Expert I got CRM. Sales are controlled manually.
First you need to understand what the system should do in this business.
CRM is usually needed before an entrepreneur starts looking for it.
Applications come from the site, from messengers, social networks and by phone. One manager wrote down a number, the second set himself a reminder, the third answered the client and forgot to return to the conversation.
As long as there are few applications, it works.
Then they didn't call anyone back. The old treatment is lost. The manager does not understand how many customers are in the works and what is happening to sales without another conversation with managers.
CRM is no longer used to store contacts.
It's for sales management.
What a normally configured CRM should do
The client left a request - it got into the system.
CRM captures the source, the responsible and the stage of the transaction.
The manager contacted the client and the result was preserved. We need to call back, there is a task. The client refused - the reason is given. Buy it, deal closed.
The manager sees applications, deals in work, overdue tasks, conversions, reasons for failures and managers’ results.
No manual collection of information on chat rooms and employees.
Buying CRM is not enough.
And vice versa.
CRM already exists, but applications continue to live in messengers. Managers lead it in their own way. There are no tasks. The reasons for the refusals are not recorded. Some of our customers are passing through the system.
The manager asks the employees what happens to the sales.
The problem is not the lack of CRM, but its implementation.
It is impossible to configure the system properly until you understand how the company works with the application: from the first application to the sale or rejection.
Who's taking the client. What stages it goes through. Who's in charge. When the manager has to take the next step. What kind of data does the manager need?
This process is going to happen first.
Then the CRM is configured for it.
So one company needs a simple funnel and the other needs a whole system.
Somewhere it is enough to collect all applications in one place and set managers tasks.
Somewhere you need to connect the site, telephony and instant messengers.
Automatic distribution of orders, advertising analytics, control of managers or transfer of clients between departments are important somewhere.
Therefore, starting with a choice between specific CRMs is not always right.
First you need to understand what the system should do in this business.
And then automation and AI.
Once the process is built, some of the work can be automated.
A new application is automatically assigned to the manager. The AI manager accepts the first request, collects the information and transmits it to the CRM. The system reminds us of overdue tasks. The manager receives a ready summary of the sales department.
But if applications are now lost between the phone, instant messengers and employee memory, another tool will not fix it.
How I work with CRM
First, I look at the current work with clients: where applications come from, who accepts them, how the sale goes, where customers hang or get lost, what employees do manually and what data the manager needs.
After that, you can select and implement CRM, design funnel, customize roles, automation, integration and analytics.
If you already have a CRM, it is not necessary to change it immediately. First, you need to understand what is not working in the current system. Sometimes it is quite normal to reconfigure the processes and the CRM itself.
As a result, the manager should see the real picture of sales, the manager should understand the next step for each client, and the application should not depend on human memory.
