Step 2: Set Up an Effective CRM Project Management Team

Successful CRM implementation requires an effective project management team that consists of the following types of personnel: the CRM project leader; the executive sponsor; one or more representatives from sales; representative from marketing; a representative from customer service; the CRM software vendor; a representative from the system implementer; and an external CRM advisor.

Typically, the project management team meets every week, say Monday from 8:00 a.m. to noon, during which time the project implementation plan is reviewed. The previous week's implementation deliverables need to be reviewed and categorized into green (fully accomplished), yellow (minor action items that remain To-do), and red (not accomplished with a problem getting to green). In addition to reviewing the previous week's To-do items, the project management team also needs to discuss each and every one of the coming week's To-do items and identify any issues that are likely to impact the full accomplishment of each To-do item.

From time to time, the project management team may also want to call upon heads of the subproject management teams to provide the full project management team with a status report on the subproject team's deliverables.

Subproject management teams often include the following entities: a business process subproject management team (responsible for modifying and/or creating new business processes that will be supported by the CRM system); a help desk subproject management team (responsible for creating the help desk/support plan, which includes help desk scripts, help desk hours of operation, etc.); a training subproject management team (responsible for creating the pilot training plan, the rollout training plan, and post-rollout training); and a quality control subproject management team (responsible for ensuring that project implementation is realized at the highest standards of quality standards).