2009 Sales Need 2009 CRM

I was reading over the weekend that barely half of all sales reps made quota last year. Being a past street sales person, I was heart broken.

According to a study by Customer Relationship Management less that 59% of all sales reps made quota. But that is past us and we are 1/6th into a new year. How will you do, better? Worse? The same?

Based on what I am hearing, many companies are looking for improved sales rep performance results by them using CRM strategy, but the only problem is that only 16.1% of all firms that even had a CRM system are showing increased revenues. What we are seeing and hearing is that the majority of companies that are not achieving optimal potential because they are underutilizing the tools they now have in place. What sales reps are using out of CRM is things like contact management, opportunity management, forecast management. This is 1999 CRP stuff not 2009. (Am I right Steve Reeves? I know your reading this.)

Today’s CRM has the capacities to optimize prospect research, lead generation and nurturing, sales collateral management, opportunity management, sales team collaboration, pipeline optimization. The 16.1% who have figured out how to leverage their CRM software are making great strides. The other 83.9%?

Larson note: It’s time to sit down with our CRM vendor and take f2f, belly to belly with them. Share your challenges with them, ask them to show you how to optimize and use of the software you already have. Ask about add on enhancements like sales knowledge management or sales analytics that can charge up your sales performance and put you into overdrive.

Yes 2009 will be a year of challenges but in those challenges lay opportunity.

I think of times like these in running in a track meet. It’s raining, the wind is blowing and making me, no wait, EVERYONE feel like it’s a bad day for a race. Don’t let the “weather” determine how you will run. Only you can do that.


Howard Larson
Larson & Associates
Target Marketing & Telesales Professionals for new account acquisition
Making good businesses great and great businesses even better
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*Source: Customer Relationship Management Association