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If you ask ten people what CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is, you’ll get ten different answers. Some think of it as a sales tool, some think of it as a culture. Some people see it as a savior for a business, offering accountability and efficiency. Some people are scared to death of CRM for the workload it can create if it isn’t done right.

Very, very few people have ever taken a class in CRM. Universities are only now starting to offer it in their curricula. Seminars are often very product-focused. Without standardized definitions and training programs, it’s a challenge to bring everyone in an organization up to the same level of proficiency with CRM.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who works in a company that forces all sales reps to manually enter every bit of data into the company’s homegrown CRM. He tallied up the hours he spent in a month just doing data entry – 20 hours. It’s no wonder some people don’t like CRM!

In this book, I talk about the concept of Complete CRM as a way of helping you think of it as part of a bigger picture. A CRM that doesn’t capture the information you need to do your job puts data in unreachable silos. A CRM that automatically pulls in sales, marketing, and operational information also pulls a team together. This is what I mean by complete.

CRM is not a simple subject. It involves many disciplines; to make it effective, you must have at least a basic knowledge of how those disciplines work. From managing sales people to building emails to running events, CRM reaches across every department in your organization. But like another friend once told me, “How do you climb a mountain? One step at a time.”

About This Book

This book is written in plain, simple English. The point is to break down a complex topic (designing and implementing CRM) into manageable pieces. I first cover the basics of sales management, marketing, and operational process. From there, I show you how to apply CRM to each of those fields.

The content of this book has been pulled together from my experience helping hundreds of businesses launch and maintain their CRM initiatives, combined with the research and feedback of leaders in this space.

If you’re a CRM expert, there’s a good chance you will gain some lessons from the many sources and experiences cited in this book. If you’re a business owner looking to get CRM working for you, this book provides you the foundation for managing a team or outsourcing your CRM implementation.

Remember that every business is unique, and the way a CRM is used within that business is also unique. There is no “one size fits all” for any business unless you are a franchisor (and even then, there are variables from franchisee to franchisee).

Icons Used in This Book

This book uses icons to call out special attention to gotchas or little pearls of wisdom you can take with you.

This icon alerts you about information you can apply to your business today. Usually most people overlook these things that can be a surprising benefit to you.

Don’t forget to remember these important points (or at least dog-ear the pages so that you can look them up again a few days later).

When it comes to designing and getting your team using your CRM, you can make costly mistakes. These paragraphs tip you off to those gotchas that can set you back in time, money, or attitude.

Where to Go from Here

Now you’re ready for action. Give the pages a quick flip and scan a section or two that you know you’ll need later. Remember, this is your book – your toolbox of strategies and tactics that gets your team loving and using your CRM. Circle any paragraphs you find useful, highlight key concepts, add your own sticky notes, and doodle in the margins next to the complicated stuff.

This book starts with a background and focus on CRM strategy. When you have that figured out, Chapter 3 helps you find the best vendor. After that, I cover some basic topics about sales, marketing, and operations and how they fit into your CRM. And finally, the book ends with an advanced discussion on how to use the concepts of Complete CRM to bring your business to the next level.

Finally, don’t forget to check out the cheat sheet for this book at dummies.com and search for this book’s title.

The more you mark up your book, the easier it is for you to find all the good stuff again.