roi  CRM, if it’s working right, is a tool for destroying the 80-20 business equation.

The best examples of CRM wrecking 80-20 rule are experienced when methodology is formalized, integrated into business processes and encoded within software. Few examples to illustrate the point are dramatic improvements in

  • margin via elimination of excessive discounting caused by inadequate forecasting methods and practices;
  • new sales hires retention and rump up enabled by clearly stated process guidance, terminology, and definitions; 
  • lead conversion ratio since streamlining of pipeline management eliminates “stale” leads;
  • customer satisfaction, i.e. retention enabled by flowing customer (contact/person) information across departments/sales teams/customer support/marketing, etc. within a proper context.

That makes CRM initiatives such a high risk/but much higher return proposition - if done right the ROI is much higher and faster than most of other options.