Why is a name so important?
Before naming your CRM organisation, you need to understand your audience. In a typical day, a user will have access to many different LOB applications ranging from CRM to ERP, and from email to social media. Each system will have its own methods of access which users need to remember.
In addition to LOB applications, a CRM developer may have access to many CRM organisations. It can quickly become confusing without the right guidance on labelling CRM.
Getting the display name right
The display name is what the users will see in the top right-hand corner. This is how the user can see the organisation they have signed in to.
Display Name: Company tag line
For a Live production deployment, you should something everyone is familiar with such as the company tagline. You should avoid using keywords such as “Live” or “CRM” as these will be referenced in the URL already. Also, there is no need to use the company name as the user will already know this.
Building the URL
For an on-premise deployment, the URL can be separated into 2 parts. The first part is the server name and the second part is the unique organisation name.
Server name and Organisation name
Server Name
Often, server names only make sense to the untrained eye or are named after someone’s favourite Star Wars character such as “Serv-Pro-293-34” or “W2008-R2-D2”. This can look messy in front of an important client.
Use DNS to make this more user-friendly. As this is the CRM system it makes sense to use “CRM”. You could set up something similar for email or ERP.
Organisation Name
Organisation name is what differentiates each CRM organisation and must be unique. It also helps if it’s simple so users can remember what it is. As with the display name, we know what the company is already and we now know it’s a CRM application so these can be avoided. Most companies will have one production organisation so “Live” can be used.
If there are several production organisations then the name should be more specific such as “Finance” or “Customer Service”
URL examples
UAT, Development and Training Organisations
Often, there is a need for a non-production organisation. This could be for testing or development. Each additional organisation will still need to be named accordingly. Using a combination of purpose and create date works well for both display name and organisation name. Its good practice to have a system for naming non-production organisations.
What’s in a name?
Naming your CRM system may seem like a trivial task but with a little thought and consideration, you can give CRM a professional look which makes sense to users. Users will find it easier to access CRM from all devices which in turn, increases user adoption.
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