Top 10 Questions to Ask Before Buying a CRM
Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems offer a number of benefits to entrepreneurs. The primary benefit is that a CRM allows you to focus on activities that directly affect your productivity. Most entrepreneurs already know that the Pareto Principle - also known as the 80/20 rule - applies to their businesses, and an effective CRM allows you to make the Pareto Principle work for you.
The Pareto Principle maintains that 80% of an entrepreneur’s revenues are generated by about 20% of their clients, yet few businesspeople consistently invest 80% of their time on the most deserving 20% of their clientele. The reason for this disparity is simple: most entrepreneurs don’t have a system to ensure that they provide consistent and precise service to their top clients. Another iteration of the Pareto Principle states that 80% of your productivity generally stems from about 20% of your activities. What this means is that most entrepreneurs actually make about 80% of their income in about an hour each day.
The best entrepreneurs don’t major in minor things. Top entrepreneurs consistently focus on the activities that give them the highest return on their investment of time and money. Your client relationships are the most important asset you have. Yet, if you are like most entrepreneurs, you do not fully capitalize on these relationships. An effective CRM can help you to strengthen your client relationships and profit from untapped opportunities.
Because of the important role a CRM can play in your business, you want to choose the best solution. The following questions can help you select the CRM that is the perfect fit for your business.
1. Will I have 24/7 access 365 days a year?
We are in an on-demand world, and ready access is essential. Furthermore, small enterprise business owners should not need to be present at their places of business in order for the company to be productive. Software that is parked on your computer requires constant updates, needs to be synchronized with wireless devices and enterprise servers, and, even more worrisome, a software-based CRM is susceptible to crashing and corruption. A web-based online solution, on the other hand, is fast, secure and can be used anywhere that you can access the internet. Whether you are on vacation, at home, traveling to conferences or at a client’s office, with an internet connection you can quickly and easily tap into a real-time web-based solution. Contrary to the old cliché, time is not money! Your time is more valuable. You can earn back money you spend, but you cannot get back your time. With an on-demand CRM, you don’t need to work harder to be more productive.
2. Will I achieve Rapid Deployment?
Whenever you launch a new business solution, you want to see results quickly. Complex tools that require sophisticated customizations delay gratification and reduce the likelihood that you will make full use of them. Furthermore, you will probably get frustrated if the solution is not intuitive and sequential.
In selecting a CRM, your goal is to choose a system that makes it easy for you and your team to create and follow a professional code-of-conduct based on habitual activities. A solution that is trying to be all things to all people is not a good fit for an entrepreneur. A solution that is designed to meet the needs of an entrepreneur and his or her team without extensive customization, on the other hand, will put you on the fast-track to measurable results.
3. Do I need to be tech expert?
Many CRMs today assume that users are tech savvy, or that they will hire a consultant to configure the solution in a way that is functional to the user. Being distracted from your core competencies or being at the mercy of external consultants is not the best use of your time. You want to choose a CRM that is intuitive and easy to use from the start.
4. Will I be able to oversee my team’s activities?
Many entrepreneurs mistake movement for achievement, and they often tend to be reactionary; they react to problems instead of planning for eventualities. And too many entrepreneurs leave their team members to their own devices to put out fires. To build consistency and accountability into your business, you must be able to see the scheduled and completed actions of all your team members at any time, from any location.
5. Will I be able to quantifiably drive revenue with this tool?
A CRM tool must have functionality that goes beyond contact management so that you can see quantifiable results. A CRM must help you deliver a degree of service that builds trust in your relationships. This will allow you to drive revenue by steadily converting customers into clients, and clients into advocates. A customer occasionally buys something from you, a client buys into a long-term relationship with you and an advocate introduces a high quality and quantity of referrals to you. Clients and advocates bring in predictable revenue.
6. Will the CRM make it possible for me to focus on the lifetime value of a client relationship?
A lot of business people talk a good game about the “client for life” concept, yet few actually implement the service matrix needed to competitor-proof clients and to ensure that they stay with you. Ultimately, it is more important to reach clients who count than it is to count the number of clients you are reaching. The quality of your relationships is far more important than the quantity of clients you have. By selecting a solution that allows you to competitor-proof your best clients, you can dramatically improve your profitability. Remember the old saying: “growth is for vanity, profit is for sanity.”
7. Are best practices integrated into the CRM?
Building predictable, sustainable and duplicable systems can make your business “franchise ready,” meaning that you can grow it with certainty, sell it for a larger profit or take more time off. Your business is supposed to serve you, rather than the other way around. There is a distinction between being disciplined and having good habits. Because all of your client data is “parked” in a CRM, it is a great place to begin building good habits. As a result, if best practices are embedded into the CRM chassis, and if the CRM integrates an organizational chart and procedures manual, you and your team will follow predetermined processes with certainty and precision.
8. Will the CRM help me to evolve from a salesperson to a professional consultant?
Salespeople chase new clients while professionals attract new clients. A CRM that enables you to evolve from salesmanship to stewardship will dramatically increase your persuasive impact, while enhancing your refer-ability.
9. Will the CRM enable me to develop better chemistry with my clients?
As you know, when it comes to building trust with your clients, the chemistry you have with them is just as important as your credentials and competencies related to the products and services you deliver. A CRM with a robust Know-Your-Client (KYC) tool makes it easy for you to deliver value-added service to your clients that they will actually value. In turn, these client relationships will insulate you from competitive factors.
10. Are there value-added coaching resources integrated within the CRM chassis?
Client Relationship Management (CRM) goes so much deeper than just the core functionality of the contact manager. Being the provider-of-choice in the minds of your clients requires an holistic approach based on time-tested best-practices. Because you use it everyday, a CRM is the perfect platform to integrate pin-pointed practice management and business development virtual coaching functionality.
The Pareto Platform
Effective Client Relationship Management is not about just having a CRM, it is about having a commitment — day-in and day-out — to best practices that are attractive to high-value clients. The Pareto Platform is the only small enterprise CRM that incorporates a panoramic array of practice management and business development strategies, modules, templates, letters, scripts and coaching tools that are perfectly suited to the needs of today’s entrepreneurs.
Visit our website to learn more about the Pareto Platform and sign up for a free trial. Compare the Pareto Platform with the CRM you are using today, and with the others you are considering. Apply the 10 questions to each CRM, and you will see that ours is the only solution that can receive a check mark beside each question. If you feel it is a fit for you and your team, take the free trial and put the Pareto Platform to work for you. You will make measurable progress in a very short period of time.
By David Miller and Duncan MacPherson, Co-founders, Pareto Systems