He said he was running into a sales meeting with the President and asked if I could quickly give him my opinion on Salesforce implementation principles that drive Salesforce user adoption.  So I said two things:

1. Implement Salesforce using a Crawl, Walk, Run approach
2. Focus on giving the users REAL value

For the sake of my reader I’ll explain further.  The big idea in any Salesforce implementation, in my opinion, is to find something that truly benefits the user.  In many cases Salesforce, with its tremendous features, provides real value simply because of the capabilities it provides.  That said, many companies still struggle to get the results they want from it.  In my experience most of this occurs because one or both of the principles I mentioned above is violated.

I believe that most companies try to implement too much change too soon and they don’t have a clear picture of what drives real value for a sales user.   In many cases Salesforce is implemented because management wants a software tool for sales management and this takes priority over creating a tool that sales people can use to increase their individual sales.

In my opinion here are a couple of ideas that can help companies identify these benefits that will get sales people excited about using Salesforce.

1. Help them sell more!  This starts by doing a lot of work for the rep.  I’m a big believer in giving reps actionable intelligence from other systems right in Salesforce.  This means using data integration to integrate accounting, ERP Software, and sales data warehouses directly into Salesforce.  But more importantly, it’s formatting or “interpreting” the data in a way that allows the reps to use the info immediately.  By giving them data that is already interpreted for them they can immediately take action on it in their territory.  Here’s an example screen from one of our products that helps reps clearly see sales trends with customers they should know about and take action on.
2. Eliminate Non-Selling Activities!  Salesforce is very easy to tailor to reduce cumbersome or repetitive tasks.  With a little bit of examination it is easy to determine what tasks are being duplicated and workflow or visual force pages can be created that make these tasks one button operations that speed up the rep.
3. Give the rep time back.  Sounds obvious but in many cases reps are asked to do a lot of activities and we can streamline many of these based on what I mentioned before.  But I believe if you tie the use of Salesforce to “Giving time back” and mean it, they will be eager to use the tool because it benefits them.  I included an example of a territory planning tool that we’ve created to help reps maximize their time in territory.
4. Give to Get.  In many cases if we give the reps the tools they need we will also get the information from the rep such as activity or call notes that management also needs.  It’s also so much easier to get this info from a tool that’s being actively used by the reps and provides real value.

In closing the main point here is to identify key business processes that can be implemented and enhanced very quickly and provide real value to users like sales people and help them increase sales and productivity.  With these ideas in mind our clients can drive the sales behavior necessary via analytics and dashboards that help them increase sales and create very happy users.

Well, no one, I’m thinking.  Should I be concerned that I used to have braces and a mullet?

I digress.  But that’s not what people mean when they talk about Social Networking for Business.  I have been struggling for a few years to really understand how Social Networking fits in and I’m not going to suggest by any means that I’ve figured it out.

So I was reading a book called “Eat People” by Andy Kessler a few months ago and he described Mark Zuckerburg’s vision for Facebook.  He relayed a story where Mark had not studied for an art history class, or even been to class, and decided to create a facebook-like page as a “study guide”.

He sent a link of the “study guide” to all the students and asked them to make comments on certain pieces of art, etc.  Long story, short:  Mark got an A in the class, but even more interesting is that the entire class had the highest total score of any class for that subject.

Why did this happen?  Well, Kessler goes on to say that what Mark was trying to create was a way to “absorb” what was happening with the art pictures.  Rather than reading a text book, the web interface he built made it easy for people to absorb or consume what was relevant and important.

This is one of the ideas that’s core to Facebook.  It’s easy to absorb what’s happening with your 600 closest friends.  So does that mean everyone should have a business Facebook page?

That’s not the point I’m trying to make.  What I think is now more possible with tools like Facebook, but not necessarily Facebook, is using the power of collaboration in a way that makes it easy for people to “absorb” what’s happening in their business with customers, employees, vendors, etc.

In the enterprise software world I play in that’s Salesforce’s Chatter.  We are just beginning to see how our clients are using Chatter to collaborate more seamlessly and with less effort.  It’s exciting to see a simple idea provide some real value.

We have recently created a very simple tool that leverages Chatter that allows our clients to improve their internal request process for changes in Salesforce.  This includes basic things like adding fields, data, customizations, etc.

We call this Request/Release and have essentially taken an AGILE development concept and combined it with Chatter to enable our customers to collaborate better internally and enable us to contribute as well.  This accelerates the speed at which we identify and enhance new ideas and include a larger group of people without the complexity of large groups.  It’s a form of crowd sourcing for internal requests that improves the quality of ideas our clients generate and accelerates the implementation of these ideas.

By the way, it’s free!!

I’ll continue to blog on this as we enhance it further.  Please check back for new updates.

Thank you for reading this.  I hope it gives you some ideas!

Developing Customized CRM for Your Business

By collaborating with companies and relevant subject matter experts in individual industries, ISM can create CRM software that’s right for you at a much more affordable cost than new, from-scratch applications. Recently, we’ve partnered with a number of companies in diverse industries to develop industry-specific vertical Force.com applications, including Medical Sales CRM for Salesforce, Contract Manufacturing CRM, Defense Industry CRM, and Private Equity CRM. Our Open Development program for Mobile CRM is available right now.

Choosing the Right Consultant for CRM Software

Here are a few questions from IT authorities who’ve seen CRM failure and CRM success.

Can the consultant provide a complete service package?
ISM specializes in providing everything the customer needs. We don’t just turn software on and disappear – ever.

Does the consultant listen effectively?
Call us up – we specialize in listening to your sales process, concerns, business goals and needs.

Does the consultant communicate clearly?
We’re communications specialists, going beyond the technology to the real reason CRM works: aligning your people and sales processes for success. Check out our free CRM Workshop Planning guide. It’s easy to understand and easy to implement.

Can I work with the consultant?
According to Destination CRM, it’s critical to go with a consultant who fits with your company’s philosophy and culture. Contact us now and see how we can work together to develop a winning CRM for your business.

The right answers to these questions will guide the choice of who you choose to help develop your customized CRM software and implementation plan.  Please call us at 877-553-0485 or email us today to determine which CRM product right for your business.

We’ll be our presenting our new offline iPad app Mobile CRM HD for Salesforce CRM at Dreamforce. We would love to see you and talk to you! Please stop by Booth 33 in the Exhibition Hall to check out our new iPad app that offers disconnected, offline access to your Salesforce data in addition to traditional mobile connectivity.

ISM highlights Industry Vertical Force.com Applications

We’ll also be sharing the vertical industry-specific applications we’ve created on the Force.com platform. Stop by Booth 33 in the Exhibition Hall to check out: Office Suites CRM, Medical Sales CRM for Salesforce, Private Equity CRM, Contract Manufacturing CRM, Litigation Support CRM and Defense Industry CRM. By collaborating with companies and relevant subject matter experts in all of these industries, from administrative offices to defense contractors, ISM produces tailored business applications that meet their needs at a fraction of the time and cost of new, from-scratch applications.

Talk to ISM About Industry Vertical Development of Your Own CRM software

We are known for our consulting and development excellence and we’re looking for industry partners that can help us develop industry vertical CRM software with potential beyond just one company. We focus on the alignment of people, process and technology, developing not just an application that works, but an application that helps your employees to work better and your business to thrive. If you’re looking to develop CRM software within Salesforce.com that you think could also work for others in your industry, we’re interested in talking to you, the subject matter expert, to co-develop a customized, marketable Salesforce.com application.

Book at an appointment with us while you’re at Dreamforce here, or just stop by and meet us at Booth 33.  If you aren’t attending the conference, you can click here to contact us or call us at 877-553-0485.

Process and Strategy has Proven Success

According to the 2011 Miller Heiman Sales Performance Survey, the top 4 percent of 25,000 sales forces surveyed achieved 4 times greater sales growth than the other 96 percent of sales forces, even during the down economy.  Miller Heiman Executive Vice President Bill Golder said that even during the recession, the “World Class,” top sales performers moved ahead by being focused on their process and strategy. “Knowing your customer” is one of the three primary ways these sales forces continued to achieve success. According to Bill Golder, the organizations that succeeded put most of their time in aligning their sales metrics with business objectives.  For example, they built comprehensive prospecting plans and aligned prospects as closely as possible with the “ideal customer” for their products.  These activities are not possible without intelligently-used and accessible customer and prospect data.

Intelligent and Accessible are Keys to Sales Performance

Steve Snapp from Integrated Sales Management shares simple best practices and techniques you can use in your company to drive the behavior that increases sales.   Companies that use Salesforce.com, Siebel, Microsoft CRM, and other Customer Relationship Management software will discover some simple best practices that help organizations use Dashboards and Analytics to increase the ability of sales people to make better decisions.  Better decisions enable sales people to be more proactive and make better use of their time in their territories.  This video includes detail from one of our leading CRM Consultants and will focus on basic ideas that will help your company better answer the question “what is CRM” and leverage the power of Cloud Computing more effectively.   Our CRM Consultant will also highlight techniques that you can use to integrate other data sources like ERP Software and provide significant insight to your CRM users.

For more insights on CRM Best Practices please visit our Resources and Blogs or Contact Us.

Salesforce.com has reached a level of sophistication where sales CRM software applications built on its platform are easy to use for nearly sales rep and manager, solving an age-old problem of employees hating the software. Salesforce.com can be just as easily customized to work for your company – not just the way you work today, but optimizing performance for the future. Imagine that instead of CRM software, Salesforce.com was a new delivery vehicle for your company – one that was affordable, “green”, had a great ROI, ran on all terrains, and could be customized exactly for your business with little extra time and trouble.

The technology industry is aware of the communication gap in explaining this type of idea to their customers. Jonathan Follett wrote in Digital Media Magazine, “High tech’s lack of understanding of customer language is even reflected in the way the industry refers to its audience. The joke starts like this: “There are only two businesses that call their customers “users”…”  Think for a few minutes about the “other” business that has “users” as customers . . .

“Stick your head in the cloud and experience the multi-tenant environment!” said one CRM software guru, encouraging corporate clients to customize Salesforce.com for their sales forces and systems.

Hearing this, it’s hard not to think, “If I stick my head in a cloud, I don’t think my sales are going to do too well this quarter.” Most of us would rather not live in a “multi-tenant environment” – if we’re still working toward our “dream home,” then we want a good house that is right for us and our families.

In plain English, using cloud technology for a web based CRM software like Salesforce.com eliminates the problem of managing, maintaining and networking between numerous separate desktop computers in vastly separate offices, servers of many different ages, and important information kept on individual computers. A “multi-tenant” environment is a good thing in using technology to support sales programs. Rather than a large apartment building, “multi-tenant” in CRM software terms refers to allowing different employees, from sales reps to billing, service, customer support, development, marketing and management to work seamlessly together.

Two of the underlying CRM software technologies that enable this type of customization and seamless work are VisualForce and Apex. ISM has worked with over 300 companies to customize their CRM software to benefit their individual sales processes, systems, and sales rep performance.

In just one of the ways that Salesforce.com can be customized, one company wanted a custom route planning management function in their CRM software – their sales tactics were tied to both location and date. ISM created customized screens and reports that allowed sales reps to see the routes they had scheduled over a period of up to 12 weeks. Sales reps and managers could identify specific planned routes and available dates. ISM also built a customized call log for the company with their own specific products and activities, immediately tied to a company-specific, sales rep-friendly follow-up screen and notes.

To learn more about CRM Best Practice and Process, please visit our Resources and Blogs.

One of the best examples of the issue of wasted time and useless data are weekly call reports. Sales consultant Paul McCord says he’s spoken with hundreds of managers about call reports and almost all of them agree that call reports are one of the most pointless traditions management clings to. The reports are filled with fictitious information, and the information that is truthful is frequently of little value.

But what if you could see the information weekly call reports are supposed to include in a useful way that doesn’t punish your salespeople, but gives you the information you need to coach and support? What if call reports were a natural feature of your CRM system and dashboard? One great use of your CRM dashboard design could be to turn the dreaded weekly call report into a non-event for salespeople and managers. You can design the dashboard in a way that will work for new salespeople and veteran salespeople alike.

According to Leslie Stretch, columnist for Destination CRM.com, “When sales teams aren’t encouraged to sell the way you need them to sell — that is, to sell products and services strategically, in order to meet business goals — they’ll inevitably fall back on their own goals to guide them in the sales process.” The concept is: design the dashboard to align your sales strategies with how the salesperson naturally works, emphasizing their strengths in addition to the sales pipeline and enterprise-wide sales and marketing concepts.

Leslie discussed the unplanned sales strategy that unfolded when the iPhone was first released back in 2007. AT & T sales staff at stores carrying the high-demand phone told customers that they had to sign up for numerous add-on accessories. The sales reps had been given the goal of selling as many accessories as possible, but they weren’t mandatory.  The behavior occurred because the reps were being negatively “punished” if they didn’t sell lots of accessories as reflected on their reports. The issue was eventually discovered, but the unintended sales strategy caused negative results, from customers walking away in stores to later cancellations of contracts.

Make sure your sales CRM dashboard components clearly show and numerically measure your key objectives. Design the CRM dashboard to reinforce the behavior you want and performance you want.

Getting everyone on a sales team to agree on screen colors, much less a whole IT solution for sales can be like getting a whole youth soccer team to agree on a single pizza topping. You might get 10 kids to go for pepperoni, but two are going to be diehard mushroom fans and one is sure to want just plain cheese and won’t settle for picking the toppings off, either. The solution for the soccer team is ordering more than one kind of pizza. Putting together the right IT solution for your CRM project takes a little more time and planning.

When people don’t agree, are used to working in silos, and may not even like each other, a third party is needed. ISM has developed three levels of CRM planning workshops. Each workshop is designed for a different stage of the CRM planning and implementation process.

Ultimately, someone has to take leadership to get your CRM project off the ground, and building stakeholder commitment is important to that process. For the best CRM project, you also need a strong understanding of your sales staff, their goals, and the current processes they follow.  ISM’s Sales CRM Planning Workshops will give you tools you can use in all three areas.

What do ISM’s Sales CRM Workshops accomplish?

ISM’s ½ Day CRM Planning Workshop addresses the first steps in a successful CRM project. At the end of the half day, your CRM sales team will be prepared to:

1.)    Gain stakeholder commitment

2.)    Define and agree upon your healthcare software priorities.

Your team will receive an orientation to “Tipping Point” change concepts, and you will leave the workshop with a preliminary budget and a summary of priorities.

ISM’s 1 Day Sales CRM Planning Workshop focuses on your people, current sales process and assessing your current IT solutions. At the end of the full day CRM planning workshop, you will have defined:

1.)    An Estimated CRM Implementation Plan

2.)     Your current sales process.

ISM’s 2 Day Sales CRM Planning Workshop will help you further identify where your CRM software and sales processes are right now by modeling two to three of your current software and sales processes.  Together, we will then identify concrete improvements and action steps you can take towards those improvements. At the end of the two day workshop, you’ll have:

1.)    An Estimated CRM Implementation Plan

2.)    A Defined CRM Road Map for Success

As to the pizza?  ISM’s workshops are pizza-optional, and all toppings are welcome.

CRM projects have failed so often that ZDNet employs columnist Michael Krigsman to write weekly columns about them and how to avoid them. You may have tried to implement an older type of CRM for your medical sales enterprise, and chances are you know someone who is “once bitten, twice shy,” burned by a failed CRM project and wary of trying again.

Overemphasis on technology over people and process is one of the three main causes of CRM project failure. The other two primary causes of CRM project failure are a lack of stakeholder commitment, and a failure to plan.

Watch this video to learn the causes of CRM project failure and how ISM can help you avoid them. ISM will help you prepare a CRM Business Case that incorporates action steps, benchmarks and a cost-benefit analysis for your entire CRM project implementation. ISM has the experience to help you clearly define what your team’s priorities are for CRM, and outline your current environment for people, process and technology.

ISM’s Complimentary Business Case is a Key Element for CRM Project Success

Knowing where you stand right now is the first step in successfully understanding how to implement CRM, fully-aligning people, process and technology.  If you are new to CRM, the Business Case is critical to gaining stakeholder commitment. If you are re-evaluating or re-implementing CRM, the Business Case will help you successfully implement CRM. Contact us for a free consultation to help you develop your Business Case.

Through your CRM Business Case, you will be able to justify the benefits of your CRM project, helping to prove to stakeholders why CRM is so important. The Business Case will also define the cost of doing nothing or keeping the status quo. You’ll be able to assess and benchmark the way your current sales team operates. Then, ISM will help you to model the way you want your process to work in the future.

ISM will also help you address the issue of failure to plan by developing a CRM Strategic Roadmap that focuses on how to achieve key objectives, your timeline and budget. ISM’s process is systematic and easy to understand. You will know what your return on investment can and should be. The technology choices come at the end, and you will know with confidence which choice is right for your company.  Contact us for your complimentary Business Case to help you achieve CRM project success.