How to get your sales reps to use your CRM system
You’ve made a decision on a CRM, built-it or consulted over a build, and it seems to give you everything that you want. But then you introduce it to your sales reps, and their reaction is lukewarm. This is reflected as time goes on when they stop using it. So why is that?
CRM adoption is one of the pillars that makes or breaks the success of your CRM, with your sales team CRM usage playing the key indicator. They are the biggest users of a sales CRM, so if they don’t adopt, it undermines the benefits of introducing a new system.
This was evident with a client of ours, The Shutter Shop, when they introduced a system that, in its original form, didn’t fully support their team in driving sales.
So how can you improve the adoption rate amongst your sales reps?
This article will explore the key strategies that you can implement to vastly improve the chances that your sales team is ready, willing and able to use your CRM system.
Include Sales Reps in the CRM selection process
When your sales team will be the primary users of a CRM system, getting them involved in the process of CRM implementation and testing as early as possible is going to automatically garner their buy-in.
Not only will their input shape how the CRM looks for their day-to-day work, it presents an ownership that builds their sense of value and relevance to the team.
This doesn’t mean taking every suggestion they make, or including every sales rep as part of the process. One or two people acting as liaisons for the rest of your sales reps gives opportunities for constant feedback without introducing too many cooks to the kitchen.
Show the personal value to sales reps
Introducing the team into the implementation will guide the design philosophy, but that doesn’t motivate them to actually use the system.
Typically, sales are motivated by money, with most sales teams incentivised by the potential of additional commission earnings. Making it easier for them to reach commission targets is the best policy for maximising your sales potential.
Show them how the CRM achieves this: fewer admin tasks, better visibility of leads and deal tracking, and performance tracking all contribute to improving efficiency, so they spend less time doing the tasks that don’t add to their earnings without introducing problems.
We at enable even use homepage dashboards with sales details, front and centre, to motivate our sales team to continue working towards commission targets. This will improve your sales teams too.
Make the CRM Easy to Use and Accessible
All of the above is moot if the system your team uses causes them to continuously pull their hair out.
The user experience should be the first consideration of any CRM platform. In the same way that you turn away from a hobby that you don’t enjoy, a work platform with a poor experience will turn people away too.
Reducing complexity and providing multiple ways of working, including through mobile apps on the go, will engage sales reps for longer. Providing access within the CRM to external tools needed for their job, like emails, calendars and phone, makes continued engagement even easier.
The aim is to reduce barriers for your sales reps to sell. The fewer barriers you put in front of them, the better they will adopt your CRM.
Provide Ongoing Training and Support
The most important thing to remember with a CRM is that it’s a growing platform. The system evolves frequently, and you’ll always see changes or adjustments that need communication to your sales reps so they know what to do.
Ongoing training sessions scheduled regularly after onboarding, combined with assigning CRM champions and further bite-sized refreshers go a long way to keeping everyone on track.
Encouraging reps to share tips and time-savers with their peers also forms part of the adoption process.
Conclusion
The adoption of a new system is a big challenge, especially to salespeople who are set in a process that they believe works best for them. Enforcing a new system onto them without planning and preparation does nothing but generate unnecessary friction.
The best approach is to ease your sales reps into it, and that process begins at the very beginning, before the CRM has even been established.
By introducing the framework of creating a system that works for them, with continuous support and ease of use that offers value for their time, your sales reps are more likely to adopt the CRM for good.
We at enable develop CRM systems for sales representatives, engineered to work for you and guiding every step. If you’re ready to take that step, click here to start your journey.
