RollOverBeethoven

Commercial Director

Admin time in a CRM - why wouldn't you do it?

To date, our CRM is bare. You know that typical tumbleweed image? That's what I get when I search for why we've won or lost deals.

So at some point, I'm going to have to tell a tenured team of BDs that they're going to be spending a significant amount of additional time on uploading their deal notes and keeping a better health check on their CRM profiles.

I'm anticipating the standard push back - AE's & SDRs - what would your push back be?

Anyone got any really good arguments for not putting their notes into their CRM?

Just as an FYI - I'm really referring to putting discovery notes & demo follow-up notes in. Nothing too drastic for the moment.

🧢 Sales Management

🤓 Sales Tech

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26 comments

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SlinginSoftware

Politicker

Account Executive

My goal is to have my notes in a place that anyone from leadership shouldn’t ever have to ask me about a deal. If they do, I always ask - “Have you looked in Salesforce?”.

Not my intention to sound like a dick but don’t call, email or slack me when the information is at your fingertips!

RollOverBeethoven

Contributor

Commercial Director

Makes sense. I have a similar mentality for meetings that could have been emails.

Ops

Good Citizen

Sales and Revenue Analyst

^ Agreed. Keeping your opportunities updated will also show non-direct leadership that you’re at least being productive when you’re struggling to close deals.

I understand why you’d want to keep your full meeting notes private, but I think sharing a short summary and your initial thoughts of a next step can be very helpful to keep your cadence/foot on the gas.

SlinginSoftware

Politicker

Account Executive

This can also be a huge differentiator when it comes time for promotions, etc…

Two reps with similar numbers, but one with superior Salesforce hygiene.

User1234567

Politicker

-7

User1234567

I like this

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

Sure you'll get push back with any kind of change. You are setting them up for success. Once they enter a few they will get the hang of it.

Sgt_Trollingham

Valued Contributor

Business Development Director

@SlingingSoftware makes a good point.

Additionally, I would say, if any of you were to get hit by a bus, I need to know where to pick the deal back up.

Also, find a CRM/Sales enablement tool that does a decent amount of automatic data capture. That way, you minimize the task and help them be more productive, not less.

RollOverBeethoven

Contributor

Commercial Director

*Gets hit by a bus*

But did you send the contract though?

Sgt_Trollingham

Valued Contributor

Business Development Director

Exactly lol

NoSuperhero

Politicker

BDR LEAD

Pure laziness. It's gotta be done though.

User1234567

Politicker

-4

User1234567

Agrred

Kinonez

Celebrated Contributor

War Room Enthusiast

Having notes is super useful, it's extra information to leverage while you are in a call. If you don't add them, you will forget everything you dug up in the previous call and might ask the same questions which might lose you the deal. It takes 5 mins tops to add so I don't see the reason not to.

DrunkenArt

Politicker

Sales Representative

I don't know about other companies but our CRM is the main way to show activity during the day. Putting in quality notes not only sets you up for success, but the team as well. I feel it wastes more time to do nothing since people have to constantly send out emails for updates on calls, proposals, deals, etc.

TheRealPezDog

Notable Contributor

Account Manager

You will get push back that it "takes time away from selling" but that is somewhat of a bullshit answer... while it does take me approximately 11 minutes to put my notes in, update CRM, schedule subsequent meetings, etc. for every 30 min client meeting I still have plenty of time to "sell"

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Why you should - to keep track of each opportunity in a single, organized location.

Why I wouldn't - because I don't trust leadership and other reps. Like spamming my contacts with marketing content, or other reps putting in double entries and trying to poach my prospects.

NoSuperhero

Politicker

BDR LEAD

Wow, what type of work environment are you working at?

Incognito

WR Officer

Master of Disaster

Not anymore! Just gave my notice.

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

Usually it's a cycle. Sellers stop putting in as much detail, but it is minor so the supervisors just ask for the extra info to go along with it. This slow ebbs to the point of minimal if any information in the CRM and the supervisors having to ask for everything. Then eventually nothing is in the CRM and it's all done outside the CRM and problems start to crop up. Management locks it in and makes the CRM expectations clear and then within 1 week to 3 months step 1 starts up again.

Once you set the expectations and provide clear examples of what is required and why, the most important point is sticking to it and practicing what you preach.

RollOverBeethoven

Contributor

Commercial Director

So.... mandatory fields. Gothca

Telehealth_2the_Moon

Notable Contributor

Director of Business Development

Haha yeah that's a start, but relying on that alone is either gonna leave you with a half assed CRM or a lot of resentment. Gotta try and sell them on it (yeah not proud of my comparison either but whatever) and make it so they get why they are using it (keep themselves organized and the higher ups informed) and maybe even so they want to use it.

recruitem

Opinionated

Partner

My motivators:

1. My memory is absolute garbage so keeping the CRM updated helps me close deals with the information I've already gathered.

2. KPI reviews help me see where I'm strongest and weakest in my cycle and what I need to work on to close more deals.

3. Patterns: am I closing more deals in city centers or suburbs? Am I closing more deals with a specific job title? am I closing more deals within a specific industry?

4. If I'm having an off month or two, my manager can see that I'm still putting in the work and hopefully the leg work I'm doing now will pay off next month so they're more likely to leave me alone.

5. Claim clients and keep pesky colleagues away. If my name is all over a client it'll be hard for them to argue that the deal is theirs.

Altego_

Member

Account Executive

Is there an option for your team to implement a tool that could make that easier for your reps to do, like an automation tool?

RollOverBeethoven

Contributor

Commercial Director

Well, the structural changes are going to sit alongside some key skill changes regarding discovery. So for the start, I'd like it be manual so that we can accelerate our use of MEDDICC. But long term, yeah Dooly or something like that.

Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

Big one boomers say are "makes them more valuable to the company since its internal knowledge you only know not something a new rep can read"

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RollOverBeethoven

Admin time in a CRM - why wouldn't you do it?

26 comments

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