Sales activities may not require complex workflows, but much time can be saved by standardizing routine tasks such as
- sending or mailing product information and follow-up
- creating a proposal, authorization (if required) and follow-up
- planning a demonstration or presentation and follow-up
These and similar processes have many things in common. They require interaction with others, colleagues and customers, they require some kind of resource and time management and always require follow-up. The latter is as every sales person knows essential, but also the most difficult to plan.
While all CRM solutions offer activity and appointment planning tools, usually integrated with Microsoft Outlook or other Groupware, not all provide workflow tools. Solutions available are of differing quality.
A good solution will allow tasks to be defined and linked, assigned to users of groups and given start and end times and will preferably have a graphical design tool. Once an instance of a workflow is started, it must be possible to change the planned sequence at any time or to jump from one workflow to another. A prospect who has received a proposal may for example request a new presentation which may again lead to a new proposal.
Further the workflow solution must allow for multiple alternatives for the display of open tasks, for example by user and date, by customer, by workflow etc.
The processes may appear simple, but practice shows that even these simple processes are always unique to each company and often to groups within the company. This often neglected area can help reduce costs while increasing the efficiency of sales persons and sales organizations.
Tags: Activities, Workflow
Some of the most difficult tasks to manage are those which need to be done within a certain period but not at a specific time. Examples of this are follow-up calls to check on customer satisfaction or sales calls to prospects who need to be contacted towards the end of a contract period. Though such activities may not be postponed indefinitely, they definitely have a lower priority than appointments and opportunity related tasks. This is the difference between the request of a customer to “call me at 10 am on Monday” or to “call my after my holiday sometime in August”. There are of course activities such as cold calls which need to be made but are often not tied to a time frame at all.
Using Groupware is not a satisfactory solution, since the usually large number of such activities makes it difficult to focus on priority tasks. Even if the CRM system involved includes task management, this challenge remains. My recommendation is to separate the two types of activities. Fixed date activities appear clearly in calendars and to-do lists, while floating tasks are listed by date separately. Interestingly, one of the smaller CRM solutions, cobra CRM PLUS, does this considerably better than some of the major applications.
ist das Thema “Organspende”. Eine Veranstaltung des Deutschen Managerverbands in Stuttgart am 25.3.2010.
Anmeldungen und weitere Informationen: “Anmeldung Organe spenden Leben“
Tags: Activities, CRM Software, Groupware
Most users of CRM system use Microsoft Outlook or some other groupware in combination with a smart phone of Blackberry to plan their activities. While some of these activities are directly CRM-relevant, not all are. My wife’s birthday is important to me, but probably not for my colleagues and customers.
Yes, most CRM applications do have good integration with groupware, but this does not entirely solve the problem, because users do not want to clutter their hand-held devices and calendars with activities which are only relevant when in the office. In all the projects I have been involved in, this has been the first issue to be faced when the application goes live. i am not even going to attempt to suggest a solution. However, good solutions will always offer users a number of ways to organize their work, so individuals can work in the way that suits them best.
Tags: Activities, Groupware
In the planning stage of most CRM Projects activity management does not play a central role. After roll out it suddenly becomes a major issue. Why? There are a number of reasons. From the personal point of view, not all activities originate from the CRM system, so how can conflicts be avoided? What happens when the CRM priorities clash with personal priorities?
These are the issues:
- Groupware vs. CRM
- Tasks with no specific completion dates
- Workflow management
- Daily work planning
- Cold calls and campaigns
These will be the topics of the following posts. Watch this site!
Tags: Activity Management
This is probably a fringe area of CRM. Many companies invite customers and partners to contribute comments and ideas for product innovation or improvement. I would see this as part of a CRM strategy though it appears that few companies link their open innovation sites to a CRM application. It is difficult to say if companies really use the information gained from customers, but take a look at some examples:
Den Rest des Eintrags lesen. »
Tags: Open Innovation
Take a look at this example.
[…] for several years, Xerox has polled 480,000 customers per year regarding product and service satisfaction using a five-point scale from 5 (high) to 1 (low). Until two years ago, Xerox’s goal was to achieve 100% 4s (satisfied) and 5s (very satisfied) by the end of 1993. But in 1991, an analysis of customers who gave Xerox 4s and 5s on satisfaction found that the relationship between the scores and actual loyalty differed greatly depending on whether the customers were very satisfied or satisfied. Customers giving Xerox 5s were six times more likely to repurchase Xerox equipment than those giving 4s.
This analysis led Xerox to extend its efforts to create apostles – a term coined by Scott D. Cook, CEO of software producer and distributor Intuit, describing customers so satisfied that they convert the uninitiated to a product or service.
Found in Putting the service-profit chain to work by JL Heskett, LA Schlesinger, Harvard Business Review, 1994,
No further comment required!
Tags: crm, Customer satisfaction
This is the controller’s point of view. Don’t go this way. Making this the aim of a CRM project will guarantee the failure of the project. Concentrating on cost cutting will result in a reduction of customer service in some way , which will in turn lead to a decrease of turnover. The aim must be the improvement of customer service. This will lead to an increase in sales and a reduction of sales costs in relation to sales. Watch for tomorrows post!
Does increased customer satisfaction lead to higher sales?
Tags: cost of sales
Of course, CRM Software on its own cannot influence the sales cycle. It can however assist sales persons to do that by
- improving lead qualification processes
- reducing the time required for administrative tasks
- improving the visibility of opportunities
- improving team processes
The most effective sales people will intuitively select the most promising leads out of a list of, for example, trade fair contacts. They will waste little time on hopeless cases. Even the top performers will however achieve better results if they are presented with better qualified lists. A properly designed lead qualification process supported by CRM software will improve sales efficiency in this way.
Whether or not the time sales people spend on administrative tasks can be reduced is dependent on the current situation in the organization. Generally, it can be said that a well designed CRM application will have positive effects, most strongly with regard to team processes.
As a rule, the sales cycle will be improved if the related business processes can be improved and this is where CRM software can definitely help.
Tags: sales cycle
Let’s assume that sales efficiency is increased if sales are up without higher cost of sales. Of course, there are a number of factors which can produce this effect, for example new or improved products or effective marketing campaigns. Again let’s assume that all conditions remain stable and the only change is the introduction of CRM Software. What improvements can be made? How about these:
- Increased revenues and increased share of wallet through faster sales cycles
- Cost efficiencies through lower cost of sales and better customer coverage
- Increased customer satisfaction levels leading to return business
- Greater innovation as a result of better customer contacts
My next four posts will approach these points in detail.
Tags: CRM Software