The right CRM software can help you to effectively organize customer data and subsequently better manage business relationships. However, as your company grows, you may find that you need to migrate to another CRM that can support the evolving needs of your business.
We have highlighted five questions which will allow you to consider critical aspects that may affect your migration strategy. Putting some forethought into how it will be done will help to save time and money, and ensure a smooth software transition.
1. What Are The Benefits Of Migrating?
The benefits of migrating your company data to a new CRM depends on why you’re contemplating the move in the first place. You may need to improve the performance of your current software, rein in maintenance costs, or get rid of an existing system that simply won’t support the company’s growing vision.
Whatever your reasons are, by migrating to a new CRM that is technologically more advanced than your old CRM software solution, you will be able you to tailor task automation processes to best benefit certain areas of your business.
The key is to analyze where your current CRM is falling short, and assess how you can eradicate those shortcomings by migrating to a new CRM suited to your specific needs.
Evaluate how you can improve key areas like data analysis and customer strategy so you can improve your marketing, sales, and customer service support.
2. How Can You Prepare For The Migration Process?
There are a couple of important aspects to consider that will help you to prepare your company for a CRM migration.
Firstly, you have to know the budgetary limitations you are working with so that you can choose a CRM solution that is affordable. By working within a budget, you will also be pressed to consider the immediate and on-going costs relating to the migration.
Furthermore, you will have to prepare and choose the data you want to move, standardize the data fields in your new CRM solution, and map out a new and effective data structure.
In addition to implementing critical process orientated decisions, you will also need to inform your team of the CRM migration. Training on how to navigate the new platform will need to be provided to the relevant individuals who utilize the software.
3. What Data Should You Keep?
When sifting through all the data you have stored on your current CRM, it is important to establish which data you will keep during this transition, and what is irrelevant. It is likely that you will find you do not need to take it all with.
Over the years, business and data needs change. Past practices relating to the collection of information may no longer be necessary. It is therefore pertinent to find out if the older data in your CRM is still being used, and how far back you need to go when accessing records to migrate.
Duplicated records and tables containing no useful information in your legacy system should also be sought out and discarded.
Furthermore, if you have multiple sources of data that need to be integrated, it is important to establish how the CRM can facilitate this. What tools will you need, can the integration be achieved by an out the box system solution, or will something need to be custom built to achieve it?
4. Who Are Your CRM Users?
Before migrating a CRM, you have to consider who will be working on the system the most, and factor in what works best for them.
This can influence the administrative setup, training, licensing agreements and will also need to take into account the level of familiarity your team has with CRMs in general.
By introducing a vastly different content relationship management solution, you will have to sacrifice valuable office hours for training to ensure your team has optimal proficiency when using the new software.
Furthermore, you also need to establish a governing body that will oversee, monitor and establish best practices when it comes to your CRM software.
5. Should You Re-Evaluate Key CRM Processes?
To ensure your CRM software is meeting all of your technological needs, you need to define your business processes. By improving and tweaking them, you can zero in on the software you need that will make those processes come to life.
This will also help you to re-evaluate which business processes should be handled by your CRM and which should not.
Consequently, you will have a better understanding of how your company works, and what you need to invest in to get you where you need to go. This will help you to define your software search when you are ready to take the next steps in selecting and then implementing your CRM migration.
Thinking of migrating your CRM? Contact WordHerd for the professional help you need to plan, implement, and facilitate the move.