Are you a small business owner or manager who has implemented some type of contact management or CRM solution for your business? If so – congratulations! You have accomplished a major milestone, putting your business a step ahead of many of your competitors. However, the journey to increased productivity and profits has only just begun.
A recurring theme that we run into time and again speaking with small business folks who have invested in sales automation is that there is typically a wide gulf between what the system offers and what the businesses exploit.
At this point, you may be saying, “Hey, that’s OK. At least we’re doing something, and I know we’re better off than not using it all.” I’ll give you that. Let me ask you this however: In your personal finances, do you stick your savings in a savings account that returns six-tenths of a percent when you can open a CD paying 5% ? Do you say: “That’s good enough, at least I saved something.” If so, this article is not for you. Otherwise, stay with me on this.
You have invested not only hard earned CASH but also time in your CRM, so no doubt you would like to recoup that initial investment as soon as possible AND earn bonus divedends.
What we find as the low hanging fruit in closing the gap in CRM profit yield is a terribly basic notion: training.
I cannot begin to tell you how many times a new client has exclaimed: “I didn’t know I could do that!”. Often this is someone who has been using their system for years.
Think of that:
years of underperformance,
years of wasted time doing it the wrong way,
years of lost opportunities because you didn’t know your system would automatically track call and meeting dates if only used History instead of Notes…
What is the cost to your business for these ‘good enough’ practices?
Returning to our example of the savings account vs. the CD:
Let’s use $500 as this is a realistic investment for a simple do-it-yourself purchase and install for a small business CRM solution for a single person.
To keep it simple, we will say that both accounts compound annually.
The savings account would bring you a whopping $3 the first year, and by the end of the fifth year you would have $515.18 in your account. Good enough?
In comparison, the CD would be worth $638.14 – 9 times the return!
Of course you realize that your real world investment in ongoing business operations, lost or realized sales, etc., is significantly larger and compounded by each additional member added to the equation. Further, 20 or 30% gains – not a measly 5% – in net results (time efficiencies, quicker sales cycle closes, faster lead response time, more leads handled per rep, etc.) when using CRM as an ‘enlightened’ (i.e. – trained) organization are not unrealistic.
So, time for honest self examination:
- Have you and/or your staff had training in the last 12 months? Ever?
- Can you absolutely stand behind the statement that your organization is using CRM to the fullest for what you do? 75%?
If your answer is no to either of these questions, than it’s time to let go of ‘good enough’ and get a right-sized professional training program on the calendar!
Otherwise, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.
Remember – ‘good enough’ and status quo are not free, just leaks in the room you aren’t looking in.
M. Scott Schaffernoth
Senior Analyst
www.winnovative.com
blogger@winnovative.com
518.822.8860
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I am amazed how many folks still don’t realize that you don’t need to pay thousands of dollars anymore for a business solution that can help you do more with less. We all have been using online solutions such as hotmail and gmail for ages now – do you know that you can do the same with an affordable online solution for your business – track your contact, sales, marketing and customer service issues all in one place and all online – no software, no hardware, no IT person – just log in from any internet connection and you have access to your information. You can also try it for free. You can learn more at http://www.SuradoCRM.com/ondemandcrm
Anne Miller
Great points Anne. Whether a business uses the solution you suggested or one of the industry leaders of Cloud based CRM such as http://www.sugarcrm.com. salesforce.com or microsoft crm dynamics in the cloud, it doesn’t really matter since they all do the same thing.
What the industry doesn’t report is software is still installed on the desktop (Outlook, Word and other plug-ins) and that I have yet to see a cloud solution that is as fast as on-premise solutions.
In summary, there are a number of considerations when choosing the right CRM for your business. Be sure to speak with a CRM consultant before making a decision!