Mistakes which ruin CRM and sales process – words Aiden Watts
CRM is a customer relationship management software. It is a program that collaborates with technology, tools, strategies to develop and improve the acquisition and retainment of customers. It provides immense benefit to the company. It is the interface between the company and the customer. CRM software for small businesses has become a vital element of the sales process.
A sales process is a set of repeatable steps that the sales team takes to convert prospects into customers. The success of a sales CRM will not reach its full potential unless there is an established sales process. A sales process must be flexible and monitored to check the stages that need to be improved. The CRM and the sales process cannot exist independent of each other. They need to be integrated closely. It is possible for sales reps to take actions to acquire sales when CRM successfully tracks a sale through the process/pipeline. Management of sales personnel must reflect ongoing activity accurately. A CRM that reflects each stage of a sale in the sales process will give you an idea of the qualified leads quicker. It also allows you to assign the right departments to improve on. When CRM and sales process are fully integrated, your sales process will be much more successful. It is important to ensure that the CRM you choose is set correctly with the sales process to avoid the loss of money and missed opportunities.
Here are some of the mistakes made that can ruin CRM and sales process.
- Too many pipelines.
Sales pipelines are a visual representation of the sales process. Pipelines provide an overview of how close the sales team is to reaching the quota. If your CRM has too many pipelines, it can be challenging to collect relevant data and gain a clear outlook on your company’s sales. A custom field can be used instead of creating a new pipeline. If you have more companies in each pipeline, you will gain an accurate sales metric. You should consider whether it is necessary to have more than 2 pipelines in your CRM. Custom fields can help you differentiate leads.
- Too many steps involved in every pipeline.
Correspondence with your lead and an important event in a relationship at every stage is key. The first interest, meeting and sending an agreement are important events. It shows us that 3 stages should be enough to convert your lead. In case there is a problem in conversion, 4-5 stages can be created. This can save the sales process a lot of time. Having more than six stages results in the process becoming too diluted, and there isn’t really meaningful information or difference between each stage.
- Not using custom fields.
You can get a clear idea of where you need to dedicate your resources, by recognizing the efficiency in specific target groups. For example, if acquiring leads from Germany is a rare occurrence, you need to retract from that country and focus your resources on regions that are more profitable. To gain this insight, it is imperative to track data such as geography, industry, size of the company etc. If you have information you wish to populate across, such as certain services being offered, you could use the custom profile fields feature. When you get a clear outlook on your sales, you can figure out where you need to withdraw and where you should maximize your profits.
- Indifference towards leads that have and have not converted.
Majority of the time, leads are categorised into three types, those that become clients, those that don’t want to be your client and open leads. Each open lead needs to be tracked through the sales process and be assigned a sales rep. You should do this to find out what is happening in your sales process. This insight will help you in keeping your pipelines clear for your CRM to work efficiently.
- Not examining data.
You diminish the potential of the date that your CRM collects if the data is not analyzed. You need to manage your sales by analyzing the data that you receive from the CRM software that is set up for your sales process. The sales metrics in your CRM software gives you information on conversions, personnel efficiency, etc. By analyzing your data, you can invest in the right resources and improve specific stages of the sales process. The data will always be up-to-date,
your employees can focus on relevant tasks from the knowledge gained about different clients. CRM software provides good analytics and forecasting options that can predict sales growth and show conversion rates and the time period of a prospect to journey through the pipeline.
However practical and great your sales process and free CRM system are, it is important to address the negative points as well. By directly addressing issues and problems, you can find ways to fix them or eliminate the need for certain stages or steps in your sales process. Dealing with these mistakes will benefit your company in a big way and increase the growth and development of your business.
