Are you implementing CRM? Don’t make these 5 mistakes

Are you implementing CRM in your company? Don’t make these 5 mistakes if you want the sales team to use it

In order for this to happen, you should ask at the very beginning how the chosen system is to improve the work of the people responsible for sales. The answer should be a compass, which will show you the way to a successful implementation and will not allow you to forget its key objectives. Many managers forget that CRM is intended primarily for employees whom it will help achieve better sales results. Are you afraid of your employees’ reluctance to use the new system? Instead of requiring enthusiasm, find out what are their biggest challenges in working with customers. This knowledge will allow CRM to be adapted to the real needs in order to make it easier for the sales team to perform their daily duties.

Processes and data in the CRM system organize tasks to be performed and provide access to all the customer-related information in one place. From a practical point of view, using CRM is easier and faster than searching for notes or laboriously updating spreadsheets. Most salespeople’s duties consist of such tasks. This is confirmed by the research published by CSO Insights, which shows that salespeople devote only 35.9% of their working time to selling.

CRM implementation – is there anything to be afraid of?

The CRM software market is growing year by year. According to Gartner, global sales revenues in this segment amounted to USD 39.5 billion in 2017. Forecasts for 2018 are even more optimistic. Julian Poulter, Research Director for CRM and CX at Gartner, estimates that the segment of systems supporting customer service will grow by 16% in 2018.

If the forecasts are so good, is there really anything to be afraid of when implementing CRM in the company? It turns out that this fear can be justified. It is enough to make 5 mistakes and the employees will not want to use CRM; then the whole investment will turn out to be a failure, because CRM can fulfill its functions only when it is used.

CRM implementation – what mistakes should be avoided

1. No vision for using CRM

Management boards of many companies decide to purchase CRM software with a vision of general improvement of the existing sales processes. However, they do not know exactly what needs to be changed in order to make things better. Ultimately, the choice of CRM is limited to the purchase of the relevant license. Employees do not want to use the system because they do not know why and how to do it.

Before you decide to implement the CRM system, analyze how the company conducts sales and builds relations with its customers. Take into account the opinion of the employees who will work with CRM on a daily basis. Failure to consult with the sales team (as well as with the customer service) is a fundamental mistake which may affect the success of the investment.

2. Trying to adjust the company to the tool

Many ideas come up during a brainstorming session but only some of them are worth implementing. The same is true for determining what functions a CRM system needs to provide the sales team so that salespeople start to perceive it as a tool that can help them in their work. If the company’s management tries to force a change in proven sales processes in order to adapt them to the CRM system, the employees will start to rebel.

Choosing a CRM system with extensive functions that can theoretically be useful is a bad idea. CRM should be tailored to the specific company and the needs of its employees. That is why, even before implementation, it is necessary to define the necessary CRM functions that will support salespeople in building lasting customer relations. In the case of Salesforce, the unlimited possibilities of adapting CRM to the company’s processes and the wide range of licenses ensure that employees and managers obtain exactly what they need.

3. No training

Despite the temptation to learn how to use a CRM system while using it, such an approach is a huge mistake. Employee training is an important component of the implementation process for two reasons. Contrary to what it may seem, the first reason isn’t related to learning the functions of the CRM system. The most important element of the training is to familiarize the employees with the benefits they will get from implementing the CRM system in the company.

On the other hand training in the form of workshops is an excellent opportunity to explain to the employees the purpose and scope of the change related to the implementation of CRM. You must always remember that the process will be successful only if the employees understand and accept the introduced changes.

4. Difficulties with using the system

Sometimes, the implementation ends in failure even though it went seamlessly from the technical point of view. Why? Because CRM is too complicated to operate. If the CRM software you want to implement has all the necessary functionalities, the next step is to make sure that it is simple and intuitive enough for everyday use as otherwise there is a great risk that CRM will prove too difficult for the employees and they will not want to use it.

The sales team should be involved in the design of the system from the very beginning. The people who will be using it should have the last word on how it looks and how easy it is to operate.

5. Employees’ fear of being controlled by the management and supervisors

A well-implemented CRM, used by trained staff, helps to increase the effectiveness of sales processes (in the case of Salesforce the average sales increase is 25%, source: Salesforce Customer Relationship Survey from 2014-2016, survey conducted on a group of more than 10,500 customers).

However, the Management Board cannot expect that the implementation of the CRM system will have an impact on turnover, as employees will feel obliged to increase sales for fear of controlling their work. In order to prevent such thinking, managers should clearly communicate from the beginning of the implementation that CRM does not serve to control their work but is a tool that constantly facilitates, organizes and accelerates work.

Summary

Consciously avoiding mistakes in the implementation of CRM is necessary to achieve the assumed business goals. We hope that your sales department will be happy to use the system if you follow our instructions.