Getting your very first easy to use CRM software is a lot like getting your first automobile. You just cannot hop into it and go speeding around, you have to get a license plate first, buy insurance, buckle up your seat belt, adjust your rear mirror, check the controls and so on. Similarly, there are certain preparations you need to do before diving into a brand new company-wide software platform, which is your gateway for generating better sales volume by nurturing enhanced customer relationships.
CRM software returns an average of $5.60 for every dollar spent. Click To TweetSmall business CRMs are in vogue among SMEs, to put it mildly. In a recent CSO Insights research study, it has been found that 80% of sales organizations in small and medium businesses are now using best small business CRM software, which is nearly double the adoption rate that was a decade before. However, easy to use CRM usage does not just end with sales. Innumerable other verticals and niche markets from customer service to car wash companies are also adopting CRMs to track and manage their customer relationships.
Nevertheless, there yet remains a widely held belief that CRM initiatives are plagued by instability. If you look into the web, you will easily find that analysts quote precipitous fail rates for CRM software, which is as high as 68% in certain instances. Although these statistical findings are somewhat based on thin evidence, even partial accuracy would be a cause for such an alarm.
However, the truth be told, there are more than a few opportunities between purchasing a new easy to use CRM software and achieving successful returns on your investment.
So, how do you protect your investment in your best small business CRM software?
To do this, you need to create an environment that optimizes the value of your new customer relationship management system through impeccable preparation, effective use, and precise performance measurement of your CRM data.
For this do not forget to do these six most essential things before make your CRM go live in your business establishment.
#01. Consider the alternatives
Maybe you have already selected a specific brand for you are confident that it is the best small business CRM in the market. One that is ideal for your needs. Still, as a rain check, never sign a contract until you have considered other easy to use CRM solutions. The CRM market is notoriously competitive, which implies for every “best of breed” options, you are likely to find one or two more online lead management software systems with similar features and pricing.
#02. Create executive buy-in
Getting your leadership team on board with the new customer information database software or your CRM can have a great impact on its long-term success. However, it necessarily does not just mean getting your CFO to sign off on the purchase. What we mean over here is that you must sit down with your future stakeholders (CMO, Director of Sales, CIO/CTO, etc.) and let all of them unanimously agree on the business need for your new CRM and accept your game plan for the project.
According to us, the ideal way to build a business case is by showing your executives the value your best small and medium business CRM software will add to their respective departments.
For an example, best small business CRM is obviously a financial incentive, as it is a known fact that CRM software returns an average of $5.60 for every dollar spent.
#03. Negotiate a safe contract
Whether you are selecting an on-premise or an easy to use cloud-based CRM like ConvergeHub, most vendors will be willing to compromise on certain points. Your contact with the CRM company will serve as a map for your future and ongoing relationship with the vendor. Therefore, it is most important that you must read the fine prints on fees and pricing, CRM data ownership, renewal terms, updates and security measures laid by the vendor of your easy to use CRM. In case you find anything that unfairly favors the vendor, lay down your concerns. You should also ask for a copy of the SLA (Service Level Agreement), as the SLA will define your expectations for support and performance of your purchased system.
#04. Train your employees
End-user adoption is one of the most widespread and most exasperating reasons for the failure to launch a CRM initiative. According to a study done by Forrester, it has been revealed that 22% of the CRM adoption problems arise because of slow user adoption, unsuccessful training, and for challenges which lie in adapting to the new workflow. Therefore, your easy to use CRM software training program should focus on the value gains (e.g. automation, time saving features) of the new system. The length of the application training should be determined and measured by the CRM system’s complexity.
#05. Customize the software
Although a formal training is truly a top-down approach for proper adoption of your best small and medium business CRM software, however, you can balance the scales also by taking a bottom-up approach for the implementation of your online lead management software.
In other words, customize your new CRM software to match the user’s preferences. For example, is there a specific pipeline procedure your sales teams prefer? If it is so, recreate the process in your new easy to use CRM software.
Another important aspect of customization includes creating role-based access controls and integrating any third party programs (like QuickBooks Online for accounting, Dropbox for file sharing etc.) through the CRM provider’s API. All critical integrations should be set up and made alive before your CRM goes online.
#06. Establish a framework for evaluating ROI
The only assured way to find whether your easy to use customer information database software is failing is to carefully track the ROI (net gain as a percent of the overall cost). This is exactly where most businesses feel uncomfortable, as “cost” is much more complicated than the CRM’s price tag, and “net gain” is much more complex than revenue.
Therefore establish a baseline before your CRM implementation and then compare the new data against the previous baseline.
Here are some metrics that you should consider while doing your calculations:
Total Cost
Net Gain
Takeaway
Setting up your first easy to use CRM software system can seem to be a daunting task, but this process depends more on the scale of your business’s needs than on any inherent complexity of your best small and medium business CRM software.
In fact, if your small business deploys a cloud-based CRM like ConvergeHub, it can be up and run in less than a day.
Just keep it in your mind, that the more planned your strategies are on the front end, the more value you will get out of your customer information database software on the back end.
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