CRM Success Is Reduced To The Saleperson’s Acceptance: How Have You Done It And Lived?
This SLMA Blog will be dedicated to asking and seeking the answers to difficult questions. We will challenge you to step up and provide answers, tips and insight to controversial issues.
Our first discussion is: How do you get salespeople to cooperate with a CRM installation? Everybody talks big on the subject but not everyone can deliver.
No matter what software companies use, installed or SaaS; no matter what it is called, CRM, Contact Management, Sales Force Automation or Marketing Automation (everyone says they are a CRM solution), without the full cooperation of the salespeople using it, you will fail.
Many years ago I helped my sales manager make every typical mistake in the introduction of an SFA system. We failed miserably. We were rejected by our 40 salespeople in a medical device company. We did inadequate training on the new computers and even less on the software. We talked big, demanded cooperation, threatened, begged, whined and failed.
Today, we know we have to train; we start and end with "what’s in it for them." But even now I see companies make the same mistakes I made 20 years ago. Just a short time ago I saw a company president take it upon himself to design the process for their CRM system. He created the sales stages (forgot to ask the salespeople how they sold). It didn’t fail completely, but he admitted his mistakes and eventually made several significant changes before the salespeople accepted his version of the sales world. It was a rough start and delayed real implementation by 3-4 months.
My challenge to you is: how do you introduce a new CRM system to your salespeople and do it successfully? Give us the short version. Break it down into the six steps of a successful CRM introduction. How can a company do it? Have you done it successfully?
Our company, LEADTRACK Software, sells a component of CRM. Rather than position ourselves as an organization wide “do all and end all” CRM solution we concentrate on the front end or sales lead management part. After all, it is the sales lead that starts the process. Once the sales lead is worked and converted to a customer our system will hand off to any CRM system.
With decades of experience implementing lead management programs we can claim some very successful programs as well as a number of total busts. The successful programs had all or most of the elements outlined here.
1. Management Commitment
The lead management program or CRM system need to be endorsed by the most senior management. This will ensure everyone below, knowing it is the boss’ hot button; will be open to trying to make it work.
2. Collaboration
Don’t design the program in a vacuum. Get marketing, sales, accounting and human resources to sign off before you launch. “Not invented here” syndrome will always exist. Do your best to minimize its impact.
3. Simplicity
If it isn’t easy to use they won’t use it-period. Don’t turn your valuable sales reps into administrators or programmers. The simpler the program the more likely they will be to use it.
4. Pre Qualify
Make sure you don’t send the field junk. If they receive leads they consider garbage they will quickly lose faith in the entire program. Simple prequalification and lead scoring will go a long way to ensure buy in.
5. Inspect What You Expect
Make the entire organization accountable. Simple reports will provide the organization with a snap shot of what is happening with leads and what programs work and those that need to be improved.
6. Celebrate Success
Catch somebody doing something right and make a big deal of it. To get acceptance from the sales organization make it worth their while. Sell them on the obvious benefits of more sales, higher commissions and improved time management. In addition offer spiffs like gift certificates or even travel awards.
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My experience has been that companies don't engage the end users when designing the system. They may engage senior management within the various departments, but not the salespeople or the customer service reps who will actually be using the system.
I have three simple rules. Unfortunately, they aren't quite so simple to implement:
1. Allow every end user to have their input into the system. Obviously, not every idea or suggestion can or will be used, but giving them the opportunity to participate gives them a feeling at least that the system is being designed for them. In addition, you get some great insights from the real world.
2. Rather than starting with the idea of 'this is want we want the system to do, now how do we get people to do it,' start with what the individuals involved actually need and work from there. Then make sure that every end user understands how the system is going improve THEIR sales, make their job easier, increase their income. It has to be personal--one-on-one to get real buy-in.
3. Train beyond the 'how to' of the system. Certainly, everyone must be trained on how to use the system, but that is where most companies stop. They must go beyond that to individual training and coaching of salespeople to train them how to get the promised benefits from the system. They must actively cater to the user's needs, not just show them how to input the data and print a page.
The biggest issue isn't the technology, of course, it is the humans using it. And the biggest issue there is not just telling the user how it will help them make more money or make their life easier, they have to train them on how to use the product to do just that--and hardly anyone does that.
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