Texada Equipment CRM implementation: the first ninety days

A CRM rollout is a habit project

Installing a CRM is easy. Getting reps to log calls is the project. The dealers who do this well start with a small group, set one rule — if it is not in the CRM, it does not exist — and look at the pipeline every single week. The ones who do it badly buy licenses and hope.

Set your stages before day one

Decide your pipeline stages before the vendor configures anything. New lead, working, quoted, financing, won, lost is a solid start. If your stages are vague, your reports will be too. Write them on one page and hand that page to the vendor.

What to ask Texada

• Who configures our pipeline stages, and can we change them later?
• What training do reps get, and managers separately?
• What does week one support look like?
• How do we connect the CRM to our DMS, and when in the rollout?
• What do successful dealers do in the first ninety days?

A realistic timeline

Texada does not publish an implementation timeline, and we will not invent one. A CRM rollout is usually faster than a DMS move, but the habit change still takes weeks of management attention. Ask for a written rollout plan with your store's name on it.

A worked task: the one-rule rollout

Suggested exercise: pick the rule before you pick the settings. The rule that works: if it is not in the CRM, it does not exist — no side notebooks, no private lists. Inputs: one page with your stages and your rule. Expected output: a rollout where the pipeline is reviewed every week and reps know the rule is real. The exception that kills rollouts: a manager who keeps asking reps for verbal updates. That tells the team the system is optional.

Do this week

Write your pipeline stages on one page — new lead, working, quoted, financing, won, lost is a solid start — and bring it to the vendor meeting.