The RevOps Show

Episode 77: Always Be Launching - The Key to CRM Success

Written by Hannah Rose | Dec 13, 2023 3:00:00 PM

The phrase “always be learning” has been mentioned in several episodes, but what does this actually mean and how can you put this into practice? Doug and Jess explain here how to continuously improve and optimize your CRM by launching it 3-4 times a year. 

NOTE: If you do not want to hear baseball talk for 14 minutes, skip to 14:28.

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Show Notes:

Pre-Show Banter: Jess is excited that her team is the World Champion and gives us a little sing-song of “We Are the Champions.” Of course Doug told her so, and the baseball talk starts and almost doesn’t seem to end. I promise this is not a baseball show!

Always be launching is a philosophy that encourages continuous improvement and innovation in the CRM system. This involves regularly releasing updates, fixes, and new features to keep the CRM aligned with the business process. This approach to always be launching allows for iterative development, where changes can be made quickly and efficiently. It also helps drive better optimization and utilization of the CRM as users are more engaged through the celebration of launches and the opportunity to provide feedback.

Launching your CRM multiple times a year enables a greater rate of change with less feeling of change because updates are usually incremental rather than large and disruptive. This reinforces what is working, allows for the adjustment of what isn’t, and allows for experimentation and improvement over time. By making sure the business process comes first and drives these launches ensures that the tech is reinforcing the desired outcomes.

Launches should be seen as an ongoing process, rather than one-time events. If a launch date is getting close, you should make sure you launch on that date rather than push it out because the definition of complete for this launch can be adjusted rather than stretching out the project. 

As you’re thinking about the next launch of the system, you should aim to improve the business process rather than simply making cosmetic changes. By tweaking the system all the time, launches will only be viewed as making small fixes to the system and how it works and a launch is much more than that. Likewise, you should launch 3-4 times a year or every 90-120 days depending on what cycle works best for you. It’s important to maintain consistency in the launch process because waiting too long between launches can lead to too much change and the potential for you to not launch again. Each cycle should start with an evaluation of what’s changed since the previous cycle, and note that the first few cycles may not require significant changes, but it’s important to continuously assess and adapt.

In the first relaunch of a CRM, there are a lot of fixes and cleaning up to do to make sure the system is working properly. The second relaunch has what Doug calls a “hangover effect” because no real big changes have to be made during this time, and this is where it can be dangerous to fall into a pattern of looking at relaunches as just fixes. The goal of a relaunch should be to raise the game and move the ball forward. This means RevOps needs to be in sync with the ongoing elements of the CRM. 

If you change too much during a launch/relaunch, this can contribute to resistance from your team, as people may feel overwhelmed by multiple changes happening simultaneously. Rather than trying to optimize everything at once, it can be more effective to focus on making improvements and launching new initiatives. Note: launching something new should always be accompanied by clear context and goals.

Jess’s Takeaways: 

  • Definite what is complete and what is relevant to complete is key for relaunch.
  • You need to push for a higher level of function.
  • You need to be wrong and be allowed to be wrong and put it in a time frame where you have enough time to make an impact. At the same time you need to make sure not too much change is happening so you can test those assumptions.
  • You need to make sure that your business process is the driver.

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