The Real Truth About How CRM Can Help Sales Managers
Let’s face it, sales managers have a lot of responsibility. Not only must they meet the expectations of corporate leadership, but also the expectations of their sales team. There are a myriad of problems that can arise throughout the sales process, and to be expected to handle it all with a cool air about you is crazy, to say the least. Whether you’re a sales manager or not, one thing that everyone can benefit from is customer relationship management (CRM).
If you’re curious and want to learn how CRM can help sales managers, read on.
Where It Begins
CRM can mean multiple things to different people. In terms of the sales manager, they must look at implementing CRM as a means to help their salespeople. If the sales team is flagging because of an issue within the pipeline (i.e.; if they having difficulty prospecting or following up or whatever), then CRM would make the most sense to help them in those areas using things like automated call-backs or scheduling reminders to follow-up with prospects. It all has to start with the team, because the sales department lives, or dies, by the strength of their sales team.
If you’re a sales manager, how could using CRM help you best serve your team?
Keep It Safe
You worked hard to get your contacts, customers, and leads, but what would happen if you lost all of that? CRM helps managers by hosting a safe, secure, and organized place for all your sales contacts. Now, you never have to worry about where that business card with the prospect’s name on it went to, it’s organized in your CRM.
Don’t Go At It Blind
When it comes to prospecting, many times salespeople tend to blindly jump right in and start cold-calling leads, building up prospect lists. But doing this without a CRM is like driving blind. A CRM can automatically log your calls, so a manager not only knows how productive their team is being, but can gauge what call lists are producing the best results. Some CRMs, like Spiro, use artificial intelligence to generate a daily call list for each rep, making sure they stay on top of every deal, and taking human error and oversight out of the equation.
Staying On Target ROI
According to a 2014 study by Nucleus Research, companies that invest in CRM earn a return of “$8.71 for every dollar spent”, which makes for a fantastic investment. Sales managers can use this stat to their benefit to justify budget spend. And then when your company starts to see your sales team making more calls, reaching more prospects, and closing more deals, you will definitely be credited with being a supercharged sales manager.
Metrics, Metrics, Metrics!
One of the most helpful aspects of using CRM is all the metrics it produces for you. From productivity metrics such as call and email logs, to revenue metrics that can show deals that are open or have been closed, and who’s working on whose accounts. It may seem overwhelming for some veteran sales managers, but without these metrics, sales managers would have the unenviable task of compiling all this by hand. Yikes! Let your CRM do the work for you!
Helping Your Team Grow (As Salespeople)
Good CRM isn’t just a tool that can be used, it is one that can teach something. Sales managers often groom their salespeople to work leads and are encouraged to use the CRM to streamline their work. But what if the sales manager could have much of their workload alleviated by CRM? The CRM visualizes trends, provides forecasting, and even supports the sales team. The CRM is able to help keep the team organized and on-point so as to meet sales goals so that the sales manager can focus their energy on helping the team itself grow as salespeople.
CRM is There to Back You Up
Whatever decisions sales managers make are backed up with rationale that led them to make said choices. What happens though if you make a decision that others don’t agree with? You can turn to your CRM with its hard data that can back up your decision. This may be used with prospects or conversions, looking at new markets, or working things out with clients. CRM is here to work for you so you don’t have to sweat the small things, and can focus on the more important parts of being a sales manager, the part that can’t be automated.
What Do You Think of CRM Now?
If you want to supercharge yourself and your sales team, then invest in CRM. Find a solution that can not only organize your contacts, but can also automate key tasks, prioritize leads, record calls, and ultimately help you close more deals. Spiro’s CRM can do all of this and so much more, get a demo today!
