Modern CRM Transformation - Part 1: Why CRM Transformations Fail and How We Can Break the Cycle

Signal Boost: "The Words That Maketh Murder" by PJ Harvey
A stark, urgent track that highlights the cost of inaction and the need to confront hard truths

You invest millions. You promise a better future. You deliver the new CRM system, on time and within budget. But months later, users are clinging to spreadsheets, customer satisfaction scores are flat, and the business is quietly wondering what went wrong.

This happens more often than we admit. CRM transformations start with ambition and excitement, but too often they end with disappointment. Sometimes they fail openly. Sometimes they "succeed" on paper but fail in the ways that matter most: in adoption, in agility, in real business impact.

Why does this happen? And what can we do differently?

The Pattern of Failure

When you look across the industry, the same patterns show up again and again.

First, the transformation is treated as a technology migration. The goal becomes "moving to the cloud" or "upgrading Dynamics" rather than reimagining how customers are served or how employees work.

Then comes big bang delivery. Everything is built in isolation and delivered all at once. Learning happens too late, after commitments are made and expectations are set.

Governance leans heavily towards command and control. Teams report upwards through endless steering decks and RAG statuses rather than solving real problems for users.

Customisation quietly creeps in. In an effort to please every stakeholder, complexity builds up until the new system feels as bloated and brittle as the old one.

And over time, cultural energy drains away. Teams burn out. Sponsors lose sight of why the programme began. The vision fades, replaced by a desperate push to "get it over the line."

In short, we treat CRM transformations like traditional IT projects, not business reinventions. And so, we get traditional project outcomes: compliance without joy, delivery without impact.

A Different Way Forward

When I led a two-year CRM transformation, it became clear early on that following the traditional playbook would not get us where we needed to go. We needed to work differently.

Here is what made the difference.

Think Products, Not Projects

We stopped thinking about CRM as a project to deliver and started treating it as a product to evolve. Teams owned outcomes, not outputs. Instead of "delivering the onboarding module," we asked, "how can we reduce onboarding time from ten days to three?"

We built stable, cross-functional teams aligned to value streams. We empowered them to discover, deliver, and adapt continuously. Success was measured not in features launched but in customer and colleague outcomes improved.

Governance as Enabler, Not Control

We stripped governance back to what mattered: outcomes, risks, and learning. Product Reviews replaced heavy project status meetings. Teams showed working software and user feedback, not RAG charts. Risk Reviews surfaced real issues early without blame.

Instead of locking in detailed roadmaps for two years, we worked to a rolling six-month view, refreshed quarterly. The road ahead was always visible, but the exact path was allowed to flex.

Manage Dependencies with Visibility and Trust

Dependencies were inevitable across such a large programme. Rather than pretending otherwise, we made them visible. We built a Dependency Wall that showed, at a glance, what was planned, in progress, at risk, or blocked.

Teams owned their dependencies. They collaborated directly, not through layers of programme management. Leaders only stepped in when issues escalated beyond team-to-team resolution.

Resilience as a Leadership Skill

Over two years, the business changed. New regulations landed. New leadership arrived. Priorities shifted. None of this was a surprise.

What mattered was how we responded. We protected culture, kept teams connected to purpose, and refreshed our technical and organisational foundations every six months. We normalised change rather than resisting it.

Resilience was not just about pushing harder. It was about adapting intelligently, while staying true to the mission.

Plan for Life After Launch

From day one, we knew go-live was not the finish line. It was just the beginning.

We designed a CRM Product Organisation ready to take over from the transformation programme. Product teams remained intact. Continuous delivery practices stayed in place. A rolling roadmap of enhancements, user feedback, and platform evolution was ready to go.

Because the real goal was not just to launch a new system. It was to create a capability the business could build on for years.

What It All Comes Down To

If we want CRM platforms that truly serve our customers, our colleagues, and our future businesses, we have to ask ourselves honestly:

Are we building systems to complete a project, or are we building platforms that last?

In this blog series, I will share the practical frameworks, lessons, and leadership insights that helped us navigate the journey. Not a perfect journey. A real one.

There were wins. There were mistakes. There were pivots and course corrections. And there was learning — always learning.

Next Up: Part 2: Designing a CRM Delivery Model That Works.
Moving from project mode to product teams. Shift your CRM delivery model for long-term value.