Achieving success with a CRM Center of Excellence (CoE) requires a focus on organizational design. This post looks at the key elements that contribute to CRM CoE organizational design, emphasizing the importance of a culture of collective achievement, connections, and seamless transitions.

Collective Achievement: Team Ego

Team Ego is not personal ego, it is individual ego that thrives on the collective confidence that together, the team can achieve even more than the individual. Team egos are reflected in the final score and compel individuals to work for the collective success of the team. Team Ego is required for a cross functional mindset. A cross functional mindset is critical in executing successful CRM CoEs.

Individuals with team ego must be in place or recruited as functional leads for each link in your CRM marketing chain.

Connecting the CRM Chain Links

A successful CRM CoE hinges on the seamless connection of the marketing chain—from strategic planning through execution to back-end analytics. Recognizing that one team's output serves as another's input underscores the interdependency required for a well-functioning CRM CoE. This hand off from one CRM link to another (e.g., from the strategic brief to analytics for a test and learn plan and then the handoff from analytics to execution) can be thought of as a relay team baton pass. The baton pass is the equivalent of a “process gate” between which your output becomes my input. The quality of the baton pass, or the information passing through our process gate must be of the highest quality.

When thinking about your CRM teams, focus on the pass between them and among them, whether it’s a baton or a brief, include a ritual or process to ensure the handoff is accurate and meets the needs of those later in the chain.

Seamless Transitions: Spotlight the Handoffs

Instituting rituals or process gates at each transition serves as a spotlight, illuminating the handoff process and holding individuals accountable for successful transfers. Create metrics that measure successful handoffs. Assign individuals who are accountable for successful transfers.

Using acquisition campaigns as an example, introducing rituals where representatives from project management, creative, analytics, and execution collaborate ensures alignment for successful handoffs. Asking critical questions during strategic rituals, such as the presence of a control group and the accuracy of tracking, becomes a crucial step. During the ritual, execution representatives address practical concerns like audience pulling, test and control groups, and tracking methods for accurate reporting. Is this painstaking at first? Yes. But like all repetitive exercises, its gets easier and more efficient as the organization learns.

Building a robust CRM CoE requires focusing on connecting the CRM marketing chain links, spotlighting handoffs, and cultivating Team Ego. Doing this not only builds a resilient CoE, but also one set up for continuous improvement.