A well-implemented CRM can be a force multiplier to any sales team by qualifying and prioritizing opportunities in the pipeline while ensuring follow-ups don’t fall through the cracks. It’s no wonder why so many companies embrace them.
While most executives are keen on using a CRM system, it can be difficult to convince their teams to break old habits. The biggest challenge that leadership faces is getting their staff to use a new CRM consistently and to its fullest potential.
We’re here to demystify why teams are resistant to new systems and shed some light on how to improve adoption rates.
Help your team understand “why”.
It can be difficult to encourage your team to change up processes. After all, many live by the old saying, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” However, in today’s business landscape, inefficiencies can lead to lost revenue. Customers expect a great experience, period. Inefficient processes and poor data tracking can mean a prospect goes with a competitor who delivers a better customer journey.
Consider the challenges your team faces when selling. Do they have trouble remembering to follow up? Are having trouble tracking the full customer lifecycle? Maybe their notepad of leads isn’t the best way to store customer data? Whatever it is, indicate how a CRM can provide solutions to these challenges to highlight their value with your team. A well-implemented CRM can offer time-saving (and revenue-generating) solutions to some of the most common sales headaches.
Solve for your team’s challenges.
Once you gain an understanding of the common challenges your team faces, you can begin to establish requirements to ensure the proper CRM is chosen. Your employees will use this tool every day. Building your CRM to meet their needs, as well as your organization’s process, is critical to successful adoption.
Your team is the best resource for feedback and suggestions to create your ideal CRM. A clunky system that misses the mark on your team’s needs is one that is at risk for low adoption rates.
Designate your CRM Champion.
No efficient CRM implementation can be done without a great project manager. Whether you hire a consultant or have someone knowledgeable on your team, it’s imperative to have one person lead implementation and support adoption. It will be easier to convince your team to utilize the CRM if there is a resource available to support learning the capabilities of the system and troubleshoot any CRM-related issues.
Stick to the plan.
Your team should begin to use your CRM with a clear understanding of its purpose, as well as their role in its use and upkeep. Ineffective use can reduce the value of the entire tool, leading to failures in follow-up on scheduled tasks or mismanagement of customer relationships.
Start with a plan that is rooted in process and follow it up with a series of easily manageable and measurable tasks for your team. With a defined process that is structured around revenue goals, your sales cycle may need to be reconfigured to reach those goals efficiently. Be sure your team understands the re-engineered process and the role they play in upholding that process.
Empower employees with training.
New technology can be discouraging to some users. Your team is diverse, and so are their training needs when it comes to the implementation of a new tool. Arranging training sessions is a critical element to successful user adoption. Organize these introductory sessions for all employees who will interact with the system. Remember, every touchpoint to the system is imperative to a successful sales process. Doing so ensures that everyone is appropriately trained and aligned on the various features of the CRM.
Lessen your sales team’s workload with automations.
Change can be met with resistance from your sales team, especially when it comes to implementing a new software platform that upends processes. When it comes to CRMs, sales people fear the “extra work” of data entry and tracking. Rest assured, this time spent is a small price to pay for how efficiently a well-maintained CRM can automate their workload.
Depending on the industry, salespeople may be able to handle some or all of their non-specialized work, including repetitive tasks. There are plenty of ways that a new CRM can help streamline work. Combining CRM usage with administrative tasks through automation will allow salespeople to spend more time on client-facing activities. This step can help identify a salesperson’s day-to-day activities and goals.
Provide guidance through a step-by-step process.
Properly implemented CRM software can help improve the efficiency of processes and provide an overall better customer experience. Once the CRM is implemented, be sure to train your sales team on the essential activities that should be adopted, such as logging daily visits, calls, and emails.
Once the basics are mastered, start training on additional features. Having open dialogue with the sales team allows for a better understanding of their challenges with the CRM. Be sure to provide solutions for these challenges to ease frustration and increase user adoption. When sales reps are involved in developing your CRM, they’ll be more comfortable and inclined to utilize the tool.
Motivate your people to use your CRM actively.
Rewarding salespeople for using your CRM can motivate them and showcase their value. The goal is to incentivize active engagement and best efforts to get the job done. Set a goal that everyone in your team can reach. Then, provide perks to help them achieve this target.
Don’t let your customers get bogged down by the old ways of doing business. Instead, encourage sales and marketing teams to adopt the CRM wholeheartedly. Creating a positive environment for the team while implementing a CRM solution is key to driving adoption rates.
Suppose you are having difficulties with implementing a new CRM. We provide services to customize it to fit your business and provide guidance and training so you can achieve a 100% sales user adoption rate. Reach out to us!
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