A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform helps companies optimize their sales pipeline. For many, it’s just a rolodex of clients. For others, it’s a communication tool. Salesforce calls their CRM the ‘business nerve center’, which conveniently places Salesforce at the center of any conversation. Respectfully, I disagree.
I liken the CRM to an expensive blender, with sleek controls and top-tier features. After you read the manual and get acquainted with the settings, it will do almost anything you want as long as you have the right ingredients. Without these crucial inputs, you’re not going to get anything delicious out of it.
So why are we focusing so much on the CRM and not on the tools that make the CRM usable? The logical answer, of course, is because CRMs are a huge investment – monetarily and in terms of labour hours. Everything else is considered as an add-on, easily replaceable. I want to tell you right now that this perspective is wrong.
Your CRM needs great inputs to do its job
Last week I spoke with a consultant whose job is to customize Salesforce for his clients. The number one complaint he hears is always about data entry.
Getting data into the CRM is annoying and time-consuming; keeping the system updated company-wide is near impossible. The CRM platform is really a tool for upper management to keep track of quotas; no one thinks of the salesperson who actually has to work within it.
Sales must constantly decide whether they want to spend more time selling or inputting data and they more often choose the former. The cost is incomplete information – ie. lost sales!
According to Hubspot’s survey of CRM users, most companies are only somewhat confident in their data completeness. So why not make it easier for your salespeople to overcome this problem?
Let your salespeople focus on sales
At Blitzen, we use a combination of tools for our CRM needs: Pipedrive to keep track of the sales process, Helpscout to manage customer communication, and Blitzen for lead capture.
Since Blitzen is integrated with Pipedrive, we don’t need to input data directly into Pipedrive. This is helpful in two scenarios:
1. Lead capture via form
Whenever a form entry with contact data is submitted, the information is routed to Pipedrive.
Besides the instant data update, the integration allows a new deal, contact, or organization to be created instantly. It’s like adding fruits to your smoothie.
2. Lead capture via sales script
When our sales team is on a call with a prospect, answers to sales questions are entered into a Blitzen form. The data entry is instant and complete. Our team can even keep hustling on the road since Blitzen works on phones or tablet. Instead of entering into the CRM labyrinth, they fill out one form and the data is routed to where they need it.
Simply automating data entry saves us 20 clicks and 7 page loads on each entry. Efficiency is awesome but even more importantly, it keeps our sales team happy!
Whatever tool you choose to use, consider this before you settle on a CRM: the quality of data inputs are just as important as the CRM itself.
