What CRM Is Right For My Team?

I love tech. Hardware. Software. Hacking. Jailbreaking. I’ve done it all.

It’s been that way since I was about 14, ripping my parents computer apart just to see if I could put it back together. It’s that same confidence and passion that lead me to my career in tech and sales.

So understandably, it’s easy for me to get excited about new software. Especially sales software. When I get introduced to a product that makes my life easier or helps me do my job faster and more effectively it’s like making a new best friend (ACompany is my latest find).

I tell you about my passion in tech, my love for sales, and provide you with a super distracting link all so you’ll believe me when I say what no one else is saying: Your CRM doesn’t matter!!!

Hear me out...

I see it every day. Salespeople, sales managers, and even sales coaches using technology not as a tool, but as a crutch. It’s a symptom of marketing tactics that over promise what a sales platform can do, and sales software SDR’s not setting expectations when making sales of their own.

So let’s talk about what your CRM won’t do:

• It won’t define your sales process.
• It won’t keep you organized.
• It won’t close deals for you.
• It won't replace the need to get on the phone with a lead.

SEE ALSO: The Ultimate Checklist To Help You Set Up Your HubSpot Portal

The reality is, how well your CRM enables your sales team to close a deal is more about how well you’ve outlined your sales process and less about what your CRM can do. Still don’t believe me? Think about it like this…

Just because you bought the most kick-ass filing cabinet at OfficeMax, doesn’t mean that your files are organized. It just means the potential is there. If no one understands the process you follow when putting a document in that cabinet, you’re going to run into some serious problems. Similarly, if there is no process on how to move a lead though you company's CRM then you’re going to lose dollars.

So how do you go about picking a CRM?

Start at the ground floor by mapping our your sales process. Requirements for this are 20 sheets of printer paper and a pen––and nothing else. This process should be so well mapped out on paper that SDR’s should be able to sell with nothing more than a phone and a note pad.

Once you’ve got this defined, identify the top 2-4 tasks that are taking up the majority of your salespeople's time and effectiveness, and look for a platform that can automate these.

Simple right?

Our platform of choice is the HubSpot CRM. It’s great, mainly because it allows us to design awesome processes for our clients and offers ways to automate the most daunting of tasks.

If you have questions about what platform is the best for your team, need help outlining your sales process, or have questions about where to start––get in touch with us. Our team is extremely passionate about sales enablement and setting companies up for sales success.