The leading CRM providers frequently publish studies indicating that many companies fail to fully leverage their CRM. Their research demonstrates that sales reps often underutilize the CRM, either through infrequent use or by not harnessing its wide array of features.
So, how does this translate into reality? Here are some familiar examples:
🔺CRM data gets updated just before meetings.
🔺Most sales meetings, including team meetings and one-on-ones, revolve around pipeline updates.
🔺CRMs are primarily employed for pipeline production (in Excel format) and monitoring activity, while detailed business analyses remain rare.
🔺Business reviews with management fail to tap into the CRM’s extensive capabilities such as dashboards and analyses.
🔺CRM usage is predominantly confined to the sales team, with limited engagement from marketing, senior management, finance, pre-sales or operations.
🔺Parallel pipelines and budgets coexist (Sales, Finance, and sometimes Marketing).
In summary, there are two significant shortcomings:
🚫 The CRM is treated as an Excel spreadsheet.
🚫 The sales practice fixates on “numbers”.
Consequently, the potential business advantages of a well-managed CRM remain unrealized.
While maximizing the CRM platform’s full potential significantly enhances and supports:
🎯 Steering (Business, Team)
🎯 Visibility (Who, What, When).
🎯 Predictability (Forecasting).
🎯 Sales Practice (Qualification, Opportunity Management, Identifying Red Flags).
🎯 Sales Effectiveness (Win Rates, Hunting-Farming).
🎯 Business Planning (Actionable Insights, Planning, Strategy, Execution).
Furthermore, a well-managed CRM, combined with an efficient sales process, aids in the transformation of your sales practices, supports managerial activities, and eliminates common management pitfalls.
It shifts the focus from:
✅ Merely Reporting Numbers to Business Planning.
✅ Routine Pipeline Reviews to insightful Business Sessions.
✅ Time-consuming Data Compilation to Automated Reporting.
✅ One size fits all to Tailored Dashboards.
✅ Gut Feel to Meaningful KPIs and Trends.
SAVE MONEY: stick to MS EXCEL!
If you aren’t fully utilizing your CRM’s capabilities, you might as well stick to MS Excel. A well-managed Excel can provide pipeline visibility and track developments effectively, saving costs in the process.
📈 or USE YOUR CRM to its full extent!
If your company has chosen to implement a CRM, the first critical step is not just adopting it but fully utilizing its functionalities. In parallel, your sales practice needs to align with your CRM strategy.
👉 Make the right choice!
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