Migrating Data into CRM and SFA Systems

How to Get data ready for CRM & SFA apps?

With proper planning, the migration of data from one app to another, whether it be a CRM app, or an SFA app can be simplified with the steps in this report.

We set up and train customers in-house and for over 20 years have been learning what works and what doesn't when migrating to a new system.

Get your data together

Who are your current customers? Where are they located? What services or products do they consume? How many services do they require? Are the customers profitable? Do they give you repeat business? Do they refer other customers to you? Are you excited about their business and your ability to wow them? Do they drag down your team? How often should you communicate with them and in what way?

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The quickest way to do this is to get together a series of spreadsheets and export all the customer information from any place you can - Quickbooks, your CRM system, Email, Document folders, etc. Don't worry about duplicates at this stage, or how old the data is, etc. Prioritizing the spreadsheets and weeding out the good vs bad is part of the process.

Sometimes you don't know what makes a good customer vs a bad customer. Sometimes the data is trapped in different silos - employee email accounts, old computers, backup files, etc. Work with what is currently at hand and that can be compiled within one week. Keep a sidetrack of other data sources that might be fruitful later on.

The strategy is simple: Understand who you sell to, who you want to sell to, and who you have been selling to. Use software tools to better understand and share customer information with the right people that you have at your disposal today.

Congrats! you have already digitized your important data. The next step is to segment customers into different buckets or 'segments'

Segment your customers

It is important to focus on the right customers, at the right time - those customers that you are the most relevant, to at this particular point in time.

Be timely, and relevant in all communications with customers.

This means you need to understand the different customer segments you work with, the good and bad of each, and narrow down the list into the ones you think will most likely say yes today.

The other customer segments will not be ignored, rather you will build a plan for 'less priority' customers later. The point is to focus on a core group of customers you can wow today, listen to their needs, and innovate for them, to grow that customer segment.

Iterate on each customer segment enough times, improve the customer experience through innovative services, and allow the customer to interact with your business in more of a self-service model, through your website, documents (collateral), emails, text messages, and chats, as well as on the phone.

Clean up your data

Once you get data into a spreadsheet, it is easy to add columns and fill in fields, to make sure the data is complete and as accurate as possible. Don't waste too much time learning the new CRM until you have got the right data together in spreadsheet format.

Updating data in spreadsheets before you import is quicker, and as well you get to be creative with what data you would like to track with the new system.

Those fields can be added as custom fields, then the data imported populate those fields. You can build workflow rules, and reports to show you the data and then you have a template of the data you want your team to save going forward.

This is much easier done in a spreadsheet, where you know how to use it, rather than waiting to get trained on the CRM. Also, it gives the CRM implementation team a heads-up about what you want.

It is a very important exercise to put into these spreadsheets the data (or sample data) that will tell the story to the implementation team.

It also is a good exercise for yourself, because the longer you wait to decide what data you want to track and why, the longer it takes for anyone to help solve the problem with the right people, process, and technology.

Success can hinge on these data to implement your workflow around your data.

Write Email templates and text messages and create documents (collateral).

Create the information that you would like to send to them at each stage of the process so that they understand what to expect next, and in a way that guides them with the least amount of friction, through your business. Identify each key stage in the Customer Lifecycle process and write an email and text and set of Marketing and Sales Collateral that you would like them to read.

Anticipate frequently asked questions and write those down. Write rebuttals and what the customer would need to know at each stage.

Create sales scripts and services scripts that ask the right questions, to capture the answers that are so important in understanding the wants, needs, and fears that create friction between your customers and your business.

Use technology to reduce friction at each stage of the customer lifecycle. Reduce friction for all parties involved - including internal customers such as employees, partners, shareholders, and management.

Do this by constantly looking at each stage of the customer lifecycle, and identifying what is working, what is not working, and what innovations can your team come up with, to make working with you easier.

In short, iterate and innovate at each customer touchpoint, and track the results, to identify areas of opportunity to shine.

Why are they looking for a new solution? What are your needs? What are your wants? What are your fears? Who have you used it currently, and in the past, and why are you not using them now?

If you have any questions on how to manage your data when migrating to a new system, fill out a contact form and we can set up a free consultation.

We have been helping businesses with the people, process, and technology of Cloud CRM, SFA, and more, since 2003.