In a few of our recent CRM implementations, the Chief Operating Officer has played a key role in project success.
In our experience, COOs are good at bringing the right stakeholders to the table and encouraging them to cooperate. Certainly, CRM brings much more value to organizations when it bridges the long-established divides between marketing, sales, service and operations. COOs tend to think beyond traditional departmental silos and see the larger picture of where CRM can bring value.
Moreover, COOs think in terms of processes, which is the most critical and complex dimension of CRM implementations. Processes related to CRM are complex in that they involve multiple customer interactions over time, interactions between departments, and interactions between the organization and its vendors.
In addition, COOs help break through status quo thinking. When asked about software requirements, many business users will tell you how things are done now. Even if they realize that the status quo is inefficient, they may not feel as if they have a mandate to change. The status quo is rooted in the minds of employees as well as job descriptions, training manuals, performance appraisals, compensation plans, company culture, and formal and informal power relations. The COO knows the organization’s strategic direction and has the stature to push for change.
Finally, COOs bring effective leadership to a team. While usually too busy to function as a project manager or to make every project decision, a COO can impart a sense of purpose and urgency to a project and encourage a team to work through the difficulties.
This is not to say that COO involvement guarantees success or that the lack of it dooms a CRM project to failure. The job of the COO differs widely across organizations and industries and is sometimes limited to a single function such as manufacturing. Obviously, the question of who should lead a CRM project depends on the circumstances of the specific organization. However, I would recommend that organizations consider giving a leading role to the COO.