Setting up your CRM is key to B2B success. I like to say the best time to get your CRM set-up was yesterday, the second best time is today. Properly setting up your CRM takes a bit of work, but will pay big dividends down the road. Here are a few keys to successfully setting up your CRM.
Get Some Training
CRMs have come a long way in-terms of ease of use and being intuitive, but it is still beneficial to get some training. Most of the CRMs provide training, with HubSpot leading the way. Look for training to support the set-up and training for users.
Map Your Sales Stages
Most CRMs will provide the ability to modify your sales stages. This includes the stage names as well as the weight of each stage. These changes will help you reinforce your sales processes.
Connect Your Email
One of the best and most productive set-up items is to connect your email to your CRM. This allows for inbound emails to automatically get logged. The marketing emails and email templates are great tools that can be leveraged to support your sales and marketing efforts.
Add Your Properties
You may have some specific properties that you want to include in your CRM. As an example I talked with a company that has software to help grow insects. They like to have properties tied to the specific insects they are growing. Guess what, CRMs do not have insect types as a standard property. By creating properties it allows for better searching and reporting.
Import Your Contacts, Companies, and Deals
If you are using google sheet or excel and start to get busier, you will find you have outgrown them as a way to keep your contacts, companies, deals, and tasks organized.. The good news is the information you have can be imported. Most of the CRMs have import wizards to help. Make sure you pay attention to what you have and what you can add before you import. As an example, it may be easier to update a CSV/excel file before you add the information.
Get Your Plan Together
Setting up your CRM is just the start. It needs to be used and updated everyday. Your customer facing team members should be using it live when they are dealing with prospects and customers. It is not just about storing information, but leveraging that information to close more and faster. This means creating future tasks, being diligent with your funnel, and leveraging the tools to make you more efficient.
If you would like some help setting up your CRM please connect with me.
