Why Salespeople Hate CRM
I personally been involved with thousands of “sales automation” projects, that are being used by probably 300,000 salespeople or so. The general feedback from the salespeople is that they hate CRM, which is one of the reasons why we created Spiro.
Since the days of Siebel, following with salesforce.com, there have been billions — really! — of dollars spent on sales automation technologies, but as of yet, I have not found a single sales rep that would tell me they love their system. No one says that the highlight of their day is entering accounts, contact information, or jotting down activities in order to make sure their efforts are streamlined.
Sales Hates CRM Because It Wasn’t Built for Them
CRM was put into place to organize sales operations and sales management, not to benefit sales. Most sales professionals feel that CRM is a way of controlling them. No one likes to feel that they are constantly being monitored. They want the freedom to go about their daily tasks on their time, without pressure, without force, and without big brother looming over their shoulder.
One telling example: when I asked a VP of Sales recently how he planned on getting his sales team to use the new CRM system, he said “because I’ll fire them if they don’t.” It was a lie, but it showed the attitude.
Sales Hates CRM Because It Isn’t User Friendly
There are so many different things that need to be done within CRM that trying to figure out what to do next can take up way too much precious time. Trying to understand the difference and value between events, tasks, notes and activities—leaves no real way of differentiating all the facets of the CRM. Salespeople want to sell and make money. They want to be in contact with people, not sitting in front of a computer playing system analysts all day.
CRM Can Make A Sales Rep’s Job Harder!
The main thing a field salesperson does with CRM is data entry. Everything a salesperson does in a day, every single task, every person she comes into contact with, must be documented. This means going to a computer after every single thing they do, or trying to use their mobile device, to type everything on a tiny keyboard. This is a major disincentive.
One sales rep I know actually told people not to email him because if they did, he would have to fill out the CRM information for them!
Everyone Hates the Dreaded CRM Required Field
Most CRMs have certain fields that are required to be filled out before the salesperson can move on to a different page or task. This can mean up to 98 fields that must be filled in so that marketing can measure the campaign success. I’ve seen required fields from having the correct address, billing information, to even hair color or eye color!
Built By Salespeople For Salespeople
Salespeople need a system designed with the key players, them, in mind. That’s why we built Spiro, a CRM so smart it updates itself. Instead of salespeople needing to enter information, Spiro automatically adds contacts, companies, even opportunities as it learns from a salesperson. Spiro is so smart that it even can change the sales stage for you — for example to Proposed after you send out a proposal.
Spiro also gives something back to salespeople: personalized recommendations on who they should call next to move their opportunities forward.
When a sales team is happy and has tools that actually increase productivity, like Spiro’s AI-Powered CRM, management will be happy with the profits rolling in. Sounds better than the grunt and groans about an inadequate CRM system.
