CRM BENEFITS
How and Why it Helps
The old way of doing business slows everyone down - Spreadsheet and Emails are a drag on productivity.
A CRM contains all your important information in one single easy to use application - enabling all employees to communicate and work together transparently as a team - thus keeping everyone more informed and fully disclosed.
It supports systematic, process driven workflow and procedures - improving your sales process, sales forecasting, client retention and other company wide operations - creating efficiencies, saving time, improving productivity for everyone.
The CRM is the engine of the sales department, and the sales department is the engine of growth for your Company.
A CRM Improves Organization
Good organizational skills can make or break a company.
We know from experience that organization is critical for success and is vital for your business to thrive and grow long term.
Organization is important because it allows individuals and groups to perform tasks more efficiently, improves the flow of communication between you and your teams, making everyone more productive. After all, better communication leads to better results.
Having your data organized helps people find information and items faster by spending less time looking for things, as well as allowing employees to work together without wasting time.
Organization promotes professionalism for both your employees and your clients. It demonstrates a company-wide dedication to detail - along with creating a sense of unity and team spirit, helping everyone work together more cohesively. A CRM is all about Organization.
3 Essential Sales Tasks
For any sales process to be successful, there are 3 basic and essential sales tasks that need to be done day in and day out by everyone to consistently produce strong results and steady growth.
- Sales Pipeline - actively manage the pipeline to maximize sales.
- Documentation - activities of the company, including calls, meetings, demos etc.
- Follow-ups - schedule and manage them so to be sure sales opportunities aren't missed.
The CRM is far and away the best tool to manage these essential tasks. Regular use of a CRM insures these tasks are part of everyone's daily work-flow - not addressed just casually and randomly - or just by memory.
The CRM will help confidently manage these tasks reliably, accurately and consistently.
Sales Task #1:
Managing the Sales Pipeline
A CRM is the best tool to effectively manage the sales pipeline - keeping it organized, transparent and consistent throughout the company.
The pipeline tracks the company's entire sales process - including the status of active sales opportunities, new prospects, sales projections, revenue forecasts, etc.
- Salespeople use the pipeline to manage their accounts.
- Sales management uses it to manage the salespeople.
- Senior management uses it to manage the company.
The CRM is then used to manage the pipeline.
It's important that one format, in one accessible location, is used by everyone for the Sales Pipeline. Doing so keeps salespeople and management aligned, coordinated, and well-informed - allowing easy access to the current state of sales - eliminating the need to constantly request updates from each other.
If not implemented in this manner it creates additional work and wastes time for everyone.
Salespeople are less productive. They will waste time creating their own individual pipelines, thus spending less time with clients and prospects. Their individual versions or may not be effective or even aligned with company goals. Each salesperson is essentially then working in their own silo - not sharing information or sharing best practices amongst each other. This all leaves the entire company Sales Pipeline disparate and in disarray.
Managements' job is made easier with the Pipeline kept on a CRM. They'll have quick and clear access into the sales process and progress - being able to manage effectively, make timely decisions, and provide assistance where necessary - not wasting time first gathering information.
Remember, it's a company-wide sales process, not a collection of individual processes.
Having the Sales Pipeline on a CRM makes it accessible to all and keeps the company's efforts aligned. This makes it easy to update, review and manage - minimizing work, maximizing results, and saving valuable time for everyone.
Sales Task #2:
Documentation
Documenting what you do is as important as doing what you do.
Being properly prepared for meetings and calls is critical for success.
How do you know what to do next if you don't know what was done previously? Memory is not really a good option. Good documentation solves for this.
It's rare you'll find yourself dealing with just one person in the sales process. Most sales are a detailed process - that have many moving parts - involving multiple calls and meetings with numerous people included in the buying decision. Even in relatively simple transactions with smaller firms, you'll likely come across multiple people playing different decision-making roles.
Preparation and attention to detail is important. Documenting customer feedback, requirements, objections and the competition are important factors in the sales process - and are all needed to close sales.
These should be all be documented in the CRM - not left to scattered emails, random notes and memory. This way they will be organized and easily accessible - which makes planning your follow-ups easier and more effective.
A CRM also documents reasons why sales are missed.
By documenting these reasons, a company can evaluate shortcomings or missteps, then make the necessary adjustments to succeed with future sales and products.
Sales Task #3:
Follow-ups and Next Actions
Follow-ups keep the Sales Process moving forward.
Regular and timely follow-ups bring each sales item to a conclusion. Either a sale or a lost sale, in which either case clears the way to continue to move the sales process ahead.
80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after the meeting. 44% of sales reps give up after 1 follow-up. (Brevart Group)
A CRM ensures you can be on time with follow-ups, as it allows priorities to be set and alert you when it’s time to act on them.
Don’t let follow-ups slip by or next actions be missed because you got sidetracked with another task or weren't properly alerted to follow-up.
Without having a clear view of your next actions and/or a timely system to alert you when to act on them, task after task can begin to pile up - it's then not too hard to forget one small, yet important item. That one item just might be a missed sale that went to a competitor who did follow-up.
Using a CRM consistently won't let this happen.
Keep in mind that prospects don’t usually call you back to buy your product or service.
Comfort - An Intangible Benefit
"For every minute spent organizing, an hour is saved".
A CRM provides a level of comfort to users.
How many times have you said, “oh boy I forgot to do that”? How many times have you said “what do I have to do today?” or “what did I forget to do today"?
“Reminders” can be scattered all about - in emails, voice mail, notebooks, sticky notes, memory, etc.
Not having confidence in knowing what needs to be done can cause frustration, inertia, and even anxiety - all leading to a loss of productivity.
The CRM eliminates that discomfort. It's the centralized place to organize your workday by consolidating information, data, next actions, etc. - giving you the confidence that you have a clear vision of your workday, next tasks, and projects - for today, tomorrow, next week, and on...
With minimal and regular use of a CRM, you’ll always know what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and whom it needs to be done with.
Your comfort level dramatically increases - as does your organization - and productivity. You’ll work happy - efficiently - and more profitably.
How to get Started using a CRM
Start Slow. Start by using a CRM to facilitate just the 3 essential tasks (above). This allows your staff to get comfortable with a CRM - having them see it as a tool and not a chore - and immediately provides value to your company in the 3 essential tasks necessary for success.
Doing this will go a long way to establishing a strong workflow - ensuring your sales process continuously runs smoothly. You can expand usage once these are mastered.
Set Goals. Most CRM's provide countless functions and modules that rarely if ever get used. They can be overwhelming, which can discourage companies from adopting, and people from using a CRM. Before getting started, establish the results you want and what's realistic to achieve.
So as to get full buy-in from your users, once the goals are set, be sure to clearly communicate the goals and expected results to those users.
Don't take on too much too soon and don't attempt to implement the "perfect system" with all the bells and whistles and insignificant "want to have" functions right out of the box. That's a recipe for failure.
Don't let perfection be the enemy of the good or the enemy of productivity.
"Although climbing a mountain can seem overwhelming at first, strive for progress, not perfection. There is no shortcut to the top. It will seem insurmountable if you try to do it all at once. But by taking one step at a time you'll scale the mountain"
Use this same approach when initially implementing a CRM - or - when switching from a complex, cumbersome CRM.
Don't take on too much too soon - start slow, focus on the 3 essential CRM tasks above. Once you get started, we're confident you'll immediately begin seeing results that you thought were unachievable.