I would be a rich person if I was paid a dollar each time a salesperson told me they don’t enter most information into their CRM system because they have a good memory and can remember.
You must use your CRM system to its full potential or you are robbing yourself and your company of more success.
Salespeople say they can remember info for one simple reason — they’re lazy and don’t want to go through the work of recording the information.
Yes, we all would like to think we have a good memory and how as a professional we are smart enough to know what to remember.
I’m sorry but it’s a giant excuse for trying to get out of work we know we should all be doing.
There is no way even the best salesperson is going to be able to remember everything unless the salesperson isn’t working. Recording information is essential. It’s as essential as taking a shower or eating.
When we try and merely remember everything, we run the risk of losing pieces of crucial information. Sure, we’ll be able to remember the big stuff, but many times the ability to close a sale rests on our ability to take a small key piece of information and leverage it.
Recording information in your CRM system must be part of your regular routine.
Don’t try and just remember the important stuff. I have a hard enough time just remembering people’s names and titles. With that being the case, there is no way I’m going to remember all of the details of a meeting.
Make a commitment to yourself to quit trying to merely remember. Make a commitment to use the tools you have, and that includes your CRM system.
When you make the commitment to use it, also designate a time to do it. This means either at the end of each sales call or at the end of each day.
Make this a healthy habit and you will see the effort pay off in your number of sales and overall success.
Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
4 Responses
The brain is not made to remember details, so be careful because you can lose important information. As my grandfather likes to say “works double lazy”.
Great article! I’ll share this with some people I know.
You hit the nail on the head with this one, Mark. In fact, we recently recorded a video about salespeople being intimidated by CRMs, instead of using them to their benefit. When used properly, the motivated and good salesperson will increase sales, guaranteed!
It’s all true. It also helps relieve from everday stress (too much informations and preoccupation in your head).
I have been a “professional salesman” for over 35 years and I HATE CRM’s. I am not lazy. I am not making excuses. I have a system that is more elaborate then any CRM I have worked with and it is user friendly. I can tell you what I did, in every job over the last 35 years. Let’s make CRM systems more user friendly and here are some examples. Voice activation- so that I can talk to it while driving from appointment to appointment. Spell check- I can sell almost anything but spelling is not my best skill. Data entry and closing skills are not very compatible. If you find both in one person they may not be good at either one. CRM allows you to look like you are doing your job when you may not be. I understand that companies need to control their intelllectual property and to know what i am doing with the time they are paying me for but there has to be a better way. Perhaps working with real sales professionals when crafting these systems would be a big help.