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[Series: How to Conduct EMOROCO CRM Lite Implementation Consulting] Part 2 — Designing "What Kind of CRM to Build" Together with the Client

Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

After the initial consultation and assessment, the reason for implementing CRM became clear.

In the second session, based on the results of the interviews, we will explain "what kind of CRM to design"—specifically, four design sessions: entity design, field design, workflow design, and dashboard design .

The design session involves the client's representatives (CRM doctor candidates, sales managers, and executives).This will be carried out jointly by consultants from Arcus Japan.
 Rather than "consultants designing and handing it over to the client," our fundamental approach to implementation support at Arcus Japan is to "support the client in designing their own CRM."

Why "the client designs it"?

The retention rate is fundamentally different between a CRM designed by a consultant and one designed by the client themselves.

The sense of ownership that comes from "having created it ourselves" leads to the behavior of "continuing to use it ourselves." This is also an application of the principle of commitment and consistency (Cialdini)—the psychology of wanting to act in accordance with what one has decided to do.

The role of a consultant at Arcus Japan is not to "design," but to "elicit design."

Design Session 1: "Entity Design" - Deciding what to manage.

The first step in the design is determining the "entities" (the types of things to manage).

[Entity Design Workshop Procedure (30 minutes)]

Step 1: Write down the things you want to manage on sticky notes (10 minutes)
All participants should share what they want to manage and record.
Write one item per sticky note. No limit.
Examples: "Client company information," "Contact person's business card information"
　　"Progress of business negotiations/projects" "Past order history"
　　"Event participants" "Referral network"

Step 2: Grouping and Naming (10 minutes)
Group similar sticky notes and assign them an "entity name".
This is the "List of Entities in EMOROCO CRM Lite".

Step 3: Prioritize (10 minutes)
Select the entities you will definitely use in the first 30 days.
Principle: Start by focusing on 2-3 entities.

Typical entity structure (by industry):

[B2B Sales, Manufacturing, Consulting]
Required: Customer company (Account), Person in charge (Contact), Opportunity
Recommended: Activity log
Future: Referrals and Quotes

[Services for professionals, clinics, and individuals]
Required: Customer/Patient
Recommended: Cases for consultation
Future: Referral / Contract

[NPOs, local governments, educational institutions]
Required: Supporter, union member, current student (Person)
Recommended: Participate in activities
Future: Corporate supporter (Organization) / Event

Design Session 2: "Field Design" - Deciding what to record.

Once the entities are defined, design the fields for each entity.

Core principle of field design: "Start with 5 fields"

[Golden Rules for Field Design]

Rule 1: For the first 30 days, limit each entity to 5-8 fields.
If there are too many options, no one will input anything.
We'll add it after we hear requests from the field.

Rule 2: Prioritize "multiple-choice" questions over "free-response" questions.
Free-response answers tend to result in inconsistent quality of records.
Multiple-choice questions are faster to input and easier to analyze.
It can be used as a trigger for a workflow.

Rule 3: From "Fields the administrator wants to see"
Prioritize fields that are helpful for on-site staff to input data into.
The user's benefit is the starting point for the design.

Field design workshop procedure:

[Field Design Workshop (60 minutes)]

Step 1: Identify the "minimum necessary information" (15 minutes)
"Without this field, it wouldn't function as a CRM."
Select up to 5 required fields.

Required fields common to all entities:
• Name (Company name / Personal name)
- Person in charge (the person in charge at your company)
• Emotional temperature (hot/warm/cool/cold)
・Last contact date
• Next action details and deadline

Step 2: Select "Helpful Information" (20 minutes)
"Having this field improves the quality of our next visit."
Select 3 to 5 additional fields.
This varies depending on the industry and type of work.

Step 3: Determine the format of each field (25 minutes)
For each field, determine the following:
- Text (single line) / Text (multiple lines)
- Multiple choice (single choice) / Multiple choice (multiple choice)
Date / Number / Checkbox
- Linking to another entity (lookup)

Agreement on the criteria for the "emotional temperature field":

While the emotional temperature field is set for all entities, it is crucial that the team agrees on the "definition" of the options.

[Workshop to agree on the definition of emotional temperature (mandatory)]

The consultant asks:
"What does 'hot' mean?"
Specifically, what kind of events would make you type "hot"?

We will adopt the client's answer as the definition:
Hot: "A customer has contacted us/is requesting a proposal."
Warm: "We can make regular contact and the response is normal."
Cool: "Replies have become slower, and contact tends to cease."
Cold: "No contact for over 90 days; relationship effectively suspended."

→ Use this definition as the "common language of the team"
Print it out and post it, or post it in a chat.
Store it in a place where everyone can see it.

Design Session 3: "Workflow Design" - Deciding which tasks to automate

A workflow is "a system that automatically generates tasks or actions when specific conditions are met."

Workflow design principle: "Get the first one working properly."

[Workflow Design Approach]

Phase 1 (first 30 days): Narrow it down to 1-2 bottles.
If you create many workflows from the beginning
Management becomes complicated.
Start with "the one that will most reliably save you."

Phase 2 (31-60 days): Expanded to 3-5 bottles
The first one worked correctly,
"The experience of having a workflow automatically create tasks"
We will expand after it has taken root within the team.

Recommended "First Bottle" (effective in almost all industries):
Trigger: When the emotional temperature is updated to "cool"
Action: Automatically generate follow-up tasks on the next business day.
Task description: "Mr./Ms. XX, your emotional temperature is low."
"I'd like to make contact this week out of genuine interest."

Workflow Design Workshop Procedure:

[Identifying potential workflows (30 minutes)]

Step 1: List the tasks that occur repeatedly.
Example: "If there is no contact for more than ○ days, it will be considered a missed follow-up."
Example: "I want to report to my boss if the project stalls."
Example: "I want to create a task to send a thank-you message after receiving an order."
Example: "I want to create a task list before my birthday/anniversary."

Step 2: Describe each candidate using the "trigger x action" format.
Trigger: When and under what conditions are met
Action: What happens automatically?

Step 3: Choose 1-2 bottles to use in the first 30 days.
Selection criteria:
① The task you most frequently feel you have "forgotten"
② The trigger condition is simple and it will fire without fail.
③ The actions (task details) are clear and do not cause confusion on the ground.

Design Session 4: "Dashboard Design" - Deciding what to look at daily and weekly.

Dashboards are at the forefront of CRM as a "System of Insight (SoI)." We design dashboards that allow you to "see what you need to do today in just 5 minutes each morning."

[Three Principles of Dashboard Design]

Principle 1: Create only views that have a reason to be seen.
Not just a "somewhat cool dashboard"
Create only the "view that determines your actions for the day."

Principle 1: Start with just one "red alert list" item.
"Emotional temperature below cool × Last contact more than 14 days ago"
Start by making it a habit to check this one view every morning.
Add other views once the habit has become established.

Principle 3: Design views according to their respective roles.
For those in charge: "What I need to do this week"
For Managers: "Team's Monthly Results and Red Alerts"
For business leaders: "Company-wide emotional temperature distribution and outcome predictions"

Dashboard Design Workshop Procedure:

[Dashboard Design Workshop (20 minutes)]

Question:
"Every morning I open the dashboard,
What would you like to confirm first?

→ That answer becomes the "initial view".

Typical answer and corresponding view design:

"I want to identify which customers I should follow up with this week."
→ View "Emotional temperature below cool × Last contact 14 days or more"

"I'd like to confirm this month's projected orders."
→ View "Total amount for projects with probability A and B"

"I want to check the activity level of each person in charge."
→ View "Number of Contacts and Emotional Temperature Update Rate per Person in Charge This Month"

Design "priority matrix" - what to do first, what to do later

Once the four designs are complete, we will use the following matrix to determine what to implement in the "first 30 days".

[Priority Matrix (Importance x Urgency)]

Implementation within the first 30 days (Must Have):
- Setting up basic entities (2-3 types)
• Required fields (5-8 items for each entity)
Agreement on criteria for determining the emotional temperature field
• Workflow #1 (Emotional Temperature Cool → Task)
- Red alert dashboard (1 view)

Implementation (Should Have) between the 31st and 60th:
- Additional fields (after receiving feedback from the field)
Workflow 2-3
- Dashboards for individual staff members and managers

Consider it after the 61st (Nice to have):
• Integration with other systems (ERP, accounting)
• Advanced dashboard analysis
- Full-scale operation of SoI-PDCA

Design document creation and agreement

After the design session, we will create the following "design document" and obtain the client's agreement.

[Structure of Design Documents]

1. List of entities
Entity name, purpose, and whether or not to use it for the first 30 days.

2. Field definition document (per entity)
Field name, format, choice definition, required/optional.
Input timing

3. Workflow Definition Document
Workflow name, trigger conditions, action details,
Task text

4. Dashboard design drawing
View name, display conditions, target users,
Check frequency (daily/weekly/monthly)

5. "First 30 Days" Schedule
Day 1-7: Setup and Environment Configuration
Days 8-14: CSV import and initial data entry
Days 15-21: Workflow operation verification and deployment to all employees.
Days 22-30: Inventory review, improvement, and planning for the next phase.

This design document is a document of agreement where both the client and Arcus Japan confirm that "this design will be the one." It is the most important document to prevent later complaints such as "something's not right" or "this isn't what I expected."

Summary – Design Session Checklist

Before the design session:
□ Are all participants aware of the results of the first hearing?
□ Are the client's CRM doctor candidates participating?
□ Are both management and on-site staff participating?

During the design session:
□ Were you able to narrow down the entities to 2-3 types?
□ Are there no more than 8 fields per entity?
□ Have you all agreed on the criteria for judging emotional temperature?
□ Was the first workflow selected as the "most helpful one"?
□ Have you decided on one view on your dashboard that you check every morning?

After the design session:
□ Have you created and shared design documents?
□ Have you finalized the schedule for the "first 30 days"?
□ Have you finalized the schedule for the third session (construction and data migration)?

In the next installment (Part 3), we will explain the process of "actually building EMOROCO CRM Lite, migrating data, and creating a working CRM" based on the design documents.
EMOROCO CRM Lite Product Page

Previous article: [Part 1: Initial consultation and current situation assessment to determine "why we are implementing CRM"]

Next time: [Part 3: Building and Data Migration - "Creating a Working CRM"]

Related article: [Complete guide to designing and operating "emotional temperature fields" with EMOROCO CRM Lite]

Related article: [EMOROCO CRM Lite Implementation: Complete Roadmap for the First 30 Days]

Related articles and pages
Person who wrote this article
Shinsuke Matsubara

Arcus Japan Representative Director / CRM Consultant
Click here for detailed profile
He has worked as a system engineer, architect, and consultant at Accenture and other companies, an evangelist at Infragistics (Microsoft MVP for Dynamics CRM (now Microsoft MVP for Business Solutions)), and a solutions specialist at Microsoft (in charge of Dynamics CRM products).He currently leads a service team specializing in CRM, supporting CRM implementation and business launches for companies of all sizes.At the same time, he works as a CRM evangelist, spreading the idea of "true" CRM through events and article contributions.
Having learned CRM at Accenture, and having advocated and globally popularized CRM 2.0 (platform-based CRM) at Microsoft, he is a legitimate successor to CRM and the longest-serving active CRM expert (CRM consultant/CRM doctor), having received an award at Worldwide.
Since then, as a leading expert in CRM who advocates CRM 3.0 (Personalized CRM) and CRM 4.0 (Creative CRM), he has been interviewed and received numerous awards both domestically and internationally from publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, TIME, WORLDCOM, Mainichi Shimbun (Weekly Economist), and Nippon Cultural Broadcasting. He has also been selected as a representative company of the Kansai business community by "Keizaikai" for four consecutive years.
book:Versatylist - How to become a "1 in 1" talent by age 35

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