Your CRM is costing you money. This is how you fix it.

CRMs are a complex tool. Most have reporting, contacts, accounts, opportunities, and leads all under a single dashboard. 

This is how most CRMs are set up but it’s wrong. 

Why is it wrong? 

Well for starters, it’s too complex and complexity = slow. Simple on the other hand = versatile and versatility is one of the biggest strengths small teams have. Don’t sacrifice it with a complex setup. Stay light on your feet and take advantage of this to run circles around your competitors.

Just imagine for a moment where your CRM and sales process is simple and easy to learn. What could you do with simple? 

• Onboard a BDR in 1 day. 
• Hire candidates without CRM experience. 
• Go to market today..not in three months. 
• Save your sales team from burn out. 

These are just a few of the benefits of a simple CRM and they really never stop.

What I see most companies struggling with, is how to simplify a CRM when the CRM itself is inherently complicated. The solution is quite simple.

Switch CRMs!!!!

Who cares if you signed an annual deal with Salesforce. Their CRM is a rats nest and your team is likely tangled in it. Take the loss and make the switch to a software designed to accelerate your sales team. It will likely be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make for your company. 

What to look for in your new CRM

There are an infinite number of CRM features but some are far more important than others.

Here’s what to look for:

1) Email Sync

Email is the core of most sales communication. If your team is bouncing back between email and your CRM, you can be sure that there is a ton of efficiency lost every time they hop between tabs. 

Another benefits is communication tracking. Most CRMs operate on task and if you forget to set a reminder, leads can be lost forever. If a CRM tracks communication, you can filter down to leads that haven't been contacted in a while and likely need to be followed up with.

2) Playbooks

It’s important that your team is efficient during outreach, follow ups, and any time they’re executing emails, calls, or social messages. Playbooks walk your team through steps of outreach, relieving your team from having to constantly set reminders to follow up. 

If you’d like to learn more about Playbooks, check out our Playbooks feature here. 

3) Simple CRM Architecture 

Again, some CRMs are inherently complicated. Others like LeadLoft and Pipedrive are simple. In LeadLoft, everything happens under leads and in Pipedrive, everything happens within deals.  

Both have their benefits but what’s unique is that in both CRMs, your team only needs to worry about one thing: leads or deals.

For comparison, Salesforce has leads, contacts, accounts, and opportunities (deals). Suddenly your team has to make sense of what all of these are and how they relate. 

I’m sure with enough time you could figure out how to make it work but is that time worth it? Probably not. 

If you’re getting started, go for what’s easy. 

4) Look for a CRM with Prospecting Software

Before I jump in, this is for both inbound and outbound sales. 

I don't think there's any need for me to explain why prospecting is useful for Outbound sales. Outbound sales teams need leads to engage and ultimately, book appointments with. 

What you might now know is how valuable prospecting is for inbound sales. How many times has a lead showed up on your site, filled out a form, and disappeared. It’s probably a few times a week at least.

When a lead shows up on your site, that’s a sign that they’re in the market for what you have to offer. If they go dark, prospect a few other contacts from their company and engage them. You already know there’s interest, so capitalize on it. 

And that concludes my rant.

It’s unfortunate to see great companies hindered by the software they chose to work with. Don’t let this be you. Go with what’s easy, fast, and effective. If you end up following my advice, feel free to circle back in a year to say thanks. 

And as always, if you're looking for a CRM that’s built for speed or just want to connect- checkout LeadLoft.