At the very beginning, you need to understand whether your company really needs a CRM system. To do this, answer 3 questions in detail:
- How does the sales department work now? Determine where customers come from, what happens at each stage of the business email list funnel, what actions managers take.
- What tasks should CRM perform? For example, organize centralized data storage, have access to sales reports, analyze conversions.
- What can be automated and what can’t? You need to understand which business processes should be automated completely, which ones partially, and which ones are best left alone.
As a result, you should get:
- detailed technical specifications for the implementation of a CRM system;
- a business process map that will include scenarios for initial and repeat sales, as well as refusals.
Example of a business process map. Image from the author’s archive
The main mistake at the initial stage is implementation “blindly”. Please note that the system should take into account the top agency metrics & kpis you should track specifics of sales in your company, and CRM sales funnels should correspond to your business process.
Step 2. Defining the functionality
There are many systems on the market, some of them are tailored to a specific niche. Understanding the following will help you choose the right one from all the variety:
- Is CRM right for your business? There are both universal options and those designed for a specific area – for example, for restaurants, hotels and car dealerships.
- What integrations will be needed? For example, if your company is engaged in cold sales, you will need integration with telephony.
- Will the CRM be convenient for employees? Most modern platforms have an intuitive interface, but there are also systems with an outdated design.
As a result, you will get a list of functions and integrations that should be in the future system. It must be included in the previously created TOR.
The main mistake at this stage is to make a choice not by functionality, but by price. Keep in mind that this is not the clean email main advantage of CRM that you should pay attention to. Cheap or free systems may not have the functions you need or not support the required integrations.
Therefore, it is easier to buy a CRM with wide functionality and disable unused tools than to hire developers and add the necessary modules manually.
Step 3. System setup
By this stage you should be prepared with:
- Technical specifications for CRM implementation;
- business process map – a detailed sales funnel with responsible managers indicated;
- list of processes requiring partial or complete automation;
- list of integrations that need to be carried out.
In the end, all that remains to be done is:
- Full adaptation of CRM to business processes;
- Document templates, transaction statuses and automation;
- Testing the system before launch. It is better to assemble a focus group of up to 5 people who will test all the CRM functions, including intentionally trying to do something wrong. This is necessary to determine whether everything works as it should.
However, you shouldn’t immediately implement your dream CRM system, as you will end up with a complex platform that will be difficult to navigate. Especially if your company has never worked with CRM before.
To help the team adapt to the system faster, it is better to stop at an MVP project with the minimum required set of functions. For example, with a lead funnel, 2–3 sales funnels, and simple automation of template tasks. It is recommended to start gradually expanding the CRM at step 5.
The main mistake at this stage is not to take into account the real work of the sales department. That is why it is important to first conduct an audit of the sales department, and then test it. Otherwise, the statuses of deals may not correspond to the processes, and managers will not understand how to use the platform.