A blog from Buddy CRM addresses this question…
Will a CRM work in my business? This is probably the first question we hear in presentations.
Our answer is always “YES!”
The cynical reply is “Of course, you’d say that, you’re trying to sell me your CRM.”
But the reality is that a properly implemented CRM with everyone on board and management guiding them will see a measurable positive impact on sales. We see it happen all the time and we’ve got the testimonials and references to show you how we can help.
A Customer Relationship Management system like BuddyCRM will help management see what their sales team are doing and enable your sales team to sell easier.
But, what about your particular industry? We’ve helped many different types of businesses with their sales teams. Currently, we work with businesses involved in pharmaceutical, training, university, non-profits, food, logistics, entertainment and manufacturing. As you can see that’s a wide variety of industries.
So could our CRM work for your company? The answer is … almost certainly. Sales success is basically the same throughout all industries. It’s relationship building and matching your offer to demand. Sure, the administration behind deals can be slightly different and here’s where we can help. We have custom fields built-in as a default which lets you collect information on anything you wish and record it against your customer account. You are in no way limited in BuddyCRM and if you find something that doesn’t quite work for you, we’re happy to develop a bespoke fit.
The Questions you actually need to ask are:
- Can you define where you currently have problems in sales?
- Do you have a defined sales process? ie. lead -> prospect -> offer -> close -> customer
- Is it difficult to know what your sales team is doing on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or yearly basis?
- Can you and your team embrace technology and use it as a tool for success?
If the answer to those is yes, then we can definitely help in your industry.
So you know you need help with your sales and you now know that BuddyCRM can help you in your industry. What next?
The following are general guidelines on implementing a CRM system:
1. Make a strategic decision on what problems you want your CRM system to address. Without setting goals and defining targets, you won’t know if the CRM has achieved anything. What improvements or changes do you want it to achieve?
2. Choose an appropriate project manager. We like to call them the CRM evangelist – someone in your organisation motivated to want the CRM to succeed. Typically this manager will have a customer service/sales and marketing focus as the impacts of this project will be felt on the business side.
3. Senior management must support the decision and follow its progress. Management must be engaged in the decision to implement the CRM and care about its success. Sales team members will not follow through with their task if they feel no-one above is using the system to monitor results.
4. Empower team members with the authority to complete tasks. Your CRM evangelist will need wide ranging power within the company to effect change. Almost certainly your sales team members will need to work differently and record their results and your project manager will need the power to ensure that happens.
5. Select the correct implementation partner. That would be us! With UK based support and guidance from our team of real sales professionals, we can help you to get the success you’re craving.
6. Define key performance indicators (KPIs) that will measure the project’s success. eg. leads created, deals completed, sales turnover. In BuddyCRM everything can be measured, so you’ll be able to define success and then watch as your team meet those goals. You’ll know where things are going right or wrong and be able to adjust your sales team approach and provide extra help where needed in the future.
7. Use a phased approach. Work towards long-term enterprise-scale implementation through a series of smaller, phased implementations.
There you go. A stepped implementation on how to successfully implement CRM in your business. Now there’s nothing to hold you back – we look forward to working with you and making your business a success.