Consider this number for a moment: 70% of CRM projects fail. Are you planning to adopt a new CRM system? Or are you planning to replace or upgrade your CRM?
Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions can be an effective tool for growing your organization.
CRM allows you to track sales, convert leads into closed deals more quickly, manage customer service, and market to your customers for follow-on purchases and renewals.
That's just a sample of what a CRM system can do. We're considering CRM solutions at many organizations right now. We recognize that we require assistance categorizing sales deals and following up on sales leads. Any system would be preferable to the one we currently have. We right now rely on a jumble of disjointed, difficult-to-locate emails, chat messages, calendar reminders, etc. for our everyday work.
Without a system to track sales leads from beginning to end, they will inevitably slide through the cracks. Important promises are not followed thoroughly on. Opportunities that we have worked hard for - vanish. The terrible reality is that we are not alone. Small businesses are slow in using a CRM. CRM usage by small organizations certainly lags that of larger companies, a partner with CRM Essentials. It's not because CRM isn't as valuable to small firms as it once was.
Not every CRM system is made equal. The good news is that there are a plethora of CRM systems available. The bad news is that they excel at different tasks.
Some solutions excel at handling sales leads, while others are more concerned about maintaining consumer relationships; some are primarily concerned with marketing automation or automating your follow-up marketing while some are straightforward and mainly serve to keep track of contacts.
Many small business owners believe CRM systems are expensive and unnecessarily complicated. Indeed, we've discovered that some are complicated and costly, which are more appropriate for larger businesses.
Here's how to cope with the challenges of expense and complexity:
Many organizations become irritated and abandon the implementation process too soon. As we've learned time and time again, implementing new software takes effort. Whatever time and effort you estimate it will take, it will almost certainly take twice or triple that until you're done. However, this is not a reason to avoid using a CRM system because the benefits far surpass the costs of setup.
It all boils down to being well-prepared. Take the time upfront to understand the problems you're trying to tackle in detail, as well as what success is and how to quantify it. You'll be more likely to persist with the implementation and identify when it starts to benefit your organization if you do so.
Bottom-up approach is more preferable than the traditional top-down approach of simply purchasing a CRM and instructing your salespeople to utilize it. Find out what end-users require before implementing a CRM.
Salespeople are accustomed to following a set of procedures. It's a significant change to create a standardized manner of doing things using a CRM.
But consider this: Do you want your salespeople to follow your instructions in the letter? Should CRM be flexible to make their lives easier? Adoption does not happen when you compel your team to do things a certain way.
After all, technology is but a means to an end. It must prioritize users, which means it must be simple to use while also checking all of the required boxes and eliminating unnecessary manual labor.
The bottom line is that your CRM deployment will be a success once you have individuals who support your CRM strategy, understand its benefits, and use it correctly.
Most of your operational requirements should be met by a solid CRM system, so defining them will lead you on the right route. Examine recorded and undocumented processes that occur on a regular basis across all departments, identifying customer or prospect touchpoints. Determine if any gaps exist in those processes and who on your team would require access to the CRM system.
If traveling salespeople or remote employees are part of the strategy, you'll need a CRM system that allows the user to access data whenever and however they want - while jeopardizing essential company data.
Security is a major concern, and a CRM system should allow administrators to manage sensitive customer and business data and operations. On-premise and cloud CRM solutions are available, so think about security for each way of data handling.
Historically, 22% of organizations that deployed a CRM system rated it as a failure; experts say the main cause was a lack of user acceptance. Increasing user adoption – and your chances of success – can be as simple as getting executive buy-in, evaluating all potential users, setting up effective training, selecting a Champion of Change, as well as hiring a CRM consultant who knows what they're doing.
Unexpected issues can stretch your IT employees, stress your budget, and interfere with other initiatives, depending on how strong your IT team is. Choose a CRM vendor that provides continuing technical help if your firm isn't equipped to deal with technological issues.
- Blog written by Vinit Singh Baghel
