CRM/SFA: coming to (all of) your business in 2010?

I think there are a few barriers that have kept many SMBs from implementing a comprehensive CRM strategy. One is push-back from sales people who don't like the perceived regimentation of a company-wide system, don't want to share their databases, and don't want to have to spend time entering data. Another is cost. And, yet another is the need to commit resources and time to training and nurturing adoption.

Now that applications have gotten more intuitive, salespeople have realized they can make more $$ using a CRM strategy, and hopefully, support and training are better, SMBs are ready to embrace this technology company-wide. I think we're going to see more enthusiastic adoption in 2010 and the paper scraps will blow to the wayside.

The next challenge is integrating email marketing, social media marketing, and CRM in a logical and cost-effective way. We're working on that! ;)

CRM/SFA for SMB's must be close to their daily operation. No high level CRM strategies or abstract customer intimacy concepts. To my opinion, company owners are open for ideas that can really generate more business/revenue. And getting the sales team doing the right things!. In general, that's tough because they lack discipline and -react to customers- instead of -respond to customers- pro-actively. CRM is about managing customers information, not customers behaviour. Whereas it can help SMB owners manage their sales team's behaviour. Besides CRM, and the behaviour, work on the attitude of the team. Confronting them with the information they (!) laid down in CRM could make the difference. Make CRM adoption for sales people easy and simple.

One of the most powerful new features to enhance CRM adoption is VoIP-CRM integration; log dynamic realtime customer phone interaction into your CRM, add notes to phone calls and easily route calls, with all relevant info, to the account managers or service engineers. Large enterprise CRM's offer similar functionality. But now you can get this solution for prices where the ROI is quickly justified! Think of SugarCRM and the plug-in Liz.

VOIP, IM, and ISC's seem to be the only sales tools pullling their own weight in the 'new economy'.

'Off the Rack' CRM tools have a big problem in the SMB space. They are repetitive tools - and any time there is repetition, there is learning. Unfortunately CRM is a tool where people are accidentally learning to sell badly. This is why Pipeline Manager, currently available only on Salesforce.com has gotten so hot this year. It's the first tool that gives Sales Managers what they need to improve the skills on their team. Even in a down economy, if reps and managers are at least getting better at what we do, the team going to stay motivated.

Microsoft CRM integrated with Internet information research tools to automatically mine business contact information for sales and marketing prospecting.

By using an online CRM that's customized to fit our unique business processes, we've been able to make our sales people more efficient and effective and to measure the return on each of our marketing channels thereby targeting marketing spending at the most profitable channels and increasing the close rate of our existing sales staff.

We're going to do more of that in 2010 by implementing more "attraction marketing" initiatives, creating automated drip email campaigns that nurture leads so that the sales team can focus on the hottest leads.

BTW - the online CRM we use is www.salesnexus.com ;-)

Those SMB's that have issues such as many sales people to manage, high volumes of leads to cope with and or sales quality issues do buy into CRM/SFA. The trick to implement good quality solutions is to ask everyone involved what they want out of it, from business owners downwards and pay special attention to those that have to use it day in day out. Buy-in across the board is essential and a continuous effort prior, during and after the implementation.

The number of times I see CRM solutions perfectly tailored and then left to rot is amazing. Worse still, are the many tens of thousands some SMEs pay for branded CRM solutions that so called IT / CRM guru's have recommended. These guys are true rip-off merchants and recommended solutions to maximize their own consulting and services revenues.

Diamonds Software, are different. We started with the premise to avoid CRM and IT guru's and in doing so recognized the need to provide absolute adaptability and easy enough for anyone to configure. It's one thing being easy, but speed is also crucial.

What we have achieved is fantastic and special. The business never has to rely on CRM or IT guru's to change or add new process(es). It easy and fast enough for anyone to do without loosing interest. In addition we offer them greater power and capability than they can get with the biggest of the big brands all at a price which is fair and attractive.

What I think will happen in the SMB market is more emphasis on extensions for each industry and or cross industry sector that equally can be tailored for detailed needs and wants with ease and speed, without comprise.

Jeff Goddard
Diamonds Software
www.diamonds-software.com

Here's hoping that SMB enterprises - looking to 'do more with what they have' - will focus less on the technology as a silver bullet, and more on clarifying what their internal process will be around the tools they already have and then committing to appropriate, ongoing training.

One CRM/SFA feature small business owners and managers really appreciate, when it's explained to them, is customer information retention when salespeople leave. Those sales jockeys who use their own system, even if a PC-based CRM like ACT, take away the entire body of knowledge about their customers when they leave. Small businesses with CRM systems, either hosted outside or inside, retain every bit of customer information regardless of what happens when the sales person moves on.