Once upon a time before smartphones, and the vast amount of technology that we have now come to rely on, customer relationships relied on a person’s ability to write things down and remember details. Okay, so we might be going back a fair bit here, after all, digitalised customer management systems have been around since the 1980’s, and there is no denying the advantages they offer in business. However, there are still some big mistakes that people are making when it comes to their CRM systems.
1.Not making use of CRM
Okay so it might seem rather obvious but if you don’t have a CRM process, or you do have one, but you really are not using it then you could be missing out on a lot. CRM can, when used to its full potential, be a valuable tool in any workplace. If you run a company with a good number of employees then CRM really will allow your employees to communicate effectively and see where everyone is up to, keeping not only each other in the loop but also your customers as well. If you are not convinced that you need a CRM system, then why not discuss your requirements with a company that specialises in CRM consulting services.
2.Overcomplicating goals
When you have a fantastic system that can really help you streamline the way in which you do things it can be all easy to make things more complicated than they need to be. Just because your CRM system can do all these different things, doesn’t mean that you should actually try and use it to do them. Sometimes less is more being a great way of looking at how you do things. If the person in charge of the company or department wants everyone to be able to do certain things on the CRM system they need to consider whether this will make them more or less productive in the role the currently hold – will it take them away from the primary focus of their position.
3.Incompatible system
As any company grows, it is likely that you will bring in new tools to assist you with the increased business and to help more significant numbers of staff to communicate effectively. Whether these are tools for marketing automation, sales performance management or calling it is essential that they can be seamlessly integrated into your CRM system. If they cannot be then, you are setting yourself up for issues.
4.Lack of Training
Having a new CRM system that can really help your business to flow can be a great move, however if you don’t spend the time, and money, making sure that your staff are trained in using it then it really isn’t going to be as useful as you would like. Make sure that your staff can understand the system and are fully versed in using it and it will prove to be a precious investment for your company. Choosing the right CRM system for your company can be a slow process, installing it isn’t quick either so don’t expect everyone to understand what they need to do with it immediately.
5. Ignoring valuable features
There is a good chance that you are not using all of the features within your CRM system, and if you are you may not be using them all to their full potential. If there are specific features you are not using, then take a look at why they are not being used. Is it because people don’t understand how to use them and need more training or is it simply that you have put all your energies into using the other features and have forgotten about these?
If you recognise any of the above five problems, it may be time for you to take a second look at how to best use CRM within your business.
