Getting new value today from your CRM data

CRM experts are often asked the question: How can we get more value out of our CRM? The guiding principle that we suggest to clients is to think of CRM as an enabler of commercial excellence. Value comes from purposeful consideration of how to improve the sales organization, with CRM measuring and enabling the effectiveness of those improvements.

One of the best starting points is to look at the data that exists today to see where there might be opportunities for improvement. Many clients have well-established pipeline reports and reviews, but a fresh look at the data in new ways may prompt a new set of questions on how to get better as a sales organization.

One analysis that may be helpful is to quartile salespeople by revenue delivered and see if salesperson performance correlates with other performance metrics. Performing such an analysis can lead to a discovery of structural, underlying issues that may be limiting performance of the sales team. For example, a low average deal size among bottom performers vs top-performing peers where win rates are similar may suggest bottom performers are not comfortable selling the full product family, or they may be conceding too easily on margin, both potentially addressed with focused sales enablement.

It's important to continue asking questions. In the scenario above, there may be other factors behind the numbers. Do top performers have a significant base of recurring revenue, to which they add new product sales? Are there data discrepancies in how teams create opportunities? Are account segments of the salespeople a factor in the results?

Companies with existing CRM implementations may be sitting on an underused asset in the data that exists today in their platform. Before considering changes to the system design, you may benefit from asking new questions of your data that exists today, which will lead to more questions than answers, but good questions nonetheless!

Connect with Jason Ambrose on LinkedIn.