Siebel CRM On Demand Administrator Rollout Guide This Administrator Rollout Guide consolidates tips and lessons learned from implementing Siebel CRM On Demand, discusses your role as an administrator, and points you to valuable resources. Read it in its entirety to prepare for a successful rollout! Best Practices for a Successful Rollout Begin with Clear Objectives and Success Measures Develop Use Cases Based on Your Business Start Simple, Then Add Functionality Focus on Data Quality Leverage CRM On Demand Analytics Establish a Rollout Strategy Prepare with Relevant and Timely Training Continuously Improve Through Ongoing Assessment Follow the Blueprint Framework Your Role as Administrator Determine the Scope of Your Role Attend CRM On Demand Training Use Our Setup Templates Don t Forget About Online Help Contact Professional Services More Resources from Our Experts Training and Support Center Courses and Webinars Forums Search Knowledge Blueprint for CRM On Demand
Page 2 of 10 Best Practices for a Successful Rollout Follow these tips gathered by our experts Within months, companies can see benefits from using Oracle s CRM products, if the CRM product is properly deployed. This section outlines information to help you do just that deploy CRM On Demand properly. It contains a list of best practices compiled by our experts over years of implementations. Data has shown that the closer you adhere to these best practices, the more successful your CRM outcome. So review the points and apply them to your rollout for optimal results. Begin with Clear Objectives and Success Measures Too often, companies start using CRM On Demand without charting out what they hope to accomplish, what business processes they want to improve, and what metrics to track. To avoid that pitfall, start out by developing a list of objectives. Maybe you want to increase average revenue per sale. Or maybe you want to improve customer retention. Think of your pain points and compile objectives that eliminate those areas. Whatever your goals, make them as specific as possible. For example, instead of stopping with an objective such as "improve customer service," take it to the next level and define a specific success measure. Specific metrics, such as reduce service response times by 25 percent," are easier to measure. As you define your objectives, you can determine how to track that information. Maybe you want to calculate the average deal size per quarter or the percentage of leads that become customers. Finished with the list? Now you need to formally communicate your objectives and success measures to everyone involved with using CRM On Demand. Experience has shown that when users understand why they are using the product and what the expectations are, user adoption increases. Top resources Sample Business Targets (Training and Support Center > Search Knowledge > Knowledge tab > Templates and Tools) - Available in only English. Develop Use Cases Based on Your Business Processes Want to do a reality check that exposes risks in the process early? Our experts recommend that you develop scenarios for the primary business processes at your company. These scenarios should explain what each user must do and when.
Page 3 of 10 Establish a Rollout Strategy As part of your rollout plan, be sure to define and execute an activation strategy. Communicate your company s objectives, success measures, and expectations to everyone that will use the new system. Set up training for all end users, but use a just-in-time schedule for their training so that they can apply their knowledge immediately. Be sure to enlist managers and executives to reinforce the new processes and lead the changes. Managers who understand the changes required of users can actively support training and reinforce new behaviors once users are live on CRM On Demand. If users return to the former environment, they will likely revert to old behaviors and not adopt the new system. Top resources Sample Communication Plan (Training and Support Center > Search Knowledge > Knowledge tab > Templates and Tools) - Available in only English. Start Simple, Then Add Functionality A common pitfall is customizing the product too much before initially rolling it out. Nothing strains budgets and upsets schedules as much as prolonged customization. And the data shows that the standard functionality often supports business processes more than most companies first think. In addition, consider doing a pilot test with a limited number of users and a limited amount of data. Those initial users can provide feedback that helps you validate your processes and fine-tune the configuration before you roll out the product for broader use. As your company uses the application, users might discover areas that can be refined. But start simple and phase in more functionality. Our experts agree that when you follow a phased implementation plan, everyone benefits: Users don t feel overwhelmed by too much change. Executives can see results quickly. You and others can make sure that the core system capabilities support your business objectives. Focus on Data Quality You want to start building a data strategy as early as possible. Depending on the scope and quality of your data, you might need to assign resources to work exclusively on this area. Or you might contact our professional services to perform this part of your implementation. Importing data efficiently might require data cleansing and other pre-import work. Both Online Help and Training provide detailed information to help you maximize your import effort.
Page 4 of 10 Generally, you want to follow these main steps: 1 Validate the plan for importing and managing data with your business leaders. 2 Identify the source systems for data. 3 Determine what record types you want to import accounts, contacts, leads, and so on. You must import a single file (or set of files with the same layout) for each record type, and the data file must be in CSV or CSV-compatible format. 4 Decide how much data to migrate and where to map it in CRM On Demand. Be sure to consolidate the data you want to import around the various record types in CRM On Demand. You must include all required fields for the record type, and those fields must be populated in all records. See Online Help for additional information, including file size and record limits. 5 Extract, cleanse, and consolidate the data. To import drop-down list options, they must match the CRM On Demand options exactly and cannot exceed 30 characters. 6 Perform a test! Import a small amount of data to test the mapping and data quality. Top Resources Online Help Importing Data Webinar (Training and Support Center > Find Training) Leverage CRM On Demand Analytics You have probably developed a sense of the metrics and data you must monitor to run your business, together with what your managers and executives value on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. You want to make sure that your reports convey this information. This is where CRM On Demand sets itself apart from other CRM products. First of all, reports and analytics are woven into the product so that end users and managers can review important data when they sign in. In addition, the default sets of reports display aggregate data relevant to each business area: opportunities, leads, sales cycles, service requests, and so on. Building on years of Siebel development in analytics, CRM On Demand allows you to gain real insight from the underlying data. In addition, you can present the data in various layouts and customize reports to match your business needs. Consider jumpstarting your understanding of CRM On Demand analytics by taking analytics training from Oracle University. With the knowledge you gain from the training, you can apply what you learn to your application, developing reports that leverage the analytics capabilities. Again you want to start small and develop reports iteratively. With each iteration, solicit feedback from your management team, refining the report over time.
Page 5 of 10 Instructor-Led Courses Advanced Analytics Workshop (Training and Support Center > Find Training) Webinars Build Your Own Reports (Training and Support Center > Find Training) Prepare with Relevant and Timely Training Outline a training strategy that includes simple initial training, advanced topics, and refresher sessions. Are there different job roles that require training? Probably, yes. So design training by job role, reiterating the processes and success measures that are meaningful to them. This provides users with the tools they need to succeed with the new application. TIP Make the demonstrations brief and to the point, such as a single demo to show how to include an opportunity in forecasting or how to use Outlook Email Integration to create a service request. Continuously Improve Through Ongoing Assessment To maximize the benefits of using CRM On Demand, constantly assess and refine the processes that you have set up. For example, as employees use the application, they might see fields or sections that they would never use. You can quickly remove them to de-clutter pages. In addition, they might want to rename fields to reflect terminology they are more familiar with or change the options in drop-down lists to capture and categorize data differently. As new releases come out, you will also need to understand how and if the new features should be integrated into your business processes. To educate yourself, first review the email you will receive, announcing each release. Then you can either follow the links in the email or go directly to the Webinars (Courses and Webinars) to see demonstrations of release features. And, of course, if you are unsure about how to implement the new features, feel free to contact professional services. For improvements to be continuous, establish a formal mechanism to track progress, review gaps, and make corrections. Our experts recommend that you select a person or group to handle that task. Be sure to run the information past the business managers as a reality check before publicizing any changes. Follow the Blueprint Framework A great resource during rollout and beyond is the Blueprint for CRM On Demand. Developed by our consultants, the Blueprint describes the stages for deploying the application. For each stage, the Blueprint points you to relevant tools, training, and templates. In short, the Blueprint provides a framework for asking the right questions to achieve the best results for your company. Ready for rollout? To ensure that you are, take the Health Check quiz. By selecting answers to questions, you can determine where your company falls in the rollout spectrum. It pinpoints tasks left undone so you don t expose your deployment to unforeseen risks. Top resources Blueprint
Page 6 of 10 Your Role as Administrator Setting up the product and beyond As the administrator for CRM On Demand, your primary task will be setting up the product and, if necessary, customizing it to match your company s needs. But will you also be leading the entire CRM On Demand implementation? Knowing what is expected of you, learning about the product, and leveraging available resources will help you to fulfill your responsibilities. Determine the Scope of Your Role You might have a project team already in place at your company: An executive sponsor drives the adoption of CRM On Demand. This person needs to support the effort from the beginning through adoption and maintenance. For that to happen, make sure that your executive sponsor is available on an ongoing basis. Business experts both managers and users help identify the processes and pinpoint areas that need improvement in their area of business. CRM On Demand administrators set up the application so it is aligned with the business requirements. TIP It s a good idea to partner each business manager with a CRM On Demand administrator. This alliance ensures that the sales, service, and marketing business processes are accurately reflected in the application. On the other hand, as the administrator, you might need to perform the tasks normally done by these team members. The scope of your role depends on the size of your company, as well as the availability of other employees to help in implementing the application. During the preliminary stages, make sure you clearly define everyone s role and their responsibilities. Then communicate the information throughout your company. Setting expectations is key. Attend CRM On Demand Training Because of your role as the administrator, end users, managers, and executives will look to you for answers to any questions about using CRM On Demand. To prepare yourself, take the instructorled Administration Essentials course even before you start your implementation. The course jumpstarts your understanding of all the concepts administrators need to know. Through a series of hands-on lab exercises, you learn how to set up, customize, and administer the application. You will see best practices applied to a real-life situation. The course will even help you with the preliminary steps of clarifying business requirements.
Page 7 of 10 Use Our Setup Templates Our experts have developed a series of templates that you can download for your rollout great shortcuts! Use these templates to plan out customizations or information you will be adding to the application. Then refer to the templates when you are actually performing the customization. The templates serve as the perfect recording mechanism to track your changes. For example, with the Field Setup Template in hand, you can map out your changes to the default record types or record fields. Maybe your company uses terminology that differs from that used in CRM On Demand. Mark up the template with the new name to later transfer to your application. Or maybe you want to ensure that your sales reps provide a certain piece of information when adding leads. To do that, first indicate the change in the Field Setup Template by marking the field holding that information as a required field. Then make the change through the Administrative pages in your application. Top resources Getting Started Checklist (Online Help > Administering Siebel CRM On Demand > Using Administrator Templates During Setup) Setup Templates (Online Help > Administering Siebel CRM On Demand > Using Administrator Templates During Setup) Don t Forget About Online Help Online Help serves as another resource for all users. From each page in the product, you can click the Help link to view information specific to that page. Check Help to review field descriptions or find instructions to perform tasks. In addition, when you click a Show Me link from within online Help, a tutorial opens. These graphically rich tutorials expand on Help topics where pictures are useful to increase your understanding of certain information. Contact Professional Services With your busy schedule, it might be difficult to allocate time for all the tasks involved in deploying and maintaining CRM On Demand. Most administrators and employees have other projects and responsibilities that take time and focus away from doing that, causing delays in deploying CRM On Demand in the desired timeframe. We realize how frequently this occurs in most business environments. Therefore, in order to facilitate the adoption, maximize the usability, and increase the value of your implementation, Oracle offers a comprehensive set of services. These services range from helping out with a specific task, such as data cleansing, to guiding your team through the entire implementation process. To discuss our range of services, contact CRM On Demand Professional Services: Email: crmondemandconsulting_ww@oracle.com Phone: (866) 906-7878
Page 8 of 10 More Resources from Our Experts How we can help you succeed Before you set up CRM On Demand for your company, let s review some great resources that can aid you at each step before, during, and after the CRM On Demand rollout. These resources capture customers feedback as well as knowledge accumulated by our instructors, consultants, product managers, and customer care representatives. Consider it a knowledge bank that keeps growing and evolving! Training and Support Center Our Training & Support Center provides information that both users and consultants update constantly. To access the Training and Support Center, sign in to CRM On Demand. From there, click the Customer Care or Training links at the top of each page: The Training and Support Center home page contains links to support every phase of using CRM On Demand: TIP View the 5-minute tour of this site. Open the knowledge library to search for solutions. Find instructorled classes and free Webinars. Ask our experts and other users about issues that you encounter.
Page 9 of 10 Courses and Webinars From the Training and Support Center, click Find Training to open the Training home page. There you ll find a list of courses to deepen your understanding of CRM On Demand. You can browse the entire catalog or filter the list by role Administrator, Manager and User. Webinars: Recorded Webinars, generally from 10 30 minutes long, zero in on specific features or add-ons to the product. For example, the following Webinars target areas that are useful to you as an administrator: - Customizing Fields - Understanding Data Access and Visibility Control Live Training: Instructor-led courses provide hands-on experience with CRM On Demand. An instructor guides you through the important concepts, best practices, and key take-aways. Follow-up labs reinforce the information that you ve just learned. TIP Take the Administration Essential Workshop to see the full depth of CRM On Demand functionality, shown through a case-study scenario. After that, you ll be better able to apply what you ve learned to your company CRM goals.
Page 10 of 10 Forums Like other forums on the Oracle Technology Network, the forums dedicated to CRM On Demand include an interactive message board where you can share ideas, ask questions, and participate in discussions. The forums allow you to tap into the vast knowledge of people who use CRM On Demand, drawn from their most current experiences. Search Knowledge From the Training and Support Center, you can search the knowledge library to find technical documentation, frequently asked questions, release information, templates, and more. You ll find the complete set of templates here ready for you to download. Blueprint for CRM On Demand We introduced the Blueprint when discussing best practices in this guide. Since it provides a thorough framework for rolling out CRM On Demand, our experts wanted to point you to it again. The Blueprint serves as a resource where everyone executives, key decision-makers, sponsors, business process experts, and CRM On Demand administrators can access templates and other tools to guide you through your implementation.