Our client is an international provider of power-generation solutions. Technically strong. Engineering at its finest. Alongside migrating SAP to the cloud, there were countless sales applications: price calculation, customer evaluation, country-specific special tools, in-house developments for each business unit. Every region had its own level of maturity. Every division its own understanding of customer management. Against this backdrop, the company decided to introduce a CRM system. Our proposal — to first develop a CRM concept for industry — was met with smiles. Too theoretical. Not pragmatic enough. So the client went straight ahead with an implementation partner on Microsoft Dynamics. Two months later, it was clear: you can't build a roof when the foundation is missing. The direct implementation failed. Then came the second phone call.
Together, we took a step back. In several workshops, CustomersX® analysed maturity in sales, in pricing, in processes and in potential partner integration. Unsparingly. Pragmatically. Value-oriented. Throughout, we work along our CRM model with its dimensions of strategy, data, operational and collaborative CRM. The analysis produced several realistic implementation scenarios — because different countries, different business units and different levels of maturity call for different speeds. Two big building blocks quickly became visible. First: clean SAP integration. Second: the uncomfortable realisation that sales and pricing have to change. A CRM always reinforces the existing system. If processes, incentive systems and customer segmentation aren't aligned to customer value, you simply digitalise inefficiency. Together we developed an implementation strategy that takes maturity, resources and value potential into account. Clear priorities. Clear roadmap. Clear responsibilities. No buzzword fireworks. The result: a viable CRM strategy that isn't just implementable but measurably contributes to higher profit.
Customer Value-based Decision Making
Customer-centric Transformation
Co-Creation
Customer Management
Our client operates successfully in an industry that struggled for years. Numerous competitors had to give up their business, and there were many mergers. With the expansion of the power grid driven by AI and the replacement of outdated infrastructure, the company has experienced a boom in recent years, with production booked out for years to come. Because the company has also grown through numerous acquisitions that were never optimally integrated into the IT infrastructure, there is a great deal of sprawl at the IT level — combined with the fact that every business unit uses different sales processes and pricing is handled very individually.
Based on our DTC approach, we developed a project approach to capture the different maturity levels in the individual countries, and the expectations, as quickly and comprehensively as possible. This also involved evaluating the possible integration of sales partners into the project. Management had high expectations regarding a detailed business plan demonstrating the financial value of a CRM implementation.
As a first step
Through one-on-one conversations and a workshop with the IT partners, the existing IT infrastructure was analysed. It quickly became clear that the planned migration of SAP to the cloud is a central factor for the intended CRM implementation. On top of that, customer data quality was chaotic. Every business unit and every country used different data fields, and data maintenance was very inconsistent. The analyses showed that a full roll-out is not possible and that a phased implementation should be pursued.
As a second step
Using a combination of a written survey, individual interviews and several workshops, maturity was systematically analysed across all relevant dimensions. In sales, there were partial systematics from the Strategic Selling approach — a bid/no-bid process was established, as was customer-potential analysis. In pricing, by contrast, there was complete freedom. Our approach allowed deep insights into the company without tying up employees on the project for too long. The combination of CustomersX measurement instruments, used again in this project, proved highly effective. Besides analysing the company, we also held conversations with sales partners in the different regions. It became clear that these sales partners had been drawing extensively on CRM systems for years. Some of them even already had data integration with the CRM systems of other manufacturers. This analysis made clear that our client was a distinct laggard in CRM within its market environment. But it also became clear that a very carefully chosen data strategy was needed — one that empowers the sales partners while not making too much valuable information accessible to potential competitors.
As a third step
The insights gathered were consolidated into different business plans. Besides the challenges at the IT-infrastructure level, the necessary change in sales and pricing had to be defined optimally. As a result, four different implementation options were developed:
1. Outsourcing — since the company has no CRM competencies of its own, the proposal was to have our CustomersX expert team run the CRM for one year, until the company has strengthened its own CRM capabilities.
2. Step-by-step implementation across individual business units. Since two business units have production booked out for the next three years while two still have significant spare capacity, this approach was worked out in terms of its financial impact. Focusing on two business units makes implementation less complicated. A higher level of commitment from sales can also be expected, as both organisational units were under considerably greater market pressure.
3. Full roll-out with a lighthouse project at the start and then across regions. As the transformation of sales and pricing would be extensive, this option was developed to generate the highest possible commitment across the whole organisation and to learn from the different ways of working in the individual business units as simultaneously as possible. Because ways of working varied so much, there was a concern that approach 2 would subsequently require numerous additional changes in sales and pricing. Regional implementation also offers the advantage of gradually consolidating the different IT installations, which would have been considerably more challenging under approach 2.
The different options were worked out comprehensively in terms of cost, potential profit and transformation challenges. Even though many companies focus on licence and IT-maintenance costs, this project once again showed that more than 50% of the implementation costs are conceptual — in sales, marketing, service and pricing — if a CRM system is to make a financial contribution to growth and higher profit. This was a big surprise for management, who had significantly underestimated the necessary change at headquarters (building a CRM department) and the transformation of sales. Even though warnings against misunderstanding CRM as an IT system are now everywhere, 80% of installations fail or deliver no financial value because the necessary transformation and integration into the company at management level never happens. A CRM concept for industry makes the necessary challenges clear. Combined with a solid business case — which we can build thanks to our years of experience — this shows that it usually takes bigger changes for profit to rise.
In summary
A CRM concept for industry is the foundation for success, especially for more complex organisational structures. The key is to understand precisely what impact the changes in sales, marketing, service and pricing have on the company's profit. The CRM IT infrastructure only serves to support the transformation, or the improvement of the way of working. Putting a CRM system on top of existing processes can hardly deliver any financial value. Chatbots, deal pipelines, recorded customer conversations and contact data rarely lead to more growth and profit. CRM stands for improving customer management and then standardising and supporting it with IT.
*We take confidentiality towards our clients seriously. The name has been changed; the results are real.
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