Culture

With CRM, 80% of us suffer from low adoption leading to poor ROI-itis. Fortunately, this condition is not terminal and can be fixed by following five easy steps. 

It’s always difficult to get everyone on-board with new technology. CRM is no exception. In fact, distributors, reps and manufacturers often face a challenge in getting “sales cowboys” to embrace CRM. Some worry that Big Brother wants to look over their shoulders. Some just resist a change to their regular routines.

I’ve found through my talks at different meetings typically 70-80% of those in attendance are using some type of CRM within their company. And that only 10% feel they are getting ROI out of their CRM. One of the factors that lead to success is setting the stage for WHY from the beginning…including getting management buy in.

Many companies, including industrial manufacturers, distributors and representatives tend to view any kind of technology investment as a cost. Part of that stems from the need to budget the investment, which is typically done under the eye of the CFO.

Last month, I conducted a webinar on ROI from CRM in partnership with Modern Distribution Management (available on-demand here). Among the questions I received: “What tips do you have for bringing the executive team on board after purchase?”

Recently, I worked with a client to analyze the alignment of their sales force. Using 4-D account profiling (learn about that profiling technique here), we discovered that many of the accounts visited by the client’s hunters – reps aggressively seeking new business – had small current volume and very little potential for growth.

We’ve all heard plenty of statistics about how the millennial generation is impacting distributors from the buyer side; the trends of millennials being more likely to buy products online and of millennials having growing influence in B2B buying have attracted plenty of attention.

I often tell companies searching for a CRM vendor that finding the right CRM partner – and building a long-lasting, successful relationship with them – is a lot like a marriage. Here are some tips to make that “marriage” strong

When consulting with distributors implementing CRM technology, I’m often involved in the training of the sales team. I like to start each sales team training session with this question: “Why do you think your company is moving forward with CRM?”

On Tuesday, I presented an MDM webcast on long-term CRM success, just two days after the Patriots won Super Bowl LI. I couldn’t resist drawing a parallel between a contributor to their success and a characteristic of successful sales teams: teamwork.