Best CRM – What is the best CRM for your business?
In this day and age, every business is asking which one is the best. The truth of the matter is that it really depends on you, your staff and your business. Implementing a CRM system is a tremendous undertaking; the technical implementation as well as the modifications to your business’ process and procedures. You throw in training your staff, and the task can seem extremely daunting.
With the size of the task at hand, you may ask yourself is it really worth it? I mean, you have been conducting business just fine for all these years without one, right? Well similar things were said about computers when they invaded the corporate space. The benefits of CRM are not instantaneous, they build over time, but the value is absolutely tremendous.
When thinking of a CRM whether its Salesforce, Sage, or ACT, you need to think of it as the production line for your business or its specific sales department. It helps automate your processes and procedures as well as gives you metrics and information like you have never had before. Every business needs to think of it in those terms, a production line. Can your business afford to not have a sales production line, while your competitors do?
With that in mind, we love CRM and wanted to take this opportunity to give some advice on picking the appropriate one and some tips on properly implementing one.
- List your main objectives: CRMs will do everything, but that can make the task seem even more daunting on implementation, so make a list. Make a list of the 5 or 6 things you would like to accomplish with your CRM system. Make them count! So chose the most important ones to your business.
- One size does not fit all: If you meet with an organization and they are solely dedicated to one CRM and will only recommend one in particular or recommends a CRM for your business without understanding how you or your sales team operates, immediately run for the hills. How can they know what type of production line to use, when they don’t know what you are producing? Choosing a CRM blindly is almost always destined for failure.
- Internal Hero: Inside your organization it’s always a good idea to choose 1 or 2 staff members who will be the internal heroes that can answer basic questions for your staff. Usually these are the most tech savvy users in your organization.
- Training: When your staff is being trained keep that list handy you made early on. That list will keep you on task in efforts to keeping your goals clear and top of mind.
- Most Failures: Most CRM implementation failures happen when the training wheels are still on. The fear of completely changing certain process and procedures combined with employee training hurdles can be so overwhelming that the towel gets tossed in. The fear may seem great, but if you hang in there the rewards are amazing.
- Cut the cord: At one point you will have to cut the cord on your other systems and allow your staff to function in the new environment. This is never comfortable at first, but users learn and adapt much faster in a live environment.
While this article by no means covers it all, we would love the opportunity to discuss CRM with you further. Fuse prides itself on CRM implementation and installations. We have experience in Salesforce implementation and salesforce consulting along with a vast amount of other CRM systems. When it comes to CRM consulting in Michigan, we have you covered!
