How To Prepare For CRM: The GN Guide

Have you never used a CRM system, or have you used one in the past but were not satisfied? This article provides a complete guide on preparing for CRM and some tips on implementing it. Our suggestion is to proceed step by step according to the following methodology: adoption (use the tool), quality (use it well), and results (use it to obtain results). First of all, you need to think about your needs. CRM can help you understand if:

1. You want to find more customers.
2. You want to understand which opportunities generate the best leads.
3. You want to target your audience better.

After answering these questions, you need to define your goals. With CRM, you can get smart results:

1. Increase the number of converted leads.
2. Improve your opportunity close rate.
3. Plan business visits more effectively.
4. Speed up case resolution.

Situation Analysis

If you are starting to use a CRM or want to evaluate whether to implement it in the company, it is essential to understand your current situation. If you don’t have a CRM yet, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Who is the ideal customer? Analyze the sector, the company size, the geographical area, the purchasing methods, and the needs of this customer.
2. From which sources do the most contacts come? Analyze the occasions you operate, such as fairs, telephone, lists, and the web.
3. Features of the sales process: Reflect on the steps leading up to closing an opportunity.

If, on the other hand, you already have a CRM, answer these questions to measure its progress:

1. How much CRM is used in the company?
2. What are the most expensive features? How many and what are the automatisms?
3. What is the data quality level?
4. How is it different from management?
5. If I delete the data, what do I lose?

Post CRM: The SalesPaddy Application

The CRM in the company:

1. It must be helpful to the sales force.
2. It must be available, convenient, and fast.
3. It must have clean and automatically managed data.

That’s why we introduce the concept of post-CRM, i.e., a review of the CRM in a modern logic in which more attention is paid to commercial needs rather than the mere technical functions of the CRM. Therefore, there is a tendency to prefer more read-only tools and less data entry. An application that follows this trend is SalesPaddy, a handy, fast, connected, and automatic means for the sales force. SalesPaddy was created to avoid adoption problems in CRMs and give agents usability and direct access to information without worrying about high licensing costs. 

SalesPaddy reduces data entry as it connects to other systems and delivers information quickly and intuitively. It also offers an extensible environment for profiling contacts and optimizing commercial information. Thanks to this approach, adoption can be improved as CRM becomes a much more comfortable and easy-to-use solution. As a result, salespeople tend to use it more, leading to a more precise and detailed metrics analysis.

The CRM Optimizes The Metrics

CRM helps improve several metrics, including:

1. Number of leads
2. Lead conversion rate
3. The average duration of lead management
4. Closed Opportunity Accrual
5. Average sales cycle length
6. ROI (return on investment)

CRM Improves Revenue

By monitoring and refining your metrics, you can also improve your bottom line, as demonstrated by the sales equation. The equation shows that it is enough to increase turnover by improving the opportunity closing rate. With CRM, it is possible to increase this rate by improving, for example, the management of already open opportunities.

Furthermore, with CRM, you can analyze the causes of a low closing rate and act directly on them to remove them. CRM helps to improve sales because, if the closing rate increases, the company manages to close opportunities with customers it already has, which increases turnover.

Also Read: Lead Generation: What Are The Consequences For CRM?