I've been seeing this re-tweeted a lot today, and it dovetails with a lot of the issues I've been thinking about related to CRM software over the past few weeks.
When I encounter sales managers who think that CRM software will be the magic bullet that turns an underperforming team into super-achievers, I get worried for them. And, often, a little scared. When you're placing so much hope on a piece of technology, no matter how impressive, it's often in place of the attention you may need to lavish on your team.
Not all of that attention needs to be good attention, either. Even the best CRM software on the market won't help a team member who doesn't understand how to close a sale, or how to take detailed notes on a call. Automating direct marketing mailings and outbound phone calls won't help when team members don't know how to speak courteously to customers.
The best sales professionals always put the customer first, using technology as a tool to support their personal relationships. The better a CRM application is at cataloguing the evolution of a personal relationship, the better equipped a team can become when it's time to collect orders.
No comments:
Post a Comment