6 Signs It’s Time to Start Looking for a New Sales Software System
At many companies, IT teams are responsible for finding new sales platforms and tools to support their sales teams. However, as important of a task as this is, many IT teams rarely give a second thought to whether new sales software is needed unless the sales team specifically asks them to take a look at something new.
To truly support your sales team and company, the IT staff needs to take a more proactive approach of monitoring the performance of your sales team and the software they are using. These six signs are an indicator that it's time to start looking for a new sales software system.
1. Support is waning.
One way to figure out the effectiveness of your company’s current sales software is to consider the level of support provided by the vendor. If they answer requests immediately and frequently roll out updates and new features, you’re probably still getting plenty of value; if they’re slow to respond or not deploying as many patches as they used to, it’s a strong sign that they’re slowly pulling support for your current solution and putting their resources into developing a new one. This is when you should be proactive about finding a better solution instead of waiting for the vendor to completely withdraw product support.
2. Spreadsheets are running rampant.
If your sales team is using spreadsheets to keep track of important information or handle other tasks, it’s a huge indication that your current sales system simply isn’t cutting it. When a sales rep has to take time to manually enter data into a spreadsheet, they’re wasting time that could be better spent finding new business. Beyond that, the reports and analysis taken from spreadsheets are not nearly as useful as they would be coming from a more powerful sales system.
Whenever your sales team’s time is being wasted, justifying the cost of a new sales system is easy—all you have to do is calculate the opportunity cost of time spent on non-revenue generating activities.
3. Your company is growing rapidly.
One of the most important factors for finding the perfect CRM system is the number of employees who will be accessing it. In fact, this is the very first question Business News Daily asks in its interactive buyer’s guide for CRM systems. If your company is growing quickly, or has grown dramatically since you last implemented sales software, there’s a good chance you are using something built for a smaller company. The difference between eight salespeople and 15 salespeople, or 40 salespeople and 60 salespeople is often the difference between needing one solution or another.
4. Other teams are having issues.
Sales systems affect more than just the sales team as other teams in the organization will need to access information, too. For example, the finance department might need to pull reports for sales and budget projections; marketing may use the information to develop better targeted campaigns or to integrate campaigns automatically; customer service may want to access information or even provide support. As you take the time to work with leaders from these departments, gauge how much success they’re having with the current sales system.
5. There is extra room in the budget.
This point may seem obvious, but it’s important to keep in mind. The best thing you can do when you have some wiggle room with your budget is invest in a strong sales or customer relationship management (CRM) system. Studies show that the average return for every dollar invested in a quality CRM system is $8.71. That means that you’ll not only make the lives of your sales team easier and more efficient, but you’ll have a huge positive impact on the company’s bottom line.
6. It’s your slow season.
The best time to implement and start training your sales team on a brand-new sales system is when things are a bit slow. If your company has a seasonal sales cycle, the best time to look at new systems is right before the slow season begins. This way you can implement and train staff on the new system when they are the least busy. They’ll have more time to focus on learning and mastering the new system, and they won’t have to sacrifice their already limited time during the hectic busy season.
Implementing a new sales system is a major undertaking, so there is never a truly perfect time to pilot one. By following this advice, you will be able to pick a time that maximizes your return and minimizes the pain. In the end, both your IT and sales teams will be happy you did.