Business

It's been said quite a few times that the only difference between a great salesperson and an average on is the attention to prospect follow-up. Anyone involved in sales has seen the numbers that say that it takes 7 touches to get a sale, but most salesman stop at just 1 or 2. How could this be? It seems pretty obvious that if you keep in touch with prospects that it will result in more business for you and your company. What holds salespeople back though? If the stats are on their side, then why in the world would a salesman start over with a new prospect when they still haven't exhausted the existing one. My thoughts are that it might be because it's so difficult to keep track of who and when you talked to and that is exactly what a contact management software is for.

CRM software is a program that makes it easier for salesman to effectively followup on their leads. There are many options available for contact management software. You can buy the software for install on your own server, use a web based hosted crm solution, or you could even try one of the many open source crm software options. Obviously, each one of these has it's good points and bad points, but the important thing is that salespeople are using a solution that will get them on the track of having a system for following up on their leads and prioritizing them.

A very popular option in the last few years has been the web based crm solution. There are a lot of reasons for this. As we all know, the salesman's job is to be on the road and visiting customers as much as possible so it's vital that they have access to all their records. Hosted CRM gives them that flexibility. As more salespeople are opting to work from their home or from different locations, this can be an incredible resource for them and for their managers. There are so many advantages to this that make it a win/win for employees and for managers. If they are out calling all day, the last thing they want to do is stay in the office to update their notes while their family is having dinner. For managers, it's nice because salespeople can still be productive if they are at home with a sick child or if they just want to work from home for one day.

Small businesses are also discovering that CRM is not only for big companies. As owners look to grow their business rapidly, they look to contact management solutions to aide in that growth and make it as efficient as possible to stay in touch with important prospects. In recent years, more software companies have come out with programs or solutions that can start with even 1 user which makes it affordable for even the smallest businesses. To be able to followup with key contacts is so important to the growth of many of these small businesses.

So if you are in the middle of deciding whether or not the cost of a business contact manager can be justified. A good way to look at it is by thinking about what 1 additional customer per year would mean to your business. CRM allows salespeople to have a spot where they can come in and check their records for the day and get more accomplished because they have a clear head. It also allows managers and owners to plan their pipeline as they can see new opportunities coming from salespeople everyday. Besides the big benefits, you can even use the software to remember things like anniversaries or important dates to the customer. What better reminder that you care about your customers than by sending a card on their birthday? It's those little things, that are made possible by a good contact management program.