A Must Do: Implement Microsoft CRM Right The First Time!

This is one of those Microsoft CRM projects that could have taken only 5% of the actual implementation cost to date IF the client didn't have to RE-WORK their whole darn thing, no names will be revealed... This was NOT one of our clients - Workopia was called to help bail them out and we did - took a lot of "brain cell" efforts!!! I needed a lot of sleep afterwards to recover from it...

Here is the sad scenario - The client's initial Microsoft CRM deployment was executed by "low priced but inexperienced" resources - the result was predictable - End Users and Management HATED their entire CRM experience and the results even worse!!!

Want a few gory details?

1. Crystal Reports were never able to run correctly from DAY ONE - end users never saw a single Microsoft CRM report!!! The first time they saw a working report was after we installed a clean Microsoft CRM "Test" environment. This is a classic of "you just don't know what you don't know!!!" or "suckered" to be blunt... How come reports didn't work right initially - isn't it part of the installation? The original installation most likely was executed incorrectly... Oh well... It is a good practice to view reports after any Microsoft CRM installation (part of Workopia's Microsoft CRM installation validation check!)

2. Very difficult to use the "Advanced Find" because the field labels were not matched to the form's field displayed name. This was caused by the field display name and label being different (from Form customization) which confuses the end users when trying to look up records. On top of this, the previous Microsoft CRM consultant used existing schema fields to capture "inappropriate" data (i.e. Lead object's Revenue to store Department info - should have created a custom field instead). No custom fields were created. Did the consultant know about the custom field extension capability??? The design was a mess...

3. End users were confused about how to enter records into Microsoft CRM because they didn't know the definition of a Lead, Contact, Opportunity, or Account, at their company. This should have been part of their CRM business analysis and design, plus their end users' training. Hello?? Did someone totally forget about these major project components??? Each department ended up with their "own" definitions.... Oh well, more things to re-align and clean-up.

4. Users did MORE data entry with their new Microsoft CRM system... Their original processes were never analyzed. For God Sakes - the users weren't even trained properly - they ended up piecing it together themselves using a pathetic "trial and error" approach which sucked time away from their primary job functions. How did they managed it? - well, they stayed late for weeks just so they could "catch-up"... (I don't think pizza or dinner was provided to compensate for staying late... bummer!) Yup, their anger is totally understandable.

There was more, but you get the picture - this project was a real mess! Many "pissed-off" users!


From our many "bail 'em out" Microsoft CRM projects, here are some "must haves" to turn around a Microsoft CRM Project from Hell:

1. Client's Executive Management commitment to stick with Microsoft CRM - they understand it is the right CRM package but they just got burnt with substandard implementation.

2. Client needs to hire the best Microsoft CRM resources possible and don't "nickel and dime" such an important project - No professional Microsoft CRM consultant with the "right stuff", will jump into a fire and turn it around "cheap". There are much better opportunities out there for top-notch Microsoft CRM resources without stressing themselves out on these type of projects.

Side note: Most good consultants won?t jump into a ?bail-out? situation. It takes a gigantic amount of extra work over and above setting up a new system, not to mention fending off the angry end users' "abusive" comments until things are turned around (could be for a while....). Luckily, most of us don't take it personally because we are professionals...or maybe we?re numb from it all??

3. Client needs to be flexible and don't fight the system. The Microsoft CRM consultant they've hired should be able to present "creative" ways to meet their requirements - that are both affordable and easy for end users to adapt which will maximize end users' acceptance.


To share the happy ending of the story above - it took quite a bit of money, but eventually the client's end users are enjoying their Microsoft CRM v1.2 system and the client's project is highly referenceable!

They are using the exact version 1.2 they started with, except this time it was implemented correctly - painful, expensive but still worth it. Going forward, they don't have to worry about their CRM platform for many years to come, because it will accommodate them as they grow.


Frank Lee
Workopia, Inc.

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