Why Your Sales Team Isn’t Using the New CRM

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution has become an essential tool in the business toolkit. It can accelerate your sales and cement your relationship with customers. So, why hasn’t your sales team jumped in feet first? Most CRM projects fail because of an issue in the organizational structure instead of a technological failure.

CRM is most effective when adopted properly by everyone. You need to get all of your employees on board, and to do so, you need to understand their hesitations with the system. Once you have an understanding, you can then work on improving your organization’s CRM adoption.

Here are some reasons why they may not want to come on board:

They Don’t Know How to Use It

Any new technology, no matter what it is or how easy it is to use, has a learning curve. It is important to give your teams the education they need to use the software effectively. To do that, invest in proper training so that your employees have the knowledge they need to use the system effectively.

Often times the sales team can view a CRM as a tool for management that is a roadblock to them completing their tasks. Training and education can help them to fully understand how they can make their jobs easier. Make sure that the training relates to their sales process so that they can see how it can be applied to their typical day.

The CRM Isn’t Aligned Properly With the Sales Process

Sometimes even when your sales team knows how to use the CRM, they still will not, and that’s because it does not match their sales process. A lot of CRM solutions come with pre-set processes and functions that may not match up with your sales teams’ existing workflow. Furthermore, each salesperson may have a specific way of doing things, so pre-sets become a big blockade.

Therefore, to remedy this, make sure you choose a CRM that is both flexible and customizable. You need to be able to adapt your CRM to your company’s processes, and it must be flexible enough to assist each salesperson in their own individual way of working.

The Data Stored in the CRM Isn’t Useful

When it comes to CRM’s usefulness, the relevance of the data it stores and provides is key. Bad and outdated data can cause mistakes, discouraging your sales team from using the CRM system. If your salespeople do not trust your CRM system, they will not use it.

However, to maintain your CRM’s integrity, ensure data is cleaned regularly, implement features to standardize your data, and use data duplication removal tools. Look into assigning a CRM manager to ensure that the system’s data is up-to-date, relevant and of high quality.

Conclusion

The bottom line is that CRM effectiveness comes down to communication. Get your team on board by starting the conversation and creating an atmosphere where your team isn’t afraid to ask questions and get educated. This will help you reap all of the benefits of CRM and propel your business toward success. If you are looking for technology and business process improvement to help you propel your business toward success, contact us today!