Do you remember the old cartoon about the hippopotamus who was terrified of vaccinations and ultimately got infected with hepatitis? It’s a great and educational cartoon for children who fear just one shot, but it leaves out the main truth: in the hospital, a patient with jaundice faces a real carousel of injections, including intravenous streams, intravenous drips, and intramuscular shots. Essentially, our big hippopotamus avoided one unpleasant moment and ended up with a couple of weeks of torture (in his eyes).
You’ve already looked up at the title to see again what the article is about and understand the connection to the yellow hippopotamus? It’s all good, we’re fine (probably). The thing is, the behavior of this cartoon character resembles that of small business leaders considering CRM implementation: “Eh, I’ll postpone it, what’s the harm! I’ll do it some other time.” Meanwhile, symptoms are developing, time is passing, and opportunities are fading.
A frame from the cartoon 'About the Hippopotamus Who Was Afraid of Vaccinations', CRM version
Hello, small business
So, let’s imagine a simple situation: there is a small business (in any field, be it IT, an agency, or manufacturing) and its manager. The business is thriving and generating income, but the manager is constantly plagued by endless minor problems: salespeople are out of control, they frequently forget about clients, deals are left hanging after the initial conversation, and paperwork takes a ton of time. Everything seems profitable, but it’s incredibly stressful.
What risks does he carry?
- The risk of lost deals—due to forgotten meetings, calls, and emails, delays in servicing or invoicing, etc. It’s essential to understand that in the world of ubiquitous internet, potential clients will find out about your service issues faster than you typically write a press release about another event in the company (by the way, stop doing that, it’s a waste of time).
- The risk of disloyal clients—existing clients can turn disloyal due to insufficiently personalized communication, problems with managers, or slow response times. And competitors are already luring such clients away.
- The risk of losing part of the data or the entire customer base is a serious risk for a valuable asset. For some reason, small businesses have not learned to evaluate the worth of data and the customer base, the cost of acquiring and retaining customers, and the total value of the contact database. However, there are those who can calculate and sell all of this. It's highly likely that your employees will take both the database and customers when they move to competitors. Furthermore, unorganized and unstructured data can easily be lost on their own, which is even more frustrating.
- The risk of inaccurate reporting and erroneous decisions. You are forced to rely on the reports provided by your employees, which they produce in various ways: some do it meticulously, others casually, some randomly, and others based on guesswork. As a result, the understanding of affairs becomes mediocre, leading to incorrect decisions based on that understanding.
A real-life example. A company was producing dairy products, and the sales were managed by the dealership department. Gathering data from retail points was too tedious, and some of their own outlets didn't even keep records. They fabricated approximate figures, and marketing launched promotion after promotion, changing packaging. Major chains stopped taking three product names, and complaints about high inventory levels emerged. This could have continued if the production manager hadn't overheard a seller at the kiosk near the factory mentioning that those three product names had completely stopped selling. An analysis was conducted, surveys were taken, and a focus group was gathered — it turned out that the competitor's product was winning in both price and flavor additives (fruit fillers). They purchased 'tasty' fillers, altered the technology, discontinued one product — the chains began to take the product, and sales volume increased. Moreover, the cost of technological changes amounted to a third of the marketing costs for promoting the 'dead products.'
- The risk of 'business within a business' is a dangerous symptom in small businesses. Employees, rotating in a small team, believe they are already in the know and have immersed themselves in all the intricacies of running a business, beginning to build a company within their employer's company, for example, by signing contracts with clients directly or providing additional services bypassing the company. This not only drains the company’s finances but also gives rise to completely useless employees: they spend almost all their working time on their 'own affairs.' This is a common situation in the IT sector.
All of this accumulates into a risk of lost income — each risk takes away some part of the money that the company could have earned. Adding to this the reputational risk and resources spent on overcoming problems results in an unbearable burden for small businesses.
How can this be addressed?
Whatever happens to you, there are always at least two options. In the case of managing a small business, the range of options is much broader.
A measure that can be taken
Benefits
Disadvantages
Prevent autocracy and despotism within the company
- Quick implementation of the measure.
- A prompt response to the impact — for a while, employees will ' quiet down' and start working.
- Formally — without costs.
- Negative backlash.
- Layoffs may occur due to changes in the situation.
- A psychologically challenging experience, especially if this is not characteristic of you.
- Short-term impact.
Conduct mass demotivation (withholding bonuses, layoffs)
- An effective and intimidating measure.
- Short-term saving of money.
- Increase in operational transparency.
- Layoffs and reputational risk in the external environment.
- Legal risk (lawsuits, inspections).
- Distrust from employees.
- Sharp increase in reporting on colleagues (to cover their own affairs).
Implement internal control systems*
*the worst measure that can be imagined
- Transparency of most employee actions.
- Increase in employee engagement with work.
Every measure is nothing but a huge minus. Such a degree of distrust towards employees is detrimental to the company and will eventually lead to both the loss of self-respecting workers and continuous attempts to 'hack' the system.
Engage in micromanagement on a permanent basis**
** a temporary crisis measure
- Maximum control of all tasks.
- Adherence to deadlines and commitments.
- Increased employee engagement.
- No pronounced rapid negative reactions.
- High stress levels in the company — for everyone.
- All time is spent on reworking tasks and constant oversight.
- Numerous conflicts within the team.
- Decreased initiative among employees.
Implement (and use!)
- Maximum and invisible control of all tasks.
- Customer database management and data storage.
- Relevant and accurate reporting.
- Automated processes.
- Reduction of resource costs for routine tasks, etc.
- Challenges of implementation and training.
- There is a payback period.
- The effect of implementation is delayed by 3-6 months.
- Resistance from groups of employees.
- Financial costs of the project.
Introduce a KPI system — key performance indicators
- Clear boundaries of responsibility and duties.
- Each employee knows their target indicators.
- Transparency of work processes.
- Measurability of results.
- High level of self-control.
- Rejection by employees.
- If the system is unbalanced and poorly implemented, negative results will ensue.
- KPIs are not suitable for all employees.
Introduce new communication methods: five-minute talks, meetings, brainstorming sessions, etc.
- Direct and open dialogue between employees and management.
- Universal awareness.
- High speed of decision-making.
- Generation of unconventional ideas.
- An atmosphere of trust and friendship.
Time expenditure.
Degeneration of meetings into formality.
Disproportionate attention to active employees (but not always the most effective).
Change approaches comprehensively:
- introduce new communication methods
- develop corporate culture
- implement KPIs
- Rapid positive cumulative effect.
- Sharp transition to intensive development.
- Activity within the company will invigorate and unite employees under the principle of 'turned to the better'.
- Time and resources must be allocated for updating, implementing, and testing changes.
- A comprehensive refactoring of processes is needed.
- There will definitely be opponents of change.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution; most likely, a combination of several approaches will suit a specific company. Nevertheless, there are elements that will prove beneficial amidst any changes: for example, automation of operational work and resource management (CRM, ERP, project management systems, ticketing systems, etc.) or the introduction of KPIs (reasonable, flexible, and gradual). We discussed KPIs in detail and , and about CRM even in 🙂 We will talk about it again in the 81st, this time focusing on the simplest implementation of a .
CRM is not a magic pill; it is merely a tool
CRM vendors love to tout how CRM doubles sales, reduces staffing needs by a quarter, and even makes hair soft and silky. No, that’s not how things work. You choose and purchase a CRM system, start implementing it while using it concurrently, train your employees, overcome negative sentiments and reactions, and only after at least six months do you begin to notice progress. But what progress it is! According to research and analytics from Salesforce, companies using CRM software see an increase in sales by 29%, higher sales productivity by 34%, and sales forecast accuracy by 42%. These figures seem quite realistic for Russian companies as well. But, I reiterate, it’s not the CRM that does this but the company's employees who have learned to utilize the CRM.
What a CRM can do
- is unite virtually all business entities on a single platform: customer and deal data, business processes, reporting, documentation, financial security, warehouse management, planning, telephony, etc. Thus, you obtain not just a spreadsheet filled with data but a connected complex structure from which you can extract any data and analytics at any moment (for example, in 100+ ready-made reports, and you can create as many of your own as needed).
- CRM enhances customer relationships. Your employees always know who's calling (the company card pops up), see the complete customer history, and thanks to reminders and notifications in the interface, they never forget a contact. They can quickly place orders, issue invoices, and prepare final documents—all within a single interface. This is exactly how it's implemented in RegionSoft CRM.
- CRM registers and stores all the information necessary for the business. Part of the information is entered manually by employees, while other data comes from website chat, application forms, etc. All information is stored in linked tables and is securely protected against damage and unauthorized access through access rights distribution and backup.
- CRM simplifies working with documentation—the most tedious and meticulous aspect of commerce. Moreover, tasks and subtasks related to documentation can be integrated into automated business processes, allowing all necessary documents to be generated in a timely manner in neatly formatted printouts.
- CRM can be configured and customized according to the company's needs, either immediately or over time, and it easily scales with business growth. Of course, this applies to advanced CRMs that have been developed over several years, taking serious market demand into account with a sound tech stack. A CRM from freelancer Vasya Ivanov for 30,000 rubles won't be able to do this (nor will it manage anything else on the list).
What CRM Cannot Do
- Sell on your behalf or that of your employees. It is not artificial intelligence, not a robot (in the everyday sense of the word), not a person, but merely software, a collection of human-written logic beneath the interface. This means it needs to be opened and operated—then the results will follow. The mere fact of purchasing and installing software means nothing beyond the act of buying and installing; there's no need to be followers of cargo cult.
- For the same reasons, CRM cannot replace a human—only make them more productive and relieve them from routine tasks.
- To betray you. A CRM system itself (even if cloud-based or mobile) will not divulge any data to your competitors, will not put the client database up for sale, and will not steal clients. Information security is not about technology, but about technology in the hands of people.
Take it and implement it.
We have talked many times about complex implementation schemes and even , which you can download, print, and use as a step-by-step strategy. However, both this scheme and the implementation algorithm are a general story, an ideal scenario for an ideal company in a vacuum. In reality, some implementations are complex, while others are simple, and it primarily depends on the nature of the company itself: for example, implementing a CRM system in a company selling pipe products with 150 employees may be easier than implementing the same system in a small company with 20 people that has a warehouse, its own production, a product range of 20,000 items, and a network of representatives. Nevertheless, the implementation of CRM in small businesses often proceeds in a quite linear and pain-free manner.
Therefore, to achieve results more quickly, choose a CRM that you like (it doesn't necessarily have to be us or any of the well-known solutions) and start working closely with it.
- Start small: even if you simply install the CRM yourself and do not ask the vendor any questions, on the very first day you can start entering data into the client card and the nomenclature into the directories. This is the base that will accumulate and be retained, while all the 'extras' will already be linked to it.
- Make a list of those employees/departments/divisions where CRM is needed first — conduct in-depth training for them, make settings, and after 2-3 months of work, gather feedback from them to use it when rolling out the project to the rest. Let them be your early birds.
- Do not be afraid — even if no one in your company has technical skills, you will not fail, as the CRM system itself is just as ordinary software as Microsoft Office or the interface of a social network in your favorite browser; all entities are easily learned during use. The CRM system developer company will always help with technical settings and issues (in our case, even for a reasonable fee).
- Don't get stuck on a demo version or free plan—purchase the minimum necessary package of licenses/connections right away. This will give you more guarantees and opportunities (for the same backups), and your employees will understand that this is not just a temporary shift but a new working interface that they need to embrace.
- Don't ask or force your employees to fill out too many fields in the CRM—set it up with only those that are truly necessary and will help in day-to-day operations. Let it contain the most important information needed to close a deal. Gradually, as the lead develops, the client card will fill with more information.
- Try to get as many employees as possible to work in the CRM (not just salespeople but also support, logistics, marketing, and warehouse managers...). The more employees who enter data into the CRM and update information, the more relevant, optimized, and beneficial the CRM will be for you.
- If you don't have much money for CRM implementation, start with / пакетов / тарифов и постепенно наращивайте функциональность. Но если деньги есть, то лучше сразу купить «топовую» для вашего уровня версию, чтобы не затягивать полноценный старт работы в системе.
When is a CRM absolutely necessary?
We believe that 99% of companies in any type of business should have a CRM. However, there are times when things seem to be running smoothly, and implementation can be postponed. Yet, there are clear signs showing that without a CRM, you're heading for trouble.
- Your employees are constantly switching between several working tools: a virtual PBX, Excel sheets, an email client, a task management system that they've set up themselves, messengers, and, for example, 1C. It's inconvenient for them since the information is scattered, unconnected, and this situation leaves no chance for using proper analytics.
- The sales cycle is too long, especially when the industry does not suggest it.
- Interesting clients suddenly drop off in the middle of the funnel (which you cannot see, ha!) and leave without explanation. They may be dealing directly with your employees, and there could be significant kickback and reputational risk brewing somewhere.
- A lot of time is wasted on collecting and organizing data, having to copy and re-save numerous sheets, and information gets lost.
- Managers don't recognize customers because they don't know who they are communicating with; everything relies on personal connections and contacts stored in cell phones of salespeople. If a customer isn't of interest to the sales team, they are dismissed.
- You know nothing about the sales profile and the effectiveness of each individual manager, while managers have never heard of deal prioritization and believe that the priority goes to whoever pays the most / shouts the loudest / complains to The Hague and Strasbourg, rather than to those who are ready to consistently close small deals or to those who want discounts on massive shipments.
- Your business processes are unfamiliar with the term 'business processes' and are more like a paralyzed bundle of nerves.
- Managers fight for clients, intercepting them from one another and behaving more like spies on the side than as people who should be generating most of the revenue.
In these cases, a CRM system is both emergency assistance and intensive care. In other situations, it’s merely a recommendation for successful and proper company development.
Long ago, I liked the definition that assessed good CRM systems as nothing more than a digital shell for sales. However, today, it is the digital shell for all business because cover most interactions within a company. Yet, the definition of a bad CRM remains unchanged: a bad CRM is a system that creates more problems than it solves.
In general, we are for everything good. And you?
Our business solutions
- — a powerful universal CRM in 6 editions for small and medium-sized businesses
- — a simple and convenient cloud ticket system and mini-CRM with instant start-up capabilities
- — a powerful CRM for media holdings and outdoor advertising operators; a true industry solution with media planning and other capabilities.
Source: habr.com
