CRM Tool; The last Golden Piece
Monday, 26 October 2009 08:28
Articles - Sales and Marketing
The Myth of CRM
The term CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is one of the most misused and misunderstood acronyms in business. People often use the term to describe software tools or a technology solution and lose sight of what it truly represents. CRM is a comprehensive set of processes bound by a systematic approach to interact with, track, and manage, prospects and customers. A CRM tool is a software application, which is deployed to automate, manage, and execute your established CRM structure.
CRM as a complete approach should fulfill your overall corporate growth strategy- to originate more loans and to increase profits. You do not need technology to create this structure. Imagine you generate 20 leads a year, let’s say 1 lead every couple of weeks or so.
You would calendar, prospect, qualify/reject, follow-up and so on; this can be accomplished without any tools: a pen and piece of paper is all you need. Now imagine you obtain 20 leads a week, the game is starting to change. To maximize those leads and perform proper follow-up you may need to use a spreadsheet or a simple contact management tool to set reminders and follow-ups. What if those 20 leads a week come from 3 different sources such as seminars, purchased leads, and professional contacts? To further maximize productivity you need to customize your messaging according to each source, or perhaps set certain trigger-based communications tasks. Maybe you have specific letters to send some leads or you follow-up more aggressively on others. Whatever logic or process you use to manage your leads, it now demands that you utilize a more advanced set of tools to execute your CRM structure. In an effective CRM initiative, the only element that changes in all the above scenarios is the execution tool.
My example started with a pen and piece of paper as the CRM tools and ended with a robust software application. Your process of lead acquisition, nurture, and conversion should be the constant. It may be an ever-changing constant as you continue to improve your process; nevertheless it should be independent of any technology platform. A CRM tool like any other technology is an enabler, the last golden piece which should automate, maximize, and execute your sales and growth strategy.
This realization will save plenty of money and grief as you begin to implement the CRM initiative company-wide.
CRM initiative: An effective CRM initiative is a three-pronged approach. In this multi-part series, the main focus will be on the Technology Platform Adoption segment relating directly to the CRM tool.
The Strategy: Your quest for the most appropriate CRM tool should start with establishing a clear business management strategy. This sales and growth strategy is your company’s essence which should drive your success.
The Structure: Simply put, these are a set of policies and procedures that map out the entire customer sales cycle and all touch-points. While you are evaluating a CRM tool or setting any expectations, you should have a clear vision on processes, which the tool needs to manage and streamline. This is an extremely important step that sets the tone for all the following deliverables. Do not overcomplicate this effort as it can adversely impact your progress. The CRM structure is an ongoing quest for excellence, it is never complete. Being familiar with your CRM approach and being able to answer the following questions is a solid start:
· What are the immediate steps I perform after receiving a lead? (For all interaction touch-points and per lead source, e.g. via phone, via email, seminar, referral, . . . )
· Are the leads treated differently depending on the source?
· What are the sales stages or milestones? (sales lifecycle)
· What are the events that trigger a follow-up?
· When do I consider a lead to be “bad/lost”?
· When/How do I distribute leads to my Loan Officers?
· When do I redistribute an existing lead to a different loan officer?
Developing a comprehensive questionnaire insures standardization of your processes. Furthermore, the CRM structure sets actions and consequences to each lead management scenario. A CRM structure does not need to be very formal, exhaustive, or time-consuming. Besides, a good CRM tool should provide additional feedback to further refine this structure. The amount of effort required to establish a CRM structure depends on the size and complexity of your organization. You may also engage an external expert to assist in the creation of an ideal CRM structure for your needs.
The Benefits of a Successful CRM Initiative
If executed successfully, a CRM will be the most important weapon in realizing your sales and growth strategy. This is accomplished by delivering the two crucial interdependent ingredients for front-office excellence.
Consistency: One of the most elusive and frustrating elements of the sales process is the sheer number of variables that exists. These variables place an unnecessary amount of noise and resistance on the sales process, causing a slowdown in productivity. Some examples of sales process variables are: quality of leads, different operating protocols through which loan officers manage prospects, and inconsistent procedures on how leads are nurtured pre and post application.
CRM initiative will objectively naturalize the variables one-by one to provide a more harmonious and consistent sales process. Effective decision-making and increased productivity can only be achieved once the variables are controlled and ultimately bring your organization a step closer to predictability.
Predictability: The ability to predict productivity provides an incredible advantage over the competition. The CRM structure with support from a robust CRM tool will make the entire sales cycle extremely transparent. This transparency allows managers to make decisions quicker, plan ahead, and make adjustments to maximize productivity, and invest marketing dollars more effectively.
So far we have established all the necessary groundwork in selecting a CRM tool. Next month, we will discuss the process Technology Platform Adoption in depth. We will cover the following topics:
- CRM tools functionality spectrum
- When do you know how much technology is enough?
- Selecting the best CRM tool for your organization
- What should you expect from a good CRM tool?
- What is possible when a CRM initiative is executed successfully (examples and case studies)
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