Long gone are the days when the needs of customers were left to hypothesis. With the emergence of customer relation management tools, businesses can maintain close relationships with their customers.
CRMs provide businesses with the information needed to understand customer needs, track their behavior, and improve interaction.
Any business’ bread and butter is customer acquisition and retention. With nearly half of the businesses seeing a huge improvement in customer retention due to CRMs, it’s no longer a matter of whether you need CRM software.
However, seamless integration and adoption of CRM come with many challenges. In this post, we highlight some of the CRM adoption challenges your company may face and how to overcome them.
Challenge #1: Implementation
Implementing a new technology can be easier said than done, as it will likely pose a challenge when it comes to getting it up and running. Implementing CRM software is no different since it is designed to do a complete overhaul of your customer relations.
Without some experts on your team to integrate the software with your organization’s processes, implementation can be a huge challenge.
Solution:
Select a CRM that will operate seamlessly with your other systems and train a team tasked with implementing the software. It’s also wise to work with a provider that offers full integration.
You may want to go through the six-step solution to CRM implementation by Accelo for more insight.
Challenge #2: User Adoption
With an increasing number of businesses embracing CRMs, many continue to report dissatisfaction with the software. Some even miss out on opportunities and lose business.
It’s not that CRM is not working for these organizations. The issue lies with user adoption. People can be resistant to change, preferring to stick to what is familiar.
CRM software is a revolutionary tool that brings about changes across various systems. It can be challenging for employees to fully embrace the idea, resulting in poor engagement and implementation.
Solution:
Communication is key to fast adoption. Knowing what your team thinks about the CRM idea offers valuable insight into the steps you need to take.
You also need to develop a training program to equip your team with CRM skills. This training could be in the form of self-help material or coaching sessions.
Challenge #3: High Costs
If you can get away with basic CRM packages, you’re set to go. However, if your business needs more advanced features, you will have to consider enterprise CRMs.
As you can likely guess, more advanced features come with higher price tags. Investing in them can significantly shoot up overhead costs.
Solution:
While a powerful CRM can be costly, it comes with a ton of valuable features that can take your business to the next level. Basically, it comes down to weighing cost against value to determine whether a specific CRM is the right fit for your company.
Alternatively, you could go with a mid-tier software or negotiate with new vendors for a lower price.
Challenge #4: Poor Communication
When different departments and teams are not properly aligned, realizing the full potential of CRM software will be difficult.
Poor communication will simply lead to data discrepancies that provide incomplete information on customer profiles. As a result, instead of reinforcing your sales force, your CRM tool may end up harming sales processes.
Solution:
You can overcome the problem of inefficient communication by promoting openness and collaboration across different teams. Additionally, staff members should be trained to work in synergy, taking advantage of CRM features and frequently holding reviews.
Challenge #5: Poor CRM Strategy
CRMs are tools you can easily underutilize if you don’t have a sufficient plan outlining how to maximize functionality.
Advanced CRMs have so much more to offer than storing customer details and tracking leads. Keep in mind that the cost of an enterprise CRM doesn’t justify usage without aligning the software with your overall business strategies.
Solution:
Addressing this challenge requires a strategy for maximizing CRM functionality. Examine the needs of your business and use that information to guide CRM implementation.
Final Thoughts
A CRM is undoubtedly a powerful tool that can enhance interaction between businesses and their customers, leading to overall growth. However, a CRM is only as effective as how you use it, which really emphasizes the need to understand the ins and outs of these tools and how to navigate their usage.
