Blog Series: Modern CRM Transformation - Building a CRM Platform That Lasts

Signal Boost: "Home" by Caribou
A track about finding a place that feels right, bringing structure, clarity, and purpose to the transformation journey.

Welcome to "Building a CRM Platform That Lasts", a blog series based on the real-world lessons, challenges, and breakthroughs of delivering a two-year CRM transformation.

This series isn’t about theory. It’s about what actually works when you're moving millions of records, modernising business processes, reimagining customer journeys, and trying to build something that doesn't just go live, but keeps improving year after year.

If you’re leading or delivering a CRM transformation, this is for you.

Here’s the full journey:

Explore the Series

1. Why Most CRM Transformations Fail and How We Can Break the Cycle
Why so many projects stall and what real transformation demands.

2. From Projects to Products: Designing a CRM Delivery Model That Works
How we moved from traditional project thinking to living product teams.

3. Governance Without Bureaucracy: How to Empower CRM Teams and Manage Risk
How to set the right guardrails without killing team autonomy.

4. Taming Dependencies: How to Keep CRM Delivery Flowing Across Teams
Practical ways to manage cross-team work without endless escalation.

5. Measuring What Matters: How to Track CRM Transformation Health
The simple dashboard that kept us focused on outcomes, not activity.

6. How to Lead Through Change: Keeping CRM Transformations on Track Over Two Years
What it really takes to lead when everything around you keeps shifting.

7. Life After Launch: Building a Sustainable CRM Product Organisation
How we avoided "system maintenance" mode and built a living platform.

8. What I Learned: Leading a CRM Transformation with Heart and Adaptability
The biggest personal lessons, mistakes, breakthroughs, and truths.

9. Structuring Teams for CRM Transformation Success: Roles, Missions, and Collaboration
Why team structure made or broke our delivery flow.

10. The First 90 Days After Go-Live: Making the Shift from Project to Product
The crucial transition that decided the platform’s long-term success.

11. The Assumptions Behind CRM Transformation Success — And What Happens When They Break
How to identify the hidden foundations you're relying on and what to do when they shift.

12. Navigating the Big Bang — Lessons from Delivering CRM at Scale in Financial Services
How we adapted delivery and rollout when phased implementation wasn’t possible — and what product thinking still made possible.

Bonus: Beyond Delivery: The Critical Ingredients That Make or Break CRM Transformations
Commercials, security, decommissioning, CX; the vital areas you can't ignore.

What It All Comes Down To

CRM transformation isn’t just about technology. It’s about building platforms, teams, and ways of working that grow stronger over time.

If any of these posts spark ideas, questions, or a story of your own, I’d love to hear it.

Let’s keep building better.