Is it time to consider a switch? Here's how to identify when your existing CRM is no longer up to the job.
An effective customer relationship management (CRM) system helps your company manage and make the most of its business relationships. CRM solutions store and collect information, automate business operations, and help cultivate client relationships while increasing your leads and sales. You get a clear view of your customers and optimize your sales and marketing efforts.
Since it’s a critical part of ensuring success for your company, conducting an audit of your CRM is vital and should be done now and then to keep an eye out for signs that your CRM is outdated or not working as it should.
Below are 8 signs that indicate it is time to update your CRM solution:
8 signs it's time to switch your CRM
❌ Poor fit with current processes
Does your existing CRM fit your current business processes? While your system once met your business requirements, your company may have grown and evolved, implementing new objectives and internal operations that the CRM solution wasn’t designed to serve. For example, your business may now use third-party tools that cannot integrate with your existing CRM. Perhaps your company initially purchased an industry-specific CRM that is no longer relevant because you expanded to more industries or pivoted to another. Whichever the reason, if your current solution doesn’t provide core functionality to support how you do business, it is time to consider a new platform.
❌ Lacks modern functionality
If you have an older CRM, the chances are that it may not support new functionality that is readily available to others right out of the box. For example, outdated CRMs may be missing the following functionality, including:
Live chat with customers
Workflow automation
Interactive dashboards
Social media and other mobile integrations
Integrated web forms to capture leads
These are just a few of the capabilities most modern CRM solutions now offer. If your existing solution lacks these, or you find that your team is employing time-consuming workarounds to perform these tasks, you may need to consider a switch.
❌ Lacks innovative features
Has your CRM kept up with the times? With cutting-edge technology such as machine learning and AI becoming more prevalent, it’s essential that your CRM has modern functionality and allows you to keep with your competitors. For example, Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 Sales CRM uses AI to help businesses accelerate their revenue. It enables you to streamline sales cycles through suggested AI insights that help close more deals, notifies your team about deals that are stalled or at risk, and offers intelligent recommendations to help improve account relationships at risk.
❌ Unable to scale easily
If your organization is going through rapid growth, an effective CRM should grow alongside you. The bigger your company grows, the more flexible your CRM solution must be. If you cannot scale quickly with your current solution, you risk lagging behind your competitors in terms of service and efficiency. A modern CRM solution should make it easy to increase or decrease the number of end-users required and easily expand the functionality as business issues and needs arise. For example, a cloud CRM solution such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 makes it easy to select the functionality you need and add more apps as your business needs evolve. That way, you’re only paying for what you need at the moment but can always easily expand your functionality when required. As a cloud-based solution, you also don’t have to worry about hardware or infrastructure costs – which can often be another barrier to growth.
❌ Lacks accessibility and mobility
Nowadays, most businesses are expanding beyond typical brick and mortar operations, and your CRM solution should allow your employees to access data, documents and easily communicate with colleagues on the go from any device. As remote and hybrid working are likely to stick around well after the pandemic, switching to a cloud CRM will make it easier to make your company more accessible and agile. For example, the cloud-based Dynamics 365 Sales CRM offers a mobile app so your sales team can take action on the go. Not to mention, there are numerous other business benefits of switching to the cloud, such as lower operating costs, automatic software upgrades, and maintenance, and heightened data security.
❌ Limited Reporting and Forecast Visibility
To make accurate business decisions, accurate data must be readily accessible, and your solution should allow you to analyze this data through personalized reports and interactive dashboards. Finally, it should be easy to share your insights with the rest of the team. If your CRM solution does not have a robust sales reporting and forecast functionality, you are restricting not only your sales personnel and management but also the senior management’s ability to make informed decisions.
❌ Poor user experience or challenging to use
Older CRM solutions can be slow and bulky, unintuitive, with cluttered layouts and illogical steps to complete simple tasks. If your team is unhappy with the user experience or has constant issues while navigating the platform, it might be time to spring for a modern CRM. After all, struggling to understand a system that should help make your day-to-day tasks easier is frustrating and counter-productive.
❌ Subpar or no support from the vendor
Another reason to switch is when you receive little to no support from your vendor. If there is a bug in the software, a security breach, or any other performance-related issue, your business operations can come to a grinding halt without adequate support from your CRM vendor. If something goes wrong, you need to be certain that you can quickly get in touch with your vendor and receive the help you need.
Takeaway
If you have noticed any of the signs discussed above, it may be time to explore a new CRM solution. Switching to a new CRM solution is not as overwhelming as you would think, provided you do your research. To make the switch easier, begin by defining what functionality and features you are looking for in your new solution and what is currently missing in your existing CRM. Think about your business goals and what you wish to improve or achieve there and take feedback and recommendations from your employees.
Considering the Cloud? Dynamics 365 Sales Could Be Right For You.
If you’re considering a cloud-based solution this time, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales is a solid offering and was named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Sales Force Automation Solutions, Q2 2021 by Forrester.
To learn more about this solution or whether it’s a right fit for your company, book a free consultation with the Kwixand Solutions team. We are a certified Microsoft Partner based in Vancouver, Canada, and we help businesses across North America transform and thrive with Dynamics 365.
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