So, you think the answer to your sales problems is a CRM system do you?

Popular propaganda from many under-performing sales people is that their lack of sales success can be traced back directly to the absence of an effective customer relationship management system.  Somehow, the illusion that a piece of software will help to convert more business and develop customer relationships has been perpetuated to such an extent that we’ve seen sales operations cease vital parts of the sales process whilst they wait for that ‘holy grail’ – the software that will do their jobs for them.  

The irony is, of course, that if this were true, we could fire our entire sales force and just input lots of good data and quote some competitive prices when the phone rings – which it will of course - because your CRM system somehow makes it so.....

CRM systems have their place – of course they do. As an efficient method of capturing and sharing vital factual account information, they play a part in the process of protecting customers from competitor attack. But without the right customer strategy, sales process and the ability to proactively use this captured data, any desire to manage customer relationships more effectively remains firmly on a Sales Director’s ‘wish list’.

In the absence of a clear sales process which identifies the value of CRM, sales people will often view it as no more than a tool for monitoring their activity. As salespeople hate to be controlled, we must make the process mandatory or run the serious risk of our CRM system being resisted and frustration taking hold across the entire organisation.

Without the ability to obtain appointments at the right level, deploy first class selling skills, and build customer loyalty, a CRM system is simply a repository for historical account data. Linkage between customer strategy and our ability to identify, and quantify, the customer’s needs and wants for our value-added propositions in direct relation to that strategy is what will ultimately develop sales for our organisation.

If you’re looking for the ‘holy grail’ of selling operations, and need to get sales fast, talk to your Salespunch™ coach to arrange a no-obligation exploratory conversation, followed up in writing to add-value to your thought process regarding the real sales issues facing your business and the various ways you might address them.