Is your business looking to implement a CRM (Customer Relationship Management)? Or perhaps you’ve already tried and it hasn’t been as successful as you hoped?
How you choose to integrate a CRM has a massive impact on the success or failure of the software, so proactively ask the following two questions:
- Who’s your product champion?
- Is the long-term ROI worth the short-term disruption?
Who’s Your Product Champion?
As a busy CEO or business owner, you probably see the value in a CRM solution. And if you have 11 employees or more, then 91% of your peers would also agree.¹
While you’re likely in a great position to sign off on CRM investments, you’re also likely to be too time-poor to take it from shiny and new to a core part of your day-to-day operations.
Therefore, it’s important to identify early on who your product champion will be. This will be someone who is systems-oriented, understands your business and has no problem taking accountability. If no one comes to mind, then you may be introducing more problems than you intend to solve.
Is the Long-Term ROI Worth the Short-Term Disruption?
There’s no avoiding the fact that a new CRM, or even modifications to an existing CRM, will cause short-term disruption. How much, will depend on the previously mentioned product champion, integration resources and expertise, and the team’s appetite for change.
That being said, the long-term benefit of investing in a new or enhanced CRM is more often than not worth the short-term inconvenience.
That’s because a CRM can increase conversion rates by 300%.¹
When properly implemented, the ROI of a CRM can exceed 245%.² It will help to:
- get more leads
- convert more leads
- retain your current customers
- enhance your sales-marketing feedback loop
- provide data and insight for strategic decision-making
Summary
In summary, the long-term benefit of implementing a CRM can more than justify the cost and short-term disruption. The latter can be greatly reduced by having an internal product champion.
Growth-minded businesses should embrace the potential of CRMs, whilst embarking on their implementation with diligence.
References
¹ Tech.co | https://tech.co/crm-software/crm-statistics
² CRM Side | https://crmside.com/crm-statistics/
