The saying “What you don’t know can’t hurt you” might be true.
In sales? What you don’t do will cost you a ton of revenue, profit and market share. Yes, even if you have a CRM. In fact, operating from the belief that a CRM will solve every problem can cause some of the very mistakes we’ll be discussing.
Coincidentally, that belief tops our list.
CRM Mistake #1: Not Doing (or Using) Everything You Can
Are you up to speed on all the little tricks and tips of your cell phone? Your computer? Or, for that matter, your TV?
The kind of tips that make you want to show them to anyone and everyone?
We’d wager the answer is a big “No.” Sadly, the same likely goes for your
work-related software.
It’s been suggested that a mere 30% of sales teams fully incorporate their CRM’s features into workflows. Whether due to ignorance or malaise, those are rookie numbers.
It’s like buying a Porsche and topping out at 50 MPH. The thing you paid good money for is effectively being underutilized at best — and wasted at worst.
Our Tip: Schedule a call with the product manager of your CRM. Between new features and updates, there’s probably something you’ll wish you’d known about earlier. Sidenote, Inline Data Systems customizes ongoing CRM training sessions whenever they’re needed to make sure you’re using every last bell and whistle at your disposal.
CRM Mistake #2: Not Doing Documentation the Right Way
Sometimes it seems salespeople like to play a classic game of Let’s See How Vague and Non-Descript We Can Make Our Notes.
Examples usually include:
- “Spoke with customer. Not interested right now.”
- “Asked for a callback next month.”
- “Thinking about it.”
Sound familiar? If it does, consider this a reminder from the Universe that no one wins this game. Not you. Not your prospect. And definitely not your commission.
The purpose of taking notes isn’t simply writing what happened, but giving context or rationale behind what you write. The more details you log, the more competent and professional you’ll seem to your leads the next time you talk to them.
Our Tip: You can’t control everything, but you need to control what you can. Notes fall under this category of “controllable controllables”. Think of “Future you” when recapping your prospect calls. If the only thing they can work from is “Need to call back.” they’ll probably be upset with present you.
CRM Mistake #3: Doing Nothing But Default Reports
Moneyball is a testament to the power of data. While old-school thinking was still obsessing over Batting Average and Home Runs, the Athletics focused on more granular statistics: On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, Walk Rate and more.
Those stats were the genesis of sabermetrics and fueled an unlikely American League West championship season.
The parallel here? These are the generic reports you’re likely running:
- Calls Made
- Close Rate
- Revenue Booked
- Leads in Your Pipeline
Yes, those are important. Even foundational.
But your CRM has — or at least should have —reporting capabilities that are a bit more refined:
- Which sales scripts actually sell
- Where bottlenecks happen
- Average duration between touchpoints
Our Tip: Tinker with your CRM’s reporting section. If it’s anything like what Inline CRM offers, you’ll have near-infinite reports you can customize… and near-infinite next-steps to take.
CRM Mistake #4: Doing Your Marketing Blind
Successful extended warranty companies do all kinds of direct marketing: Email. Direct Mail. Social media. Good ol’ fashioned broadcast. Really successful extended warranty companies do the same — they just know the ROI of each dollar spent on each platform.
The issue is most CRMs lack that level of accounting. The result?
- Money is funneled to underperforming channels
- Offer codes get lost in the shuffle
- Your Excel file has dozens of tabs with data essential to your bookkeeping
Our Tip: Reach out to your CRM’s engineers to see what APIs they have, if any. When you can integrate platforms like USPS, MailChimp, FedEx and more (like Inline CRM), you’ll spend more time on the bigger financial picture and less time in the weeds guessing which channels are profitable.
CRM Mistake #5: Doing Sales the Old Way
You’ve been there: Talked to a prospect. Sent the recap e-mail right after. Everything textbook perfect. Your prospect reads the email later that night and is ready to pull the trigger. But your call center is closed until the morning and there’s no way for them to buy then and there.
You know what happens next: What should have been a surefire sale turns into your lead second-guessing — and the fish on your hook gets away. All because your CRM functions more as a diary than a fully-fledged selling machine.
Our Tip: More than 20% of sales happen online. Everything from everyday items like shoes to more important things like cars — and the extended warranties that service them. If your CRM isn’t built for the demands of a digital experience, it might be time to consider one that is (like ours).
CRM Mistake #6: Not Doing a Free Demo of Inline CRM
Our Tip: Call to claim a 30-day, no-obligation test run of the extended warranty industry’s most innovative CRM, risk-free. You’ll know whether it makes more sense for your business. And we’ll show you things you didn’t know you could do before.
