Even if the previous steps of the CRM implementation plan were completed correctly, without training and support from the team, all the work done may become useless. Therefore, it is important to:
- Conduct trainings and provide instructions for all sales department employees: from the CEO to business email list managers. At the same time, the materials should be as clear as possible. Starting from creating a deal and filling out a contact card – for employees, from analytics in CRM (assessing the effectiveness of managers and calculating conversion) – for the head of the department. And ending with sales reports for the commercial director.
- Provide support at all stages of training. As practice shows, after 2-3 weeks of using CRM, the team has specific questions. For example: how to edit an automated template without breaking anything.
- Make materials accessible and collect FAQ. In addition to video lectures, it is better to provide a text version of the manual so that employees can always find the necessary information by keywords.
Ultimately, you need to provide the which kpis are important? sales department with all the necessary materials and then check the knowledge gained. For example, you can create a separate project in the system called “CRM Support”, where tasks for practice will be displayed, and employees will be able to ask their questions. Example of a Kanban board with tasks for training employees on a new CRM. Image from the author’s archive
This will help you adapt to the system faster, feel involved in the process, and make the CRM more convenient for managers.
The main mistake at this stage is to leave employees to figure out the new system on their own. This can delay the adaptation, which will entail:
- errors in work;
- decreased customer loyalty;
- managers’ reluctance to deal with CRM on their own.
Step 5. Control and refinement
After mastering the basic functionality of the system, you can begin to expand its capabilities. To do this:
- Make an improvement plan – track the errors during CRM implementation and write down what can be improved.
- Gather feedback from your sales team – find out if there are any difficulties in using the platform and what tools can be added to make the work easier.
- Develop the CRM to meet real needs – based on the feedback received and the original idea. You can also turn the system into something like a corporate portal, adding business processes from other departments. For example, organize the registration of sick leaves, vacations, maternity leaves and connect a messenger for communications with all departments.
As a result, you will get a CRM with clean email the currently necessary tools and integrations. First of all, it will cover the needs of the sales team, and secondly, it will establish communication between departments and organize the implementation of business processes of the entire company.
The main mistake at this stage is to refuse to expand the system. Any organization improves over time, so CRM should change with it. Otherwise:
- you risk wasting money, time and energy on a system that does not meet the needs of your company;
- Managers will look for other ways to organize their work.