CRM for small business: how to implement one, two, three
Our blog on Habré is already six months. We somehow immediately abandoned writing food posts and began to talk about those things that will help select and successfully implement a CRM system. It was about myths, and about the difficulties of implementation, and about analytics, and even about the terms of reference in two parts, but there will also be a third. It seemed to us that this was the right way - useful materials for an advanced audience and a little about our experience. So far we have not created a survey, which included a field for notes and suggestions. It was different, but basically, we saw that some of the users are trying to ask questions about how to buy CRM - do not implement, do not refine, do not grind for business processes. First of all, where to start and what to do if TK and improvements are not needed. In general, for this post, our task is to give instructions to the most beloved customers of any vendor for those who simply buy licenses and are not ready to go into revision and customization.
Picture from the9gag.com
Indeed, micro and small businesses often need to buy licenses, install them, and start working. And we need advice on how to start, what to look for, how to make a CRM system a working tool, and not just another shortcut on your desktop. A simple recipe is not enough - because vendors prey on large customers, show their expertise in the most problematic and complex issues. Our RegionSoft CRM loves business of all kinds: from TV and radio holdings and hypermarkets to small advertising agencies. With one we tinker for six months, others have a short briefing, and this is enough. We will try to disclose the process as a detailed guide.
There are several groups of companies that can buy / rent CRM, almost without communicating with the vendor.
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The variety of offers always complicates the choice. The current Russian market of CRM systems cannot be called anything but a mess: along with Russian and foreign classical solutions, under the guise of CRM are hiding planners, notebooks, project management systems, corporate portals, business process management systems and document management and much more. All this is delivered in the cloud and on the server, with a subscription fee and no fee at all, for rubles and with reference to the exchange rate. Interspersing business consultants and small companies such as a "growing system integrator" finally confuse the client. The worst thing is that even your business partner, who only advises you from the heart of CRM XXX, may be vitally interested in selling it and have a percentage or discount. And there is only one advice - to choose what you need by taking the steps listed below.
Determine the requirements for the CRM system - what every department of yours wants from the future program. CRM-ki have long ceased to be a program for sales, they are designed to automate the entire business at once. For example, one of our competitors system automates sales separately, separately - marketing and technical support. SAP-type companies work in the same way. We do not have the concept RegionSoft Sales or RegionSoft Warehouse, but there are editors that cover different groups of departments. Accordingly, the requirements need to be collected from all:
It only sounds scary and formalized, and in fact it greatly facilitates the work and understanding of what is happening in business. It happens that at the stage of collecting requirements, some business processes are already being adjusted. Collecting requirements for organized work and provided that you are not a giant like Gazprom, it does not take much time.
Planning a budget for the implementation of a CRM system is a very important step in which almost everyone stumbles. I remember, we have already mentioned this, but repetition is the mother of learning: consider the cost of owning a CRM system.
Let's imagine that you have 10 people in your company. CRM came to you, which stated that it costs 800 rubles per person and RegionSoft came, who said that in the same edition costs 11,000 rubles per person. Here and by 10 it is not necessary to multiply, it's stupid, what's the difference. In fact, 800 is for one user per month (SaaS, rental services), and 11,000 for one user once (buying a license) and then for the first and for the rest 9,700 or less. Two years pass. RegionSoft as it cost 98,300 rubles for you, it is worth it, but the first vendor already has 192,000 rubles from you. and is going to have further, since the fee is constant. That is, the price of ownership is already more than twice!
Throughout December, we offer discounts on RegionSoft CRM and all our proprietary software. From 1 to 15 December - 15% discount and cool terms of installment and rent. We do not have -70% and -90%, because we keep the economically reasonable price for the license, and do not take it from the ceiling. Details on the site .
In fairness it should be said that the server CRM-systems such as RegionSoft cost of ownership may be slightly higher than the cost of licenses due to paid updates coming out every 1.5-2 years. But again, only the transition between major versions (from 5.0 to 6.0, etc.) is paid, the client has the right to refuse to upgrade if nothing interesting has happened for him, and the cost of the transition is low.
Some companies choose free or open source solutions and consider that they are the most cunning and have deceived everyone. Nope, yourself only. If we are talking about free software (really free), then this is either a very truncated single-user version (we have such, we cannot even judge about RegionSoft), or truncated by the number of records and network work, or just a hook to started work, regretted and turned into a paid package. Because free cheese is only in a mousetrap. But if we are talking about open source, then the budget must be laid - at least, the work of a programmer with specific knowledge that will accompany CRM. A freelancer is not an option here, he will not begin to deal with your processes and system, but will do it on the back of his feet.
Another pitfall is the cost of IT infrastructure for the deployment of CRM. Typically, vendors already take into account the cost of third-party software, virtual infrastructure (cloud), or even hardware in the cost of licenses. But here again options are possible.
A separate and complex issue of additional injections is the fee for plug-ins, add-ons and connectors. Many popular systems have app stores (marketplaces) in which you can buy or take for free what is missing in CRM. For example, it is all so fashionable, with a flat design and dashboards, but mail and telephony are not able. So you can buy MailChimp plugin and use it. But so you pay for CRM, and for a third-party application, also monthly. This has its advantages, but the board and possible errors of integration, many of them overlap. Some CRM providers have their own affiliate telephony, and quite expensive - be sure to pay attention to the choice of provider.
Connectors are more common in serious CRM imports — these are programs developed by Russian partners for integration with 1C and Russian primary documentation or telephony. If you are buying a promoted Western solution for Russian business, be prepared to buy connectors, otherwise the idea of end-to-end automation will lose its meaning.
So, what we think:
Decide on the technical parameters of the CRM system you need.
Test proposals based on budget and requirements. Everything is simple - find CRM on Google, Yandex or reviews on Habré or any profile resource and download demo versions of everything that you like. Exchange for a demo version - your data. Do not be afraid to indicate your real contacts - you will be contacted by a professional manager who will tell you everything about the system, conduct an online presentation. If you do not want further communication, you can simply ask you not to call or write again - an adequate vendor will delete you from the active base.
It is best to test on real data - that is, the working group downloads (registers if the cloud) demos, sets up and simply does its daily tasks - it brings in clients, looks at reports, writes out documents, etc. What to pay special attention to:
Contact vendors if you have questions. Almost all the leading vendors professionally advise customers or tell where to read the details.
Viewing and listening to the presentation is not a superfluous matter, in the course of it you can ask absolutely any questions, interrupt the interlocutor, talk about your business and requirements. This is a fruitful dialogue.
Request documentation or training video - it happens that it is difficult to find this information on the website. Just ask it from the managers of the CRM provider. If you are refused, there is reason to think about the professionalism of the developer.
In no case do not contact business consultants. As soon as you start looking for CRM or asking questions on social networks and forums, these guys rush in from all sides. From a post to a post, I write about their harm - and I will write. Just because they do not understand the topic: they speak beautifully memorized advertising modules, but they absolutely do not care about your business and how one of the CRM of their portfolio gets accustomed to you. Their task is to sell someone who will give a greater percentage of the sale. Everything. The task of the vendor is to work with you so that everything works for you, to get a positive feedback, so that you become a good client who likes everything. This is a matter of business life. The consultant - the question of obtaining money. It will not burn out with CRM - it does not matter, he will go to trainings to read. Yes, really got.
We will assume that you have completed all the steps, received the invoice, paid for it, and now all employees have a new work tool installed - a CRM system that is designed to ease the work and increase productivity.
Training. CRM-system, whatever it is, requires primary training, so that employees understand the logic and structure of the software, ask questions about their areas of responsibility, etc.
Two options for solving the problem:
Be sure to print the documentation and send out electronic versions - for a long time this will be a handbook of managers. Do not rush the process, let the staff get used to the system, learn how to use it in the right mode. The main rule is not to let it flow and not to turn CRM into a punitive tool. This is the assistant, not the warden. We already wrote about employee training here .
Filling data - this is the first and very important work in the CRM-system. It determines the success of many further work processes. These are reference books: types of operations, types of counterparties, regions, sales funnel stages, customer development stages, customer statuses, sources, and much more. Some vendors supply CRM with empty directories, some with partially filled. One of the RegionSoft CRM chips is the most comprehensive reference books. We have already registered the entire geography, added all the statuses and stages that are used most often, etc. But even in this case, it is worth starting with them.
Why is it important to take this data carefully?
After that you can start full-time work.
Task number one, which can not be forgotten or not done - the transfer of existing data in the CRM-system. In what only the information is stored: from notebooks and notebooks to Word files, Excel files and other CRM. And importing all of this zoo is a crucial and painstaking job.
The first thing that employees of the company encounter in the CRM system is the basic functions that you need to quickly get used to and actively use them. Here is an approximate list of what is needed in work for absolutely everyone (using the example of RegionSoft CRM , other vendors may have a slightly different list).
The client card is the core of the CRM system. If the program is designed by developers correctly, then all events and actions for the client should be displayed on his card: correspondence, offers, deal flow, business processes, etc. This is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of CRM in operational work. The more information, the better you know your customer, the higher the likelihood of a deal and repeat sales. Of course, you can turn off all the fields and leave only contacts, but then what do you expect from CRM ...
Planners are a tool for restoring order in the affairs and heads of employees and a tool with the help of which the manager sets tasks. When you buy a CRM, be sure to find out how many planners it has, what reminder notifications it sends and test how comfortable it is to work with the calendar (drag-and-drop dragging, colors, task status, etc.)
KPI panels are the dashboard of every employee. Alas, in most CRM KPIs, if there is one (and many of them are snobbishly attributed to ERP), it is hidden in reports and is available only to management. Radically wrong approach! The employee must see his progress in the context of the working day, week, month and goals, in order to adjust his actions, and not to live in the state of the cycle “nose pulled out - tail stuck, tail pulled out - nose stuck”. In the version of RegionSoft CRM 6.0, we paid a lot of attention to KPI. By the way, on Habré we also wrote about it in great detail.
Reports, sales funnel - the result that should be analyzed. Once the data has accumulated, reports should become one of the main tools of work: look at different sections, detail the funnel, conduct an ABC analysis. On analytics business is under construction.
Telephony, Skype is a very important tool in the work of a sales person. You can attach virtual PBXs with powerful capabilities (for example, Asterisk) to the CRM system, connectors or SIP phones can be used. This is a matter of company scale and telephony needs. But integration with CRM is strictly obligatory, and not because of the notorious raising of the card when calling, but because of the purpose of storing conversations with the client (for training, resolving conflict situations or not to forget the details of the arrangements) and the ability to view all related information. For example, it is important to keep track of the call duration - it is often possible to identify points for reducing the talk time with a client or, conversely, to expand the dialogue, if that is required by the specific business. In addition, when you call from CRM, you always keep up-to-date counterparty numbers in it.
Mail . We suffered and suffered with the mail ... And now we confidently declare: this is incredibly cool and convenient, when the CRM is not a third-party, but a native, own, email client! Yes, we ourselves love some postal services, they are good, but when all the mail in CRM goes both ways and is not buggy - it's great. Starting from the RegionSoft CRM Professional edition, our system has a full built-in mail client that understands the POP3 and IMAP protocols, in which all sent and received letters, as well as drafts of unsent letters, are aggregated and distributed to clients and contact persons. The younger editions support third-party mail clients.
When choosing a CRM, be sure to ask the vendor how well the mail client works for incoming and outgoing. I will not point the finger, but in one well-known writing system, until recently, they were excellently sent, but there was trouble on the inbox. Solution found now.
Each CRM-system has its own advanced features and chips. If you use them, you can achieve greater positive results from automation. The vendor chooses his own way: someone pulls in releases of things from social networks and adds functionality of the corporate portal, someone rests on analytics, someone entirely focused on the functions for salespeople. We at RegionSoft have directed all efforts towards the development of functionality useful for business and automating the routine work of staff.
Business processes are the mechanism that creates fully automated chains of actions. Many vendors have this, and it is very convenient. Remember how sometimes a document or an action is coordinated: the information goes through the employees, someone mines all the deadlines, then someone is searched for this, they swear at him, he angrily slows down the process and comes up with claims - and so on. And well, if this is the process of coordinating the application for leave, and if this is a complex chain of shipment of goods to the branches? Pleasant is not enough, especially since internal shortcomings affect the relationship with customers. When a business process exists as a scheme, everything becomes simple and transparent: information circulates, alerts arrive, you can see who is “stuck” at the stage, the standard time is allotted for all stages. The human factor is minimized, order comes in matters, all events are recorded.
Bulk mailing is one of the forms of group operations that can be done with selected client clusters. For example, the narrower the sample, the more personalized the offer and the better it works. It is enough to create several different letters for different groups of clients and distribution will be more effective due to the individuality of the letters. When it is possible to make it out of a CRM system, this makes work much easier - just use filters to select the right audience and launch the newsletter.
Questioning. Measuring customer satisfaction is the path to a perfect product and their loyalty. First, you get useful information for yourself. Secondly, under the guise of a survey you once again initiate contact and remind of yourself. All data on customer profiles and their satisfaction indicators are stored in his card - and the manager always knows who he is calling: a business adept or a forced user who is not satisfied with everything. Such information helps to predict the course of the conversation and make it more productive.
The knowledge base is not used as often, but in vain. First of all, it is a universal repository of all corporate information: you can create sections and store scripts, article texts, price lists, stock descriptions, terms of reference, internal regulations, and so on. In the database, you can collect the most common questions from customers and answers to them, write educational materials, collect successful work stories. This will allow employees to share information, refresh the most difficult moments.
But most importantly, it will reduce the time of adaptation of beginners. This feeling is familiar to everyone: I came to work, got a computer, everyone does not care about you, you sit, you read the company's website and you are painfully worried about your actual inaction. This is wrong - work in the company should not begin with discomfort. If there is a CRM system with a knowledge base, you can give access to it, and the new employee will immediately plunge into a kind of training center, see the work from the inside and start training.
There are many more points that make working in a CRM system comfortable. These are the field settings, and the colors of the interface, and small, but very useful functions, and hotkeys. And it's not about how much material design and how beautifully smoothed the sides of the sales funnel. The CRM interface should be clear, functional and based on a deep logic of interconnections. If this is not there and the system is scattered, no ryushechki will help her - everything will be distracting and annoying. A business tool should look and work like a business. You do not go to the meetings in Hawaiian shirts, shorts and on the rollers?
For those who love sketchy cheat sheets, we have prepared a brief scheme for the implementation of a CRM system without TK and refinement. On the right - the stages and moments that require special attention, on the left - the main steps of the stage.
The picture is clickable
And finally, a few general tips, which we did not have time to mention in the post.
The introduction of CRM without modifications is a simple matter, despite such a long post. The main thing is to understand the needs of the business and clearly represent the requirements of all departments. The CRM system shortens the sales cycle, makes the processes transparent, establishes communication in the team, removes disputes and differences in customer management and solves many business problems. And here the main thing - to come to the process. By the way, the best time for implementation is periods of downtrend, so that there is time for adaptation. This is usually summer and January-February, although there are exceptions with a high season. In general, the path of automation passes fairly quickly, and then the matter is for payback and growth of business indicators. If you do everything right, they will not keep you waiting.
, . http://the9gag.com/ , . , .
Picture from the9gag.com
Indeed, micro and small businesses often need to buy licenses, install them, and start working. And we need advice on how to start, what to look for, how to make a CRM system a working tool, and not just another shortcut on your desktop. A simple recipe is not enough - because vendors prey on large customers, show their expertise in the most problematic and complex issues. Our RegionSoft CRM loves business of all kinds: from TV and radio holdings and hypermarkets to small advertising agencies. With one we tinker for six months, others have a short briefing, and this is enough. We will try to disclose the process as a detailed guide.
Who does not need the introduction of a CRM system as a project?
There are several groups of companies that can buy / rent CRM, almost without communicating with the vendor.
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- Small companies with standard business processes and uncomplicated requirements. As a rule, they choose the solutions of the youngest edition, with a minimum set of functions, pay the bill and get to work. They know what they need from a CRM system (for example, to maintain a customer base, “recognize” the caller and send mailings) and quickly navigate to any interface.
- New or young companies that have decided to start automation at the start and still don’t know exactly what they need. These start with the basic versions of the CRM-system, and then they can expand the possibilities, order revision based on the operational needs of the company.
- Companies that have decided to automate a business and that have requirements, but they want to try the selected CRM system in action, and then decide on the refinement and expansion of functionality. This is a good approach, since part of the requirements may be covered by the basic capabilities of the system or completely different needs may arise during operation. Thus, having carefully studied the functions of the software and merging CRM with business processes, you can save on improvements that first came to mind or were the result of discussion without application to the practice (“want” of divisions). It is even possible that you give up something in favor of a close implementation in the basic delivery.
The process of choosing and buying a CRM-system
The variety of offers always complicates the choice. The current Russian market of CRM systems cannot be called anything but a mess: along with Russian and foreign classical solutions, under the guise of CRM are hiding planners, notebooks, project management systems, corporate portals, business process management systems and document management and much more. All this is delivered in the cloud and on the server, with a subscription fee and no fee at all, for rubles and with reference to the exchange rate. Interspersing business consultants and small companies such as a "growing system integrator" finally confuse the client. The worst thing is that even your business partner, who only advises you from the heart of CRM XXX, may be vitally interested in selling it and have a percentage or discount. And there is only one advice - to choose what you need by taking the steps listed below.
Determine the requirements for the CRM system - what every department of yours wants from the future program. CRM-ki have long ceased to be a program for sales, they are designed to automate the entire business at once. For example, one of our competitors system automates sales separately, separately - marketing and technical support. SAP-type companies work in the same way. We do not have the concept RegionSoft Sales or RegionSoft Warehouse, but there are editors that cover different groups of departments. Accordingly, the requirements need to be collected from all:
- collect requests from all units in free form
- form a working group of representatives of the departments
- analyze intersections and points of interaction
- draw free-form business processes
- develop a set of needs that must be closed by a CRM system.
It only sounds scary and formalized, and in fact it greatly facilitates the work and understanding of what is happening in business. It happens that at the stage of collecting requirements, some business processes are already being adjusted. Collecting requirements for organized work and provided that you are not a giant like Gazprom, it does not take much time.
Planning a budget for the implementation of a CRM system is a very important step in which almost everyone stumbles. I remember, we have already mentioned this, but repetition is the mother of learning: consider the cost of owning a CRM system.
Let's imagine that you have 10 people in your company. CRM came to you, which stated that it costs 800 rubles per person and RegionSoft came, who said that in the same edition costs 11,000 rubles per person. Here and by 10 it is not necessary to multiply, it's stupid, what's the difference. In fact, 800 is for one user per month (SaaS, rental services), and 11,000 for one user once (buying a license) and then for the first and for the rest 9,700 or less. Two years pass. RegionSoft as it cost 98,300 rubles for you, it is worth it, but the first vendor already has 192,000 rubles from you. and is going to have further, since the fee is constant. That is, the price of ownership is already more than twice!
Throughout December, we offer discounts on RegionSoft CRM and all our proprietary software. From 1 to 15 December - 15% discount and cool terms of installment and rent. We do not have -70% and -90%, because we keep the economically reasonable price for the license, and do not take it from the ceiling. Details on the site .
In fairness it should be said that the server CRM-systems such as RegionSoft cost of ownership may be slightly higher than the cost of licenses due to paid updates coming out every 1.5-2 years. But again, only the transition between major versions (from 5.0 to 6.0, etc.) is paid, the client has the right to refuse to upgrade if nothing interesting has happened for him, and the cost of the transition is low.
Some companies choose free or open source solutions and consider that they are the most cunning and have deceived everyone. Nope, yourself only. If we are talking about free software (really free), then this is either a very truncated single-user version (we have such, we cannot even judge about RegionSoft), or truncated by the number of records and network work, or just a hook to started work, regretted and turned into a paid package. Because free cheese is only in a mousetrap. But if we are talking about open source, then the budget must be laid - at least, the work of a programmer with specific knowledge that will accompany CRM. A freelancer is not an option here, he will not begin to deal with your processes and system, but will do it on the back of his feet.
Another pitfall is the cost of IT infrastructure for the deployment of CRM. Typically, vendors already take into account the cost of third-party software, virtual infrastructure (cloud), or even hardware in the cost of licenses. But here again options are possible.
- Equipment fee. This usually applies to large companies that want to store data on their own servers. Modern CRM for small and medium businesses do not require anything fantastic - for example, RegionSoft CRM as a server can use any PC in a modern office configuration. If you are asked to pay for equipment for CRM, and yes even recommend a "compatible option", be sure to ask for a rationale.
- The fee for the DBMS. But this story, unlike servers, still occurs. For example, the system can work for up to X users on free MS SQL Express, and with X + 1 users or records, require a paid version of MS SQL (which is a lot of money). Ask the vendor what restrictions exist on the database. For example, we are working on a powerful open source Firebird - it is free and withstands very solid loads.
- Cloud fee is the rarest option. Usually between the vendor and the cloud provider already have an agreement.
A separate and complex issue of additional injections is the fee for plug-ins, add-ons and connectors. Many popular systems have app stores (marketplaces) in which you can buy or take for free what is missing in CRM. For example, it is all so fashionable, with a flat design and dashboards, but mail and telephony are not able. So you can buy MailChimp plugin and use it. But so you pay for CRM, and for a third-party application, also monthly. This has its advantages, but the board and possible errors of integration, many of them overlap. Some CRM providers have their own affiliate telephony, and quite expensive - be sure to pay attention to the choice of provider.
Connectors are more common in serious CRM imports — these are programs developed by Russian partners for integration with 1C and Russian primary documentation or telephony. If you are buying a promoted Western solution for Russian business, be prepared to buy connectors, otherwise the idea of end-to-end automation will lose its meaning.
So, what we think:
- cost of licenses or rent
- cost of additional software, DBMS, server rental
- cost of plug-ins, add-ons and connectors needed for operation
- integration cost with 1C and telephony
- ask about additional fees, installation fees, technical support
- if rent (SaaS), then we specify if the vendor can change the cost
- if the price is in currency, we specify the internal rate (this is sometimes set by companies for the Russian Federation) or we find out that the payment goes at the current rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (then at $ growth you will pay more).
Decide on the technical parameters of the CRM system you need.
- Cloud or not cloud - we will not repeat, it was here .
- The type of licenses is a very important thing if you buy licenses and not rent them. There is a small (and some have a big) reserve for saving. Licenses are registered (per user) and competitive (for connection). Competitive are suitable for those who have employees who enter the CRM system infrequently or do not work in the office - so the license will be shared with someone, and you can save on it. Usually, vendors have competitive licenses more expensive than registered ones, while in RegionSoft all licenses are initially only competitive ones.
- Number of licenses. If you ask in the work chat who needs CRM, most likely everyone will answer what they need. Make a document in which employees will briefly write why they need a CRM system. And yes, if the secretary writes that receiving reminders about birthdays and scheduling meetings or calls, this is a good reason. But "just in case, let it be," is no longer exactly. It is precisely needed: salespeople, marketers, managers, logistics, and warehouse. We use our own, for example, as a bugtracker, and as a support-system, but this is according to needs.
Test proposals based on budget and requirements. Everything is simple - find CRM on Google, Yandex or reviews on Habré or any profile resource and download demo versions of everything that you like. Exchange for a demo version - your data. Do not be afraid to indicate your real contacts - you will be contacted by a professional manager who will tell you everything about the system, conduct an online presentation. If you do not want further communication, you can simply ask you not to call or write again - an adequate vendor will delete you from the active base.
It is best to test on real data - that is, the working group downloads (registers if the cloud) demos, sets up and simply does its daily tasks - it brings in clients, looks at reports, writes out documents, etc. What to pay special attention to:
- Installation speed The more additional downloads and installations you have to do, the greater the accumulated probability of error. If you install the DBMS yourself, and the instructions for installation alone on several sheets, count your strength on this process in the future.
- Availability of documentation - without detailed instructions, you simply can not work and quickly cover all functions. For example, the RegionSoft CRM user manual is a structured book in PDF format, 244 pages with pictures and screenshots. We spent a lot of time on it to accompany literally every user action.
- System response speed. Check how fast the data is processed, reports are built, interface elements are downloaded on the web. If the web system, check it to save the entered data - so that when the connection is broken, all work does not disappear.
- Interface clarity - the menu should be grouped logically and clearly. And often this characteristic does not correlate with the external beauty of the forms of a CRM system.
Contact vendors if you have questions. Almost all the leading vendors professionally advise customers or tell where to read the details.
Viewing and listening to the presentation is not a superfluous matter, in the course of it you can ask absolutely any questions, interrupt the interlocutor, talk about your business and requirements. This is a fruitful dialogue.
Request documentation or training video - it happens that it is difficult to find this information on the website. Just ask it from the managers of the CRM provider. If you are refused, there is reason to think about the professionalism of the developer.
In no case do not contact business consultants. As soon as you start looking for CRM or asking questions on social networks and forums, these guys rush in from all sides. From a post to a post, I write about their harm - and I will write. Just because they do not understand the topic: they speak beautifully memorized advertising modules, but they absolutely do not care about your business and how one of the CRM of their portfolio gets accustomed to you. Their task is to sell someone who will give a greater percentage of the sale. Everything. The task of the vendor is to work with you so that everything works for you, to get a positive feedback, so that you become a good client who likes everything. This is a matter of business life. The consultant - the question of obtaining money. It will not burn out with CRM - it does not matter, he will go to trainings to read. Yes, really got.
We will assume that you have completed all the steps, received the invoice, paid for it, and now all employees have a new work tool installed - a CRM system that is designed to ease the work and increase productivity.
The first steps in CRM: training, filling data
Training. CRM-system, whatever it is, requires primary training, so that employees understand the logic and structure of the software, ask questions about their areas of responsibility, etc.
Two options for solving the problem:
- Contact the vendor for full-time or online training. The development staff will train one or several users, who then translate knowledge into their services and departments.
- Teach one user, print out all the documentation and ask him to act as an internal expert and trainer on CRM, temporarily freeing him from his main job.
Be sure to print the documentation and send out electronic versions - for a long time this will be a handbook of managers. Do not rush the process, let the staff get used to the system, learn how to use it in the right mode. The main rule is not to let it flow and not to turn CRM into a punitive tool. This is the assistant, not the warden. We already wrote about employee training here .
Filling data - this is the first and very important work in the CRM-system. It determines the success of many further work processes. These are reference books: types of operations, types of counterparties, regions, sales funnel stages, customer development stages, customer statuses, sources, and much more. Some vendors supply CRM with empty directories, some with partially filled. One of the RegionSoft CRM chips is the most comprehensive reference books. We have already registered the entire geography, added all the statuses and stages that are used most often, etc. But even in this case, it is worth starting with them.
Why is it important to take this data carefully?
- The more stages and statuses - the more transparent and more valuable the sales funnel, the more you will know about the sales cycle and the customer. One of the tasks of CRM is to optimize the sales cycle.
- Filling out directories will provide employees with drop-down lists when creating records in the form fields - thus, the data will be unified and the “city” attribute will be St. Petersburg, not St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Leningrad, St. Petersburg , etc. Unification increases the accuracy of reports and facilitates analytics.
- When filling in the field the required value is in the drop-down list, the speed of entering information increases significantly.
- When filling out the client’s card, it is imperative that you enter the most complete data and details, so you can form commercial offers and contracts several times faster, and write the primary account out in a few clicks.
- By the way, about the primary. We have CRM always supports the most relevant forms. Other vendors we have encountered outdated or missing forms - be sure to load them into the interface, if possible.
After that you can start full-time work.
Work in the CRM-system: the obvious and the incredible
Task number one, which can not be forgotten or not done - the transfer of existing data in the CRM-system. In what only the information is stored: from notebooks and notebooks to Word files, Excel files and other CRM. And importing all of this zoo is a crucial and painstaking job.
- You can transfer all the data manually - alas, sometimes it is the only way. He has only one plus - in the process of transferring all the fields and forms of CRM are remembered to automatism. But this is a waste of time and effort.
- The best option of all - fully automatic import, it is allowed almost all popular CRM-systems. You need to create a .csv or .xls file with the specified fields, prepare it, unifying the data (for example, recording all the phones and email in one form), delete the excess and upload it to CRM. After importing, you need to check the data and supplement it if necessary (for example, attach contract files to contractors). If something does not work, it is better to contact the developer, he knows everything about the correct formats for loading data into a CRM system.
- If you are switching from another CRM (yes, it happens and you don’t need to be afraid of it) or a similar system, contact the vendor for the database transfer service - this way you will experience the transition with minimal losses and will not break the accumulated customer base and important business data.
Priority functions
The first thing that employees of the company encounter in the CRM system is the basic functions that you need to quickly get used to and actively use them. Here is an approximate list of what is needed in work for absolutely everyone (using the example of RegionSoft CRM , other vendors may have a slightly different list).
The client card is the core of the CRM system. If the program is designed by developers correctly, then all events and actions for the client should be displayed on his card: correspondence, offers, deal flow, business processes, etc. This is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of CRM in operational work. The more information, the better you know your customer, the higher the likelihood of a deal and repeat sales. Of course, you can turn off all the fields and leave only contacts, but then what do you expect from CRM ...
Planners are a tool for restoring order in the affairs and heads of employees and a tool with the help of which the manager sets tasks. When you buy a CRM, be sure to find out how many planners it has, what reminder notifications it sends and test how comfortable it is to work with the calendar (drag-and-drop dragging, colors, task status, etc.)
KPI panels are the dashboard of every employee. Alas, in most CRM KPIs, if there is one (and many of them are snobbishly attributed to ERP), it is hidden in reports and is available only to management. Radically wrong approach! The employee must see his progress in the context of the working day, week, month and goals, in order to adjust his actions, and not to live in the state of the cycle “nose pulled out - tail stuck, tail pulled out - nose stuck”. In the version of RegionSoft CRM 6.0, we paid a lot of attention to KPI. By the way, on Habré we also wrote about it in great detail.
Reports, sales funnel - the result that should be analyzed. Once the data has accumulated, reports should become one of the main tools of work: look at different sections, detail the funnel, conduct an ABC analysis. On analytics business is under construction.
Telephony, Skype is a very important tool in the work of a sales person. You can attach virtual PBXs with powerful capabilities (for example, Asterisk) to the CRM system, connectors or SIP phones can be used. This is a matter of company scale and telephony needs. But integration with CRM is strictly obligatory, and not because of the notorious raising of the card when calling, but because of the purpose of storing conversations with the client (for training, resolving conflict situations or not to forget the details of the arrangements) and the ability to view all related information. For example, it is important to keep track of the call duration - it is often possible to identify points for reducing the talk time with a client or, conversely, to expand the dialogue, if that is required by the specific business. In addition, when you call from CRM, you always keep up-to-date counterparty numbers in it.
Mail . We suffered and suffered with the mail ... And now we confidently declare: this is incredibly cool and convenient, when the CRM is not a third-party, but a native, own, email client! Yes, we ourselves love some postal services, they are good, but when all the mail in CRM goes both ways and is not buggy - it's great. Starting from the RegionSoft CRM Professional edition, our system has a full built-in mail client that understands the POP3 and IMAP protocols, in which all sent and received letters, as well as drafts of unsent letters, are aggregated and distributed to clients and contact persons. The younger editions support third-party mail clients.
When choosing a CRM, be sure to ask the vendor how well the mail client works for incoming and outgoing. I will not point the finger, but in one well-known writing system, until recently, they were excellently sent, but there was trouble on the inbox. Solution found now.
Chips to help business
Each CRM-system has its own advanced features and chips. If you use them, you can achieve greater positive results from automation. The vendor chooses his own way: someone pulls in releases of things from social networks and adds functionality of the corporate portal, someone rests on analytics, someone entirely focused on the functions for salespeople. We at RegionSoft have directed all efforts towards the development of functionality useful for business and automating the routine work of staff.
Business processes are the mechanism that creates fully automated chains of actions. Many vendors have this, and it is very convenient. Remember how sometimes a document or an action is coordinated: the information goes through the employees, someone mines all the deadlines, then someone is searched for this, they swear at him, he angrily slows down the process and comes up with claims - and so on. And well, if this is the process of coordinating the application for leave, and if this is a complex chain of shipment of goods to the branches? Pleasant is not enough, especially since internal shortcomings affect the relationship with customers. When a business process exists as a scheme, everything becomes simple and transparent: information circulates, alerts arrive, you can see who is “stuck” at the stage, the standard time is allotted for all stages. The human factor is minimized, order comes in matters, all events are recorded.
Bulk mailing is one of the forms of group operations that can be done with selected client clusters. For example, the narrower the sample, the more personalized the offer and the better it works. It is enough to create several different letters for different groups of clients and distribution will be more effective due to the individuality of the letters. When it is possible to make it out of a CRM system, this makes work much easier - just use filters to select the right audience and launch the newsletter.
Questioning. Measuring customer satisfaction is the path to a perfect product and their loyalty. First, you get useful information for yourself. Secondly, under the guise of a survey you once again initiate contact and remind of yourself. All data on customer profiles and their satisfaction indicators are stored in his card - and the manager always knows who he is calling: a business adept or a forced user who is not satisfied with everything. Such information helps to predict the course of the conversation and make it more productive.
The knowledge base is not used as often, but in vain. First of all, it is a universal repository of all corporate information: you can create sections and store scripts, article texts, price lists, stock descriptions, terms of reference, internal regulations, and so on. In the database, you can collect the most common questions from customers and answers to them, write educational materials, collect successful work stories. This will allow employees to share information, refresh the most difficult moments.
But most importantly, it will reduce the time of adaptation of beginners. This feeling is familiar to everyone: I came to work, got a computer, everyone does not care about you, you sit, you read the company's website and you are painfully worried about your actual inaction. This is wrong - work in the company should not begin with discomfort. If there is a CRM system with a knowledge base, you can give access to it, and the new employee will immediately plunge into a kind of training center, see the work from the inside and start training.
There are many more points that make working in a CRM system comfortable. These are the field settings, and the colors of the interface, and small, but very useful functions, and hotkeys. And it's not about how much material design and how beautifully smoothed the sides of the sales funnel. The CRM interface should be clear, functional and based on a deep logic of interconnections. If this is not there and the system is scattered, no ryushechki will help her - everything will be distracting and annoying. A business tool should look and work like a business. You do not go to the meetings in Hawaiian shirts, shorts and on the rollers?
Crib
For those who love sketchy cheat sheets, we have prepared a brief scheme for the implementation of a CRM system without TK and refinement. On the right - the stages and moments that require special attention, on the left - the main steps of the stage.
The picture is clickable
And finally, a few general tips, which we did not have time to mention in the post.
- Review and improve your business processes - you can not automate the mess!
- Choose a CRM system for your business - recommendations from friends or acquaintances may simply not work for you. Imagine that you choose your favorite car and choose the system exclusively for your company.
- Create an implementation schedule, hang stickers or draw it on a whiteboard. Let each stage have its own responsible and pledged time. So you just less go beyond the planned framework.
- Do not save on trivialities such as training or database transfer - this savings runs the risk of delaying the implementation project.
- If there are no special requests for improvement, do not rush - first work with the CRM-system, and then proceed to the preparation of the TK.
- Work with the CRM system all the time, do not let it stand idle. This is not a formality or a whim - it is your electronic assistant, just like a telephone or PC. There should be no bias to CRM, this is really useful software.
The introduction of CRM without modifications is a simple matter, despite such a long post. The main thing is to understand the needs of the business and clearly represent the requirements of all departments. The CRM system shortens the sales cycle, makes the processes transparent, establishes communication in the team, removes disputes and differences in customer management and solves many business problems. And here the main thing - to come to the process. By the way, the best time for implementation is periods of downtrend, so that there is time for adaptation. This is usually summer and January-February, although there are exceptions with a high season. In general, the path of automation passes fairly quickly, and then the matter is for payback and growth of business indicators. If you do everything right, they will not keep you waiting.
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Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/317124/
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