When planning your CRM solution implementation, whether that’s migrating to Dynamics 365 or solution, always start with setting a clear vision and success criteria. We do this by overcoming a series of initial common challenges:
1. Document the way things are
First, seek to understand your As-Is business processes. In turn, this helps shape the To-Be business processes.
Instead of replicating current processes in the new system, the goal is to challenge inefficiencies, identify gaps, and understand the various pain points across the existing CRM solution.
In other words, get a clear view of how your CRM works before defining new requirements. This helps to create improved, efficient processes that add business value.
The best way to achieve this is by including your subject matter experts from across the business. This not only helps document the current processes, but also helps shape the future.
2. Understand your data
The next step on your strategic CRM journey is to understand your data. I cannot stress enough the importance of data. In my experience, it’s either forgotten about or not deemed important enough until it’s too late.
Therefore, it’s crucial to understand what data we have, where it lives, how accurate it is, and what outcomes or results we’re expecting from the data in the new to-be solution.
Understanding the quality of your existing data will also help identify the magnitude of effort required to cleanse and prepare the data before it is eventually migrated to the new Dynamics 365 solution.
3. Map out your technical landscape
Moving onto the Technical Landscape, we again need to understand the current lay of the land so that we can shape a more optimised future.
Most CRM solutions I’ve come across in the past are integrated with multiple third-party solutions or ISVs. So, by understanding the existing integrations and dependencies, you can assess what is required to transition.
More importantly, this can also be an opportunity to streamline your applications. For example, a Dynamics 365 CRM solution can consolidate a wide range of functionality into a single platform, simplifying processes, reducing custom integrations, and reducing cost of ownership.
4. Creating a strong business case
No CRM project is going to get off the ground without a strong business case.
The important thing to remember is that replacing a CRM solution with Dynamics 365 is not just “another IT project”, it’s a business transformation. Following the steps I’ve outlined here will help drive a compelling business case, allowing you to secure stakeholder support and investment.
Crucially, a business case becomes a strong one when we’re able to link the benefits of Dynamics 365 to business outcomes. For example, improved customer experiences, better insights, faster automated processes, reduced support costs, and many more.
5. Cost vs. Benefit analysis
Finally, with all the information we have gathered up to this point, we can do a proper Cost vs. Benefit Analysis.
Costs of the potential implementation should be measured against the expected benefits. This can include a range of criteria, such as how do licensing, implementation and support costs compare to the expected increase in productivity and better data-driven decisions?
Given that several benefits are intangible, such as improved colleague experience, some of this will be theoretical. However, this is where customer case studies are useful—in other words, looking at who’s done it before, what did they achieve, and can we do something similar.
For example, FRP Advisory saved 34% in costs over the course of 3 years after switching to Dynamics 365 from Salesforce. However, they also improved perceptions of CRM across the group, equipped management with more meaningful insights, and employees are saving time day-to-day due to seamless Microsoft integrations.
Ultimately, a realistic view of cost vs. benefit will help conclude clear expectations and keep the project grounded—and that means delivering value to the business.
