Having a CRM tool is a big part of businesses today. Knowing how to lead with the tool is an important piece of having success with the tool. It’s never a good idea to just have it be a virtual rolodex for your teams; this leads to poor data integrity and low user adoption.
Define clear expectations. Make sure that each user of CRM knows what they are expected to do in CRM – how and when to do it. Help them with the big picture, too, by letting them know why and how this data is used. A great example would be letting the sales team know what marketing is doing with the information. When they understand that the more information they input, the more marketing can turn it into qualified leads and more sales, then everyone is happy!
Define a process. Above, we mentioned making sure your team knows how to do things in CRM. An easy way to accomplish this is with a process for each piece of the CRM. Lead Management, Opportunity Management, Activity Management, etc., are all things you should have defined. When you have a process that includes data segmentation, it allows for clear reporting.
Make the process necessary to do business functions. Once you have your process mapped out, make sure it is woven into your business functions. This increases user adoption and a greater respect company wide when they everyone is using it to its full potential.
Show how it improves the user’s job. A big part of growing your user adoption is to show the benefits of using CRM. Show how it can create efficiencies that leads to more sales. When an effective sales process is followed in CRM with reminders for follow ups and deadlines, nothing falls through the cracks. Keeping up on Contact and Lead data arms your sales team with knowledge that makes them stand out. Marketing can generate better Leads that convert more when they know what sources pay off. Leadership can make faster, more informed decisions when data and analytics are visible to all departments. All these are just some of the benefits to users that make CRM a valuable tool.
Tie it to compensation/goals for the sales team. One more layer of added incentive is rewarding power users. The easiest way to do this is to have a quote-to-sales order process built into your CRM. This way the team has to utilize CRM in order to generate sales and get paid. Better yet, give a bonus to power users of CRM as an added incentive.
Lead by example. Not only should you as a leader be using the CRM, but you should lead with it. Meaning, having accountability to users using it. Following the tips above helps this along, especially a process. Running sales meetings in CRM, creating leadership dashboards, and integrating all your software are just some other considerations that drives user adoption.
Related blogs: User Adoption and Lead a Better Sales Meeting
Connect with a Simplesoft Consultant at 937-885-1204 or support@simplesoft.net.
Simplesoft Solutions, Inc. is a customer relationship management (CRM) business consulting and software development firm in Cincinnati/Dayton OH surrounding areas. We provide implementation, integration, development and training for Infor CRM. We have built our business on an ability to creatively adapt CRM to meet the varying needs of our customers’ businesses. We have been helping our customers develop stronger relationships with their customers through improved sales, marketing, customer service, and support processes since 1994.
