Houston, we have a problem.

A recent Bain & Company survey revealed that 62% of B2B companies didn’t get the payoff they expected from a CRM implementation. 

The survey revealed that a much lower percentage of employees at dissatisfied companies used the CRM in ways that supported existing customers and the sales process. In other words, these companies struggled with poor CRM utilization, which stands in the way of revenue growth, growth velocity, and higher margins.

As this RevOps Show episode explained, lack of utilization can be linked back to an overly complicated CRM implementation and configuration. 

So, I wasn’t exactly surprised to learn that only about a third of companies were seeing the payoff they expected—because CRM implementations are complex and can easily go awry if they aren’t well managed. 

At Lift, we’ve completed 200+ implementations, so we understand exactly where things are most likely to go off the rails.

We also understand how to keep that from happening! If you’re curious, stay tuned as I share how to keep your CRM implementation as simple and effective as possible. 

6 Common Ways CRM Implementations Get Derailed

1. Misaligned Expectations

Companies have specific goals and requirements for their CRMs, but without clear communication, these can get lost in translation. This misalignment occurs when the client hasn’t clearly outlined their expectations and/or isn’t clear about what their implementation partner is planning and executing.

Takeaway: Communication is key! Yes, it’s a cliche, but it’s a cliche for a reason—lack of communication is a killer. Your implementation partner should work with you to define your launch. That means outlining requirements and agreeing on the deliverables.

At Lift, we’ve developed a comprehensive process that allows us to dig into client expectations. We have a kickoff, where we get to know our clients and they get to know us. Here, we set expectations, outlining who's responsible for each piece and who should be the contact for each part. Then, we go into discovery and do deep dives. This allows us to clearly understand what exists today for our client and what would be their ideal. Then, and only then, do we define the deliverables.

2. Losing the Narrative

Defining a launch can be challenging—but what’s even more challenging is adhering to your definition.

Sure, everything seems clear-cut when you’ve hammered out your launch deliverables, but soon, most clients are asking, “Can’t we just add this one little thing?”

At Lift, we call that “death by a thousand paper cuts.” Because, of course, one little request isn’t unreasonable, but they add up quickly.  Not to mention, if they aren’t carefully considered as part of the overall system, they may have unintended consequences that snowball into bigger issues. 

The result? These requests often aren’t triaged properly and any necessary trade-offs aren’t specifically laid out. Even if expectations were perfectly clear when the launch started, this is a prime spot for misalignment to creep in. 

Takeaway: Extra requests are inevitable, but here’s how to maintain focus by keeping an eye on the agreed-upon deliverables. 

• Keep a wish list. Your implementation partner should triage requests as they come in and classify them appropriately.
• Be clear about any trade-offs. If you feel strongly about a request and want it included in the launch, your partner should explain what, if anything, needs to be sacrificed from the initial plan to make that happen on time.
• Maintain a regular check-in cadence. When you sign off on that implementation plan, you should also schedule regular check-ins. Stick to that schedule no matter what—even if it’s a five-minute meeting because everything’s going smoothly. Skipping these meetings can be the kiss of death for an implementation.

3. Making Assumptions

Implementations often have knowledge gaps, which can happen for a couple of reasons.

Sometimes the people—on both the client and partner side—involved with the sales process aren't the same people overseeing the implementation. In that case, it can be unclear what was previously agreed upon and why.

In addition, sometimes employees leave the company and need to be replaced when the implementation is already underway.

Other gaps occur when people on the client side have differing types of knowledge. For example, sales reps might not understand data structure and data managers might not understand the sales process.

Takeaway: It’s human nature to make assumptions to fill in knowledge gaps, but don’t do it! It may feel “safe” at first, but it often ends up wasting more time in the long run because expectations are misaligned. 

Revisit your deliverables and be sure everyone involved understands why something is part of the launch.

4. Fear of Launching

I know this sounds like the 2006 Matthew McConaughey rom-com, but sadly, it’s not. 

Everyone wants to launch a flawless CRM—and many clients won’t launch until it’s absolutely perfect. That means they miss their launch window and keep making changes. That’s a mistake because no CRM  is ever “perfect.”

Don’t get me wrong—if you have a big issue, it should be fixed. However, the danger here is getting bogged down in the details, looking at everything that’s wrong, no matter how small. Instead, recognize you have a strong CRM that just needs some minor tweaking.

Takeaway:

• Encourage a mindset shift – it's better to launch a good product and address mistakes than to delay indefinitely in pursuit of perfection. Believe me, it happens.
• Recognize that launch is a starting point. Challenge users to find any issues or ways the system can be improved, because that fosters a culture of continuous improvement and refinement. 

5. Not Realizing Utilization is a Process

I’m going to be blunt: you will not see 100% utilization of your CRM on day 1. In fact, it won’t even be close. So, don’t panic when everyone isn’t using it on the first day, first week, or even the first month.

Adoption and utilization take time. Change—even good change—is always challenging.

However, if you’ve designed a system that supports your business processes, sales reps will see the advantages and will become more enthusiastic.

Takeaway: Recognize that different users will have varying levels of enthusiasm and adoption rates. Some will be quick to embrace the new system, while others may need more time. 

Training is also crucial. At Lift, we’ve discovered that we see the best utilization from video training paired with live follow-ups. 

This means that we create bite-sized videos for the initial training and references, along with live guided walkthroughs where we ask people to pull up their screens and actively participate as we lead them. Many people feel overwhelmed by traditional training, but this empowers employees to feel like they can manage using this CRM.

6. The Launch is Just the Beginning

A launch can be a little like a wedding—you do so much work to prepare and the big day goes by in a flash. Then, you’re just hearing about issues that users find or things they’d like to be different—which is inevitable no matter how much testing you do. 

Plus, as I mentioned above, launch success can feel fleeting if you’re expecting 100% of the company to be using the CRM on the first day. 

Takeaway: Remember that a launch, like a wedding, is really just the start, not the end. It’s easy to forget everything that led up to the big day. So, be sure not to lose sight of all the hard work you and your partner did.

One thing Lift trainers do is to prep users during training so they know not to expect perfection on the first day.  I like to tell the employees I’m training that they’ll be using version 1.0 of the system. We’ve done a lot of testing but inevitably, they’re going to find something that doesn't feel right or that doesn't quite work the way that they hope it would. Those are places where they can tell us that what we have configured doesn’t quite match their process—and we can tweak it to be a better fit. 

After all, regular updates, feedback loops, and continuous improvement initiatives are essential for the long-term success of a CRM.

Implementations are complex beasts, which is why there are so many opportunities for them to derail. However, doing the work upfront will keep your implementation as simple and effective as possible, rewarding you with a better ROI on your CRM.