Improving Your Business Part 2 of 3: People Are the Key in Your CRM

Improving Your Business Part 2 of 3: People Are the Key in Your CRM

Business improvement can’t happen without the right resources in place. As discussed in our last blog, the three key areas to review are Process, People, and Insight. In this article, we’ll look at your business’s most valuable asset: People. (Click here to read about Process Analysis and here for Insights.)

You can’t make a plan for improvement without understanding where you stand today. Remember that these exercises use constructive criticism to look at your overall organization, including your CRM implementation – don’t use them to beat up yourself or others.

Let’s look at the role your people play in your overall business success.

People:

Be honest about how your systems and structure are working (or not working) for your team today. Remember that every member of your team is likely doing the best they can with the tools they have – this is a way for you to gather the facts and create a plan for improvement that will benefit everyone within your organization. The answers from our earlier Process article will give additional insights.

• Lay out your organization, with special attention to those that touch customers or customer data. Do you have salespeople? A marketing team generating leads? Product or service fulfillment staff? Post-sales customer service staff?
• When you hire new staff, is training provided that clearly outlines your systems and processes?
• Now break down how each of these peoples interactions with customers. If you have multiple people within each discipline, do they all follow the same processes? If there are outliers, why?
• How do these different areas communicate with each other? Outline some examples of common communication breakdowns – why do these occur?
• What happens if something goes wrong? If a wrong product is fulfilled or a service doesn’t produce the expected results? Who finds out first and how is that information handled? 
• Who in your organization has the authority to issue refunds or replacements? Is this a clear and quick process, or is it bureaucratic and time-consuming?
• What do the people within your organization think about the processes they follow?
• What do they think about your CRM (if you have one)?
• Ask each of them to tell you one thing they would change about the processes they currently follow.
• What do your customers think about your current organization? Do customers give your customer service rave reviews? Or do they experience difficulties, especially if something goes wrong with their purchase?

After you collect this information, look for patterns and holes. What seems to be working well? Where is there room for improvement?

A well-functioning CRM can make everyone’s life easier – a poorly designed one can make it much more difficult. AspenTech CRM has helped thousands of organizations analyze their current operations and implement new procedures that improve sales, customer satisfaction, and profitability. In our next article, we’ll look at how the insights you can derive from your CRM play in your overall business success. To schedule a free strategy call with an experienced member of our team, about the people side of your CRM, click here.