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.

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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.

Activity Management is a sadly neglected part of available CRM solutions. Day to day activities may be easy to manage, but many users and companies need more, for example the ability

• to delegate tasks and keep a check on the status of each task
• to create a project plan which can be integrated with activity management
• to view project activities of a team with a status overview

In practice, most users resort to planning their activities with groupware, using the CRM system only when absolutely needed.