Matthew Ranger, Head of Sales, Maximizer Software EMEA
It’s a demanding job being a sales manager.
These days the job not only requires natural sales ability, people management skills and solutions expertise, but also strong experience with a powerful CRM system, which helps reach a variety of prospects, customers and influencers across multiple channels.
The job becomes even harder when the system is potentially under-performing.
With technology becoming faster, software updates more frequent and the move to the Cloud, sales managers need to look closely at their system to analyse which aspects work as well as they should.
Here are five areas a sales manager can explore, which will signal whether or not their CRM system is failing and if so, in need of rapid re-evaluation:
1. Preferred user system
A good sales manager should be able to understand which staff use which piece of software to create regular documents and reports. Warning bells should go off when an unusually high number of staff prefer to use a familiar office software as a replacement for your CRM system. It’s then time to get things back on track, either through better training or consistent application.
2. Narrow scope
Generating better leads and finding interested prospects means syncing up with the marketing team and its marketing automation software. If a sales manager cannot sync up with outside systems or scale it up to make it more flexible in its reach, then it’s definitely time to reassess its value.
3. Customers leave
As a sales manager, it’s your duty to take advantage of every possibility throughout the customer cycle to up-sell and cross sell. If you’re finding your levels of customer sales are low or have declined since the intervention of a new CRM system, then overhauling your customer touch points and how your CRM can utilise them is a must.
4. Mobile Friendly?
Any modern smart sales manager knows that mobile plays a big role in the future development of CRM. Mobile CRM functions are a powerful method to connect with those hard-working team of road warriors in need of an urgent file or a live data dashboard to convert a lucrative prospect. Not yet using a CRM system which incorporates mobile devices or features constitutes a red flag which needs strategic action.
5. Data gaps
Seasoned sales managers know that delivering critical reports to senior management can mean a boost in budget and approval for a more innovative sales and marketing strategy. But what if the CRM system fails at providing quality data for actionable reports? Sales managers need to check the CRM system logs all valuable data collected from various sources and can be used by all approved users in the company. If not, it’s time to call for a full audit and invest in a foolproof CRM system.
In summary, it is vital to regularly inspect your CRM; first, you need to evaluate where you are with regards to your CRM – how has usage changed, are goals previously set still relevant? is the deployment right?
To help you evaluate and “tune-up” your CRM, download our ebook.