5 Best Practices for Utilizing a CRM for Sales

crm for salesA custom relationship management (CRM) system is key for any business that can envision having more than 10 customers. As a growing company there are many to choose from at different prices points and features. There should be no objections within your organization to get one. Here are my top five best practices when using a CRM for sales.

1. Provide training

Create a few simple best practices document and do hands on training with the employees. I would also suggest having them use the system and then have a sit down to review any questions and see how they are doing.  There are also many ways the management team can help with importing accounts and contacts to make it easy for the team to get started.

2. Set expectations

Let the sales team know that they will be expected to use it every day and record accounts, contacts, activities, and opportunities. Inspect what you expect by viewing the data and see how the team is using the CRM system.

3. Use it for everything

One of the biggest benefits of a CRM is the simplification of account plans, contact lists, forecasts, and many other sales related documents.  These can all be created out of the CRM system using new data. This will save sales and marketing time.

4. Senior leadership must participate

The senior leadership team should use the system as well, not just the reps. They can then run reports themselves, instead of asking a rep for information. Using the CRM system in a live forecast review is very powerful. Not getting the leadership team to use and buy-in is often the biggest reason for failure.

5. Automate where you can

Many email and marketing automation systems can be integrated in CRM systems. This will make it easier for the team to use the system and also allow for more up to date data to be in the system.

There are many benefits for organizations to use a CRM system to support not only the sales team, but many other parts of the business. Following a few of the simple best practices above will make adoption easier. Working at expanding your sales knowledge? Take a look at how cold calling and Linkedin can help.

5 Best Practices for Utilizing a CRM for Sales