Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a CRM

There are many Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions available to businesses these days. How do you know how to choose the right one for your company? A CRM is supposed to streamline processes, cut down on busy work, track everything, keep everyone organized and on the same page, and most importantly, increase sales. But if you don’t choose the right one, you may not get all those things. Fortunately for you, we have put together a list of common errors other businesses have made when choosing a CRM, so you can learn from their mistakes.

Forgetting About the End Users

Too often, the decision about which CRM to use is made much higher up the chain than the employees who will be using it every day. It’s important to make sure that the end users are going to buy into using the software, so they need to be part of the decision-making process. They will likely have insights about the daily use of the new CRM that those in higher positions don’t.

Not Integrating Social Media

Social media has quickly become a huge element in the world of sales. Thus, it’s essential that the CRM system you choose offers integration with social networking. Many businesses fail at this, only to have to upgrade their CRM to accommodate social media soon after.

Trying to Do Too Much, Too Soon

Starting small, then gradually evolving your CRM system is the most effective way to go. According to an article on EnterpriseAppsToday., “The most effective CRM systems are built out gradually so that they fit naturally into the way you do business.” So keep in mind that you don’t have to do it all at once, take your time, do it right, and grow together.

Not Making Sure It’s Sales Rep Friendly

Today’s sales force is mobile, so your CRM has to be too. Unfortunately, there are still many businesses out there that are using CRM systems that don’t sync with mobile technology. Make sure that your CRM isn’t tied only to the office. Just as your sales reps need to be out prospecting for sales, so does their access to the CRM you choose.

Ignoring Metrics

One of the key elements of setting and achieving goals is making sure that progress made toward those goals is measurable. Using a CRM solution without having specific and measurable goals in mind for those who use it just doesn’t make sense. As you are deciding which CRM is compatible with your business practices, consider what your goals are and make sure that the system you choose offers the metrics that can measure and support them.

Having Too Many Fields to Complete

The CRM system that you choose shouldn’t be loaded with an endless number of fields for sales reps to fill in . They need to be able to spend their time interacting with clients to make their monthly sales quotas ’ large amounts of data entry takes that time away from them. Many software solutions, like Salesmate’s Intelligent CRM, offer intuitive products that cut down on data-entry.

Not Integrating Key Systems

Just like social media, you want to be sure that your CRM will integrate other key systems you are utilizing. ’’Integration is the key to optimizing operations. Companies should look into how easily a CRM tool integrates with existing systems they have in place such as email, sales-tracking, etc.,’’ advises Guides for CRM in their blog post detailing mistakes that businesses make when picking a CRM system.

Relying Only on Price

While price is an important consideration when choosing CRM software, some businesses place far too much weight on that one aspect. To find the CRM that is truly going to work best for your company, consider other important elements as well. For example, how it fits in with your organization, ease of use, and whether your IT department can support it, are all things that should be examined before price.