You’re an expert in your own field, but is that enough to put in place business indicators that really work? What are the traps to avoid? Where are the potential stumbling blocks between your dream dashboard and the Data needed to power it?
The role of a good CRM integrator goes well beyond technology. Here are some tips to help you choose the right partner.
Understanding of your industry
A good integrator must be able to understand your challenges. Check their track record and experience. They should be able to adapt to companies of any size and be able to discuss business strategy with you.
If you’re a mid-sized or key account company, and the integrator has only ever worked with very small businesses, it’s best to look elsewhere.
If you’re a medium-sized company and they only know how to work with sales teams of at least 500 staff, it’s best to look elsewhere.
Knowledge of the recommended solution
Of course, they must have very solid experience with the CRM software they’re recommending, so they can suggest the best possible indicators, and also anticipate any problems your sales team might face when collecting and entering Data.
The closeness they maintain with the publisher of the CRM software you’ve chosen is crucial. This should be reflected in the methodology they propose (see our article How to choose the right Odoo integrator?)
Their ability to challenge you
Your integrator must be able to help you build your specifications, or challenge you on them. Beyond technical skills, they should be a source of ideas to help you prioritise and choose the most relevant indicators.
Such an indicator will require a considerable amount of work from your sales representatives. They must be able to alert you. If your staff have to fill in 30 fields just to feed your indicator, they’re unlikely to enter the data properly. The result? You’ll get the long-awaited indicator, but it will be based on poor data. Can you realistically build your business strategy on erroneous data?
Helping you see further ahead
Want to motivate and challenge your sales representatives? Your CRM partner must be able to help you think out of the box. If they are very familiar with the start-up world, chances are they can offer you a thousand and one ways to meet your challenges.
Displaying certain CRM indicators on a giant screen indicators in the office to energise your sales force? Highlighting strong individual or team performance with notifications on your sales representatives’ smartphones? A flashing light in your premises that turns on as soon as a target is achieved? Why not…
You get the idea: you don’t necessarily need to go that far. But your ideal partner must know how to think CRM… Beyond CRM!
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