CRM Reference Calls – 10 Things to Know
References Represent The Highest Value/Lowest Cost Combination Step in Your CRM Selection
One of the most important steps in selecting a Customer Relationship Management software solution is checking customer references. Timely sales follow-through, good vendor pitches, strong product fit and impressive CRM software demos may have all influenced your decision making process, but prior customer experience with the vendor is often the most telling factor in achieving long term success.
The problem is that checking references is a pain. Far too many companies do only a cursory job and some don't do it at all. Pain though it may be, a solid reference check of your soon to be mission critical enterprise software supplier is vital. The job doesn't even have to be particularly painful if you follow a few simple steps.
- First: Get The Right References From Your Vendor
When asking for references, specify that you want companies as nearly identical to yours as possible. Ideally you'd like to have a reference who is the exact twin of your company. That means the same industry or line of business, roughly the same size in sales and employees, and comparable CRM strategy and business processes. You also want them using the same software product and version you are looking at. This is important as many CRM software vendors have different products for different markets, ranging from CRM systems that emphasize ease and speed of installation to complex packages typically aimed at larger enterprises. The closer the customer reference company is to yours, the more valuable their insight will be. - Second: Show Respect
Remember that when checking customer references you're essentially asking a stranger to do you a favor. To show courtesy, schedule your phone call well in advance and at the referrer's convenience. Thank the referrer in advance for his time. This is an area where a little politeness can go a long way. - Third: Come Prepared
To make sure you get the most from your interview, be prepared with a list of prioritized questions at the ready. These open ended questions should focus on what you need to know an avoid extraneous matters. Before you do the interviews spend a few minutes doing a web search on the customer reference company. Articles, blogs and other items you find on the web can give you a feel for the company and its activities. - Fourth: Keep It Short
Unless the referrer wants to talk, plan on keeping the interview brief, consistent with the questions you have. - Fifth: Introduce Yourself
Tell the reference a little about your company, your CRM software selection process, your CRM objectives and what you hope to get out of the reference call. This should help set the stage for a constructive discussion, and will likely focus on information most important to you. - Sixth: Ask The Right Questions
This is the core of the process and it's worth spending some time and effort getting the questions down right. Consider questions such as the following.- Tell me about your business.
- How long have you been using this software? What did you use before?
- Why did you choose this software? What were/are your CRM objectives? Have you achieved them?
- What modules or components did you install and when? Who helped implement your system?
- How long did the CRM implementation take? How easy was it to implement?
- Was your implementation on time and within budget?
- How many users do you have? How do your users describe the software's ease of use?
- Did you incur user adoption or change management challenges? How did you deal with them?
- Have you done any modifications? How easy is it to customize the software?
- How was the support during the implementation? How has support been since your implementation?
- How much internal IT support is required? How much support from the vendor is needed?
- How well does the software perform? How is the response time?
- Overall, are you satisfied with the software? Would you choose the vendor again?
- Where do you think the vendor could be stronger or improve?
- Any other points you think I should be aware of?
- Seventh: Make Your Questions Specific and Open Ended
You want to extract the maximum amount of information from your questions. Make your questions, especially follow-up questions, specific. If the reference says his company had "a little trouble" with one of the modules, follow up by asking what kind of trouble and try to get the referrer to be as specific as possible. In most cases you want an answer longer than "yes" or "no", so frame your questions accordingly. - Eighth: Have Your Antennae Out
A reference call is an exercise in active listening. You need to listen very carefully to what the referrer says and what isn't said. There may be issues that the reference doesn't want to be completely candid about. By listening carefully you can spot those issues. - Ninth: Thank the Referrer Again
This person has done you a considerable favor so be forward in showing your appreciation. Also, suggest leaving the door open for continued conversations in the future. - Tenth: Take Notes
Since you're probably going to do three of these calls and you're likely to refer back to them weeks or months later, it's important that you keep good notes.
If you are prepared, making the customer referral call is probably simpler than explaining how to do it. It is also usually one of the most inexpensive, and most candid sources of information you'll find on what is about to be a major expenditure and walk into the unknown.