CRM is commonly misused or not used enough, but unfortunately, there’s no single reason why. CRM challenges are broad and because of this, to many, it may feel like the problem is too big to solve. BUT, with the right tools and guidance from experienced professionals, your sales teams will embrace CRM rather than resist it.
“66% of office hours are spent on admin tasks by Sales professionals” – Finances Online
For many CEOs, Sales Directors and Finance Directors, CRM uptake and use is resisted and incomplete because their Sales teams find it too time-consuming. Having to log all their leads, prospects and customers, as well as keep notes, update opportunities, keep track of contacts, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and GDPR status, can be overwhelming. Most will do the minimum and create a system that is, at best, incomplete, and at worst breaking GDPR rules and creating chaos for the Finance, Customer Service and Operations teams.
How can you create a CRM system that actually supports your Sales team and makes their lives easier? Make your CRM mobile-friendly, so the Sales team can access it wherever they are.
Link with the finance system for accounts transparency
When your Sales and Accounts teams are talking to customers, it makes sense they know the whole picture. Are there any outstanding invoice issues? Is there a non-payment issue? Are they due a credit note? This 360-degree view is essential to a smooth relationship. No need to waste time on phone calls and emails to the finance department – it’s all there in CRM.
Create Middleware to speed up processes and maintain accuracy in CRM
There are many processes within companies that are heavily repetitive and labour intensive, no matter what size they are. So, a technology that can automate and streamline those tasks will create data and process consistency, make working more efficient, and also make cost savings. This, in turn, allows them to concentrate on winning more business or providing better customer service.
Our common use of Middleware is to improve quoting and invoice protocols, direct with CRM. By streamlining the data entry process and feeding data between systems, better accuracy is maintained by only keying in information once. It’s fast to build so it’s cost effective, whilst customisation of CRM can be more expensive. It does not affect business critical systems already in place – this can be from both financial and user point of views. No need to replace costly systems and no need to re-train and transition users to completely different systems. Make use of what is in place and connect the systems with a middleware solution, just like Restore Datashred did.
Make customer service tickets current and linked to CRM
When your customer service is on a different system to your CRM and operational systems, there is always room for error and time-consuming delays. Once you can match up the ticketing system with the day-to-day CRM, huge time savings can be made. Sales and Accounts teams can again be on top of any issues with ease. Discover how SPM Instrument achieved this.
Implement a Data Warehouse
Sales teams need to know if there are any outstanding operational issues, missing items, uncollected items, operational transactions incomplete, any number of cases depending on your specific product or service. By joining up your systems with a Data Warehouse you can, once again, improve the Sales, Finance & Account teams’ time management by creating the whole picture of where a customer’s account is at.
If your company has grown by acquisition and there are systems being used from different inherited technology, a simple and cost-effective solution is to join everything to a Data Warehouse. Not only with disparate operational systems, but back office systems, finance systems, and customer service ticketing systems. All of this will give back time for your staff, as well as save money in terms of staff costs and project savings. Restore plc did exactly this – learn about their experience.
Encourage the use of BPA
Invoicing is an example of a time-consuming task that relies on accuracy and regularity to make it effective. Often, it can take far too many staff hours, it can involve issues with data accuracy for addresses, both postal and email, and it should not be so. BPA can help with making this monthly process fast and efficient. If you have the systems in place and the automatic updating of customer data double checked, then invoicing can become a slick automated regular business event. Learn how Priors Hall Park Management streamlined their annual invoicing process using BPA.
Power BI as an extra tool – yet another way to overcome your CRM challenges!
Microsoft Power BI is recognised as a leader in the analytics world. It enables companies to visualise their data by being able to extract it from the disparate systems and see patterns. It can consolidate the data into dashboard-style reports that can then be used with filters and other options that dynamically change the content to reveal trends. This blog discusses why you should analyse your data with business intelligence.
Further information
Say goodbye to CRM challenges! If you feel like your CRM is a mountain that you’re tired of climbing, contact us to discover how we can help you overcome this by digitising and streamlining your business.
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