Many companies purchase a CRM and it ends up being redundant and company productivity fails to pick up. How then, do you create more value for your business by making the effort of using the CRM extensively and faithfully?

Our SBS CRM is very simple and basic and it mainly caters to very small business owners, sole proprietors or even agents. It is also very affordable. Yet it is money not well spent if our CRM is not used properly and that applies to any CRM out there.

The more clients use our CRM system the more I can see what kind of problems they are facing and it all comes down to the same thing - it doesn't produce what is expected if the users are not fully and properly using the tool (unless technology fails of course).

I would like to share how I am using the very same CRM for my own business as we are also a SME and we do use it on a daily basis. All it requires to save me stress and energy and money is DISCIPLINE, CONSISTENCY & PERSISTANCE.

Well, it might sound simple but it's not. The problem with breakdowns in CRM usage is usually directly linked to the traits of the human beings who are using the system. So the system is only as good as the person who is operating it.

How do I make the CRM work for me ?
Being an addicted networker, I go for many networking events where I end up being given many business cards. As soon as I come back or latest within a week (during weekends), I make sure that I key in the details of all people I met or talked to with comments that I remember about them.
This all goes into data storage on the CRM

The second step is to follow up and here is how my simple follow up looks like:

1. I send a thank you and "happy to meet you" email to all that I met. I do not wait for them to make a first step because surprisingly, when I tested that approach, I didn't experience much initiative from their side, so I don't wait. I email them stating also that I will have a look at their web to learn more about their products and services so I can refer business to them if the opportunity arises. This initiates two basic responses - none or email back :o). The ones that email back are worth to follow up on and I make a remark into CRM about all that happened - who answered, what I learned at the websites about companies, who might be potential people to introduce to them, etc. Btw. after email I also sms to ask people to acknowledge that they received my initial email as in this age of spam you never know if the email gets to the recepient.
   
   
2. I send a 2nd email to the ones that who responded and some others that I called or smsed stating that I would like to meet up in person and learn more about them and their services. It's so called "get to know each other" meeting. Most of them agree and here I mark down into CRM when is the meeting so I do not forget about it and make sure that I block the time out.
   
   
3. Meeting - I go for the meeting and learn more about the person and tell them about my business and myself. Most of the time, this meeting is to see if we like each other and if there is any avenue for cooperation at all. Most of the time there is no potential at the first meeting, it usually takes me about 3-6 months of permanent follow up till some real action takes place (meaning they refer me or I refer them or we become partners, etc.). I do not rush it and use my CRM as my diary to keep note of everything that is happening and my comments. After the meeting, I key in what we discussed and what should be followed up, e.g. give a follow up call, proposal, next meeting or just "no reason, KIV")
   
   
4. Regular follow up - if there is nothing specific to work on I put follow up date as one month from the date that we met. I will make sure that I email the person at least once a month or call them to say hi and of course track it in the CRM. I also track if I meet them again at another networking event. With every event we usually know each other better and better. Meeting same people at different networking events all over again and again might not necessarily be a bad thing. You can enhance relationships, just make sure you remember them, which is my personal challenge.
   
   
5. Sooner or later I definitely utilize the contact for something meaningful for the business and if not then after 6 months I categorize them as "no potential" in my CRM but I never delete their record. In case I get in touch with them again I must know what has happened before. And as my company grows and I will pass some of my contacts to my staff to follow up with the whole story linked to those accounts. It will be much easier to take care of them and much more professional.

Having proper info about all your contacts pays off; sometimes you do not even imagine how and when:
a) you decide to venture into another business and suddenly all contacts you found useless for your current business become very important

b) by writing it down you remember better whom you met and what happened and will avoid many unnecessary embarrassing situations when you proposing something to someone for the second time (or more) without even realizing it

c) the history of your dealings with your accounts can serve as role model process of dealing with contacts and serves as a training to your new staff (saves you lots of time)

d) helps to avoid lots of finger pointing and blaming who is right and who is wrong - if you take your little time to write down everything when it happens, you can always refer back to it as a proof

There are many benefits and they will be different for different people, but you will never experience them until you start to practice something along the line of what I just described. It doesn't have to be exactly the same, as long as it makes sense and brings results to you.

In this century, if somebody tries to outsmart me by saying that they remember it all by heart and do not need any system, I just smile. Its possible with 10 customers but not with 100 customers, that's a fact.

Information about your contacts is your future gold, do not throw it away, keep it, update it, use it for everybody's benefit.

At the end of the day, it does not matter which CRM you use as long as you use it properly and of course as long as it saves your time and makes your life easier and not more complicated. More complicated only means how data and data entry is structured in CRM, not that you can be flaky about using CRM.

*CRM = Customer Relationship Management System