I often work with Clients to help them improve or implement their sales database, or what is often referred to as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). When doing this, it's become apparent that many companies do not take full advantage of their valuable sales data and are missing out on real sales opportunities. If you can avoid these three common CRM mistakes, you will be on your way to improving your overall sales process.
1. A spreadsheet equals CRM. Doesn't it? - I have seen so many companies (small and large!) use a list or simple spreadsheet in an attempt to manage their customer data. This is probably the easiest way to quickly lose control of your data. When I see this, I know there is no defined sales process in place because it's impossible to have an organized system when your sales data is not properly categorized, updated and managed. When companies use a list or spreadsheet to 'track' their customers and prospects, true relationships get lost in the shuffle, sales opportunities are frequently mishandled and revenues drop.
The CRM Solution: Implement a simple CRM system. In most cases, this is really just a very user-friendly database such as ACT!, Sugar, or Salesforce.com. By using one of these systems (or other similar products), it's easy to import existing data and view it in various ways depending upon the parameters that are set. Of course, then it's important to manage the data which happens to be Common Mistake #2.
2. We have a database - it's where we store our clients' phone numbers. While storing contact information is an important feature of a CRM system, the real value to your organization is how well the data is managed. Upon implementation (or if you already have one in place), if a protocol is established for how data is entered, it will make everything run smoothly. For example, if you have a company in your system called "The ABC Company," is the information entered and searchable as "The ABC Company" or "ABC Company?" Or is it entered in your CRM under both names? If so, that will get VERY confusing as the system is updated and users try to determine which information is current. If there is a company-wide rule established to avoid these types of confusing data entries, it will help keep your CRM system working smoothly for you.
The CRM Solution: Establish rules for how data is entered into the database. What information is required to create a new contact? Also determine what information is added to the contact profile and where it is stored. Most CRM products have various sections of Notes, Updates, Most Recent Action, etc. and it's important that all users understand where specific data and updates will be stored. Do this to avoid confusion and make it simple for sales people (and customer service team members) to enter and retrieve information quickly while they are talking with a prospect or customer.
3. We keep it simple. All of our contacts are listed as prospects. Most of the CRM products available today are very robust and offer more features than most companies will use at any one time. However, it's important to use the system to your full advantage and weave the functionality of the CRM into your sales process. For example, do not simply designate a contact as either a prospect or a client. There are so many other ways to define the hundreds or thousands (millions?) of names in your system. The more specific and accurate, the more control you maintain over your sales process.
The CRM Solution: Your defined sales process should have 'stages' of prospects and define the difference between a lead, a suspect, a prospect, a customer/client and most importantly a non-prospect. Once this is completed, you can create specific action items for each stage in your defined sales process. For example, if a lead is generated from your contact page on your company web site, that person gets an email and a phone call within 24 hours. If it is established that the contact meets your criteria as a viable suspect or prospect, that information will be added to the CRM system. Or, if your business sells supplies to restaurants, but there is a contact in the system for an online restaurant reservations service, that contact would be designated as a non-prospect instead of deleted.
The contact designations help your sales and marketing personnel to create a plan for each step in the sales process. This can be a large project to manage - especially if you are attempting to gain control over a CRM system that has been neglected or mismanaged for a length of time. However, once the proper rules are in place and all of your system users are trained and on-board with how to use your system, it is easier to develop accurate sales forecasts, manage the marketing activities and create sales success on an increasingly larger scale.
SOURCE:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Customer-Relationship-Management---3-Common-Mistakes-and-How-to-Avoid-Them-to-Improve-Sales&id=1888703
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