“ ... And what reports would you like?”

This question, above all, leads to the poorest set of answers.
Examples include:

  • “Everything by everything”
  • “The ones we have now”
  • “You know - pivot table analysis”
  • “Dave will tell you” - Dave left the company last January
  • “Just the standard ones”

    • Reporting is really measurement. Measurement is a pre-requisite of rational control. Standard reports are unlikely to be much benefit as they won’t control the key aspects of your business.

    General statements (as above) are not enough. Analyse what you currently have and include them as requirements for your proposed CRM system.

    Reports have users. The full user friendliness check list needs to be applied to them. Very often users will be wedded to the old way of getting reports. Coax them into a new world.

    Some CRM systems have their own reporting tools, some have none and rely entirely on specialist external applications. Others have a mix giving you the best of both worlds. In some cases this may result in additional licence and training costs.

    Be aware of what other reporting tools your IT group has skills in and can support or has even standardised on.