Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do in CRM today

You’ve probably noticed: when there is a long job or a difficult path to the goal, heavy procrastination sets in. The fear of starting to write text, code, take care of your health, undergo training … The result is simple and insanely offensive: time passes, but nothing changes, you have not done anything to somehow make your life easier. At some point, it becomes insulting for lost time. Since business is not an independent “organism”, but the same people, its crises are similar. Only procrastination and procrastination in the business sphere are similar to death: competitors are already here, customers are demanding perfect service, and you also need to create a financial reserve in case of another global or local covidla. Instead of postponing decisions until better times, it is better to get together and take the first steps towards a better life right now. Then you will be ahead: everyone will just start to come to their senses, and you will already have goals, and streamlined business processes, and pumped up employees. This is a great time for successful maneuvers, the main thing is to get started.

We are introducing our RegionSoft CRM Many years and experience shows that implementation even in a small business is a serious block of work, which clearly does not fit into a week, a month, and sometimes a much longer period. By the way, if you are promised implementation in a day, an hour or 15 minutes, walk by, because these guys do not understand what implementation is. So, implementation takes up resources: employees spend part of their time on training, an IT specialist or a leading manager is busy with requirements, settings, data verification, etc., all this takes time. And it turns out a very strange thing: CRM seems to exist, but it does not exist at all. Thus, the payback period of the project increases and expectations are significantly reduced. Moreover, while the implementation is in progress, and then the buildup, employees can start boycotting the CRM system. And really, why do we need a tool that we bought six months ago, but it still hasn’t done anything?

This is one of the big problems in the implementation of absolutely all CRM and other business automation systems. And she has an elegant and simple solution: to start working immediately, without waiting for the vendor to finalize some ultra-specific function or the last barricades of resistance to training fall in the person of the warehouse manager Serafima Ivanovna.

Modern CRM systems are installed on managers’ workstations very quickly (both in the cloud and in the desktop), respectively, the interface and all system functions are available almost immediately. It is necessary to conduct training in parallel, implement reports, templates, fine-tune and work.

What can you do in a CRM system right away?


Get clients – there is nothing difficult to add customer cards with data. If automatic data migration is not possible, managers can start filling the client base with their hands, which will only acquaint them with the system better; if possible (most often there is a way to do it) – strictly establish that information about new customers and deals is immediately entered into CRM, old ways are forgotten once and for all.

Set up a sales funnel. Company managers know exactly what types of sales are used and what roughly looks like a funnel in their area of ​​responsibility. This means that you need to quickly design the main forms of this report for your company, agree and enter into CRM.

Maintain calendars and planners. Even if you have the most distant plans to start work in your CRM and you want to launch it in full operational condition with tuning and bells and whistles, teach your employees to use calendars and schedulers. These are excellent, convenient tools for planning and coordinating the work of the entire team, monitoring the workload of employees and their discipline. If there is an event in the planner, with an almost 100% probability the manager will not forget about a meeting, a call, sending documents, or any other event for the client. Such punctuality of employees will immediately give you +100 to your business reputation.

Start filling the knowledge base. Most popular CRMs have something like a knowledge base, notepad, collaborative workspace, etc. For example, in our RegionSoft CRM these are structured folders with the ability to create knowledge base items in a built-in text editor. Employees can start filling the knowledge base with materials that already exist or assign responsibilities and write new instructions, regulations and rules. Firstly, it streamlines work within the company, and secondly, new employees will be able to access this database and start learning from the first minutes of working in the company, without distracting experienced colleagues on every small issue.

Communicate with customers through CRM: send and receive mail, make and record calls, etc. Mail and basic telephony in CRM systems are set up quickly (and in some, for example, in RegionSoft CRM they also work great in both directions – this is such an inelegant sarcasm), so there should be no problems at the start.

Very simple points, there are quite a few of them – from the point of view of the interface, any person who owns a computer can handle them. But the stratum of working with them from day one gives a powerful effect:

  • employees get to know the new working environment in a comfortable way and they will be less afraid of complex things such as business processes or working with loaded reports;
  • the habit of using CRM in work is formed;
  • the routine in operational work is immediately significantly reduced;
  • mistakes made in these points are absolutely not critical for the system and are not capable of seriously breaking something, so employees can enter CRM confidently and without fear;
  • employees-users have time to get used to the interface and peculiarities of working with this particular system.

These actions will “accustom” employees to the CRM system and further implementation will generally proceed more comfortably, and in some places faster. Well, clients will immediately notice the difference in the work of managers and will not take the money to competitors.

Place a pen and paper in front of each employee

Oddly enough, these are cool things to help automate a company. Ask employees to do a few things.

  1. Write down all the problems and questions that arise during the use of the CRM system. Even the most stupid, shameful, petty. Warn that absolutely everything is important.
  2. Describe, point by point, the main actions that are cyclically repeated in the work with an indication of all the employees involved (preparation of commercial proposal, promotions, work analysis, preparation of reports, launching billing, etc.).
  3. Write how you would really like to do the work and interact with the departments.

The first sheet will be useful to you during training and preparation of the knowledge base on the CRM system. But the rest will be needed to implement the coolest feature in CRM systems at the moment (not everyone has it, but we certainly have CRM at RegionSoft) – to design and automate workflow chains and business processes. This will make your company practically a conveyor belt for making money for great customer service, which even self-isolation, covid and the Great Depression cannot stop, because the process can direct actions and discipline both the office team and the remote one.

Talk about a CRM system

If you are a leader, top manager, head of department or early bird in a company where CRM is being implemented, take the implementation into your own hands. Let it be not some kind of business of installing new software on old PCs, but an event that you are talking about. This means that it is important and employees should pay special attention to it.

Several sets of internal interviews will make CRM acceptance easier. Take the time to meet with subordinates and colleagues and discuss everything that happens with the automation of the company.

  • Have a general meeting where you can talk about your motivation for implementing CRM, goals, objectives and expectations. Explain what attracts you to the chosen solution and what you expect from the combination of your employees and the CRM system.
  • Write everyone a letter or make a post on the corporate portal in which, in a friendly, non-clerical tone, tell us how the implementation will take place, who will be affected, what will it give. This is not a superfluous action, because some especially anxious employees will be able to refer to the letter or recording several times and not bother the rest with fears.
  • Gather 3-5 of the strongest employees, ready for implementation, discuss their tasks to support the implementation of CRM, make them evangelists and ambassadors of the CRM system among employees. By the way, you can pay a premium for this.
  • Gather 3-5 of the most alert, cowardly, aggressive employees and discuss their fears and questions, conduct an educational program.
  • If there is an outright rebellion against the CRM system, find the instigator and discuss with him all the embarrassing and frightening questions. Try to make the enemy, if not an ally in the implementation, then at least just an expert old-timer.

If a CRM system is implemented from above, silently, without explanation and confidential discussion, it will be accepted much worse, because employees may see it as a tool of control, supervision and punishment. This is not the case. Moreover, communication with employees (future users of CRM) will make the implementation more accurate and suitable for your business.

This article, in comparison with our usual treatises on CRM, seems simple and even quite obvious. I just want to ask: “What happens wrong?” Alas, it almost never happens. Everything that is stated here is the basis for a simple and high-quality CRM implementation. The CRM system that will be used, not the one that is easier to hate. Pay attention to these points – there is nothing more important than little things. And, as you know, the further into the forest, the more firewood.


We have a special offer “Autumn comes into its own” – you can buy RegionSoft CRM on very good terms:

  1. For those who buy immediately (100% prepayment) – a 15% discount from the price of the standard price list is provided.
  2. For those who buy in installments – an interest-free installment plan for 3 equal payments, 1 payment per month, subject to the total cost of licenses from 38,000 rubles.
  3. Subscription instead of purchase – a 30% discount is provided when paying for a 3-month subscription. The minimum subscription cost is 3400 rubles per month (excluding discounts).

And we also work great remotely: we install, implement, train, support. Call or leave a request – the online demo is free, detailed and interesting.

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