CRM systems provide powerful, multi-faceted solutions. They can significantly improve an organization’s ability to track and store information to improve the flow of timely sales intelligence to executives, enhance the sales manager’s ability to monitor and coach sales rep performance, and provide the sales rep with highly effective tools to target and manage their customer relationships. The net result, flowing through all of these channels, is the ability to drive more revenue. However, the fulcrum that allows all of this leverage to produce results is centered squarely on the sales reps and sales managers that interface directly with customers. If, for any reason, the sales reps or their managers are resistant to the idea of working with the CRM system, adoption rates will be low, results will be poor, and the benefits of the system will largely remain unrealized. For that reason, the organization must invest time and energy in making sure sales reps fully understand that, above all, the system is intended to solve their problems and deliver real value to them.
Unfortunately, CRM systems are too often conceived and implemented with little or no consideration given to how sales reps will use them, much less how they could be configured to deliver the kind of value that would encourage reps to use them. If you want to increase your chances that sales makers will use your expensive new CRM system, involve them early in the development stage.
Too often, CRM systems are designed to support sales accounting processes and make it easier to track performance, estimate revenue, etc. Therefore, from the outset, the system is configured with features and functions that make sense to accountants and managers, but have almost no practical application or relevance to what sales reps do every day. When sales reps are not consulted to determine what tools or capabilities they would like to see in an automated sales system, the message to sales reps is very clear: "This system was created to make someone else’s job easier by giving you one more task to perform that doesn’t help you make more calls or close more business." If the primary intended users – sales reps - are not consulted or involved in the creation and roll out of a solution of this magnitude, they will not be enthusiastic about using it.
One of the first rules of consultative selling says that instead of pushing products, you must first try to understand the needs, goals and problems of the customer, so that you can partner with that customer to create a solution that is attractive to them because it solves their problems. Sales organizations that implement this consultative strategy always close more deals, and at higher margins, than simply throwing a solution at the customer and hoping they buy it. In light of this proven sales principle, it is surprising to me that these same sales organizations either ignore or intentionally violate this principle when rolling out their CRM solutions to their sales teams.
When it comes to deploying a new CRM, sales makers actually become "customers." Sales makers will be hesitant to "buy" any solution that doesn’t meet a need or make their job easier. Therefore, instead of "pushing" a preconfigured solution on them, it only makes sense that you would ask them a few questions, so you can better align the tool to address their needs. Ask them what frustrates them now about their ability to collect, store, track and access any type of customer information. Find out what capabilities they wish they had, or had more of, to be able to analyze customer data and do account planning. Ask them to describe for you the limitations of the present customer relationship management systems, and what improvements or new capabilities could help them the most.
There are numerous questions you can use to uncover the needs and problems your sales makers face every day relating to customer interactions and information storage and retrieval. The more questions you ask, the more trust you will build with your sales makers and the more insights you will gain on how to properly set up your CRM system. The big payoff, though, is that sales makers will view this as their system, which means they will actually use it in ways that will benefit both themselves and the entire organization.
Baker Communications was recently recognized as one of the top ten Sales Force Automation training companies in the world. We know what it takes to make CRM and SFA work for your organization. In this series, we are sharing some of those secrets with you. In the meantime, if you would like to know more, visit http://www.bakercommunications.com/sales-training/.
Walter Rogers is the President and CEO of Baker Communications. Baker Communications is a sales training and development company specializing in helping client companies increase their sales and management effectiveness. He can be reached at 713-627-7700.
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