7 Ways to Address Salesperson CRM Concerns

Each and every day, in sales departments around the globe, a sales manager is striding into the room and making this proclamation … “I have great news! We have decided to provide you with a CRM so that you can better track your activities with your customers!” And the collective response is … “Groan”. That’s only if you’re lucky. Many times their reaction will be more representative of a battle scene taken straight from the movie “Braveheart” and it will be no less bloody.

Why? The simple answer is salesperson perception which has been reinforced by tradition. Salespeople have traditionally resisted, or even refused, CRM initiatives because of their perception that the likely reasons behind this decision will no doubt create non-selling burdens that they will be asked to bear as a result of its implementation. It doesn’t have to be that way and this starts with the first step, what do we know about salespeople?

Like most of us, salespeople all listen to that same radio station … WIFM. What’s In It For Me? This question will be applied to any situation and particularly one pertaining to change. We also know that they are: competitive; territorial; adrenaline junkies; set in their ways; money motivated; control freaks; combative; self-centered; and notoriously independent. These are just a few of their good qualities.

Additionally, we do need to acknowledge that many of these descriptors point to one simple truth. While great salespeople can become even more effective on so many levels through the use of a CRM, they are inherently not well suited for any form of paperwork or data entry which they will likely perceive to be tedious, time-consuming, and redundant. They will be focused on the prospective action (paperwork, which they hate) rather than the results (sales, which they crave).

Being aware of these motivations and concerns provides us with the guidelines needed in order to be able to effectively address and harness their individual energies. It’s never about the message. It’s always about the delivery. Sincerity and transparency will be musts. Salespeople are quite adept at identifying bull crap. This is one of the many things that we pay them to do. Let’s take a look at our seven …

“I’m not sure who came up with this idea but I sure as hell know who they didn’t talk to first and that person would be me!” If you get this one wrong, and no less at the beginning of the process, you are going to find yourself with a very tough row to hoe. Do not merely request buy-in. This correctly implies that you have already made the decision and that this is now your chance (not choice) to invest in a done-deal. Bring your salespeople in very early in the process and place them in an ownership position in all phases of the discussion, choices, and development. Since they will be the ones using the tool on a daily basis, it only makes good sense to ask for their input early in its creation.

“Why do you want me to do this?” This question is really … “What’s in this for you?” Many sales managers are actually sales administrators and there is a huge difference between the two. Sales administrators (and I have worked with these folks and have been asked to serve in this capacity twice) generally crunch numbers as opposed to actually getting out there and assisting the sales effort. As such, their priorities may be quite different from those of the frontline sales representative. The answer to this concern is that you want to do this for the salesperson and to help them to increase their commissions and you are willing to invest in the available to technology to make their work less time-consuming, more efficient, and more rewarding.

“What are you planning to do with this information?” Will you hold this over my head or is this just another way for you to keep your foot on the back of my neck? Or both? We (you and us) will use this information to help you to understand what you will want to do in order to achieve your goals. The metrics are important in determining your ratios and will also help us to pinpoint those areas where we can best support your efforts.

“I don’t have time to do frivolous paperwork.” Salespeople universally hate call reports (not that this information should not be valuable for them). That being said, a good CRM should minimize/eliminate the need for these if it is properly maintained. This will actually minimize all paperwork, frivolous or otherwise! Furthermore, one of the worst things about call reports is coming back to the office at the end of the day and filling them out. A good CRM will automatically aggregate much of the needed information by gleaning it from day-to-day tasks. Email is a good example. Finally, with cloud and mobile applications, much of these tasks can be done from the field, as they occur, rather than at the end of the day. Not only is this more efficient, taking notes immediately after a call is always going to be much more accurate than trying to remember what went on earlier in the day.

“I am paid to sell and this activity will steal from my selling time.” This system will actually provide you with more selling time! How much time are you currently spending trying to find scraps of paper with your various notes so that you can plan for your next call or, do you even attempt to do this?

“I should be judged on my performance and not on my ability to generate paperwork.” You are, and you will, be judged on this basis always. We want to help you to increase your performance not minimize it. We want you to perform at even a higher level.

“How will this help me to sell more?” Aha! We have come to the golden moment.

Having the ability to sell more is perhaps the most important key element in changing salesperson attitudes toward CRM. Over the last couple of years, the buzzword has become SCRM or Social Customer Relationship Management. Some even prefer simply SRM. What is important about this shift is that we finally have the ability to bring relationships into the equation as social is all about relationships and relationship building. Guess what else is relationship driven and always has been … selling. “Relationships” have never been a part of a traditional CRM despite including that term in the name.

In this article where IBM Reveals Their Predictions About The Future Of Social Customer Relationship Management (CRM), the author interviews Sandesh Bhat who is the VP of Web and Unified Collaboration Software for IBM Collaboration Solutions …

“We believe Social CRM – the integration of social media and analytics with customer relationship management strategies – is the next frontier for organizations that want to exploit the power of social media to get closer to customers, old and new. Social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn), micro blogging capabilities (Twitter, Jaiku), media sharing capabilities (YouTube, SlideShare), social bookmarking sites (Digg, Delicious), and review sites (Yelp, Trip Advisor) will play a crucial and important role in successfully transforming sales.”

This was article written in 2011 but, the promises of Social CRM not only hold true, they may now be realized and be realized today!

What do salespeople really want and can CRM deliver it? The answer to each of these is a resounding “Yes”!

They want to sell more stuff.
They want to build closer relationships with their customers.
They want more referrals.
They want to be more organized.
They want easy access to customer information at any time.
They want to be able to accurately forecast their sales (commission checks) and to smooth out the peak and valley rollercoaster.
They want more time for selling and to spend less time on paperwork.

We will explore each of these in future articles but, for now, what can you add to this list. Please do so by leaving your comment below!

image courtesy of Icon Productions

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines of a smarter planet. I’ve been compensated to contribute to this program, but the opinions expressed in this post are my own and don’t necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.

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Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services

Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!