
• Who is responsible.
• What should happen next and when.

Keep it to information you use. Add more when a specific need arises.

4. Assign responsibility for the way of working

Every deal needs an owner. Also appoint someone to coordinate the rollout and collect the team’s questions. They can help you decide whether a problem comes from unclear routines, missing information or something you need to ask the provider.

Decide when information should be updated. A simple starting point is after customer contact, while the conversation is still fresh. The information will then be useful for the next conversation.

5. Practise a customer situation together

Use a fictional example that resembles your work. A customer has received a proposal and needs to discuss it with a colleague. One person documents the situation and plans a follow-up; another takes over and describes what needs to be done.

Do both people see the same next step? Is anything missing before you can contact the customer? Adjust the routine wherever it is unclear.

Let everyone taking part try it. Collect their questions and review the steps that need support before expanding usage.

6. Evaluate day-to-day work

At your review, return to the goal. Look at a few current deals and check that the information, ownership and next steps are clear.

Ask the team what has become easier and where they still need to search or ask a colleague. If information is missing, investigate why. Perhaps you need to explain a term, simplify a routine or change when updates happen.

Move to the next part of the rollout once the initial approach works well enough for everyday use.

A pilot plan for implementing CRM

Implementing CRM also means deciding how to work together. Use a limited pilot before bringing in all your customer information. This is a planning example; adapt the scope to your team and the information you need to prepare.

Activity	Responsibility	Complete when
Choose a customer workflow	Implementation lead and users	You have a concrete task to improve and an example to test
Prepare information	Someone who knows the customers	Customer, contact, deal and open questions are understandable
Agree the routine	The team using CRM	You agree on status, ownership and when to update details
Try daily work	Future users	Everyone can find information and plan the next contact
Review the pilot	Implementation lead and team	You have recorded what works and what needs changing

Set a review date when the pilot begins. Choose a period with real customer contacts, so you have time both to enter information and use it again.

Check the routine before the next step

Take a few deals from the pilot. Can you find the owner, latest response and next contact without asking around? Also ask a colleague who did not create the deal to read the information.

Record anything unclear and adjust the routine before adding users or information. Assign someone to receive questions after launch and book the next review. Implementation needs follow-up even when everyone has access.

If you are switching CRM, plan the data move separately. Use the CRM migration checklist to inventory and check customer information.

Get started in Customer Connect

In Customer Connect, you can work with customers, opportunities and follow-ups. An email enquiry can be interpreted into an opportunity; you can also try pasted text. Check the information, choose an owner and set a follow-up.

Decide when to review follow-ups as part of the working day.

Follow your first steps in Customer Connect when you want to try the product. After you sign up, we contact you to see whether you need help getting started.

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