Overcoming a Sales Team’s CRM Fear Factor
Steven Settlemayer, Executive Vice President, FieldLogix
Many industries and companies today are still being plagued by an outdated sales system or lack of digitization, with limited visibility and a sales team that is reticent to use CRM. I’ve found the following areas can make a huge difference in getting over the CRM fear factor that’s limiting their success.
Communication is absolutely vital.
When rolling out CRM in your org, be aware that communication is a two-way street. Don’t just force-feed CRM to a team. Everyone should be involved; they can even be in on things like helping to name and brand the system, reflecting the company culture. The CRM system isn’t an invasion — it’s a new digital member of your team.
You also need to hear what is working and what needs to be improved from the sales reps’ experiences, and make changes quickly to demonstrate responsiveness and commitment. If you want your sales team to use the technology and commit to the program, you also need to be open to the tweaks and changes they may need, too. If they’re frustrated, you’re not going to get far.
You’re not changing the process — only the tools.
Why mess with success? Won’t a CRM system radically change the way we sell? These are typical questions. I’ve found that CRM isn’t about trying to change the process; it’s all about changing the tools. That point of view is a key difference.
At one point in my career, I joined a construction equipment rental company as the vice president of sales. When I joined, sales reps’ contact information for the people who actually made decisions were on a “system” of blue and yellow cards stored in milk crates in the their trucks. The blue cards documented accounts, and the yellow cards documented activities and opportunities around the job site. While all of this may have worked for the individual salesperson, it didn’t work for the company.
When I implemented CRM here, I showed reps that they didn’t really lose their treasured blue cards with leads; they were just digital instead. The yellow opportunity cards were also yellow in the CRM system, too. Things don’t (and shouldn’t) radically change. It’s all about moving to the next level, becoming even more productive, and gaining the visibility that simply doesn’t exist otherwise.
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