Working in silos is one of the biggest obstacles to providing an unforgettable customer experience. It leads to every interaction a customer has with your company being a completely different experience. And not in a positive way. For example:

The marketing department continues to send emails to Jaap, much to his frustration, about a product he has long since purchased. The sales department is unaware that Suzan has interacted with your company and is open to a phone call. If a competitor does reach out, she will choose them. And when Anne, a loyal customer for years, calls customer service, they have no idea who she is. This immediately destroys her connection with your organization.

You can imagine that the scenarios above significantly hinder the growth of your organization. So, it is high time to distance yourself from the silos. How? Through a change in company culture and SAP CRM software. No more silo-thinking, but customer-centric thinking. In this article, we will help you get started.

Why silos are a problem

The sales, service, e-commerce, and marketing departments all have their own managers and KPIs. They are vertically organized, while the customer journey is horizontal: cutting across departments. Since we have started working more hybrid, this problem has become even bigger. Where you used to have a chat with colleagues from other departments at the coffee machine, now you completely miss many colleagues. Therefore, in recent years, many organizations have implemented CRM systems to encourage collaboration and reduce digital barriers. But just implementing it is not enough to break down the silos. To be effective, employees need to move away from old ways of thinking, embrace the system, and learn how to use it effectively.

All customer data in one place with a CRM system

When a CRM system is used properly, it helps create a 360-degree view of the customer. This means that all customer data is available in one place. Think of contact information, interactions with your customer service, social media behavior, emails they have received, and much more. With this, all departments can provide the customer with a consistent experience, making the customer feel truly heard. This gives a huge boost to customer satisfaction and loyalty.

How does a CRM system work? It connects departments with data. For example:

• Sales sees all marketing actions per customer or prospect
• Marketing gains insight into the results of lead follow-ups by sales
• Customer service sees the interactions the customer has had with your organization
• Finance gains insight into the promises made by customer service

But as you read above, changing the company culture is crucial for success. As long as silo-thinking persists in the organization, there is no room for customer-centric thinking. With these seven tips, you can make a change.

Collaborate with IT

The collaboration between the business and IT is often overlooked, leading to the responsibility solely resting with IT and low adoption rates. Employees are not at all involved in the change and fail to see how the solution contributes to achieving their own goals or those of the organization. If you want to create support for the implementation of SAP CRM, it is crucial that the business works together with IT.

Room for real engagement

Even if there are employees from the business involved in the implementation project, it does not always have the desired effect. For example: a salesperson is given two days a week by their manager to contribute to an implementation project. But the manager still expects the same sales results. What he normally does in five days, he now has to do in three days. And those sales results ultimately determine his bonus. Guess where he will focus his energy... It is crucial that employees are truly freed up for the implementation project.

Involve change management and marketing

Involving change management helps to smooth the collaboration between business and IT and achieve optimal employee engagement. Additionally, it is essential to 'sell' the change within the organization. Not only can change management help with this, but so can the marketing department. For example, use internal news updates to keep everyone informed of progress and next steps.

Start small and celebrate successes

An important part of change management is to start small. Employees do not want to be overwhelmed by a big change. By taking small steps, you make people curious and therefore much more enthusiastic. Each time a step is successfully completed, share the successes and celebrate them together. This way, employees become part of the process, the adoption rate increases, and the implementation process becomes more enjoyable.

Clear vision of customer experience

What happens when you ask a random employee what the vision of your organization is? Do they have an answer ready? And does this align with the actual vision of your organization or what you want to convey? Does the customer play a central role in this? Often, this is not the case, but it is crucial if you want to provide a consistent customer experience. Therefore, ensure there is a customer experience vision that is embraced throughout the organization and supported by all employees. It is also wise to involve change management in this process so that employees are engaged in creating this vision.

Clear vision of implementing SAP CRM

In addition to a clear customer experience vision, you also need a vision for implementing an SAP CRM system. What will it bring to the organization? And what is the added value for the employee themselves? Using a CRM system for a salesperson should not be an end in itself, but rather a tool to help them achieve their goals. By clearly communicating this vision, employees will know what they are working towards.

One data pool for the entire organization

Once your vision is clear, it is time to actively collaborate. No more 'us vs. them' thinking, but working together to ensure an optimal and consistent customer experience. How? By not collecting data per department anymore, but by drawing from the same data pool. One place where every department has insights into the data relevant to them. From there, departments can collaborate and truly put the customer at the center.

By implementing the tips in this article, you will gradually break down the silos. The result? Your employees work smarter and more efficiently. Additionally, customers see your organization as a whole, providing them with a consistent experience at every touchpoint.