Develop the sales process before the CRM tool.

Choosing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool with no set sales methodology or sales process in place is an invitation to failure. Companies that have had the most success with the highest CRM adoption rates are those where the sales team has had an entrenched sales process as part of the culture, and the right CRM supports the existing methodology. Sales teams will adopt more readily a tool that supports the existing sales process.

Once the sales methodology is firmly entrenched; meaning sales people sell using the process and sales managers manage and evaluate according to the process, then the steps to implementing a CRM become less daunting. When a common language is part of the day-to-day sales process the sales stages become more uniformly meaningful. Sales people know what to do next and managers know when they need to assist in moving the ball.

A simple process for a technology sale might be something like this: Initial Contact (Following up on a lead); Technical Discussion (Defining the “problem”); Quote/Proposal (Offering a solution); Design Commencement; Qualification Complete (Design Win); Pre-Production Order; Production Order (Win).

Your CRM system should help you to monitor the length of time each stage typically takes and attach a Confidence Percent to each stage; Initial Contact = 10%; Design Commencement = 50%; Production Order = 100%. You need a CRM system that you can tailor to meet your needs and process.

Finally, combining the methodology with the technology (CRM) can lead to continuous education and sales training. By monitoring the opportunities as they move through the Sales Funnel sales professionals will know where orders get stuck or delayed and therefore will know where to focus training efforts.