Effective Implementation of Sales-Based CRM Systems: Theoretical and Practical Issues

Interest in sales technology (ST) and sales-based CRM systems has been increasing in recent years. Indeed, companies spend a great deal of their budgets in implementing CRM systems into their sales organizations. In spite of these investments, however, evidence has been accumulated suggesting a high failure rate of these implementations. Although a number of research studies have been published in this area, there has been no systematic attempt to integrate and synthesize the extant literature. Against this backdrop, this article seeks to increase knowledge in the area by offering a synthesis of prior work into (a) what companies need to consider to effectively implement a CRM system into the sales force, (b) how CRM’s impact on a sales force’s performance can be assessed, and (c) what key performance indicators (KPIs) might be incorporated into the system in order to aid managerial decision making processes. The authors’ framework addresses issues of relevance not only for scholars but also for practicing managers by drawing on the authors’ practical experience in this important area. As such, the article adds layers of knowledge for both theory and practice.