Three sales processes you can speed up with a cloud CRM

According to Hubspot’s latest State of Inbound report, one of the biggest CRM challenges for executives is the fact that their sales team doesn’t bother to use it.

It’s a surprising problem for so many businesses to have, because cloud CRM actually makes your sales representatives’ jobs easier.

If you’re having trouble convincing your sales team of the merits of cloud CRM, remind them of how it works for them.

Here are three sales processes you can speed up with cloud CRM.

1. Networking

CRM has completely changed the way sales representatives network. For example, some CRM applications like Zoho or FullContact are equipped with a card reader that allows you to easily scan business cards. Contact information will be automatically uploaded to your CRM contacts. That’s a lot easier than carrying around a stack of business cards and trying to remember who they are, let alone whether or not they’re interested in your products.

Even if your cloud CRM doesn’t have a card reader, you can easily create and update contacts manually from a mobile phone no matter where you are. Cloud software is typically much easier to access on mobile than its on-premise equivalent - so simple habits like entering contact information the minute you receive a business card become much easier to adopt.

2. Follow up

Following up with prospects is a sales process that often goes on the wayside. Many businesses keep an informal ledger of which prospects need to be contacted, but those tasks get pushed aside on busy days.

But not with cloud CRM. CRM software keeps track of all your interactions with leads and customers - sometimes automated prompts . This makes it easier to keep track of who is who, and help them move down the sales funnel.

With the right cloud CRM, you can plan and schedule followups for every client, either on a one-off basis or recurring. The CRM will notify your sales reps each day which contacts they need to get in touch with. Having this information handy without searching for it means they have more time to close deals.

Select the right cloud CRM for your business using our step-by-step CRM selection survival guide

Where the cloud comes into its own in this case is its accessibility. Salespeople don’t have to be in the office to follow up - they can do so from any laptop or mobile device with a browser installed.

3. Data management

Less than half of salespeople use their CRM software to store their lead and customer data, according to HubSpot's report. Most use informal tools like Microsoft Excel or even physical files and folders. They probably don’t realize what they’re missing out on.

Spreadsheets are very limited compared to cloud CRM. CRM software allows you to easily store and access a wide variety of information on your follow ups all in one place. You can use this data to segment your prospects, and you don’t have to turn to 10 different spreadsheets to piece it all together.

Again, your staff don’t have to be in the office to access this data. There is also no risk of inconsistent records, as all information is uploaded onto centralized, easily-searchable databases that all users can access.

Outlook and Gmail integration in cloud CRM makes keeping records up-to-date even easier - with the right CRM, your salespeople can upload contacts from email with a click of a button

These are just a few of the many ways cloud CRM can improve your sales processes. Make sure your sales reps know how to increase job performance and make their work life easier with cloud CRM.