Without a doubt, customer relationship management (CRM) implementation is crucial for B2B companies. Nearly 75% of companies implementing CRM say this tool improves access to customer data. Additionally, 60% of companies have improved their productivity after investing in CRM solutions.
However, there is a major difference between implementing and adopting CRM. Most B2B companies simply implement Sales CRM but fail to adopt it into their internal processes. Be it for any customer interaction, real-time data is crucial for effective CRM adoption. Accurate and real-time data is the “cornerstone” for improving sales performance in any B2B sector.
To maximize your leverage from Sales CRM, you need to map your B2B sales processes to CRM systems instead of simply recording data. When implemented properly, CRM tools like Salesforce can elevate B2B sales.
Let’s look at some real-life scenarios where a CRM solution can help B2B companies achieve their sales objectives.
How B2B Companies Can Leverage from Sales CRM Investment
Around 40% of companies failed to achieve their sales goals in 2021. This is primarily due to growing complications in their sales process every year.
Here are five ways in which B2B companies can maximize the benefits from their CRM investment:
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Record Sales Team Interactions with Customers
Customer interactions are central to any successful sales process. 80% of customers are only likely to buy from brands that provide personalized services to them. Your sales team can interact with customers across different channels (for example, face-to-face, via phone, or through WhatsApp messaging).
The challenge is that most CRM tools are unable to capture every customer interaction. As a result, most interactions are not recorded in the CRM system. To optimize the B2B sales process, CRM tools must record and store all customer interactions in a centralized system. This will improve the customer experience and help companies acquire and retain customers in the B2B space.
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Improve Visibility into Sales Funnels
In the B2B sector, sales teams cannot rely simply on lead generation. They need to focus on creating high-quality sales leads who can help them achieve their sales objectives. The most important step in B2B sales leads generation is to collect and record all information about potential buyers.
This means that B2B organizations need to streamline their sales lead generation process to create high-quality leads. As part of this process, sales professionals must feed lead-related information into the Sales CRM system. However, most of them fail to perform this task and directly book their closed deal in their ERP or CRM tool.
With the right CRM tools, B2B companies can automate the sales lead generation process, thus improving overall visibility into the sales funnel.
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Fulfill Multiple Product Requirements
On average, B2B sales cycles are longer than B2C. In the B2B environment, business needs are more complex and multifaceted than in the case of individual customers. Further, B2B companies have multiple requirements at every touchpoint, thus making it challenging for them to know what they should purchase.
Too often, B2B customers enquire about multiple products with your sales team. However, the final customer order is placed for fewer products. Through informal sales channels, B2B organizations end up missing out on additional customer requirements.
An efficient CRM system must record all your customer’s product inquiries for future reference. As such, sales teams can address and fulfill every “missed” product inquiry going forward.
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Retain Customer Data
By using a data-driven sales strategy, sales professionals collect a lot of customer data by interacting through meetings, emails, and phone calls. Despite that, only 46% of sales professionals develop sufficient insights about the customer’s buying intent. The sales team needs to develop and store the customer profile (with their most significant characteristics).
Most B2B sales professionals fail to record and store relevant customer data in their CRM systems. Thus, organizations fail to leverage customer data (especially once the concerned sales professional has left the company).
With a Salesforce-based CRM solution, B2B companies can automatically store customer data (based on sales interactions).
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Map the Sales Process to B2B Funnel
Typically, any B2B sales funnel comprises the following steps:
- Lead generation
- Lead qualification
- Sales consultation
- Sales quotation
- Deal negotiation
- Sale agreement
The B2B CRM system must map to every stage of the sales process. Through efficient mapping, organizations can divide the Sales CRM process into distinctive phases for effective tracking. Hence, B2B companies can address customer needs at every stage of the sales funnel, thus improving the probability of a successful sales deal.
With an effective CRM system, sales professionals can nurture their leads based on their stage position in the sales funnel. Additionally, organizations can monitor the outcome of their B2B marketing initiatives and determine the source of their best sales leads.
Conclusion
The B2B environment is much different from the B2C environment. This necessitates why B2B companies must have a different approach to adopting Sales CRM systems. For the best sales results, B2B CRM systems must act as a “single source of truth” for every customer and sales lead. Every CRM solution must map out every customer need and maintain a complete history of customer interactions.
As a Salesforce partner, Sapours has enabled our B2B customers to use the Salesforce CRM tool to close sales deals faster and boost sales productivity. We can help you build a seamless and efficient sales experience in your organization. Here is how you can turbocharge your sales organization using our AI and Salesforce solutions.
Connect with us to learn more about our Salesforce CRM solutions.