No matter who I talk with, sales people in the security space hate CRM systems. Even the ones that would use one on their own usually don’t like being held accountable to their company’s system. So, what are the top 3 reasons they struggle with this tool. Understanding these will help you develop the solutions…
- They’re wired to be in the field working with customers. Everything they do depends on the quality and quantity of interacting with their customers and prospects, and most of them are built this way. So, just like you wouldn’t ask Babe Ruth to stop swinging so hard because he keeps striking out, you shouldn’t ask your sales people to be more process driven. The solution: make your process as simple as possible – more pick lists and less paragraphs, less required fields, etc.
- The process has been defined by non-sales people. I love this one … we need process, so we ask our operations manager or controller to define the CRM process that is meant to be utilized by sales people. Even the sales manager who used to be in the field isn’t the perfect answer. If you want a strong process, include a faction of your sales people in developing the process and requirements.
- Management does a poor job of holding sales accountable. Don’t interpret this incorrectly – this does not mean they don’t hold them accountable… they just don’t do it well.
Coaching a sales team to utilize a CRM system as a productive tool is like the first few months of dating – you want to show the interest and commitment, but you can’t hold on too hard. Determine a reasonable amount of required work and explain to your team that you expect these updates every day / week. For the unrequired items, train them to utilize them and encourage utilization, but don’t push it. Finally, take the info in the CRM as literal. Stop calling everyone on your team every Friday morning to make sure it’s right for your reporting – just use it. The team will realize quickly that they need to have the info in there and accurate.
This is a tough one, and every sales team struggles with it – not just security sales people. It won’t be perfect, but that’s ok. Remember, a functional CRM is not perfect and a perfect CRM is not functional.
