Sales POP - Purveyors of Propserity
5 Qualities A CRM Solution Must Have
Blog / For Sales Pros / Jul 15, 2013 / Posted by Nikolaus Kimla / 6680

5 Qualities A CRM Solution Must Have

What CRM solution is the best?There is a concept about CRM solution that may be new to some: it should actually assist and even empower salespeople. Instead of being viewed as a “necessary evil” by sales reps, salespeople should be able to rely on CRM to be their personal “automated assistant” in tracking sales through their pipelines, helping them get an overall view of where their sales stand, and being a fast source of necessary data to help get sales closed.

There are 5 basic qualities a CRM solution should have to meet these criteria:

#1: CRM Solution must be Flexible

Above all, CRM Solution must be flexible. The first and most important aspect of that flexibility lies in its mirroring of company operations. Can CRM be quickly adapted to the company’s sales process? Can it be changed as the sales process changes? Only in such a way can a CRM be useful to salespeople; data can be entered and later found in a logical sequence. Company executives and personnel outside of the sales department, knowing and understanding the sales process, will be able to access CRM, quickly grasp the current scene in sales, discover particulars about important prospects or customers, and be able to generate factual analyses and reports.

#2: Intuitive; Easy to Grasp and Use

A CRM solution that mirrors and follows a company’s sales process also makes it intuitive, in the most literal sense of the word. Since the sales process is already established, a CRM sales tool that follows it means it will by default be easier to use than one which doesn’t. Sales rep time is valuable and is wasted when the sales rep has to spend time figuring out how to locate a particular account, or enter data, or retrieve data entered earlier.

#3: Compatible with Existing Technology

Another aspect of flexibility: Is CRM compatible with the many existing Apps that sales reps and the company are already using? These would include Microsoft Outlook, MS Office applications such as Word and Excel, SharePoint and others. If the CRM software chosen is not compatible with these, and if documents and files created with them cannot be included in CRM data, salespeople are forced to use these applications and save files separately from CRM. This means that data so saved will not be accessible in a central location, and vital information about prospects, customers and particular sales could be lost. Before firmly deciding on a CRM solution, make sure it has such features as an Office addin, Outlook addin, a SharePoint client and any others that make compatibility possible. Companies also utilize many other programs, such as accounting and inventory, some of which may have even been developed at the company. If your CRM vendor can easily customize the CRM to be compatible with those, it’s a big plus.

#4: CRM Cloud

There is one fact about salespeople that should always be taken into account when considering a CRM solution:

  • they are often not rooted to their desks.
  • they are out visiting prospects and clients.
  • they are having meetings.
  • they are on the road.

The expectation that a sales rep must come back to the office and spend time updating CRM data is years out of date. While remote access has long been a fact of life, the modern enterprise utilizes a CRM cloud solution. Of course this means CRM is accessible from anywhere with a Wi-Fi connection: Starbucks, restaurants, hotel rooms and even pulled over by the side of the road, which can save a sales rep literally thousands of hours having to enter data into the CRM at his or her desk. But it also has numerous benefits for the company beyond a simple remote access feature. CRM uptime is virtually guaranteed, without the involvement of your company’s IT personnel.

A CRM cloud solution also means that data is synchronized between multiple company offices locations, no matter where those offices happen to be.

Any data entered into CRM is available to any office location or any officer or employee within those offices that has been granted access to CRM.

#5: Device Access

The subject of remote access would not be complete without the mention of devices, for long gone are the days when remote access is done with laptops only. Most today are using iPhones, iPads, Android phones and other handheld devices. This should be taken into account with the choice of Mobile CRM tools; any CRM solution chosen should be accessible through any and all such devices.

Use this list as a guideline in choosing a CRM solution, and truly provide your sales reps with the automated tools they need to sell.

Watch for further articles in our series on CRM solutions.

About Author

CEO and partner of pipelinersales.com and the uptime ITechnologies, which I founded in 1994 and has since played a significant role in the development of the IT-environment. pipeliner is the most innovative sales CRM management solution on the market. Pipeliner was designed by sales professionals for sales professionals and helps close the gap between the requirements of C-level executives for transparency and the day-to-day operational needs of field and inside sales. I am also the founder and Initiator of the independent economic platform GO-AHEAD!, which orientates itself on the principles of a free marketplace in terms of liberal and social responsibility. Connecting people, the trust of business leadership in terms of values such as freedom, self-responsibility, and entrepreneurial spirit, and strengthening their awareness in order to create a dynamic boost within the economy triggered through spontaneity, all stand for the initial ideas surrounding GO-AHEAD! I studied in Los Angeles and Vienna and received my Masters's Degree in 1994. I am married and have 3 children My Specialties are in: Sales Management, Sales CRM Software, CRM Cloud Solutions, SAAS, Business Strategy, Software Development, "Pipeline Management", Social responsibility, outbound sales, b2b sales, inside sales, sales strategy, lead generation, sales process, entrepreneurship, coaching, mentoring, speaker, opportunity management, lead management, Austrian School of Economics

Author's Publications on Amazon

This is a practical manual covering the vital subject of Sales Management. I firmly believe that sales are the most important profession for dealing with today’s turbulent world and Econo my, for salespeople create wealth and produce peace. But salespeople need a competent, stable leader—and…
Buy on Amazon
Inside this eBook, you’ll discover a series of chapters dedicated to some of the most important areas facing sales today. From the sales process definition to measurement, lead generation, and proven sales techniques, this comprehensive eBook will provide you with the information you need to…
Buy on Amazon
A common term in sales today is EQ, which stands for “emotional I.Q.” It means the skill a salesperson has in reading emotions and utilizing them in sales. It means empathy and a number of other abilities. The short version is, it’s an I.Q. when…
Buy on Amazon
People are smart to question the future of automation, for it has become part of everything we do. With the quantity of applications and technology around us, we yet still crave more. We become convinced of its power when our package is delivered from Amazon…
Buy on Amazon
Sales management isn’t a simple subject by any means. But at the same time, it does have some basic and somewhat simple fundamentals—and that is what we are bringing to you with this book. First come pain points of sales management, and how to overcome…
Buy on Amazon
Today the Internet has transformed a seller's market into a buyer's market and author Nikolaus Kimla states that the role of sales has never been more crucial. It is now time to give salespeople the role they factually can play: entrepreneurs within the enterprise. They…
Buy on Amazon
This is our public declaration of the intentions behind Pipeliner, and our objectives and motives for the product and for our company. Behind the development of that CRM application and, in fact, behind everything we do, we have a real cause. The story begins with…
Buy on Amazon
For the future, there must be a perfect balance of humans and technology. You have to have the perfect technology, andthen the perfect human being in application, performance and presentation. Today and into the future, it’s a 50-50 balance. In the past it was perhaps…
Buy on Amazon
The salespreneur is based on the concept of the entrepreneur. Before we can explain the salespreneur, you have to have some understanding of the entrepreneur. The entrepreneur plays a crucial role in any economic system. The entrepreneur seeks out information that can be utilized for…
Buy on Amazon
A seasoned captain would never leave port without a competent navigator. In a similar way, a sales manager might be a total ace at "commanding the ship" – at inspiring and coaching sales reps, pointing out and getting agreement on making quotas, and keeping everyone's…
Buy on Amazon
..
..
..
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. For information on cookies and how you can disable them, visit our privacy and cookie policy.