[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9H3_hfcqak[/youtube]
What is new in CRM in 2013? What has not changed much?
Recently I had the opportunity to participate in a panel where we discussed some of these things. Moderator and CRM / Social Industry leader Paul Gillin asked fantastic questions including:
What are best practices for broader adoption of CRM?
What are some pitfalls when deploying CRM?
Give your opinion about integrating marketing automation into CRM?
Now add in social tools – does it all work together?
Did you attend SugarCon13 – the largest SugarCRM gathering to date?
I enjoyed participating in the quick fire roundtable, which was hosted on a Google+ Hangout by IBM. It was good to see all of the participants interacting and truly a smart way to see and hear a group of people discussing a subject. Kudos to IBM for that.
I encourage you to watch the recording and follow-up with some of our blogs for more CRM discussion.
My Rountable Colleagues:
- Keith Brooks of Voicerite
- Paul Foucher of SugarCRM
- Steve Lokam of OpenLogix
Some takeaways I thought were interesting:
What 3 Common Mistakes Do We Still See in Deploying CRM?
- Not enough employees with CRM seats – companies will selectively give certain individuals seats, such as all sales but no marketing, or inside sales but not outside sales (or vice versa). In an effort to save some monthly recurring costs for seats, you end up missing out on the great opportunity for more customer awareness internally, and collaboration on things such as creating RFPs.
- Different versions of CRM are out there – causing support issues. You need to make sure you are using the right package and version to minimize problems.
- Lack of leadership support for adoption – success of CRM must tie in with sales methodology and process. This comes from the top, as do any guidelines about how to use and what is required of sellers to complete. Big opportunity for improvement here, everyone agrees. I content that it is a time issue for sales reps – they need to focus on what is most important and get as much face time with buyers as possible.
This leads into another topic – is CRM any easier to use in 2013? I’ll have a post next week on this, but for now we discussed some features that SugarCRM has announced in their Sugar7 product which will offer better mobile use. This really helps sales reps. Additionally a smoother, faster interface where no matter what device you use – mobile, tablet, or laptop offers the same user experience is becoming more standard.
This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I've been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don't necessarily represent IBM's positions, strategies or opinions.
Lori Richardson is recognized as one of the "Top 25 Sales Influencers for 2012" and one of "20 Women to Watch in Sales Lead Management for 2012 and 2013". Lori speaks, writes, trains, and consults with inside and outbound sellers in technology and services companies. Subscribe to the award-winning blog and the “Sales Ideas In A Minute” newsletter for sales strategies, tactics, and tips. Increase Opportunities. Expand Your Pipeline. Close More Deals.