When you hear the term “sales enablement,” you may think of a CRM (customer relationship management) tool. While CRM is a big part of the sales enablement equation, it is most effective when integrated in a way that truly helps the sales reps. This may require adding to your sales enablement tech stack. So that, beyond providing visibility to management, a robust CRM can reduce sales admin time, create an efficient sales process and measure sales effectiveness in the field. Let’s dig into each of these ideas, and explore how to elevate a CRM to impact sales reps.
CRM and reducing sales admin time
CRM was initially designed as a tool for management to keep track of new revenue and pipeline generation across the sales team. Because of this, a struggle has developed between organizations and efficiency when it comes to a CRM. Sales reps might tell you they get hounded by their managers for not keeping accurate data in the CRM, and this is because of the amount of time it takes to enter notes manually. If a seller has multiple meetings each day, there is little-to-no time to update the CRM, so they end up doing it in bulk at the end of each day or week. This process ends up being ineffective because it’s difficult to remember every detail of every meeting when it’s not as fresh in your mind.
Deploying a CRM and expecting adoption doesn’t work. To benefit both management and individual contributors, a CRM should integrate into a mobile technology sales enablement tool that allows data to be both pulled and pushed during the sales process, including during live pitches. Pushing data to CRM can be done by tracking content used in meetings and sending notes directly attached to the opportunity or contact in your system. This new process reduces the time a sales rep would spend on this activity later.
CRM and measuring sales effectiveness
A CRM is excellent for pulling reports on sales deals moving through the pipeline, but it doesn’t always tell the full picture. Forward-thinking companies will want to know the cause and effect of closing deals; what is moving some deals forward, and what is preventing other deals from progressing?
Diving into this question means tying ROI back to content used throughout the sales process. Here too, when CRM is paired with other sales enablement platforms, capturing meeting materials becomes easier. Marketing can easily understand what content drives revenue, so they can focus on creating more of what is adding value to sales and less of what is not. This feedback loop quickly results in a set of meaningful content that sales teams will value and use.
CRM and increasing process efficiency
Logging post-meeting follow up isn’t the only place an efficient CRM can save time. Consolidating sales tools is one area many companies don’t take into consideration. If you ask as a sales rep to prepare, present and follow-up on meetings in three different tools, it is creating more work than necessary.
When sellers push meeting data to their CRM, and marketing measures what’s most effective, this feedback loop opens up more areas for efficiency. Marketing can suggest content to sellers based on what’s worked well. The materials can tie to each unique sales interaction based on the industry, buyer persona or stage of the opportunity. Pulling on this data allows sellers to be efficient and effective in each meeting by replicating success seen across the organization, presenting what buyers care most about, and saving time searching for the right materials.
A CRM can reduce sales admin time, measure sales effectiveness and increase process efficiency if leveraged the right way. Today’s sales enablement tech stack options allow integrations never before possible for CRM to be even more effective. Sales enablement tools now provide one single place for sellers to prepare, present and follow up on meetings while pushing and pulling data from the CRM to make sellers more effective.
This is part two of our four-part series on sales enablement. Sign up for our Blog Newsletter to get the next part of the series straight to your inbox.
About Mediafly
Mediafly is a mobile sales enablement solution that enhances how brands engage prospective buyers. By using Mediafly’s platform, marketing and sales teams at companies including PepsiCo, GE Healthcare, MillerCoors and Charles Schwab, are able to deliver custom, dynamic sales presentations quickly and efficiently, engaging customers with insights that are relevant to them. Mediafly’s Evolved Selling™ solution enables sellers to be more flexible and interactive in their sales interactions, resulting in increased sales and stronger customer relationships. Mediafly has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies for four years consecutively in addition to being named Inc.’s Best Places to Work of 2017. Visit Mediafly.com or follow @Mediafly for more information.
Evolved Selling™ takes sales enablement to the next level by incorporating methodologies and technology that enhances engagement with prospective buyers. Read more about our approach to Evolved Selling™.
Comments are closed.