CRM Success by the Numbers – Part 6: Stretch Goals

To really achieve results and ROI with CRM, you have to put metrics in place to enhance and track success. It's a fact that what gets measured gets done. As an added benefit, achieving goals can give everyone involved a feeling of accomplishment so they appreciate that the project is progressing and the time and money hasn’t been wasted.

But the worst thing you can do is to set unrealistic goals or metrics - what some people call “stretch goals.” In my experience, people who like to combine those two words are often the same ones who make unrealistic demands to get a challenging project accomplished in an impractical amount of time with insufficient resources.

Here are some of the “stretch goals” that are often set during CRM rollouts:

• We want 100% data quality
• We have to clean up ALL of lists right away
• Let's put EVERYONE through an hour of classroom training
• We should enter EVERY business development activity
• We are planning to roll out the system to the WHOLE FIRM ALL AT ONCE so we can get immediate results

And, my personal favorite: 

• We have to get ALL of the attorneys to use it – without making ANY additional work for them – and without irritating ANYONE.

Good luck with that one. 

Instead of achieving enhanced results, in most cases, setting these types of “stretch goals” actually ends up being counterproductive. I mean, who is willing to bend over backwards to try to accomplish goals that they don't believe are even achievable… 

CRM Success by the Numbers - Part 5: 0-Sum Game

CRM Success is not a zero-sum game. By definition, in a zero-sum game, the sum of the winnings and losses of the various players is always zero. Basically, it's winner-take-all.

In contrast, if the CRM Success game is played right, everyone wins. The attorneys get more Clients, the firm makes more money, the Clients get better service, and the Marketing Department and CRM manager get to keep their jobs. The problem is figuring out how to play the game… especially when there are no written rules. This is where some game strategy can come in handy.

While CRM can't be everything to everyone, it can help some key law firm constituencies with some challenging issues. On a good day, CRM can be pretty effective at improving communication, coordination, Client service and business development – things that all seemed to be important in the law firm the last time I checked. In fact, I bet if you asked almost any attorney in the building if any of those things is on their "important-stuff- I-need-to-do" list, at least one of these things is somewhere near the top.

But those same attorneys would never be able to tell you how CRM can help them – because most of them have no idea what it does. Some of them don't even know what it is. But that’s ok because it’s not their job to know. It’s ours... 

CRM Success by the Numbers - Part 4: How Many Licks Does It Take?

At Valentine's Day, it's hard to resist a few candy references. So, as the rollout progresses, you may think you have this CRM project licked. In fact, you may even start to think that sweet success is so close you can taste it. You’ve gotten the hard parts out of the way: The end users are on board. The installation is done. The invoice is paid. Now you think it’s all downhill from here, right?

Not always. What you may not have considered is that as more and more users are rolled out, all the new information pouring into the system can actually gum things up. During this phase, you if you don't get on the stick and really focus on data quality, things can quickly get out of hand.

So how many numbers does it take to achieve CRM data quality? Plenty. Start by gauging the ongoing data cleanup. Good metrics here include:

• Number of contact records cleaned
• Number of duplicates merged
• Number of records with complete contact information
• Number of bad e-mail addresses fixed

All these numbers can help you to stay on top of the data quality which can keep the whole CRM project from going sour.

CRM Success by the Numbers - Part 3: Proxies for Progress

There are also some good numbers that can be used as proxies for CRM success and progress, especially during the initial stages of a rollout. This is a time when it can be a bit premature to try to count actual Clients or dollars in the door. But, at the same time, we may also have to deal with the reality that sometimes the people who just wrote that big check for the system may have slightly less-than-reasonable expectations – like thinking that once the system has been installed, money should start falling from the sky.

To reassure any of your key constituencies during the CRM rollout phases, you can consider metrics such as:

• Numbers of attorney contacts and records cleaned to prepare for system installation
• Participation levels of key groups including partners, other attorneys, secretaries  and/or other key staff members
• Numbers of assistants or attorney or attorneys trained on the benefits
• Numbers of missing required data elements added and…
• Numbers of prizes awarded to assistants or attorneys for achieving goals or progress

Once the rollout progresses and you realize that there is light at the end of the tunnel (and it isn't a train) there are even more numbers you can use…

CRM Success by the Numbers - Part 2: Let Me Count the Ways – and Dollars

So what kind of CRM numbers or metrics might make sense? Ideally, you want to find ones that are particularly relevant to the attorneys and the firm. Often these will be the numbers that are frequently preceded by a dollar sign – ones that relate directly to top line revenue or enhanced growth opportunities, like:

• Increased opportunities for business development
• Increases in revenue from key Clients
• Increases in newly discovered relationships
• Increases in cross selling opportunities between practices and attorneys
• Increases in referral business

Then there are metrics related to dollars saved, which also can contribute dollars to the bottom line. Some of these include:

• Reduction in the amount of attorney and staff time spent on list management  
• Reduction in the amount of time spent on repetitive or redundant tasks
• Reduction in the number of disruptive internal e-mail communications
• Reduction in the amount of time required to input contacts into the firm systems
• Improved tracking and management of marketing and business development expenses

In addition to all of these numbers, there are additional numbers you can select based on the stage of your CRM lifecycle… 

Winning the Business Development Battle Part 14: The Enemy

While it’s easy to portray business development as a battle – with the Clients as targets to be won over and your competition as the enemy standing in the way, this is a simplistic outlook. In reality, sometimes the enemy is us. We let our own issues or shortcomings limit our business development potential.

For instance, we may make excuses for not committing the necessary time to developing business. We tell ourselves we are just too busy. Well guess what: while you are busy being busy, there are plenty of other attorneys out there who will commit the time and do the work instead of making excuses – and they are likely talking to your Clients.

Additionally, some of us may feel uncomfortable in social situations. We would really rather not have to go to that networking event, conference or cocktail party. Frankly, I know very few people who relish this. But sometimes you have to just suck it up and remember that everything you want is just outside your comfort zone. Make the effort to meet new people and you will almost always be rewarded. 

Then there are some of us lawyers who can be overly critical (shocking, I know)… critical of others or even of ourselves or our own abilities. Rather than being open to new things, we reject them out of hand to avoid mistakes or embarrassment. But to be successful at business development, you can't be afraid to try new things and make a few mistakes. In the long run, they will make you a better business developer - and a better person.

Others of us may be perfectionists. While this can be a beneficial trait for practicing law, this tendency can actually get you in trouble in business development. I have seen so many business development plans that are beautifully prepared, bound in fancy notebooks… and gathering dust on the shelf. The goal of business development is not to wait to make a move until you are fully prepared for every contingency – which is impossible anyway. You would be much better served to focus on the execution. Do something. At a minimum, do more than you are doing now. If you don't fight you can't win. 

CRM Success by the Numbers - Part 1: As Easy as 1, 2, 3

When people who are tasked with responsibilities for CRM systems are asked to define success, many words come to mind - words like challenging, demanding, difficult, stressful, time-consuming… painful, impossible, unattainable… changing jobs, retiring, quitting, outa here... It can be enough to have you contemplating the view from you office ledge.

Come down off that ledge. With just a little help, you may find yourself jumping for joy instead. Realistically, CRM success shouldn't evoke feelings of pain or frustration. Instead the thought of CRM success can actually bring you a sense of inner calm and peace – even a feeling of achievement or accomplishment. How is this possible, you ask?

One of the biggest frustrations about CRM success is that often it isn't clearly defined. How can you achieve something that isn't being measured? The best way to define success – and stay off that ledge - often involves utilizing numbers - like goals or metrics. They say what gets measured gets done. Measurements also let you know when you are making progress and doing the right things. But what numbers should you use…?