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PERSPECTIVE

20 Years of CRM Implementation: Lessons from a Founder

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Sébastien Forget

Published on December 22, 2025

Home / Articles / 20 Years of CRM Implementation: Lessons from a Founder

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Founder of Solutions Metrix since 2006, Sébastien Forget has spent the past two decades guiding businesses through CRM implementations and digital transformation. Having witnessed the evolution from file-based systems to SaaS and AI-driven platforms, his perspective is grounded less in technology trends than in what truly determines success: people, mindset, and the ability to adapt.

In 2006, implementing CRM meant unpacking files, configuring servers, and praying the modem didn’t drop mid-installation.

Today, companies deploy SaaS systems in minutes and experiment with AI copilots capable of rewriting playbooks overnight.

But after 20 years leading a CRM implementation firm, one lesson stands above all the rest:

While technology changes fast, people and mindset don’t.

Technology is only ever a tool. What determines success is how organizations think, adapt, and work together when the tools change.

Technology Is Only a Tool. Never the Solution

Over the years, I’ve watched the excitement cycle repeat itself:

File-based CRM → SaaS → mobile → cloud → AI.

Every wave comes with the same belief: “This new technology will finally fix our problems.”

It never does. As Sébastien puts it:

“People get excited about features, but the real question is: what business outcome are we trying to achieve?”

Technology expands possibilities, but it doesn’t define purpose. The hammer-and-nail analogy fits well: having a better hammer doesn’t tell you what to build.

CRM is no different.

It will accelerate work dramatically, but acceleration without clarity only magnifies confusion.

And despite decades of technological advancements, workforce productivity still grows at about 2% a year, the same pace as the 1960s.

There is no tech gap.

There is a mindset gap.

Change Management Is the Real Make-or-Break

CRM fails for reasons that have nothing to do with CRM.

The truth is simple: Technology evolves faster than humans can absorb.

Every implementation requires people to do something new, and new behaviors are uncomfortable.

Organizations often underestimate this. They treat transformation like an installation: configure, train, deploy, but new tools disrupt habits, roles, incentives, and long-standing ways of working. That friction is human, not technical. Sébastien sees the same pattern everywhere:

“Companies buy CRM hoping it will fix behavior. All it really does is expose it.”

CRM won’t fix a closing problem.
CRM won’t fix a pipeline problem.
CRM won’t fix accountability issues.

It will highlight them with brutal clarity, which is why change management is the real strategic work.

Mindset Determines Success More Than Technology

Two mindsets shape every implementation.

Fixed mindset

  • Wants a project with a start and end date.
  • Leans on “how we’ve always done things.”
  • Believes past success guarantees future results.

Growth mindset

  • Accepts that the business environment is constantly shifting.
  • Invests in continuous learning.
  • Sees technology as a capability builder, not as a checkbox.
  • Focuses on organizational velocity, not comfort.

As Sébastien explains:

“What makes advancement successful is mindset. The tools matter, but the way people think about the tools matters more.”

This distinction is what differentiates organizations that evolve from those that stagnate.

Agile Is Not a Methodology. It’s a Culture of Innovation

Many companies still treat Agile as a delivery method, but the real power lies in what it forces teams to become.

Short cycles, continuous feedback, shared backlogs, cross-functional alignment… These practices build a culture of collaboration and learning.

Over time, Agile becomes a “flywheel”:

Small improvements → faster learning → better teamwork → accelerated innovation.

As Sébastien describes it:

“Agile isn’t about sprints. It’s about getting the culture and ways of working right so innovation becomes routine.”

When teams understand how to work this way, technology adoption becomes dramatically easier.

The Workforce and Customers Have Evolved Faster Than Companies Have

Top performers demand challenge, modernization, and mobility. Talent is no longer bound by geography; people can work for anyone, anywhere.

Customers have transformed, too. They now “shop with AI,” not simply online.

Sébastien explains this with a story about buying a lawn mower: AI didn’t just compare models, it made a recommendation based on the height, yard size, and my preferences for getting some exercise while I mow my lawn.

This is the new expectation: personalized decisions delivered instantly.

Organizations with fixed mindsets will not keep up.

20 Years in CRM Reveals a Simple Truth

Technology will keep evolving. The winners will be the companies that evolve with it. Not by installing tools, but by building the mindsets, cultures, and ways of working that allow people to adapt continuously. As Sébastien sums it up:

“Tools accelerate work. Mindset accelerates progress.”

 

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