Ever wondered what goes on when migrating to a new recruitment CRM?
I’ll provide a quick overview, but what has triggered me to write this article is seeing a stat on how many businesses are reluctant to change systems because of fear.
From the Global Recruitment Trends Report 2021 | GRID by Bullhorn 19% of businesses are reluctant to change their core systems.
Seeing such a statistic came as a huge shock to me I must admit. Perhaps because I am normally working with businesses that have decided to make the leap and upgrade with a sense of purpose and drive. Or maybe I have just led a sheltered life!
In fact, it’s a bonus of my role that I get to work with clients who are genuinely fired up and enthusiastic about upgrading their tech with the intention of improving and growing their business.
So let me just cover the main areas that tend to take place during a CRM migration project for benefit of anyone that is umming and aahing about changing their CRM.
1. Decide on a CRM
- Get the wishlist out and arrange the “beauty parade.”
- Flesh out your Must Haves and Nice to Haves. Your Must Haves are non-negotiable. Stick to your guns no matter how blown away you are in any product demonstration.
- Also have a third category which should contain any added features that you like from your demonstrations. This could help tip the balance when making the final decision.
- Establish the current roadblocks / obstacles in your existing processes.
- As part of this CRM replacement you should be looking to eliminate as many of these as possible.
- Explicitly ask any CRM providers how their product will alleviate these and ultimately make your life easier. Being in a position to probe based on your own real life roadblocks will put you in a much better position when whittling down to decide on your CRM.
2. Making the move
So your CRM has been chosen, contracts have been signed, you are just about to tell your existing CRM provider to do one, but wait!
Get yourself set for what is going to be a minimum 12 week slog.
Firstly, appoint someone internally to be the main point of contact for both internal stakeholders and the CRM software provider. This person should be someone who has a solid understanding of your data and can multitask well, because this will be needed in abundance!
Don’t rule out using a specialist Recruitment CRM Implementation expert to lead this project. They can guide you throughout, jump on issues ahead of them arising and make the whole process a lot more efficient and smoother.
3. Don’t scrimp on the migration
Mapping out your data is the first step to ensure not only an accurate migration, but also taking the opportunity to identify data that is perhaps not required to migrate.
Be objective about how much trust you place in your current data. If it’s going to add value or required for audit purposes then keep it. But those distribution lists that were used for a campaign 5 years ago can probably be discarded now…and don’t get me started on that Xmas Card List from 2012!!!
Remember this exercise is not necessarily about mapping everything like for like. Most fields will be for sure but there will be instances where certain information can be better served in your new CRM by migrating it elsewhere. But this comes back to how much faith you have in your existing data.
Give the migration the time and effort it deserves. As if done poorly, it will immediately have a negative impact on end users and the business itself.
4. Going live
The final data migration is in place and the finishing line is in sight now. You’ve still got some work to do though to ensure your users have a CRM system with which they can hit the ground running.
Training sessions need to be booked in plus your CRM needs configuring around your business’ specific requirements.
Remember that Requirements exercise that you done when choosing a CRM? Well that is going to be your guide to help you setup a system which delivers to those specific requirements.
5. Three Months after go live
CRM is in place, training has been done, processes have been established, management reports are looking better, but yet you feel that something is missing?
Some users are using better than others, some features not being used and there are still far too many spreadsheets floating around for your liking. You begin to think “I thought my new CRM would fix all this”.
You would have been right to take this view, however established habits won’t disappear overnight.
In order to get your CRM working the way you want it to, this requires the following:
- Efficient and slick process that takes advantage of the features within your CRM
- Strong and regular visibility of activity levels and performance ratios. Be consistently consistent!
- Obtaining feedback from your users to identity areas of improvement and then addressing them accordingly.
A CRM migration project involves time, effort, energy and cost. Making the right choice and then making the most of this investment should be absolutely critical.
Don’t let yourself be in the 19% where fear drives you away from making an educated decision to upgrade your recruitment CRM.
Do your homework internally, ask around your network for recommendations and grill vendors to determine what their product can do.
Make the project a success and you’ll raise the bar on both efficiency and performance.