CRM Best Practices for Every Stage of the Sales Funnel

Let us learn about CRM best practices for every stage of the sales funnel.

There are several different stages of the sales funnel, and different CRM best practices can be used for each of them. Read on to learn more.

CRM Best Practices for Your Sales Funnel Stages

Get company buy-in

Salespeople can’t do their job if the company doesn’t support them. 

Many companies don’t understand why salespeople need a CRM, or they think their salespeople don’t need one.

The first step to enable successful CRM adoption is getting buy-in from the company. If your company isn’t ready, it’s best to wait until it is. 

That way, everyone knows how the system works and can focus on helping salespeople succeed.

Don’t rush implementation

Salespeople need to feel confident about using their CRM—that way they’re more likely to succeed at using it. 

If you rush implementation, your team may not have time to prepare or figure out how the software works. 

This may lead to angry employees and a bad reputation for the CRM system.

When you roll out your CRM, make sure everyone has enough time to get familiar with it and is comfortable using it before they have to use it professionally. 

The length of time needed depends on how well your team communicates, how many users are in your organization, and what level of support you get from your IT department.

Provide ongoing training

Even if your team is trained on the basics of using your CRM, you’ll still need to provide ongoing training as you continue to use it.

The way you interact with your CRM will constantly change as you grow and as your company and sales process changes. 

To keep up, you’ll need to train your team on new features, best practices, and ways to get the most out of the system.

Make sure everyone knows how to use their CRM

Salespeople who understand how to use their CRM are more likely to succeed than if they don’t. 

That’s why it’s important to make sure everyone on your sales team understands how their CRM works. 

You can do this by giving training sessions or by having a colleague shadow them while they use the system. 

Make sure everyone is motivated before rolling out your CRM

Rolling out a new CRM can be stressful for salespeople—especially if they think it will make their jobs more difficult than they already are. 

To keep them motivated, make sure they’re in agreement with the goals and processes for using the software before you roll it out. 

You can do this by getting them involved in early planning and prototyping sessions, or by making sure they’re part of the decision-making process when it comes time for implementation.

Get support from senior leadership as well as from IT

CRMs aren’t easy to implement, especially when it comes to integrating multiple processes across departments. 

Your company may want to invest in a project manager or consultant who can help guide implementation. Then, ensure everything goes smoothly. 

But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get support from your IT department as well. 

If no one else is available with the knowledge or experience needed to help integrate everything together, IT departments can often provide solutions. 

What are your thoughts? Share your thoughts in the comments below.