Without the combined efforts of those people who have come before us, the world as we now know it would not exist. The history of human society has been decided by those who have made the effort to will what they desire into existence. There are countless examples of people who have expressed their belief that effort is what separates those who achieve their goals from those who do not.

The famous American football player, coach and executive Vince Lombardi once said,

“The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.”

As head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960’s, Lombardi led his team to three straight and five total NFL Championship games in seven years. His efforts and success as a coach led the National Football League to name their Super Bowl trophy in his honor. Even today, the Vince Lombardi Trophy is prominently featured in the standardized logo design now used for all future Super Bowl games.

The Importance of Making an Effort

It’s clear that as a coach, Mr. Lombardi understood that success and achievement do not fall from the sky, and in fact, are always the product of effort. If we look further back into history we can see that he was far from the first to recognize and express the immense importance of making an effort.

The ancient Greek playwright Sophocles stated plainly,

“Success is dependent on effort.”

Sophocles is understood to have written one hundred and twenty three plays in his life, seven of which survived into modernity in complete form. One cannot imagine conceptualizing and then creating such a large body of work without an immense desire to see one’s effort through to the end. Whether coaching a football team or composing a play, without a desire to achieve one’s goals and a willingness to make a concerted effort, the achievement of great things becomes practically impossible. However, if one is willing to focus on the process, and make the effort with an attention to detail, the once seemingly impossible, increasingly becomes within reach.

Steve Jobs is a prime example of an innovator who was willing to risk everything for his vision. Personally and professionally, he refused to settle for any less than what his vision demanded of him. He realized that in order to create something that would change the way people think and act, to really achieve something, he had to focus his efforts on working relentlessly in pursuit of his goals.

Many of us today too often seek the pleasure and satisfaction of immediate gratification or a “one-size-fits–all” solution to a complex problem. When push comes to shove, profound achievements are the direct result of individuals coming together to make an immense effort, with a willingness to be different, and, more importantly, as Jobs famously expressed, to “think different.”

CRM implementations are best seen as continuous improvement projects. So relax – it’s just not humanly possible to get it right the first time. Set realistic and achievable goals to see one successful step accomplished and everything along the journey as yet another phase toward optimized business effectiveness and efficiency. It’s important to realize it is going to take time and effort – there is no immediate fix, no matter what any software vendor implies or promises.

Find the right starting point and build a feature and function roadmap before embarking upon on a CRM launch. This way you can determine your base requirements and know exactly what information you wish to glean from your CRM efforts before you buy. Once implemented, the key to gaining insight and achieving optimum results is to commit the effort and continually learn from the data the CRM provides. Only then can the CRM software help pinpoint areas for improvement in existing processes, driving change in behavior that streamlines your operations and increases efficiency.

Editor’s Note: When it comes to CRM solutions, a software package can only do for you what you are willing to do for it. The software relies not just on your effort but on the concerted efforts of your entire organization. Our CRM software for SharePoint Online is a tool that makes it easier for a team of people to connect and share information, as well as leveraging your time and resources already invested in Microsoft.

We are not reinventing the wheel. We are, however, offering an affordable, customizable and extendable platform that allows users to make the most of every interaction and opportunity that comes down the pipeline. Our Flex365x for SharePoint Online doesn’t come with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign but it does come with our promise that your success is more important to us than simply selling software. We love what we do and we are here to support you, as long as you are willing to make the effort.