You may have not reached the desired expectations of having the CRM data:
- To Make your business work smarter on what is important
- To Provide new insights about your customers and the interactions with your staff
- To Show new ways to accelerate your business processes such as the time from lead to cash.
Most successful sales come from a relationship: yours with the key decision makers and influencers. Like any relationship there must be components of rapport and mutual liking but also you need to take an interest in the other person and vice versa. This is where smarter, action-oriented CRM data comes in.
Basic CRM data are things like contact details, meeting notes, activity history, planned future actions, email conversations, and so on. But smart relationship CRM data relates to the person themselves and typically would be the following:
- How they prefer to be contacted: phone, face to face, email
- When they prefer to be contacted during the day (usually early or late)
- The name of their assistant
- Their preference when meeting: Inside office or outside and for a coffee, breakfast, lunch or after work.
- Their interests inside and outside of work
- What food and drink they like
- What they do for fun: travel, dinning, sports, reading, outdoors or indoor person
- Past history: college, prior business roles and responsibilities
- What their business and personal goals are
- What their business and personal challenges are
- How you have been successful in the past helping them
Now this is the kind of information that makes a difference during the conversion phase of a sales journey and after they become a client keeping the relationship going.
Looking out for interesting web sites, blog posts, Twitter comments, and what their competitors are doing all based on Smarter CRM data will mean something for them and will feed stronger relationships. When you want to connect with them you’ll be better prepared with time and location that they prefer- decreasing the chance of it being canceled.
Smarter insights come from this shared, actionable CRM data. Patterns will develop. The data will help not only the sales team but also customer service and marketing better connects with people. You’ll be able to introduce them to other people who can help them to achieve their goals or solve their problems- a powerful relationship builder. People in your organization will look more professional and be more meaningful engaged by focusing on what is important to the other person.
It is said that a person will remember the ending of a conversation the most. Smarter CRM data can help to make that customer experience more memorable and allow your team to gain an competitive advantage while also feeling better themselves.
