Want your sales team to use CRM?
Make sure the solution helps them perform their work more effectively.
Does this sound familiar?
“Our first attempt at deploying a CRM was not a success. Adoption by our sales team was very poor. They did not understand the value it would bring to them. They saw this as a reporting tool for management. As a company, we were just not getting any value from this investment.”
Recently, I attended the Applied AI for Distributors conference, and sentiments like this were common. Distribution leaders are frustrated with CRM in their organizations, and they feel sales teams aren’t embracing it.
I understand their frustration and their eagerness to successfully incorporate CRM. I also appreciate their team’s hesitation. Failed CRM implementations have let many down in the past.
For a CRM to be successful, it needs buy-in right from the start.
But how do you sell the idea of a CRM project to a team that’s been burned before? You bring them in at the start of the project.
A CRM project needs a CEO
Before interviewing CRM vendors or rebooting an existing system, don’t skip this next crucial step.
Designate a point person in charge of the CRM implementation. I call this person the CEO for CRM. They should be a well-respected sales leader who understands the sales process and their team.
A true CEO for CRM would need permission to allocate a significant amount of their time to make sure the CRM meets the business’s needs, manage the change and ensure it becomes more than just a task that burdens the team. Some of the companies we work with have started calling this role the Sales Excellence Manager.
Either way, this CRM champion must be given space, time and authority to devote to the project. The CEO for CRM is the linchpin to a successful CRM program.
But there’s another critical component: Your sales team, your top guns.
Involve key people from sales, marketing and customer service early in the system design and selection process. They are your Super Users and have been working for you for a long time; they are good at what they do and have the respect of their teammates.
They understand your company’s internal sales processes and culture. Involve them in a detailed audit of your sales process to uncover inefficiencies and gaps. Have them sit in on CRM vendor demonstrations. Encourage them to provide active feedback.
By bringing them in early in the process, they can help you choose and design a CRM solution that works for the sales team. A solution that prioritizes leads, manages follow-ups, and helps them stay organized.
Give them the chance to believe in the capabilities of CRM and what it can do for them.
Focus on no more than five priorities
CRM should not be a roadblock to your team’s success. It’s a tool meant to improve the daily workflow of your team, spotlight opportunities and address gaps in the sales process.
These gaps, uncovered through a detailed audit of your sales process, are areas of inefficiency that CRM can improve. When addressed, it can have a profoundly positive impact on team morale and profitability. However, the sheer number of inefficiencies you’ll find can be overwhelming.
That’s why I encourage leaders to focus on five or fewer priorities at the start, what I refer to as the one-hand rule, to prevent unnecessary stress on your team.
One way to help your team trust CRM is to show quick wins. Did CRM solve any of these areas of inefficiency in the first 30 or 60 days? Does your team see any improvement in their roles?
Another way to ensure buy-in is to train your team on how to use CRM specifically for their job functions. I recommend ongoing coaching sessions that extend beyond the launch phase. These coaching sessions are opportunities for your team to provide feedback and requests for improvements as they begin to use it daily.
Lastly, to encourage CRM adoption, it shouldn’t be viewed as a technology project with a start and end date. It’s a living, breathing part of your sales process and requires ongoing attention and adjustments from time to time.
A CRM success story
Remember the statement I shared earlier? The example of frustration I’ve heard from business leaders that they weren’t getting value from their CRM.
That was an actual quote from a client of mine when he came to me for help. During our time together, we took a ground-up approach and reevaluated the way we introduced CRM to his team.
He realized the importance of having a CRM champion to oversee the implementation. He understood why his team needed to be involved from the beginning. He communicated the “Why” behind CRM and encouraged his team to share their thoughts freely.
He realized CRM could be a long-term strategic tool for their team if the company and his people believed in what CRM could do.
The result? They’re yielding the benefits of greater sales effectiveness and productivity.
Here’s what he learned during the process:
“As a CEO for CRM, my primary role was to listen to the team’s concerns to ease the uncertainties, demonstrate what’s-in-it-for-them and how it will increase their chance to achieve and surpass their objectives, and make the CRM as user-friendly as possible for all. Today, our salespeople cannot live without it.”
Your team doesn’t hate CRM. They hate CRMs that don’t deliver. For CRM to be effective, it has to work for your sales team. Getting your Super Users involved early on will not only ensure your CRM solution aligns with your company goals, but their buy-in will also build trust company-wide.
I’ll be presenting on DSG’s “State of Distributor Sales: Best Practices to Compete in a Changing Market” on Aug. 6. Register for that webinar here.
Brian Gardner, the founder of SalesProcess360, is the author of CEO for CRM: Your Roadmap for CRM Success, a guide to putting the right people and processes in place for long-term CRM adoption. Brian served as a sales manager for a major regional industrial distribution rep company for 15 years before building Selltis, an industrial sales team CRM solution with roots in process improvement. He took his passion for sales process improvement to the speaking and coaching world with SalesProcess360. He is also a frequent guest speaker on CRM at Texas A&M University’s Industrial Distribution department and the LSU Professional Sales Institute. Reach him at brian.gardner@salesprocess360.com.