For David Jones, owner of DJ Business Consulting (DJ), a firm with six, three in sales, the decision to implement a CRM wasn’t taken lightly.
David was pressured by managing client service, marketing, and sales. Growth was steady yet David saw weaknesses:
- Disconnected client data.
- Limited knowledge of each sales rep’s pipeline.
- Too many manual, repetitive tasks and emails.
- Each rep used its own methods of prospect follow-up and data collection.
The team agreed they needed help to support marketing and sales.
Top 3 Needs
The team met to define needs and priorities:
- Define the steps buyers follow when buying and use a sales funnel to track sales.
- Automate outreach and internal sales rep reminders.
- Centralize prospect and client notes, emails, quotes, and tasks.
Their sales specialist helped solve these needs and they agreed to use a CRM to support and organize future marketing and sales initiatives.
DJ’s Planned Outcomes
Based on these needs, the team set outcomes to achieve:
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- Save 6 hours per week per sales rep based on automation.
- Apply the 6 hours per sales rep to “Profitable Prospects.”
- Create a sales funnel and trigger outreach when prospects change stages.
- Create a library of email templates sent when prospects are qualified or change sales funnel stages.
David knew spending more time with “Profitable Prospects” was critical for growth and profitability.
Next Steps
The team, guided by its specialist, narrowed the CRMs based on 3 criteria: Ability to personalize, segment, and automate. The team agreed that pricing was secondary to outcomes. Reviewed products were priced at $75 to $100 per usr per month.
The specialist recommended a trusted CRM vendor and knew its CRM performed and achieved client outcomes. A contract was signed.
Implementation
The specialists set priorities, and the vendor configured the CRM to achieve required outcomes. The CRM vendor set up:
- Sales funnel with 5 stages: Contact, Discovery, Proposal, Client Review; and Won/Lost.
- Segments by prospect rating, lead source and the 3 industries to which DJ sells.
- Personalized outreach and internal “Rep Reminders” triggered automatically based on segments and sales funnel stage.
- Library of email templates used at each sales funnel stage and by sales reps.
- Contact records to capture notes, tasks, emails, and quotes in one place.
The CRM vendor configured the CRM and trained the team in 30 days.
Results
Within 6 months, several trends emerged:
- 20% increase in conversions – The sales funnel sharpened the team’s focus.
- Reps allocated more time to “Profitable Prospects,” based on prospect ratings.
- Reps had 4+ more hours per week as the CRM replaced manual tasks
Personalized, segmented and automated outreach was working. Sales growth and increased profitability were the result!
Vendor Impact
“Our CRM vendor was amazing!” said David. The CRM specialist listened and delivered:
- Outcomes that were stated upfront.
- Training and support making the CRM easy to use.
- CRM automations to nurture and educate prospects.
“Our increased close rate and new sales are the direct result of our CRM and CRM vendor!” said David.
David found a responsive vendor who listened to DJ’s needs and invested in DJ’s success. Access to knowledgeable support, proactive guidance, and ongoing check-ins added meaningful value beyond the product itself.
