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2 Functions Out of the Box CRM Software Can’t Do

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We’ve spoke at length previously about how to best extract value from enterprise software. The core of this content is always to emphasize the importance of processes and system use over software functionality. Before you opt to expense those long-term subscription costs for out of the box CRM, consider these functions that it will not be able to perform, and how you can put your organization in the best position to benefit from CRM software.

First, your CRM may be sleek and innovative, but it is not a mind reader – yet.

Out of the box CRM does not automatically learn your sales process, nor can it intuitively work with your sales team to best align itself to their work life. CRM does a great job of neatly organizes customers and opportunities; ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. However, it is not an intelligent system. It has no idea what information is important to sales or your businesses sales processes.

Depending on the sales arrangement of your organization, CRM could take customized mapping from other systems, special configuration, and personalized training to support the business and its users. No out of the box CRM does this automatically. Even if it did, there’s no way it could effectively do that for multiple organizations; as every business is different. Ultimately, effective mapping in CRM augments its functionality to become faster, smarter, and adaptable to business changes.

Second, CRM does not inherently help track the metrics that are important to your business

Salesforce, is widely popular for their colorful, user friendly dashboard displays –integrated with all the user-friendly functions of Salesforce. However, vibrant screen colors and pretty out of the box charts aren’t telling executives what data is critical to sales and business operations. So, if Salesforce and it’s lauded reporting functions can’t do this out of the box, what do you think you can expect from all others?

Businesses fail to clarify how to get those dashboards to convey the right message; and this goes back to effectively configuring processes to CRM. Only then can executives ensure that they are measuring and tracking the data that matters to your unique organization. One executive’s call to action may diverge from another, and could change over time based on business needs. Dashboard displays can be simple or sophisticated, and that ultimately depends on which screens and experiences are important to internal silos.

The best part about today’s CRM display configuration is — if processes are effectively configured— users do not have to possess any technical background to customize their own dashboards. Busy users best adopt innovations that don’t require IT’s help.

Metrics, business processes, KPIs are different for every business. Out of the box, not even the most sophisticated CRM knows what drives your bottom line. What metrics are valuable in gauging business activities? CRM software won’t know unless it is configured to monitor and understand these valuations and their significance in business outcomes.

How to configure CRM to your business

It’s important for businesses to know and understand exactly how they do business. Prior to purchasing a CRM tool, identify the real challenges you face and specific uses or functionality that will support business users. We recommend deploying a CRM that solves a problem that is presented by your current functions and processes. Often business replace out-dated methods with new software, that utilize the same old out-dated processes.

CRM is a seemingly easy tool to use; however leveraging a user’s experience in the buying decision is only a tip of the iceberg. By default, CRMs manage accounts and contacts, and if it is ineffectively configured, will fail to support the proper processes. In addition it will be unable to render important analytics and support executive decision making.

These tips are very simple, and are really just a starting point. Many businesses overlook these common discrepancies simply because it’s inherent to make these mistakes. Starting with the information above can result in successfully implementing any CRM for your businesses.

If your business is interested in getting the most out of your CRM, or is considering implementing a new system, speaking with a Datix expert could prove extremely help. Feel free to reach out today.

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