How important is the implementation methodology for successful CRM?

Have you seen all the implementation methodologies out there? Any consultant worth his or her salt has some version of a formal methodology to follow when implementing CRM or any other enterprise-wide system.

Usually, it’s some version of:
- Assess
- Design
- Develop
- Deploy
- Operate
- Continuously Improve

For example, the Navint implementation methodology (http://www.navint.com/consulting_services.php) is:
- Strategy / Assessment
- Solution Design
- Implementation Services
- Post Implementation Support
- Client Care

The question is: does the implementation methodology employed make a difference?

My answer is: Yes and No

• Yes, because without a doubt a formal, logical, sensible, effective methodology the players may not stay aligned during the course of the project, and things may get out of hand: missed tasks, too much time spent on less critical tasks, lost focus, missed deadlines, cost overruns, etc.
  
  In other words, employment of a methodology is a basic requirement for doing business as a consultant. After all, would you hire somebody who doesn’t have a methodology and says that they just like wing it and fly by the seat of their pants?
  
  
• No, because every consultant follows the same basic process, and the only real difference lies in how disciplined they are in following it.

What good is a methodology if a consultant takes short cuts that might save time up front, but cause headaches down the road?

Or if a client balks at being subjected to a rigorous and disciplined approach, and the consultant takes the path of least resistance, succumbing to the client’s wishes because “the customer is always right”?

In my humble opinion, lack of discipline and integrity in following the methodology is a major cause of problems during implementations.

The client is the expert in their business and industry, but we’re the experts in CRM and how best to implement it to create long-term business value, regardless of the industry or business.

Our job is to use our years of (sometimes painful) experience to help you navigate through pitfalls and challenges of a CRM implementation. We’re the guides because we’ve done it so many times before and we know what to watch out for.

It's just like a fitness coach or personal trainer you hire to get you in shape. They’re the experts on getting fit, losing weight, gaining muscle, etc., and they each have their own methods to achieve those goals. If you try to do things your way, you’re probably not going to be as successful, and you will be wasting your money on a coach.

The methodology must be practiced sensibly, and with discipline and integrity. That is, to do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reasons.

The level of discipline exercised in following the methodology is a major differentiating factor between truly successful consultants and the mediocre consultants.

So do yourself a favor when researching implementation partners. Talk to some of their clients in depth about HOW they followed the methodology. How disciplined were they? How flexible were they? Was every step followed? Were any problems caused due to missed steps?

I think you’ll find that you don’t need to worry about which implementation methodology is used, and that you will have some valuable information to help you make an informed decision about which partner to hire.