When used correctly, a CRM system will greatly enhance your business. On the other hand, fail to invest your time in using your solution to its full potential, and you’re essentially throwing money down the drain.
With the CRM market full of various options, getting over the first hurdle and purchasing a solution can be overwhelming, and that’s before you’ve even started using the software. However, before you have a tech meltdown; read our tips from DMC Software to avoid making these common mistakes.
Investing in the Wrong Solution
There are hundreds of different CRM solutions to choose from, which can make it difficult to choose and find the right software type for your business needs. While you may find a solution which fits your business perfectly now, consider the future needs of your business as well.
You want to ensure you have a CRM system that can grow and evolve alongside your business. Depending on the business you operate, suppliers and/or customers are critical to its success, therefore maintaining that relationship at all times is of absolute importance.
A good CRM supplier will carry out the correct due diligence to make sure your investment isn’t one that comes with a best before date.
Not Placing CRM at your Businesses Core
CRM isn’t, and most importantly shouldn’t, simply be the role of one dedicated person. Don’t let your CRM investment die as soon as it’s been implemented by not properly educating all team members on not just how to use the system, but also how it impacts the business too. You want your team to be fully invested in using the CRM to its full potential, so explaining to them how it benefits them and customers can help to motivate them to do so.
However, having said that, all employees should be advocates of a CRM system, you will need to put in place key members of staff to manage the whole system overall. No overall leader can result in something not being used to its full potential; your elected leader should be the fountain of knowledge when it comes to managing relationships.
A business who place CRM at the heart of its operation, is one which will reap all the benefits it has to offer.
Overcomplicating the System
If you want your CRM adoption to be widespread throughout the business, with a focus on the impact it has on your overall success, then avoid overcomplicating the system. While you want a CRM solution which you can customise to your business needs, too much customisation can lead to your system to becoming too complicated to use – leading to poor results.
If your designated project manager has identified the needs of your business correctly, then there should be no need for things to become complicated to use. Any team member who will come directly into contact with the CRM system should create a wish list of their requirements. Following
on from this you can then begin to identify common threads across teams and build a platform which adheres to everyone’s needs.
Lack of Education
We’ve already mentioned how CRM should be placed at your businesses core, but it’s only going to be adopted throughout the company if you’ve provided employees with the right tools and knowledge to do so.
For the business to see the positive impact a CRM system can have, then from the start you need to enforce its proper use. You should focus on considering how the data you input will be used, and how poorly inputted data will affect the team and the business. Poor data leads to poor customer relationships, which leads to poor customer retention and ultimately missed targets and lost revenue. Educate from the start on how the CRM should be used and provide a uniformed way of data entry.
Not Enforcing Its Use
It’s no good starting with the best intentions of using the CRM system, to fast forwarding to a few months down the line and not using your CRM investment at all. Reinforce it’s use throughout all areas of the business and don’t forget to lead by example either. From managers through to administrators, a well maintained CRM will be able to tell you everything you need to know about customer interactions and the day to day running of the business.
Learning never stops, so never underestimate the power of training and development. Tech is fast paced and what may be in fashion one day, is soon outdated the next. As soon as you implement the CRM system – questions will soon arise and problems needed to be solved. Training should never be seen as ‘done’ and your CRM manager should be in charge of ensuring all team members are kept up to date on any updates.
No Personalisation
You need to remember why you invested in a CRM solution in the first place; to improve customer relations and retention. Therefore, it’s essential that you don’t see your system as a one size fits all piece of kit, and focus on providing a personalised service to your customers.
The whole point of investing in a CRM is to enable you to understand more about customers who are buying your products or services and improve your relations with them. A scattergun approach to your communications will leave you with poor results, so use your CRM system to focus on the personal touch.
Investing time and effort into using your CRM to its full capacity and potential will help you to foster better customer relations and improve the way your business operates. Ultimately, leading to a more prosperous and profitable business.
