A client of mine called me the other day looking for some advice. He owns and operates a small distribution business and as he put it is considering investing in CRM technology with the aim of helping his business through automating his sales and customer reporting.
The catalyst event for this call was that one member of his sales team had recently left the company taking with him a long list of contacts and presumably with time customers.
In my experience, this unfortunately is not unusual particularly with smaller businesses who often consider CRM technology after an event such as the one above and can initially look at CRM as a preventive measure against such events happening again in the future.
For a small company such as my client’s investing in CRM can be daunting but it doesn’t have to be if you appreciate one very important point:
The primary goal of CRM is not to automate reporting but to increase revenues through makes sales easier to new and existing customers.
CRM is about making the right information available to the right person so that they can make the best decisions for customers.
It’s also important to note that CRM is also a cultural company change. Employees need to be consulted so that they are able to understand its advantages, in other words simply rolling out a CRM technology with not get your small business CRM.
It’s important to audit existing reporting mechanisms and tools prior to implementation. This can initially be messy and difficult work because most companies will already have in place non-integrated systems including spreadsheets etc, which more often contain incomplete, duplicate, and conflicting information.
Don’t be put off by the complexity aspect to CRM, in fact it’s OK and advisable to start small in terms of technology and investment as long as there is some form of long term planning.
CRM for a Small Business - To learn more about this author, visit Niall Devitt's Website.
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Niall Devitt
(Visit Niall's Website)
Niall Devitt is a senior sales training
consultant, business mentor and
facilitator with Btb Sales Training in
Ireland.Niall is regularly asked to
contribute business articles, and his
advice has been published through the
Irish National Press and broadcast on
Radio.
For more info visit website: www.btbtrainin
g.com
Read Btb business blog at: www.btbtr
aining.com/blog
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