Over the years, I’ve worked with a wide variety of companies implementing CRM systems. Some succeeded. Some struggled. Some failed completely.
When a CRM implementation doesn’t produce the expected results, the blame usually falls on …
- The system was too complicated.
- The training wasn’t good enough.
- The users resisted change.
- The vendor overpromised.
While those factors can certainly play a role, I have come to believe there is another reason many CRM implementations fail. In fact, it may be the most important reason of all.
The issue isn’t the CRM. It’s the behaviors required to make the CRM successful!
Recently, I was reading David Brock’s excellent book, The DNA of Sales Excellence (get it on Amazon). One of the central themes of the book is that organizations often focus on implementing systems, processes, and tools while paying far less attention to the behaviors needed to make those systems effective.
That observation immediately resonated with me because it mirrors what I have seen repeatedly with CRM implementations. Business owners often view CRM as a technology project. They select a system, configure it, train their team, and expect better results to follow.
Unfortunately, CRM success has very little to do with technology. CRM is ultimately a behavior project.
A CRM requires people to consistently capture information. It requires them to document conversations, maintain accurate contact records, update opportunities, track next steps, and follow established processes.
The software itself cannot make people do any of those things …
- The best CRM in the world cannot create discipline.
- It cannot create accountability.
- It cannot create curiosity about customers.
- It cannot create consistency.
- Those behaviors must already exist or be deliberately developed.
- This is where many implementations begin to struggle.
A company may invest significant time and money selecting the right CRM platform. They may spend weeks customizing fields, importing data, and building workflows. Yet very little time is spent discussing the behaviors necessary to support the system.
Questions such as …
- How will we ensure notes are entered consistently?
- How will we review and reinforce CRM usage?
- How will managers coach using the CRM?
- How will we hold ourselves accountable for data quality?
- How will we create habits that make the system part of daily work?
Those questions are often overlooked. As a result, the implementation focuses heavily on the mechanics while largely ignoring the behaviors that drive long-term success.
What makes this particularly challenging is that most CRM failures do not happen overnight …
- The system gets implemented.
- Users attend training.
- Data gets entered.
- Everything appears to be working.
- Then slowly, over time, behaviors begin to drift.
- Notes become less detailed.
- Tasks are not updated.
- Opportunities become stale.
- Pipeline reports become less reliable.
- Managers stop reviewing the system regularly.
- Trust in the data declines.
Eventually, people begin relying on spreadsheets, memory, sticky notes, or informal conversations instead of the CRM. The software didn’t fail. The supporting behaviors did. The good news is that this problem can be addressed.
Business owners should spend as much time discussing behavioral expectations as they do discussing software features. Managers should reinforce desired behaviors through regular coaching and pipeline reviews.
CRM should become part of how the business is run, not simply a place where information is stored. The companies that achieve the greatest CRM success understand something important. CRM is not just a database. It is a business discipline. The technology matters. The training matters. The implementation process matters.
But without the behaviors required to support them, even the best CRM systems will struggle to deliver their full value. The next time a CRM project isn’t producing the expected results, don’t start by asking whether the software is the problem. Instead, ask a different question:
“What behaviors are required to make this successful, and are we reinforcing them consistently?”
The answer may reveal that the real challenge was never the CRM at all.
Written by me in collaboration with Hal C. Bott
If you would like to explore whether or not Nimble CRM, my sales training, or Sales Coach Pro might be right for you, please book a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me by going to my calendar.
To learn more about our Nimble training and implementation services, please visit our Nimble CRM training services page.
I would also be happy to connect you to a marketing professional who I know and trust or to an automated yet personalized and human-to-human LinkedIn prospecting system. Please reach out to me at craig@adaptive-business.com for an introduction!
Craig M. Jamieson
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