This is how you break through silos with SAP CRM

This is why silos are a problem

The sales, service, e-commerce and marketing departments all have their own managers and their own KPIs. They are organized vertically, while the customer journey runs horizontally: across the departments. Since we started working more hybridly, this problem has become even greater. Where you used to have a chat with colleagues from other departments at the coffee machine, you now miss out on many colleagues completely. Many organizations have therefore implemented CRM systems in recent years that should stimulate collaboration and reduce digital barriers. But just implementing this is not enough to break the silos. To be effective, employees must abandon old ways of thinking, embrace the system and learn to use it properly.

All customer data in one place with a CRM system

If a CRM system is used properly, it helps create a 360-degree customer view. This means that all customer data can be found in one place. Think of contact information, interactions with your customer service, behavior on social media, mailings he or she has received and much more. This allows all departments to offer the customer a consistent experience and the customer really feels heard. And that gives a huge boost to customer satisfaction and loyalty.

How a CRM system works? It connects departments with data. For example:

• Sales sees all marketing actions per customer or prospect
• Marketing gains insight into the results of sales’ follow-up of leads
• Customer service sees which interactions the customer has already had with your organization
• Finance gains insight into the promises made by customer service

But as you read above, changing company culture is crucial for success. As long as silo thinking exists in the organization, there is no room for customer-oriented thinking. You can change that with these seven tips:

1. Collaborate with IT

The collaboration between the business and IT is often forgotten, as a result of which the responsibility lies solely with IT and adoption remains low. Employees are not involved at all in the change and do not see how the solution contributes to achieving their own goals or those of the organization. If you want to create support for the implementation of SAP CRM, it is therefore very important that the business collaborates with IT.

2. Space for real involvement

Even if employees from the business are involved in the implementation project, it does not always have the desired effect. For example, a sales employee is given two days a week by his manager to contribute to an implementation project. But his manager expects the same sales results. What he normally does in five days, he now has to do in three days. And those sales results ultimately determine his bonus. Three guesses where he puts his energy… It is therefore crucial that employees are really released for the implementation project.

3. Connect change management and marketing

Involving change management helps to facilitate cooperation between business and IT and to achieve optimal employee involvement. In addition, it is essential to ‘sell’ the change in the organization. Not only change management can help with this, but also the marketing department. For example, consider internal news messages to keep everyone informed of progress and next steps.

4. Start small and celebrate successes

An important part of change management is starting small. Employees do not want to be surprised with a major change. By starting with small steps, you make people curious and therefore much more enthusiastic. Every time a step is successfully completed, share the successes and celebrate them together. This way, employees become part of the process, the adoption rate becomes a lot higher and the implementation process becomes more fun.

5. Clear vision on customer experience

What happens when you ask a random employee what the vision of your organization is? Does he or she have an answer ready immediately? And does this match the actual vision of your organization or what you want to convey? Is the customer central in this? This is often not the case, but it is crucial if you want to provide a consistent customer experience. So ensure a vision of customer experience that is shared by the entire organization and supported by all employees. Here too, it is wise to involve change management, so that employees are involved in creating this vision.

6. Clear vision on the implementation of SAP CRM

In addition to a clear vision of customer experience, you also need a vision of implementing an SAP CRM system. What will it bring to the organization? And what is the added value for the employee himself? For example, using a CRM system should not be a goal in itself for a sales employee, but rather help him achieve his goals. By communicating this vision clearly, employees know what they are doing it for.

7. One data pool for the entire organization

f your vision is clear, then it is time to actively collaborate. No more us/them thinking, but together we ensure an optimal and consistent customer experience. How? By no longer collecting data per department, but by all drawing from the same data pool. One place where every department has insight into the data that is relevant to them. From there, departments can work together and really put the customer first.

By applying the tips in this article, you will break through the silos step by step. The result? Your employees work smarter and more efficiently. The customer also sees your organization as one whole, where they have the same experience during every contact moment.

We are happy to guide you in this, so that you get the optimal result from your customer recommendation. Find out how we do that here. Would you rather get in touch with one of our customer experience specialists immediately? Leave your details here and we will contact you as soon as possible.