Is your CRM mobile?
There are many CRMs out there, but not all are created equal. For one, mobility is a feature that’s not a given in all. And in today’s ultra mobile world—with 2.7 billion smartphone users around the world, with the number expected to reach 2.87 billion in 2020—this is quite unacceptable.
A mobile CRM is critical in sales, where everything and everyone move at lightning speed. Just look at these stats on mobility in sales:
- 42% of sales people now use mobile devices, however, 4 out of 5 are only using basic productivity apps such as email, and only 1 in 5 companies have tried to apply mobility to their business processes (CSO Insights).
- 65% of sales reps at companies that have adopted mobile CRM have achieved sales quotas, versus only 22% from companies that have not implemented a mobile strategy which is an increase in 59% in sales performance (Innoppl Technologies).
- 82% of sales reps who use a mobile CRM solution claim that it had improved the quality of their data (Sotfware Advice).
- Productivity increases by 14,6% when sales people have mobile access to their CRM (Nucleus Research).
- Organizations using mobile business apps achieve a 74% increase in customer satisfaction due to faster response to requests and inquiries (Forrester).
- Organizations using mobile business apps notice a 74% improvement of business process efficiency (Forrester).
- Organizations using mobile business apps achieve a 62% increase in usage and adoption of CRM applications (Forrester).
- Organizations using mobile business apps achieve a 77% boost of productivity and efficiency of frontline employees. (Forrester).
- 8% of employees use their personal technological devices at work (Ovum).
What is a Mobile CRM?
A mobile CRM runs on an app. It allows you to enjoy and utilize all the features of your CRM on a mobile device, like your smartphone and tablet. This means everyone on the team can access all important data, accounts, reports, and files wherever they are, whenever they need. A mobile CRM also makes connectivity, communication, and collaboration easier. Team members can continue working together; sales managers can carry on monitoring their sales reps’ work and output.
An increase in productivity is one of the many benefits of sales mobility. A mobile CRM also allows you to:
- Work in real-time and attend to any sales matter immediately.
- Manage clients better by responding to their concerns more efficiently.
- Move—you are not tied down to your desk and you can increase your number of sales calls.
- Save on travel and logistics costs and, more importantly, time.
Clearly, having a mobile CRM app is a sound investment tool for any sales organization. But as with any system or process, you must have a strategy when it comes to your mobile CRM.
Smart Strategies for Implementing the Use of a Mobile CRM
So you can leverage your mobile CRM, here are smart strategies that you and the team should begin implementing.
- Establish a robust supporting infrastructure. Make sure the organization has the right tools, technology, and organizational structures and facilities to accommodate the demands of a mobile CRM. Address connectivity concerns, if any. Structure the Wi-Fi / mobile plans for the users.
- Provide training. Using a mobile CRM app will be a new undertaking for many sales reps, so make sure to account for training and testing. Make certain that all sales reps know the exact features and functions and how to make those work for them. Test these functions internally, and provide training until everyone becomes very familiar with how the CRM is best used.
You want everyone to be proficient in using the mobile CRM so that everyone adopts its use. With that, you can target the efficiency, productivity, collaboration, and connectivity benefits that a mobile CRM affords. - Align all teams, departments, and groups on the goals of the use of the mobile CRM, and the guidelines and best practices for using it. Sales and marketing should be aligned on many things, and the use of a mobile CRM is one of them. The different teams or departments must be trained on how to collaborate with each other using the mobile app.
- Get feedback from users and customers. Sales reps and other team members using the app should provide feedback on their experience. You can also gather feedback from the clients or customers. Did they see an improvement in the correspondence, for example? (With a mobile CRM, sales reps can reach a client via phone, email, IM, SMS, or social media easily, from their mobile devices.) Feedback of any kind will help you improve the ways you use your mobile CRM.
- Choose a mobile CRM wisely. If you’re going to invest in a mobile CRM, invest in the right one. Your mobile CRM should address all the needs of your sales reps and the demands of your customers. It should enable pipeline management and analysis, automation, data management and analysis, reporting, and all other functions of a standard, desktop CRM. Lucrativ’s mobile CRM is an example. It even has Lucy, a powerful sales assistant that can help schedule calls, set meetings, respond to clients, and close deals. A mobile CRM with a personal assistant? Now that’s a really smart strategy.
Photos from Unsplash. Main photo by Oleg Magni
