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5 reasons salespeople don't use their CRM systems

CRM systems offer financial services organisations of all sizes a single, central point of truth to monitor sales performance, streamline sales processes and provide a central view of customer information. For sales leaders, the benefits of implementing them are often immediately visible; for sales teams however, this isn’t always the case. 

Often, front line salespeople using CRM systems see them as simply another tool to monitor them and add to their already mounting administrative tasks that restrict them from doing their job - selling. In this blog, we explore the top 5 reasons why salespeople don’t use their CRM systems, and look at how Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM can help combat these issues and drive adoption in business. 

1) “I don’t see the benefit”

2) “I can’t use it at my convenience”

3) “I don’t want to share my data”

4) “It's too difficult to use”

5) “It doesn’t help me to be more efficient”

 

 

1) “I don’t see the benefit”

Typically, salespeople are extremely focused on achieving their end goal, so when a new system is introduced that doesn’t present immediate business benefit, they are likely to avoid using it. CRM systems are often perceived by salespeople as a futile administrative process that further restricts their time that they need to meet targets and forces them to share information that they would rather keep to themselves. If they aren’t told to use it and more importantly measured and incentivised on using it, they won’t.

How is Microsoft Dynamics 365 different?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 isn’t only beneficial to management teams, but to salespeople too. It offers data insights that help salespeople to build stronger relationships with their contacts in order to hit targets and increase conversion. The system is focused on helping salespeople sell, using artificial intelligence to identify upsell and cross-sell opportunities, as well as suggest what will improve their performance and earning potential.

It does this by recommending what salespeople should try to sell to contacts and how to maintain positive customer relationships based on habits and intelligence gathered from previous opportunities. Microsoft Dynamics 365 identifies which processes are most successful, helping salespeople win opportunities more often. It constantly works to provide salespeople with opportunities and recommendations on how to meet targets, meaning that it is actually extremely advantageous for the whole sales team, not just management.

The data used to provide insights for sales users is not just limited to what is stored in Microsoft Dynamics 365 – core banking and other products systems, data warehouses, and even external news feeds can all be used to inform the algorithms that provide the salesperson with suggested next best actions in an integrated way.

 

2) “I can’t use it at my convenience”

Often, CRM systems are labour-intensive, static and have a reputation for ‘chaining’ salespeople to their desk. As many financial services organisations sales and relationship management spend much of their time outside of the office in face-to-face meetings, they aren’t going to use a CRM solution if they need to wait until they are back in the office or at home.

To them, the time spent inputting data into a restrictive CRM is time that could be better spent selling or setting up meetings with potential customers. Therefore, for your sales team to adopt a CRM system, it needs to streamline information capture and have anywhere and anytime access across all mobile devices.

Is Microsoft Dynamics 365 mobile?

Because Microsoft Dynamics 365 is cloud-based software, it can be accessed securely by your team, from any location at any time on any mobile device, including offline capability where connectivity may be limited. Microsoft Dynamics 365 has complete ease of access, with the ability to be quickly updated from anywhere, at any time, on your preferred device; so salespeople never have to be confined to the office.

 

3) “I don’t want to share my data”

Most CRM systems offer a central view of shared information: customer contacts, tasks completed, emails sent and sales performance metrics, which can be disconcerting for salespeople who are often protective of their data. As many salespeople are accustomed to keeping what they consider to be their data to themselves, a CRM that allows management access to their data is a concern for those whose contact information is their livelihood.

When salespeople feel they are being observed, and they view the CRM as a threat, they may only enter data as a required exercise, and are unlikely to double-check their entries for error.

How can Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM help?

It is important to be clear that technology alone is not going to solve this ‘little black book’ challenge. To overcome this issue at a business level, sales team members need to recognise that the information they are privy to belongs to the business. That being said, Microsoft Dynamics 365 can help by:

Managing the information securely and fairly so that entering data into the CRM system does not put the salesperson at a competitive disadvantage against peers.

Demonstrating the benefits that can be gained by capturing information through data insights and recommendations it provides.

Illustrating how the CRM platform can identify and distribute new sales leads and opportunities – so it becomes a provider of information, not just a consumer.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a highly secure CRM system, meaning that management of who has access to data is controlled and regulated. For salespeople worried about all data being contained in a central portal, users of the CRM system are able to restrict access to specific records and fields, meaning that not all data can be accessed by everyone in the business.

Automation means that all data entered throughout the sales process is checked by the system, meaning that salespeople can concentrate on selling without worrying about compliance.

 

4) “It's too difficult to use”

Most financial services organisations have some sort of data management system in place, but often these systems are labour-intensive, difficult to use and rely on manual processes, such as creating reporting pipelines and performance spreadsheets.

For salespeople to be on board with a CRM system, they need it to be intuitive, provide a quick way to report on their pipeline and performance KPIs, and be adaptable to their way of working. In many instances, spreadsheets provide an important tool to analyse customers’ data, so being able to extract that data at the press of a button is essential.

Why is Microsoft Dynamics 365 different to current systems?

As a product of one of the biggest technology companies in the world, Microsoft Dynamics 365 is designed to integrate seamlessly with other Microsoft products (such as Microsoft Office). This makes it significantly easier to learn how to use the CRM system because it looks and acts like other Microsoft products.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 offers a single log-in with Office 365 where all data across applications can be transferred easily into the CRM automatically - reducing the need for rekeying data and manually attaching emails and documents into the system. This provides a 360 degree view of all customer interactions without manual intervention, allowing salespeople to access important information in an instant.

 

5) “It doesn’t help me to be more efficient”

In the financial services sector, many of the current systems being used aren’t tailored for sales process; they don’t allow salespeople to share information easily or collaborate effectively with other departments. This is worsened by siloed software that can’t integrate with other systems easily, which results in time wasted for salespeople that could be better spent on more productive sales activities.

On top of this, legacy systems may not have automation capabilities, meaning that salespeople could forget to follow up on leads, or misplace vital information. This leads to lost sales opportunities that can easily be avoided with a CRM system that automates sales activity and removes the potential for human error.

Will Microsoft Dynamics 365 help this?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 has a multitude of useful integrations, including standard integration to all Microsoft Office products such as Word and Excel. A standout integration is with Outlook, as the CRM system is able to gather information about appointments and emails from the application without the salesperson needing to enter the data manually.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 also has a standard integration with LinkedIn, where information from contacts salespeople have engaged with can be pulled from the application and into the CRM automatically. This enables salespeople to take action based on automatic ‘triggers’ that the CRM system alerts them to, which further helps secure leads and opportunities.

On top of this, artificial intelligence gives salespeople insights on when to email customers at optimum times based on when they are most likely to respond. It will also give recommendations of which salesperson should take over a specific type of sales opportunity, based on their performance in similar roles; ultimately decreasing the risk of a lost sales opportunity and improving overall sales performance.

How do we ensure that sales teams use Microsoft Dynamics 365?

One of the key challenges of other CRMs is that they can often be difficult to make changes once they are implemented due to the rigidity of the system; they aren’t able to adapt to changing business needs. At Inciper, we are able to transfer knowledge to your business so that you can make changes to the CRM system as your business needs develop and your organisation grows.

Our RAPID implementation approach focuses on the users of the system, not the technology itself - we ensure that Microsoft Dynamics 365 is implemented in a way that is easy to understand, user-friendly and adaptable.

Because Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a modular system, using our RAPID approach we are able to deliver elements of the system quickly and efficiently in a series of stages; this means you can begin using the system right away, and with our additional training your sales team can learn exactly how to use the system to their advantage and get started right away.

 

 

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