Bees are known as one of nature’s most efficient workers – dare I say, more so than the average human. The reason for this is not just instinctive survival skills. It’s data. Just like we have CRM systems, bees use audible codes that communicate with the entire hive. So it doesn’t matter what department the bees work in, they’ll know where the resources are and what’s available. This is how the hive grows.
This harmonious communication system is something every marketer dreams of. But unlike bees, we work with sales teams. We’ve all heard the excuses – they just don’t have the time, they’re too busy doing deals, they can’t see the value in keeping it updated.
These attitudes don’t only undermine our lead generation activity, but also mean the touch points a prospect may have had with marketing are lost. We asked marketers to give us their advice on the best ways to drive successful CRM adoption internally.
1. Identify your adoption issues
“Regular reporting and dashboards will help show who are the laggards and where the roadblocks are.”
Conrad Mills, marketing director, Mastek
Before you fix a problem, you need to know what it is. By setting up automated CRM lead reporting (which details new leads, where they’ve come from and how they’ve been dealt with), you can identify weak spots in the CRM adoption. From this you’ll be able to closely target the people who need extra encouragement.
2. Set an example
“Ask for updates via the CRM, rather than on email or Excel. Also make sure all of your client meetings are logged in the system with good meeting notes or actions.”
Christelle Fraysse, CMO, Workbooks
If you don’t use the CRM yourself, you’ll never convince others to get onboard. Incorporate its use into whichever activities you can. This will emphasise just how vital your CRM is to the business and encourage good habits.
3. Change the culture
“Lack of adoption is not something you can only blame users for, you need to have an adoption programme that drives an insight driven culture.”
Hideki Hashimura, CMO, redk
Pre-conceived ideas and negative past experiences can have a detrimental impact on uptake. It needs to be tackled if you want to coax employees toward better use of your CRM. There is no silver bullet to sales adoption, but you can create cultural change using a combination of carrot and stick.
4. Get senior leadership support
“Work with sales leadership to agree a formal lead management process with service level agreements around the follow-up and use of the CRM.”
Conrad Mills, marketing director, Mastek
Like most business initiatives it’s most likely to see success if it’s backed by other senior leaders. In particular, you’ll want to have sales leadership onboard to encourage the sales team when you can’t.
The carrot or the stick?How to motivate sales to use your CRM Remind sales that the CRM can format orders and quotes quickly and professionally. This will help them close deals quickly.Provide a connected website and CRM so the leads are noted and are easily traceable.Provide a mobile-friendly CRM that can be accessed on any device out of office.Ensure case studies are stored in the CRM, and are easy to find and send to customers.Set up reports and dashboards that will highlight exactly where the money is.
5. Prompt your sales team
“Sales teams are able to view activity history immediately and receive alerts to speak to promising leads.”
Katie Jameson, head of EMEA marketing, Act-On
Programme your CRM to remind the sales team of its value. By setting up lead alerts via automated emails, the sales team will be alerted to promising accounts they may have otherwise missed. This forces sales to follow-up marketing qualified leads, and makes sure there’s no room for excuses.
6. Set goals
“Identify the top, middle and bottom of your funnel goals, as well as establishing what data you want to know when a prospect exits the funnel.”
Brian Anderson, director of sales operations, Act-On
Sales teams are very goal-orientated by nature, so appeal to this. Set clear goals and make the deadlines well known to all, as this will also make them more likely to do it.
Quick tips for when you need to get toughOnly pay commission if opportunities are loaded into the CRM.Pull out management reports to review how employees are using the software.Create a sales leaderboard to highlight adoption performance.
7. Make sure the CRM is easy to use
“Over-engineered CRMs can cause confusion and discourage adoption. If possible, look to automate processes.”
Brian Anderson, director of sales operations, Act-On
It’s also imperative that your CRM is accessible. In today’s workplace, it’s guaranteed staff will need to access information out of the office, whether that’s at home or on the road.
8. Provide on-going training
“Some people need structured classroom training with real world exercises, others prefer a demo and to just get on with it.”
Christelle Fraysse, CMO, Workbooks
Your staff won’t become CRM superstars overnight; it will take education for CRM tasks to become effortless. Work closely with your CRM administrator and provide feedback to help further optimise processes. It may also require you to tailor your teaching approach. Allocate a period of time for your staff to learn – but make clear once the honeymoon is over, using CRM will be non-negotiable.
9. Integrate CRM with marketing automation
“Don’t use your CRM and MA systems as separate platforms. By integrating you’re not only encouraging adoption, but it is a great way to get sales and marketing working more closely.”
Conrad Mills, marketing director, Mastek
This also has the potential to improve value for the sales team. If they can see which prospects are surfing your site, and the pages they’re reading in real-time, it will help them drive the sales cycle more effectively.
10. Incentivise adoption
“Tie a percentage of the bonuses, say 20%, to the quality of CRM data. This percentage is not paid to the sales people if data is considered incomplete.”
Hideki Hashimura, CMO, redk
Incentives should always result in a positive outcome for an employee. If there aren’t rules on what happens when sales teams don’t use CRM, they won’t act on it.
