Hello, this is Matsubara, CRM Evangelist.

The implementation of CRM cannot be decided solely on the basis of the fact that the person in charge on the ground thinks it "seems convenient."
Especially in organizations of a certain size, approval is usually not granted unless the return on investment (ROI) can be explained.
This time, we will organize how to evaluate CRM investments from the perspective of management and decision-makers.

Analyze the ROI of CRM investments by separating it into costs and benefits.

Discussions about ROI begin with separating and organizing "costs" and "benefits."

Costs include: - Monthly usage fee (1,500 yen x number of users for EMOROCO CRM Lite) - Internal man-hours required for initial setup and data migration - Learning costs until adoption

Benefits : - Reduced handover costs by preserving customer service, which was previously dependent on individual employees, as an organizational asset. - Prevention of lost sales opportunities due to missed responses or communication lapses. - Retention of existing customers by detecting early signs of cancellation or churn. - Reduction of time spent on creating reports.

Of these, costs are relatively easy to estimate, while benefits are difficult to explain numerically because they represent "losses that did not occur."
The reason why ROI discussions often face difficulties in reaching a decision is precisely due to this asymmetry.

Translating "losses that did not occur" into numbers.

One way to explain less obvious benefits is to focus on changes in the churn rate.
Churn rate predictionThis system allows you to identify customers with strained relationships early on, enabling sales and customer success teams to proactively address the issue.

For example, even a 1% improvement in the annual customer churn rate can have a significant impact on sales from existing customers.
By multiplying this improvement effect by existing customer value and contract retention period, it becomes easier to present the effectiveness of CRM investment in monetary terms.
Designing CRM ROI Reports that CFOs and Management Should ReviewNext, we'll explain how to visualize these metrics on a dashboard.

The risks of not implementing something that decision-makers often overlook.

In discussions about ROI, the focus tends to be on the "costs and benefits of implementation," but I would like decision-makers to also evaluate the "risks of not implementing" at the same time.

• The risk of customer relationships being reset every time the person in charge leaves or is transferred.
• The risk of personalized sales know-how being lost without being retained as an organizational asset.
• The opportunity cost if competitors are the first to adopt relationship assetization like CRM 4.0.

The fact that "no major problems have occurred so far" does not prove that there are no risks.
In decision-making, it's necessary to consider the possibility that these costs may be silently accumulating, even if they haven't surfaced.

Three risks to consider when making investment decisions

Regarding CRM investment itself, there are three points that decision-makers should consider when evaluating the risks.

① Vendor risk
The business continuity of the provider is a factor that cannot be overlooked when making long-term investment decisions.
This risk includes not only cases where the service provider goes bankrupt, but also cases where a similar situation occurs due to a management decision to discontinue the service or product, even if the company itself continues to exist.
In fact, in the IT industry, I have the impression that the latter, "service termination as a business decision," happens more frequently.
Security role and form permission managementIn addition to functional governance like that, whether it's possible to switch to self-hosting or export data in the event that the provider terminates the service is also an important factor in investment decisions.

② Transition risks
You should also estimate how much effort will be required to migrate data from existing Excel files or other systems.
The initial actual costs can vary significantly depending on whether or not migration methods that allow you to utilize existing data are available.

③ Risk of retention
No matter how advanced a CRM system is, the investment won't be recouped unless it's adopted and implemented by the field staff.
Whether the system is designed for phased implementation and whether it has a permission system that allows users to see only the information necessary for their role are crucial factors that influence the risk of successful adoption.

Why EMOROCO CRM Lite lowers the barrier to investment decisions

EMOROCO CRM Lite is designed to structurally reduce the risks associated with such investment decisions.

• With a low initial investment of just 1,500 yen per month and no upfront costs, you can try it out while minimizing the risk of major failure.
• It also supports self-hosting, providing protection against vendor risks.
• Because it can be scaled incrementally without coding, it avoids the situation of "making a large development investment all at once and being unable to go back."
• The concept of relational assetization is supported in the form of business model patents through patent applications.

The ability to start small, minimize the risk of loss, and gradually increase investment as needed is, in my opinion, a crucial characteristic for management teams who want to make highly accurate investment decisions.

Summary

When discussing the ROI of CRM investments, it is important to separate and organize costs and benefits, and to quantify "losses that did not occur" as much as possible.
At the same time, by evaluating both the risks of not implementing the solution and the vendor risks, migration risks, and adoption risks associated with implementation, you can make more informed decisions.
EMOROCO CRM Lite is designed to allow you to start investing while mitigating these risks.

EMOROCO CRM Lite costs ¥1,500 per user per month (minimum 3 users) and has no initial setup fee, with a 30-day free trial.https://www.emoroco.com/You can start from there.
IT implementation subsidy eligible tool number: DL07-0022934.

We also offer a monthly newsletter, "ARCUS NEWS," which provides updates on EMOROCO CRM Lite and other useful information for CRM operations.
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Additionally, we publish useful articles about CRM 4.0 on note ( https://note.com/arcuss_crm ), so please check them out as well.

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• Designing CRM ROI Reports that CFOs and Management Should Review
• CRM design to reduce customer churn
• Security Role and Form Permission Management Guide