Miracle Cure

Hamlin’s Wizard Oil cures rheumatism, diphtheria, sprains, corns, cramps, lame backs, and diarrhea.  Sounds like some amazing stuff!  No doubt the linear descendant of this patent medicine now claims to, “Create a world class, global, multilingual, CRM system, with integrated reporting and full quoting ability, using only point and click administration and requiring less than a day to setup”.

Let me see a show of hands.  How many of you have felt a tingle of amazement and interest when you hear pitches from salespeople as they explain how version 9.3 is completely different from 8.5 (8.5 being the version that almost destroyed your company) and how the new features change the game?  Be honest.  That’s what I thought—pretty much all of us have.

Guess what?  I’m here today to tell you, “STOP IT.”  Put your big boy or big girl pants on and grow up.  There are no free lunches, no miracle cures for corns, cholera, and cooties, and there are no simple solutions to complex problems.  Get over it.  The sooner you let go of the false hope, the sooner you can move into the realm of real progress.

Don’t worry; all isn’t as gloomy as you may think that I am implying.  There are great products and services out there.  Salesforce is tremendous.  Google offers free and low cost products that have rocked the world.  The difference between reality and marketing exists in expectation. 

Don’t be fooled by demos, ads, or conferences.  Every solution to a challenge is work, and lots of it.  Set your expectations and those of your management and users correctly.  Leave the miracles to Our Lady of Lourdes and concentrate on value, hard work, and progress.  Be skeptical, diligent, and demanding in any technology transaction, but particularly with CRM systems; your career may depend on it.