Central to many companies’ sales tech stacks is the CRM. With the rise of SaaS solutions for enterprise-level businesses, it’s so easy to get inundated with all the choices. This might lead to the dangerous thinking that using more tools always equates to better business.
For many businesses, the problem is not that they are not open to adopting software as a company. In fact, in 2015, 91% of companies with more than 11 employees now use a CRM.
Getting the most out of your sales stack involves so much more than just rolling out new solutions to teams and praying that they work for the best. From the apps built upon your CRM to the integrations you purchase to enhance its functionality, there are a lot of moving parts involved.
It’s not just about training stakeholders on how to use the tech, it’s about giving them the stack they need to get better results. How? Here are five hard-hitting tips that will drive CRM adoption in your company.
Integrate tools with your CRM
The CRM is just a starting point of a comprehensive sales tech stack. It’s a tool that ensures everyone in the company is on the same page, charging in the same direction. However, to ensure that the CRM serves organizational goals, it’s crucial that your CRM integrates with existing tools.
Having multiple tools that don’t integrate is tantamount to a marathon runner using ill-fitting shoes. Not only does it make things uncomfortable, it makes the journey to the finish line longer.
If your CRM doesn’t integrate with your existing tools, it’s nearly impossible to get a comprehensive view of your business. Without the full picture, it’s difficult to strategize. How could you ensure that all stakeholders are pushing toward the same general direction and goals? It will be difficult for all to see the value of using not only the CRM but all other tools as well.
Get top-level buy-in
Your CRM needs to be aligned with your corporate strategy. Yet, having top-level management approve the purchase of a CRM solution doesn’t always mean they have bought in. You need senior management buy-in and someone from top-level management to be a CRM champion.
As mentioned, building a tech stack upon your CRM software is key to driving adoption organizationally. Without the approval and support of top management, it’s hard to get the resources needed to make CRM successful at your company. Senior-level support is important at every stage of adoption. This is especially crucial during the early stage where you’re mapping out a tech stack across departments.
The key here is to understand the benefits of rolling out and building out a CRM and a corresponding comprehensive tech stack. Be realistic when drawing it out. Present your case to top-level management hinging on terms that matter to them: added revenue, efficiency, and meaningful projections.
Get individual buy-in
Ultimately, the people who will use your tech stack every day are those whose buy-in is critical. Internally, the complexity of a tech stack can only be understood if the buy-in is organizational. The different teams in your company need to understand what impact CRM adoption will bring.
On the individual level, stakeholders need to visualize how the solutions will make their lives easier and their activities more impactful.
It’s important to articulate these impacts in concrete terms. For example, talk to your sales team about how a CRM + CTI stack will result in more calls and faster lead connection time. Marketing, on the other hand, will get campaign insights through a singular information repository. It’s also a big plus that CRM and most integrations make reporting a breeze.
Ensure data accuracy
Your CRM is just as good as the data it holds. Your CRM is essentially a robust record of company activities. The insights you can get from it are only pulled out from the numbers it stores. If correct data is abundant in your CRM, an abundance of correct output can be gleaned from it.
The output is what you’re after. These insights are what your leaders and stakeholders will rely upon for their planning and evaluation of current practices.
The date you migrate must be updated and accurate as possible. It’s best to assign a person who will own the migration and ensure data accuracy.
Remember, without accurate data, your CRM is useless.
Institutionalize reporting
To benefit continuously from your CRM and tech stack, it’s important to reinforce its relevance and value in your standard practices. Across departments, ensure that reporting is required and made relevant to their workflow.
Ensure that all stakeholders thoroughly understand the reporting functionalities of your tech stack. Highlight the fact that the tools will help them make better inferences. Emphasize functions–from having all relevant numbers in one place and from the built-in dashboards. These will help them make better decisions that help the company move in the desired direction.
People in your company should make reporting part of their standard workflow. This way, it’s much easier to see the value of your tech stack in both day-to-day operations and the bigger picture.
Adopting a sales tech stack is as much an operational change as it is a tech change. It’s not simply having people use new tools, it’s about adopting a new way of doing things. This also means that your company has to change its hardened habits in exchange for a promising shift toward better data and better results.
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Patrick Hogan
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