Most companies – typically more than 90% of companies with CRM that I talk to during presentations and association roundtable events – don’t feel like they are getting a return on their investment in CRM.
CRM is a wonderful tool for making better business decisions if used consistently by your team. Unfortunately, buy-in is one of the biggest challenges industrial sales organizations face in getting ROI. Part of the problem is that many companies train on the “how” of CRM: how to add a contact, how to set a reminder, how to log a phone call. But when you train reps and the rest of your team on the “why” of CRM, you will increase adoption rates, and the benefits that come with the technology.
In particular, the data you generate will be more reliable for driving better business decisions.
The entire company will benefit from improved lead and opportunity generation, higher quote hit rates and increased spend from existing customers.
Sales managers and other company leaders can use CRM to better direct sales efforts by looking at where reps’ time is being spent, what customers are buying, when each opportunity was created, how many contacts are associated with it, the last time a sales rep touched it and how long an opportunity has been in the funnel, just to name a few.
Tracking the data generated by your CRM closely will also help you to more accurately predict whether you’re on track to meet your sales goals. Read Size Matters: What is Your Load Input Goal Number? to learn how an accurate measure of the opportunities in your pipeline can show you how business is trending so you can make proactive adjustments to meet your sales goals.