Why use a CRM? The simple answer is you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Sales orders and invoicing provide a view of the past but if you have been in sales long enough you would have experienced a sales revenue crash. This can be very sudden event but you can guarantee that the trouble began a long time before the crash and will take a longer time to recover.
It is critical to understand your sales process and have the tools to manage the process, do you currently have the tools to support your sales process?
A successful sales process is a proven, documented approach with messaging and tools for gaining, retaining and extracting more value from accounts. Sales people appreciate a defined sales process because it assists them in being more efficient and effective, they will develop better sales skills through repetition of a process.
Customer Data
If you ever do the groceries you will always be asked if you have a rewards card, why? they are collecting customer data on what you buy and don’t buy so they can make better business decisions and get you to spend more. It is critical that all sales companies collect, maintain and analysis customer data to stay ahead of the game and grow their market share.
When your sales team is in the market creating opportunities, you must collect and maintain that expensive data. If you don’t you are putting your companies’ future at risk, your sales team are developing and maintaining customer relationships on behalf of your company and if you don’t have this data the relationship can vaporise. When members of your sales team leave, the worst-case scenario is they exit with all of your information. When you value retrain this data your sales team transitions can be seamless and not disrupt your sales revenue.
Opportunity Management
Are you actual managing opportunities through to sale or are you simply processing opportunities, many companies process multiple enquires and are mistakenly satisfied with delivering proposals as quick as possible. This typically results in a lower quotation conversion rate, wasted time and money.
Sales organisations need to measure their enquiry to order conversion across all sales channels, regions, branches and product categories. This information allows you to target under performing areas and implement changes or target high performing areas and replicate the success. What is your current enquiry to order conversion rate? Are you processing to many quotations or not enough?
Opportunity Status
All opportunities need to be categorised and given a status, when an opportunity has a status it begins its journey through the sales pipeline/funnel which provides sales personnel the visibility to review and progress them through the sales pipeline to a conclusion (Win, Lost, Closed)
Convert More Opportunities to Orders
Converting more opportunities to orders isn’t a dark art, it’s all about discipline, you need to qualify each opportunity to understand if it real and if your product or service is exactly what your customer needs. You need to understand there budget because if you surprise them with the value of your product or service you will never hear from them again.
Once an opportunity is qualified you must know the what, why and lastly when. Why is a critical step, you must understand the customers need or pain, so you can provide the best solution and ultimately satisfy your customers needs?
You may have noticed but if not you have been collecting a lot of data, this is data you must store and have access to at any time during the sales process. When the customer contacts you or the company, all sales personnel need access to reference this information to provide the best service. Most importantly you need this information when you perform the most underutilised step in opportunity management, follow up!
Sales Time Management and Planning
Following up opportunities is the least performed step by sales personnel, over time this has gotten progressive worst as sales teams have to do more with less. One of the reasons for this is it requires planning, CRM software is best tool for programming or automating follow up tasks. You can access, and review data including all interactions and confidently contact a customer at the optimal time in the purchase process.
Yes you need a CRM
A CRM is a competitive advantage in a highly competitive sales environment, if you haven’t invested in a CRM you are competitively disadvantaged. If you currently have CRM software that isn’t delivering the desired outcomes Contact Us to discuss 2iB Sales CRM and realise real benefits.
You Need a CRM to create and support a repeatable sales process
You need a CRM to look into the future and predict forward sales
You need a CRM to reduce the risk of sales team turn over
Your team needs a CRM to effectively manage their opportunities, accounts and actvities
If you need a CRM that will adapt to your business needs check out 2iB Sales CRM
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