ROI from CRM

New market pressures are changing how CRM is used. 

Brian Gardner, Founder and CEO of SalesProcess360, was recently invited onto Driven by DCKAP, a podcast that discusses the technology challenges faced by modern distributors. DCKAP specializes in ERP integration platforms designed for distributors. 

Onboarding is a challenge for most technical companies. In my 30-plus years as a hiring manager in the industrial automation business it took, on average, three months to learn the product and application basics. Even with three to five years’ experience, it took six months to become proficient enough to make effective sales calls. Despite this lag in performance, many companies have no effective policy or procedure that ensures efficient and effective onboarding.

With CRM, 80% of us suffer from low adoption leading to poor ROI-itis. Fortunately, this condition is not terminal and can be fixed by following five easy steps. 

Have you invested plenty but still struggle to get adoption and ROI on your CRM?

You don’t have to settle for an underperforming CRM. Use this guide to Identify the issues, detail a path forward and reconstitute your project with a CEO for CRM.

It’s always difficult to get everyone on-board with new technology. CRM is no exception. In fact, distributors, reps and manufacturers often face a challenge in getting “sales cowboys” to embrace CRM. Some worry that Big Brother wants to look over their shoulders. Some just resist a change to their regular routines.

How can focused account profiling promote business growth?

Last week during a CRM roundtable webinar I hosted with MCAA, we discussed ways to use CRM data to make better business decisions. One of the hot topics was Account Profiling and how using a 4-dimensional approach can help grow your business volume with focus on where your sales team should spend their time. You may say, “We have a profiling system and we grade our accounts.” In my experience, the information is usually only 1-dimensional; basing it off current or the past years business volume and not growing volume. This is where the 4-dimensional approach becomes invaluable.

I’ve found through my talks at different meetings typically 70-80% of those in attendance are using some type of CRM within their company. And that only 10% feel they are getting ROI out of their CRM. One of the factors that lead to success is setting the stage for WHY from the beginning…including getting management buy in.

Many companies, including industrial manufacturers, distributors and representatives tend to view any kind of technology investment as a cost. Part of that stems from the need to budget the investment, which is typically done under the eye of the CFO.

The July-August 2017 issue of Harvard Business Review reported on a new study aimed at predicting which salespeople are most likely to quit.