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May the 4th be with you. How many of you even remembered? Well for both of you, “Happy Star Wars Day!” For anyone else left reading this and wondering here is a handy Wikipedia link.
With that out the way, and our inner nerd satisfied for another year, what can we learn from Star Wars day 2021? Not being a fully paid-up member of the Star Wars fan club, I will not be drawing parallels between the Evil Empire and CRM. Instead, let me use Star Wars references to draw a distinction between Buying and Building a CRM system.
Exhibit 1 – the Revel Millennium Falcon
If you feel the need for a model Millennium Falcon, then you can buy one from Revel. Their kit includes everything you need to build a perfect scale model of the Millennium Falcon. Just like packaged CRM platforms, when you buy it you know what you are going to get. If you follow the instructions, then you will end up with something the same as everyone else who bought that package or model.
If you want to enhance or personalise the experience then it’s not made particularly easy. In the case of the Millennium Falcon, you could use a bit of the box to create a sail to go on the top. However, that’s not what Revel had in mind when they packaged their model. It might look great – after all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. On the other hand, it might just be “wrong.”
So it is with CRM platforms. If you use them as they were designed, then they will deliver predictable results. While it may not live up to some of your wilder “flights of fancy”, it will do exactly what is said on the box.
Exhibit 2 – the Lego Millennium Falcon
Another build it yourself model of everyone’s favourite Star Wars spaceship. In this case, the results are less predictable. For some following the instructions will result in a pretty good facsimile of the original. For others, the ability to take the building blocks and create their own vision is just too much of a draw. If you want extra lasers, then you can add them, if you want a whole new deck, then just buy the bricks and build away.
The interesting thing is that you could choose to ignore the instructions and build your very own spaceship that has nothing to do with the Millennium Falcon. Admittedly it’s an expensive way of buying the bricks, but for some ignoring instructions is more important than mere money.
What kind of CRM would you get if you invested in a CRM product, then systematically set about ignoring all the inbuilt fields, security and processes? Chances are it would be an expensive way of creating something that reflects the full scope of your imagination. It’s also highly likely that not everyone would “get it”! For some, it would forever be just a collection of bits that don’t even provide the basics.
If what you want is total freedom to design and build your very own unique interpretation of a CRM system, buying a product is not the best route forward. If however, you want to build something that is strongly based on an existing CRM product, just be prepared to make some compromises. The skill is identifying which product is the best starting point,. and that’s where we come in.
