Latest news with #EldonBothma
Zawya
28-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Is your CRM growing your business or just helping you survive the chaos?
Eldon Bothma, Sales Executive, and Hayley Blane, Dynamics 365 CE Practice Head and Solution Architect, at Braintree ask if CRM should do more than just keep the business afloat. Technology decisions are increasingly being measured by outcomes, not functionality. Decision-makers want to know more about how technology enables concrete business results such as customer retention, innovation or revenue growth, says Gartner. In its AI study, McKinsey found that executives are tracking revenue changes, cost changes and productivity improvements over technical deployment metrics. And yet, research from Gartner, Forrester and IDC has found that companies are not using the full potential of their CRM systems due to adoption and integration challenges, data quality issues, limited operationalisation, data silos and lack of skilled employees. In South Africa, many CRM environments remain either server-based or partially migrated which limits adoption of value-driving features such as deeper automation, AI and analytics. Even among companies that have moved to the cloud, appetite for investing in the advanced tools that unlock true scale remains low as companies are uncertain as to the return on investment and value provided by these investments. This reveals a deeper issue – many platforms are still treated as administrative platforms. Their function is limited to recording interactions, managing leads and story contacts. As a result, growth is disconnected from the system and dependent on manual workarounds, external spreadsheets or siloed departmental processes. It's just another piece of technology. Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, once deployed as compliance tools or pipeline trackers, need to move beyond simply treading water and become enablers of sustainable growth. The question is – how? The start is to change the perception of CRM from a technology that merely replicates existing processes in digital form and helps the company meet a quarterly target into a strategic tool that enables expansion. To go beyond reporting dashboards and low-level automations and become more integrated within the business while delivering measurable benefits. When CRM is properly integrated into business growth strategy, it has the potential to move the business beyond reactive engagement towards proactive decision-making. This step takes CRM use cases deeper into smarter tools and capabilities thanks to improved data visibility and smarter customer segmentation. Sales, marketing and service functions start to operate in coordination rather than in isolation. Next, companies need to confront the maturity gap in their CRM strategy. It's easy to fall into a pattern of doing just enough – responding to leads, issuing quotes, reporting weekly figures, rarely using the system to anticipate trends, personalise outreach or drive customer lifetime value (CLV). Addressing this means assessing what the business is working towards and how CRM can get it there – features don't drive growth, alignment does, and that alignment begins with understanding. Many companies still lack clarity around what their CRM is capable of, others have inherited legacy configurations that no longer serve the business or are dealing with outdated workflows that actively impact responsiveness. In some cases, CRM tools are so heavily customised that future upgrades are either impossible or prohibitively expensive. Escaping this cycle means changing approach. Rather than viewing CRM as a technology purchase it needs to become a growth initiative. The implementation is scoped according to business objectives and functional rollout is phased according to user readiness and impact. Advanced features such as automation, AI and customer intelligence should be introduced as deliberate steps, accelerating performance on a strategic level. Fortunately, this isn't as complicated as it sounds. A dynamic deployment structure ensures companies benefit from rapid time to value within a scalable architecture using phased optimisation. Companies can start small and build towards a mature CRM estate over time, evolving both legacy and new processes alongside the business and what it actually needs. The right partner will also ensure the business is taking full advantage of every part of its CRM investment. The most successful CRM initiatives are those supported by advisory relationships where business analysts, security specialists and solution architects collaborate to map out capability pathways that consistently align with the company's revenue, compliance and service goals. CRM has to fit. It has to help the business anticipate needs and market demands. And it must deliver value. Otherwise, it's just technology. Copyright © 2022 - All materials can be used freely, indicating the origin Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Zawya
15-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Trapped by tech? Avoid the CRM that costs more than money
Eldon Bothma, Sales Executive, and Hayley Blane, Dynamics 365 CE Practice Head and Solution Architect, at Braintree discuss how digital transformation can put the business in digital quicksand For many South African companies, the promise of digital transformation comes with an unwelcome problem: getting sucked into a quicksand ecosystem that never lets you escape. Stuck in contracts. Stuck in complexity. Stuck with software that isn't doing as it promised. A significant percentage of customer relationship management (CRM) project risk, says Forrester, stems from issues around technical integration (48%), lack of business process design (31%), and not structuring solutions to fit unique needs (21%). A 2025 report by Ascend2 said the same thing – most companies feel like they are disconnected from their CRM system and not taking advantage of the full range of features, leaving them locked into expensive, underperforming platforms. The Forrester study points to an ongoing trend in choosing features over usability which leads overly complicated systems that disengage users and don't deliver value. For companies navigating CRM decisions in 2025, the stakes have to change. The risk isn't choosing the wrong features or paying too much per user (although these remain important deciding factors), but in being locked into a system that underperforms, over charges and limits business growth and agility. Which is completely counterintuitive. A CRM system should be a strategic asset that helps companies personalise engagement, drive sustainable growth, create unified customer views, access insights, and define business approaches. As IDC says, it is a tool capable of providing unprecedented insights and automation. A sentiment echoed in a 2024 systematic review of 46 different studies which found that a good CRM implementation can lead to up to 40% in customer retention and a 15-30% increase in sales. These systems sit at the centre of customer engagement, compliance, marketing and business intelligence. However, in South Africa, many companies remain anchored to server-based environments, cautious of the cloud and unsure of how to access the value of newer technologies such as AI within CRM. Companies are concerned about data sovereignty, security, cost unpredictability and diminished control as cloud solutions gain traction, but the truth is that the platform isn't the problem, it's the approach. Companies often fall into the trap of deploying a CRM system based on its availability, pricing or perceived market standard, only to discover it cannot scale, support compliance or integrate meaningfully across departments. Some attempt to implement CRM systems themselves using free or entry-level tools without guidance and support, which compromises their long-term vision and results in siloed data, frustrated users and a system that adds more operational costs than benefits. Pulling the business out of the quicksand starts with stepping back from technology decisions and focusing instead on structural alignment. Your CRM needs to be evaluated as an enabler of strategic priorities and not as a standalone system so you need to start with a clear understanding of your business objectives, user experience and expectations, data security obligations and long-term scalability requirements. It's key to map out what success looks like before implementing a CRM platform and choosing a CRM model that fits the maturity of the business – don't assume an appetite or budget for features that will be never used. Immediacy and ambition need to be balanced. Companies are all at different stages of growth and CRM requirements to finding the right fit means finding a balance between where you are right now, and where you want to go tomorrow. Rapid deployment models, such as fixed-scope implementations with known costs and clear timelines, are a very practical way of moving into a CRM solution as they remove the guesswork, reduce upfront costs, and allow you to stage your optimisation based on real-world usage. This phased approach is really beneficial for companies wanting to step smoothly into a reliable CRM system and still have the space to experiment with AI, automation or any other new technology tools. While global CRM vendors are adding Copilot tools and predictive features, most companies are still building confidence in their core processes, so the focus comes down to a secure, stable CRM foundation that gives you the space to grow when your business is ready. If Indiana Jones can escape the quicksand, so can your business. It comes down to revising your approaches and insisting on clear pricing, shared accountability, and measurable value and investing into a CRM that can evolve with you and the market.
