In order to achieve the holy grail from your CRM system, Leprechauns typically need to focus on:

• Maintaining the drive for continuous improvement. Like business, a CRM is a living thing and as your approach and customer requirements changes, so should your system. Undertake, regular review sessions to make sure your business processes reflect your overall strategy
• Embracing technological enhancements such as AI and Machine Learning and incorporating them into your CRM system to aid predicative modelling and decision making
• Supplementing your CRM with Customer Experience (CX) strategies, whereby you define actionable plans to deliver a positive, meaningful experiences across every interaction a customer has with your business. This creates a shift from a transactional relationship towards a mutually beneficial relationship, which instils enhanced customer loyalty and advocacy around your brand
• Expanding the remit of your CRM strategy to deliver value added services for your customers based on what you know about them. This does not necessarily relate to services you directly offer, but signposting them to complimentary solutions will further cement relationships
• Ensuring all new starters are treated as such and receive the appropriate level of training so they understand both the “Why and the How of your CRM strategy”

A typical company in this category is making limited use of their CRM and many fail to achieve their objectives, or just fail outright. Often these deployments have been rushed with very little planning or a lack of understanding of what the solution can do for your business. 

Most Zombie businesses undertake activities in isolation and focus on customer-facing activities performed by staff, e.g. how many sales calls were there today? How many cases were resolved by the service team? There is very little focus on the future, with most of the analysis being retrospective. 

You may be producing pipeline and forecast reports, but these are often padded with dead wood so therefore are unreliable. Sales may go up after spending money on a campaign, but you don’t know which elements were the impactful ones and it’s very difficult to show direct revenue contribution. 

Adoption of the CRM system is patchy and best practice is not commonplace. People find their own work arounds, reverting to using spreadsheets, diaries and contact books – this just compounds the issue. 

Zombie businesses want to see what’s happened, and you know that things ought to be better, but you don’t know how.