CRM for Marketing

6 Common Expectations From CRM and How to Make it Work for You

Rohit Roy Former News Editor, MarTech Advisor

Last Updated: December 16, 2021

Technology has made it easier for consumers to get what they want. They demand instant gratification, and companies must meet them or suffer the consequences. The transition of consumer behavior in this direction has resulted in firms across different industries adopting software programs like Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions to deliver a highly differentiated customer experience, something that is now more of a norm than an expectation. However, a significant number of CRM projects fail to deliver on what is expected of them. To gather an understanding of why CRM does not give better results, let us look at some of the common expectations from it:

1. CRM will make the sales team follow processes and document its work

CRM can be used as a comprehensive repository for all customer interactions. The staff can use the data stored here to follow up on leads, pick up where they had left off earlier, and assist customers based on their previous interactions. However, old habits die hard. Most sales people are quite secretive by nature, and as such, reluctant to share what they know. Even though a CRM can provide an enterprise-wide view of customer interactions, the data must still be added to the system first. Driven by self-preservation, some sales people may write off CRM as cumbersome and time-consuming, decreasing its overall efficiency.

2. CRM will make sure that your marketing initiatives are effective

An effective CRM will make it possible for you to share all your internal marketing messages and marketing campaign information with your employees, showing them how marketing is helping drive sales. But it is doubtful whether this will make your campaigns more effective. If the information just sits there, it will not increase your marketing ROI. There is a way around this. Following up with customers, having conversations and determining what they need is what will help enhance the effectiveness of your marketing programs.

3. CRM will result in a seamless integration between marketing and sales

Inter-departmental relations are created, maintained or sabotaged by the people who work there. This is a cultural issue which cannot be solved by CRM alone. Developing and sustaining a cross-functional synergy between marketing and sales will therefore require effective leadership, and not some magical CRM solution.

4. CRM will help increase your business

Most firms, especially credit unions and banks, still wait for business to come to them. They feel that an effective CRM will also translate into more business. This expectation is unrealistic and false. An efficient CRM implementation, as it is quite clear by now, will not automatically generate more sales nor instantly create a new sales culture.

5. People can learn CRM on their own

While most CRM solutions may appear to be intuitive and easy to learn, everybody may not be sufficiently engaged or technologically advanced enough to grasp the entire host of functionalities associated with a robust CRM. You need to develop a culture of rigorous and regular training, measurement and evaluation to ensure that everybody is on the same page with your CRM.

6. CRM should be managed by the IT team

Even though the IT teams need to be involved in evaluation of alternate CRM platforms, it should not dictate the uses and functionalities of the system. CRM should be handled by your marketing and sales professionals, and it is they who should be accountable for it. Having listed out the common expectations around a CRM system, here are some of the steps that you need to adopt for an effective CRM:

Active mapping and reengineering of your sales processes
Proactive convincing of your internal constituents that CRM will help them do their job better
Phase-wise deployment of the CRM system
Complete accountability for the users of the system
Direct involvement of other departments besides sales and marketing when deciding on your CRM goals
Creating the role of a Chief Customer Manager
Inspect. Repeat.

An effective CRM will provide deeper insights on your clients, deliver customer delight, and go a long way in building strong relationships that will help transform your business.

CRM Sales Enablement

Rohit Roy

Former News Editor, MarTech Advisor

Rohit is a well-rounded B2B marketer with a vast experience and interest in marketing technologies. He excels in juggling a plethora of technology tools to manage and automate every area of marketing. His key strengths include utilising marketing automation to support audience development and client campaign execution. His in-depth knowledge of e-mail marketing, newsletter and customer data management, makes him the go-to person for understanding the how-tos of these important categories in the MarTech landscape. Following a Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Rohit is now pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration. An avid runner, he conducts training runs for the city’s marathoners to prepare them for full and half marathons and ultra races across India. Have a press release or breaking news to share? Email us at: [email protected]