I recently read a book called Made to Stick. It is about understanding what makes things people hear or read stick in their heads. Being in sales you always try to prove to people how your product or service will make a difference to them. We spend a lot of time with PowerPoint slides, demos and collateral. Yet most sales people only close a small fraction of their leads. Most of what we say ends up meaning very little or nothing to our audiences. There is something called the “Curse of Knowledge”. Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. It stops us from being able to share our knowledge because we can’t readily recreate our listener’s state of mind. An example they use in the book is tapping out a song you know. It sounds perfect to you but the one listening doesn’t have a clue. When selling we know the benefits, features and functions so well we assume others will see them too. We have the curse of knowledge that stops us from effectively conveying our message to people who have no prior knowledge.

The book talks about six principles of sticky ideas: Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, and Stories. The acronym is SUCCESs. It helps you identify what your real core message should be and not bury it trying to convey everything your product/service does. If you say three things you don’t say anything. People will just not remember.

The key to having your message be remembered is to convey it in a story. Stories are what people remember, e.g., the Jared story where he lost over 200 pounds eating Subway sandwiches, rather than the sandwich has 400 calories, less than 6 grams of fat, blah, blah, blah . Or Art Silverman showing people that a regular sized butter popcorn in a movie has more artery clogging fat than a bacon and eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries for lunch and a steak dinner with all the trimmings combined, rather than just telling people it contains 37 grams of saturated fat. People would not necessarily know if that was good or bad or, if bad, then how bad (movie popcorn has since improved due to that campaign). Or an Army Cook in Iraq who believes he is in charge of army morale, rather than cooking for the troops. He gets the same ingredients all the mess halls get but his preparation, presentation and quality makes his food the best in Iraq. Why, because he believes that boosting morale means excellent food Or a drill bit company that doesn’t sell drill bits but quarter inch holes so you can hang your children’s pictures. And from the book, Built to Last, which includes stories about Nordstrom employees who:

• Ironed a new shirt for a customer who needed it for an afternoon meeting
• Gift wrapped products a customer bought at Macy’s
• Refunded money for a set of tire chains even though Nordstrom’s doesn’t sell tire chains

These stories speak volumes about the products and services offered by these companies. They all could have used charts, graphs and statistics to make their points but no one would remember those.

My point is that as sales and marketing people we need better ways to convey our messages and make our presentations. I gave a couple of CRM presentations last week and I stopped talking about how CRM will increase revenue and loyalty. I believe they are too abstract especially with the current financial situation. Instead, I gave examples of how you can do more with less, how to be more visible to your customers and how you should be thinking about surviving over the next 2 years.

I still have a lot to learn. I need to better define my core message and present interesting, unexpected and emotional stories that allow me to stand out and be remembered by my customers and prospects after I walk out the door.

Tags: crm, CRM Basics, Marketing, sfa

Most people in the US did not know what LIBOR was until a few weeks ago.  It is now conversation around the dinner table.  One of the benefits of our financial meltdown is the new knowledge average investors now have.  In addition to LIBOR they know something about securitization (bundling of the mortgages which caused most of this problem) and credit insurance ratings which I would call fraud but a friend of mine defined it as irrational exuberance.  Our new knowledge will allow us to be more responsible at managing our own money, enable us to ask the right questions of people managing our money and not always taking our brokers’ word at face value anymore.

Your CRM solution can provide you the knowledge and information you need to make the right decisions about your customers and prospects:  How much revenue received versus support time you provided; when was the last time you contacted your biggest customers; how long your average sales cycles run (I plan on addressing important ratios you should follow in a future post).   Knowledge is power.   The more knowledge, the more power you have over your finances, career and customers.

Maybe a more important reason for you to improve your use of CRM is job security. The financial crisis is starting to force companies to reduce costs and cut staff. The best sales people will be asked to stay. These will be the ones who have the knowledge of the customer base, skills and tools to take on larger territories. They will be the ones that have been seen to embrace and improve the company’s significant investment in CRM because it helps the greater good. For management and companies it is critical to be retaining the information all your sales reps have as you consolidate territories. And for reps laid-off, it will be critical for their future success to have customer references and a history of what they have done.

Productivity tip: If you find yourself spending a lot of time clicking around the system trying to get things done, look into this tip. Find out if your CRM solution allows you to create hotkeys to accomplish your most common tasks like creating an activity, bringing up your contact list or creating an email. It can help reduce the number of clicks and dependence on the mouse. Just remember that Windows (or other Operating Systems) will have some preset hotkeys so you do not want to use those same combinations.

Tags: crm, CRM Basics, crm productivity, sfa

I finally understand what it means to be a “CrackBerry” user.  I have never had an addiction before and did not know what to expect.  I feed it, clean it, talk to it and keep it safe from harm.  I take it on vacation, family outings and all my errands.   It was at the US Tennis Open this year (10th row base line seats), Yankees and Mets games and many nice restaurants.  I guess it stays in pretty good shape too since it goes to the gym, gets to go jogging with me and is always there at my tennis matches.  I am ashamed to say I have taken it to bed more than my girlfriend.  I guess I am not alone (Technology Can Be ‘Berry, ‘Berry Addictive).

What is this perversion?  Why do I panic if I can’t find it?   It gets more attention than anyone else I know plus I hate the way it looks when I carry it around on my belt. 

The reason is, it’s a tremendous help in the day to day management of my life.  It allows me to be timely with customers, colleagues, friends and family.   

From a work perspective, having my CRM application on the BlackBerry frees me from my computer.  Most CRM users only utilize 20% of the solution for 80% of what they need to do.  It has my calendar, to do list, account and contact info, email, sales library, my leads and opportunities, all in a streamlined format.  Whether you are struggling with your CRM solution or not, getting the application on your mobile device will simplify working with the solution, increase your productivity and keep you well informed on you customers and news events that can affect business (CRM for the Professionals on the Go).   

Yes, it can have you working on your off hours, but if you are like me I prefer no surprises.  I check emails a lot.  Most require no action and take a few seconds,  but every once in awhile it is important and I am glad I checked.  And you also have the option to turn off your device when not working.

There are a few ways to get mobilized with CRM.  You can go browser or local application.  I have found that for a mobile solution to be effective, you cannot worry about your wireless connection.  We all know how simple phone connections get interrupted, but with a CRM application these dropped connections can cost you wasted time and cause frustration.  You don’t want to be in the middle of trying to access or update information and find you lost your connection and then need to start over.  And we all know how much clicking and scrolling you do with a browser based connection.  The best way to go is with a “thick” client option.   A thick client has both the application and data on the device.  You never have to worry about a connection and you totally avoid all the excessive clicks and scrolling prevalent in browser access.  You do your work as if you are in the office and the device will synchronize when it can.  There is a “rich” client option as well.  The application is local to the device but the data is being accessed on your server.  You do get a simpler user interface but still have to deal with the connection.

In the end you want to get something sooner than later.  Go with whatever your IT group can give you right away, even if it’s a browser built application.  It will help you when you are out of the office.  But get your request in to get a local version on your device as soon as possible.  You should only go with CRM vendors that offer a thick client add-on. 

Some small Yak trimming might be required.

Tags: crm, customer relationship management, Mobile crm, mobility, sfa

In real estate it is about location, location, location.  When choosing a SFA or CRM solution it should be about email platform.  Let’s face it; we spend a huge amount of our time dealing with email.  Having a solution that is an extension of your email makes perfect sense.  Imagine totally working in your email and having the ability to use all the CRM features you need without having to leave it.  You can look up all your customer information as well as send and receive emails with the system automatically storing them within the CRM solution related to the contact, lead or opportunity.  It should also allow for automatic notifications to be sent to anyone you list without having to incur the redundancy of sending an email to everyone’s mailbox.  This transparency also extends to your calendar since most people use the one that comes with their email solution.  It enables you to schedule meetings, to do’s, appointments and create activity reports the exact same way you do now but automatically stored within the CRM solution.   

Most SFA/CRM solutions provide the same basic set of features and functions.  Remember, 80% of what users need to do is done utilizing 20% of the features a solution gives them.  You should easily be able to find a solution that meets your needs on your own email platform.  That being said there are some reasons to cross email platforms.  If you really want a specific verticalized solution or you want some very specific functions, then going cross platform is okay.  Be clear it is only for a functional requirement you feel you need and usability will certainly be sacrificed. 

In summary you want to work with the same screens you do now in email but have the added benefit of CRM.  So for Outlook users you have solutions like Dynamics CRM, Salesforce.com, SugarCRM and Oracle and for Lotus Notes you have Relavis, Salesplace, iEnterprises and GEDYS to name a few.

Tags: crm, customer relationship management, email, sfa

According to the National Sales Association, this is typically where sales occur in the sales cycle:

• 2% of sales are made on the 1st contact
• 3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
• 5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
• 10% of sales are made on the 4th contact
• 80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact

Let’s do some math.  Conservatively you have about 200 leads and close 5%.  That equates to 10 deals.  Since the majority of the deals will require 5-12 contacts, you are looking at between 1000-2400 interactions just to get to close these 10 deals.  For many companies that number can be even higher.  It is impossible to track these interactions effectively without some type of software.
 
No matter what solution your company has given you, at least try to make the basic contact management component work for you.  If you don’t have any company provided software, go out and buy your own.  There are some very inexpensive contact management solutions available. Most salespeople do not use any software so you will have a big competitive advantage the longer you go in the sales cycle.

Tags: crm, customer relationship management, selling, sfa

Remember, 80% of what a sales person needs to do everyday in a CRM/SFA solution is done with 20% of the features.  

What is Yak Shaving and what does it have to do with a CRM solution?  Yak Shaving is a term coined by the MIT media lab about eight years ago.  I was first introduced to this interesting concept through Seth Godin’s, Don’t Shave that Yak, and Joi Ito, Yak Shaving.  Simply stated it is finding yourself many levels deep in a stack of jobs in order to accomplish your initial task.  An example they give is:

You start out deciding to clean your room and you realize that in order to do that you’ll need some more trash bags, so you need to go to the store, which will involve you getting out the car, but the car needs gas, so you’ll need to go to the gas station first, which means you should probably find your gas discount card, which involves finding your keys, which are in the room somewhere…

Yak Shaving is one of the major causes of failed CRM initiatives.  The ultimate prize in CRM is making the users happy.  Some people would disagree with me and say it is about better customer management, or improving close ratios or better controlling leads and opportunities.  But in the end the system will only be as good as the people who use it. 

So what happens in a typical CRM implementation?  You have meetings to determine what the system should do; this leads to meetings and more meetings to finalize a list of changes; which leads to IT and business related configurations and customizations; which leads to many iterations of testing and approval; which leads to a more complicated system; which leads to more complicated training materials; which leads to a longer learning curve; which leads to a frustrated unhappy end user — the person you wanted to help the most.  Before you know it you are knee deep in hair, with plenty more to come.
 
Companies need to avoid Yak shaving events when it comes to CRM.  Doing something now that is just good, is far better than trying to get it perfect later.  Allow people to use the easy, basic stuff first.  Once they are comfortable with that you can add-on features later.  Making the sales people part of the process will ensure you are creating a solution that works for them.

Tags: Add new tag, crm, customer relationship management, sfa