SITUATION
BMW Group Australia have been using Oracle for a long time for its CRM solution but decided to change to Microsoft Dynamics in alignment with the other BMW companies in the Asia Pacific region. This impacted the Dealer Network, Retail Marketing and the Sales Departments within the company and more importantly 46 BMW dealerships in Australia. The company tasked me to develop a comprehensive change management roll-out plan. After 19 stakeholder interviews and numerous solutions development workshops, I finally presented not a plan but rather a menu for a change and communication plan for the 46 dealerships. The menu offered 3 core modules which are mandatory for all dealerships and 4 selective modules which the dealership can click and choose from 7 offerings. Click here for details.
As part of the wider digital change program at an Asia Pacific level, BMW Australia wanted to roll-out a new CRM solution at the national level as well as the retailer level. The change from Oracle to Microsoft Dynamics impacted many internal departments such as sales, dealer network, retail marketing, IT etc and more importantly externally 46 BMW dealers Australia-wide.
TASK
Develop a comprehensive change management roll-out plan to communicate and implement the new CRM solution with as little disruption to daily business as possible. This should involve the participation and feedback of the Areas Sales, Retail Marketing and the Dealer Channel Development departments. The proposal should offer ways to mitigate resistances from dealers as well as product training plans.
ACTIVITIES
Alignment meetings with the project sponsor
I held weekly one-to-one meetings with the project lead, Dealer Network Development (also my line manager) to understand the CRM project’s scope, timelines and resource availabilities.
Stakeholder interviews
I also interviewed 8 internal stakeholders (CRM colleagues, Area Sales Managers and IT colleagues) on their thoughts on how the new CRM solution will impact staff and BMW retailers from 6th to 31st Jul 2018. Based on the input, I mapped 46 BMW retailers onto a commitment curve and also developed a digital change impact & assessment.
Change toolkit
I developed a change toolkit (see photos above) made up of about 30 change activities for stakeholders to discuss activities and plans
Roll-out plan development workshop
I then organised 02 brainstorming workshops (see photos above) with Area Sales Managers on 25th Jul and 2nd Aug. Alignment meeting with CRM and IT teams in Jul and further refinements in Sept.
Joint Review Workshop
Then I held a joint review workshop (see photos below) with CRM and Sales teams.
Final solution
I organised 3 presentations of the final roll-out solution to various target audiences and welcomed feedback for adjustments and with that released the final plan for implementation pending final confirmation from AG for the CRM solution.
RESULTS
- Offered ownership to Sales Area Managers. By organising roll-out planning workshops with the Area Sales Managers, I transferred a sense of ownership to them and to their respective retailers. This differentiated the roll-out style from another 1.5 years when retailers felt that the roll-out plan was Developed ownership from retailers and sales department for the CRM roll-out
- Delivered a customisable CRM roll-out plan. Offered a change and communication plan to roll out the new CM solution to BMW 46 retailers. The plan offered core elements which needs to be applied to every retailer plus options that each retailer and their area sales manager can mix-and-match to create a plan which is customised to their individual needs.
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