{"id":36,"date":"2012-06-26T21:47:45","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T04:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/?p=36"},"modified":"2017-08-04T08:53:41","modified_gmt":"2017-08-04T16:53:41","slug":"crm-adoption-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bobbacon.net\/blog\/archives\/36","title":{"rendered":"CRM Adoption and Metrics, Chicken or Egg?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It is widely recognized that the next advancements in sales performance will be derived from better metrics leading to more timely coaching.\u00a0 Many of the sales VPs I speak with acknowledge they need insightful funnel metrics to help run their business. \u00a0In my discussions with PwC last week they showed me how they were driving a high growth practice based on the development of sales metrics. \u00a0But before you can have effective metrics to run your sales organization you need to have a reliable and accurate data source.\u00a0 As the primary data source you first need to overcome your\u00a0CRM\u00a0adoption challenges\u00a0and insure it is actively\u00a0populated and managed by\u00a0Sales, Sales Operations and Marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n

It should come as no surprise to you that many CRM systems are not\u00a0embraced by your sales force.\u00a0 Why is this?\u00a0 I believe there are numerous reasons.\u00a0 Here\u2019s my short list.<\/span><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Change is difficult<\/strong>.\u00a0 Particularly in small to medium sized companies where field sales resources are hired for their experience, potential users have already adopted their own process and sometimes even technology.\u00a0 They want to use what has helped make them successful in the past.\u00a0 Their attitude is \u201cwhy fix something that\u2019s not broken.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0No value add\u00a0for field reps<\/strong>.\u00a0 Plain vanilla CRM implementations often are not optimized to your business environment.\u00a0 True, the 5 to 8 steps in the funnel management process officially adopted by the VP of Sales might be reflected in the system BUT, if updating the sales stage is the only reason for a sales rep to log into the system then it is more a vehicle for management to quantify the forecast instead of a productivity tool for selling.\u00a0 There’s nothing in it for them.<\/span><\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not embraced by Sales leadership<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Adoption starts at the top.\u00a0 Are you one of the many sales managers who uses a report in Excel for your weekly forecast calls instead of using your CRM tool \u201clive\u201d during the call? \u00a0That\u2019s a sign you acknowledge\u00a0CRM is not up to the job; a notion that will be echoed by your team and reflected in minimal adoption rates.<\/span><\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not designed for Sales resources<\/strong>.\u00a0 People, process, technology, in that order please.\u00a0 Did selecting and configuring your CRM system start with an in-depth needs analysis based on the daily work flow of sales resources or was there a rush to deploy it by simply answering the required configuration questions? \u00a0If the needs analysis was done several years ago is it still applicable to your current sales methodology?<\/span><\/p>\n

I could go on but the result is the same.\u00a0 Few organizations have\u00a0comprehensive adoption of their CRM system and the result is you do not have the ability to accurately measure, analyze and discover insights that help you to appropriately manage your team.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tactics I have found successful to increase sales rep adoption?\u00a0 Again, here\u2019s my short list.<\/span><\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Clean up the existing system data<\/strong>.\u00a0 Compare existing accounts, contacts and opportunities against agreed upon criteria.\u00a0 Hide or perhaps delete any data that doesn\u2019t qualify.<\/span><\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Align with Sales Methodology<\/strong>.\u00a0 Validate the sales methodology against the CRM sales stages and sub-stages\u00a0to insure they align.\u00a0 Use customer derived exit criteria for each step.\u00a0 Create different sales stages and exit criteria for different types of sales. (e.g. direct, inside or channels)\u00a0 Document the exit criteria right in the CRM tool.\u00a0 This insures that the processes used inside the tool are aligned with your view of optimized sales rep behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Integrate the detailed methodology<\/strong> or sales playbook into your CRM tool.\u00a0 This is a big project but it really adds value for the sales rep.<\/span><\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Use the CRM home page as a portal<\/strong> to other services your sales resources need.\u00a0 I deployed a sales commission system that used single sign-on from the CRM home page. There are also knowledge management systems that facilitate finding the latest presentations or RFP answers and these can be integrated with many CRM systems.<\/span><\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Integrate other tools<\/strong> with your CRM system.\u00a0 For example, I deployed an order configuration system used to create product quotes for customers.\u00a0 Quote creation required there to be a current opportunity meeting relevant criteria in the CRM tool.<\/span><\/p>\n

6)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Insist on utilization by all levels of sales management, <\/strong>including that the Senior Sales VP use \u201clive\u201d opportunity data in conducting its activities.\u00a0 When the sales leader conducts opportunity reviews using real time information in the CRM system you can bet compliance with defined processes will follow.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are my perspectives on CRM adoption challenges.\u00a0 What issues in CRM adoption have you encountered and how have you addressed them?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Once the adoption challenge\u00a0is overcome and the data is relatively accurate then we can talk about metrics and analytics\u00a0without the admonition, \u201cgarbage in\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Cheers!<\/span><\/p>\n

Bob Bacon<\/span>
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