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I recently had a conversation with the VP of Sales at a large manufacturing company. For the purposes of this discussion, I will call him John. John and his sales organization have never had a centralized, collaborative CRM system before and they are about to begin a salesforce.com implementation. Among the goals of the project is the need to consolidate the many point solutions they have used for managing their customers over the company’s 40-year history. They recognize the need to establish consistent processes for the sales team and want to leverage workflow capabilities to improve communication. After a series of fruitful meetings, John mentioned that he is working with IT to purchase mobile devices for the sales team because he has received a lot of demand from the team, and wants them to be as productive as possible with the new CRM tool.
The scenario described above is very common. The benefits of leveraging mobile technology for a sales rep include increased productivity, more timely information, access to real-time data at the point of contact, and access to information without the overhead of lugging a clunky laptop. All of this is theoretically sound, but don’t let your mobile strategy define itself without thoughtful consideration of questions that are sure to be raised as part of your implementation. Addressing these issues proactively will allow you to separate fact from fiction and apply a mobile strategy that fits your organization and your users so that you can realize success.
Who are your users?
The diversity of the user base is a great place to start in defining a strategy. It is common to have a mix of technologist and technophobes within the same sales team. The technologists tend to demand all of the latest and greatest tools and technology as a means of making themselves more productive. Without it, they claim that their efforts are diluted and they are bogged down with administrative overhead required to access information or log calls. On the other hand, the technophobes will resist any sort of change, especially when it comes to technology, by claiming that the time spent to manage all of these new tools and gadgets will negatively impact the time they spend in front of the customer.
When it comes to mobile, you are wise to know your audience. If your team is not accustom to using mobile technology for email and basic calendar management, you may want to take steps to introduce the device before you make it a critical component of your CRM strategy. Users who have leveraged these tools in their personal lives or at a past job will be much more comfortable in adopting this technology as part of their work.
When it comes to people, it is also important to note that strong demand for a Blackberry, iPhone or other device from users who do not currently have these products, may be a red flag. The grass may seem greener on the other side of the fence for those who have bought into the idea that these tools will make them more effective. I recently worked with a sales group that insisted that they needed offline capabilities because they weren’t always “connected.” Once we provided the offline functionality, they demanded mobile devices because they found it cumbersome to “lug around heavy laptops.” Once they received the mobile device, they complained about the small screen and the difficulty of entering data with a small keyboard. This is exactly the type of situation we want to control by proactively managing a mobile strategy.
How mature are your processes?
As the saying goes “Process before technology.” Change management is a key component to any CRM implementation. The introduction to new systems represents a disruption, and optimizing or changing processes will require that users have a clear understanding of their role and expectations. The process of change must be managed deliberately to ensure that users are not left behind as they adjust to their new way of working.
If process change is part of your implementation, it is common (and a good idea) for the mobile implementation is postponed to a second phase. It is important that users are familiar with the goals they are trying to achieve before they take on learning how to manage multiple entry points.
What do users need to do to get their job done?
It may seem obvious, but it is critical to give objective consideration to what your users need to accomplish using their mobile device. A clear definition of use cases serves as the basis for streamlining key processes and maximizing efficiency for end users. When defining mobile needs, many companies make the mistake of setting an expectation that anything that can be done with a laptop should be possible with a handheld, and this is simply not realistic. Use case definition should help to separate fact from fiction when it comes to defining what functionality needs to be available.
The reality of a handheld is that the physical size, speed and ergonomics are significant challenges for some users. These factors make processes that require consuming or reading data better candidates than those that require entering data. This is especially true of complex data entry processes where there are many fields or pages to navigate. This is not to say that call logging or data entry are not candidates, but scrutiny should be applied to processes that required extensive typing or scrolling as users will become easily frustrated.
A failure to keep it simple when it comes to mobile will also likely equate to poor or incomplete data. Typing on a small keyboard can be time consuming. Moreover, navigating multiple screens can make a simple task daunting. The resulting behavior for end-users is to cut corners, enter the minimum amount of data required, or neglect to enter anything at all.
What device suits your needs?
Mobile devices are not all created equal and there is no one answer to which is the best. The strategy established must be consistent with the goals of the organization and the tools must be right for the job. A thorough analysis of the right device should include alignment with the mobile use cases, feature functionality of the device, device-specific feature support offered by your CRM software, customization capabilities, and the service network.
How will security be maintained?
Finally, the need to secure your data and protect the intellectual property of the organization must be considered. Users may demand access to ALL data through their mobile device, but the strategy must consider the risk of a lost or stolen device. For ease of use, most systems do not require that users enter a password each time they are accessing their CRM application on the mobile device. For this reason, it is important that data is evaluated by sensitivity so judgments can be made about what will and what will not be accessible. Furthermore, a password policy on the device itself should be mandatory if there is risk of a breach.
This is not an exhaustive list of mobile strategy components, but does represent some key points of consideration. The cost of implementing a mobile solution is not insignificant, so these basic questions will help to proactively plan rather than having to backtrack and repeat.
