Category: CRM use and adoption

App design learnings: how simple should simple be?

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App design learnings from our experience

We are designing for truck drivers. Plumbers. Electricians. Mechanics. In addition to office workers, home-makers.

In fact we have no idea who could be the next user for Simply C2.

For those who do not know, Simply C2, earlier called Grahak Setu, is an app for customers to log complaints directly with manufacturers.

Our CRM users are sophisticated business users. Designing for them did not prepare us for designing for “unsophisticated”- yes, the quotes are deliberate- users.

Here are a few of our app design learnings.

Simple is beautiful

App Design Learnings - Simply C2
Make it simple to do his primary task

The number one on the app design learnings list.

Simple is minimal. Minimal is what you need.

Our target users are busy. They do not have the luxury of waiting to figure it out. Also, they come to the app to do one simple thing.

Make that task stare at them.

B2B is hard to design for

The same app can be used by multiple users at different levels. While the boss may want aggregation and reports, the traveling salesman/ service technician may just want to see tasks for the day.

What we worry about every day. Saleswah CRM tests our ingenuity every day.

App design learnings: how simple should simple be? 1
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The solution is not to show the charts to the technicians or even the entire ticket closure workflow to the managing director sitting in the office. We must be able to present relevant and role-specific views and workflows to the users.

Doing that in the same mobile app, in the same UI and ensuring great UX is hard. Very hard.

Core set of target users with core set of functionality

Every app has a target persona. How you choose to define the target persona while designing the app and the workflows, will influence the usage and adoption.

We need a lot of users. But, first it needs to be useful to a core set of users and they need to find it useful. Really useful. And helpful.

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Simplicity is the essence of design

Some of the users will say good things about your app. And, maybe start a virtuous cycle.

Doing this in B2B apps is hard.

Because the boss decides. But he does not use.

Sometimes words speak louder than pictures

Sometimes as designers we get carried away. With icons, pictures, mnemonics. And we forget that we are part of an echo-chamber of app developers and software nerds.

App Design Learnings - Words Speak louder
Simple words like “Help” rather than big ones like “Complaint”

So, if that floppy disk sign for “save” does not make sense to your target audience, please use the word “Save” instead. Sometimes what you lose in “aesthetics” can be more than made up in comprehensibility.

Localize, localize, localize

Start with translating the menu and the instructions. If your app is targeting a diverse geography and demography not very fluent in English, you have to do this. The best example in the Indian ecosystem of this is KhataBook. They have used localization as part of their design strategy- from day one.

App design learnings localize

Clearly one of the most important app design learnings.

Saleswah CRM is in 4 languages. Simply C2 is in 2. But, we are expanding our repertoire.

Sometimes, customization is the only way

This is especially true in B2B. Because in B2B segment, each customer will have a different customer facing process.

Sometimes they are able to let their customer facing process work with Simply C2. It depends on their perception of the ease of adoption of their target customers.

But, many times they are not. We have no choice then to re-build the Simply C2 process around UI/ UX that speaks to their clients.

Like we built for Initiative Water, a pioneering company based in Pune, India. Initiative innovates in the space of Multi-port valves, Water ATMs and Dosing Pumps and uses Saleswah CRM to manage their customer service centres across India. Their version of the customer facing app, the Initiative Grahak Setu is custom made for their customers alone.

They use the data they log from the customer interactions to tweak and expand their service network.

Infallible guide to decide between configured CRM and customized CRM

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Configured CRM, Customized CRM or custom-built?

Forgive this play on words. Do you want to have a customized CRM; build on your CRM- add features: views, workflows or reports? Or do you want to build the CRM ground up, custom-built for you?

Technically the first option can start from configuration – where you make changes to the CRM UI, add or remove some data capture options to where you make significant changes requiring efforts, involving coding.

I guess we all know the custom-built option- building something ground up- is very expensive. Just to share the perspective on why that is the case, here’s a simple schematic. This can apply to any enterprise software deployment in your company.

configured or customized

 

 

Continue reading “Infallible guide to decide between configured CRM and customized CRM”

Saleswah CRM customization

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The evolving face of Saleswah CRM customization

We allow our customers (Who is Saleswah for? ) to login and use the software for free for a fortnight. So, it is not often understood that what you see is just one “flavour”. Something that showcases some of the best features of the software but hides perhaps just as many.

Does that mean that you get a “hobbled” product? No. All it means is, if there is something you need and don’t see it upfront on the product on the web- the one you registered and logged in to- ask. Pick up the phone or drop us a mail.

You will be surprised. Saleswah CRM customization can create a product that is surprisingly close to your needs.

Saleswah CRM customization 5
As a user you define what features you need and what you don’t

We have customized Dashboards, added large work-flows, hidden large parts of the software away. And done it in less time and with less effort than we ourselves thought it would take.

All this while keeping the core product intact. Yes, sometimes it does result into “stress-testing” the software but we are happy to report Saleswah has so far stood up to the stress well.

The other work we have done on Saleswah has been in creating totally custom mobile app UI- to handle totally different work.

CRM customization on mobile app UI

Mobile app sales dashboard
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Some of the customization work ends up being not so custom- after all. They become mainstream. For instance the work we did in creating a calendar at a client request has now ended up in the main product.

The next step to CRM customization

When we think CRM configuration or CRM customization, we think adding features. We thought different. We decided to give you the option to start small.

CRM customization

Across both our sales and service CRM platforms, we have now made it possible for the customer account admin to select the menus that she wants and hide the others. Of course she can add them back whenever she wants.

Take an example. Let’s say you are going to use the sales CRM and you want to ease into implementation by doing some basic stuff first. So, you DISABLE advanced features like quotes, proposals and marketing campaigns but retain features like account, contacts, deals, tasks etc.

Why are we doing this? Because, we found in our experience, the customer teams that started small, had a much smoother implementation curve. The new CRM customization flow is live for all registered users, new or existing. If you have yet to see Saleswah CRM in action, the time to do it is now. Register for a trial account to test drive Saleswah CRM, today.

How to avoid 5 common CRM implementation mistakes

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Common CRM implementation mistakes that lower adoption rate

CRM applications have a low adoption rate; and that is a global fact. I will share the common CRM implementation mistakes that dog most; from my days using large CRM applications in a marketing and then in a sales management role.

Frontline sales people hate CRMs- actually, they hate any system which forces them to log, record their activities and pins them to a number. It is also a fact that without the sales team adoption of the CRM, it will fall flat. What can you do, to make it better for your team?

So, here are the 5 CRM implementation mistakes to avoid

1. Sales people do not like adding to their work by recording their activities, meeting notes etc. To elaborate, they do not like to record that today they called A, B and C; sent quotes to B, E and G; mailed product brochures to F,K,M and given product demos to P,Q,R.

Among all CRM implementation mistakes, this is the most common, yet most overlooked.

They expect their sales numbers to speak for them at the end of the month/ quarter/ year. But, for the manager, who wants to establish a link between activity and result, this is a nightmare.

How are you doing it today? Let’s face it- you need this; one of the reasons you want to select a CRM system. But, will your sales team play ball? By agreeing to painstakingly record each activity of the day?

The mistake you must avoid is expect 100% compliance and adherence to all processes, right from the first day. Prioritize the critical activities. Ease into it.

2. Sales people absolutely hate updating customer contact details. 
Among all CRM implementation mistakes, sometimes this is the biggest hurdle.

See it from the sales guys’ point of view. They have their mobile phone – which stores the contacts’ mobile numbers. And, they probably have the email addresses in the office email system (Outlook??). And, now- you want them to separately feed the CRM system?
Your marketing team can’t do without this information, however. Updated contact details are a must if they want to create leads and deals. How else will they send newsletters? Where else will they send invitations to seminars? And, without proper profile information (not knowing the level- designation/ department, not knowing the past contact history, not knowing their industry segment – how will their message be relevant and elicit a response?

Avoid this by having an easy connect to G-Suite or Office 365. So that information entered once, can be leveraged.

3. Too many problems- let’s solve them all.
This is what the expectation is. From having no software today, the expectation is to leapfrog into a “solve everything” software which will do contact management, marketing management, sales management, order administration including factory linkages and inventory too. Oh, by the way, can you link to my accounting software too. please?
Our advice? Desist. Resist the temptation for a cure-all. Why? Because, the most important part of the software is adoption- and any adoption will go well, if done slowly and at a comfortable pace.

avoid CRM implementation mistakes by doing one step at a time

CRM implementation is never a ready to move in house. Build it brick by brick- the software may be ready- but, your team needs to give it time and let it grow.

Pace your implementation- in fact, even hide everything other than the most critical things from the menu, if possible. You can add them back when your team has “warmed up”; perhaps a month later. Less is truly more, when it comes to enterprise software adoption. Trust us.

4. Flexibility equals ease of use
No, it does not. In fact, we even say, ignorance is bliss! Don’t ever make this CRM implementation mistake
If you do not have a formal CRM system/ software, yet; then it is best that you stay as uncomplicated as possible when you first start.

Where is the highest impact likely to be? It is in the sales area. So, stay with a CRM that does a good job with automating the tasks your sales people do on a daily basis- like mailing literature, sending quotes or sales proposals and scheduling tasks/ activities. Keep it simple; do not, repeat do not ask for customizable workflows and screens and so on.

5. My existing process, my letter head, my way of making a proposal, order ack- I want a custom CRM software that does what I already do

Not all your processes, activities and documents need be logged and used by the CRM software. When in doubt, plump for simplicity and ease of use. The role of the CRM software is to ensure that your salesmen spend time selling rather than sitting in front of it filling up information.

To sum it all,

go for simplicity and ease of use. Ensure that all the essential sales activities are done on the platform itself to save time from being wasted in separately logging them. Make the task of customer profiling simple even minimal. Ensure simplicity and believe it or not, flexibility and customizability is NOT what you really need if you are a first time CRM user.

We are flexible, customizable, configurable but, when you get started with us, we would rather you used as few of the “power features” as possible.

For how Saleswah can help, please check out How Saleswah Works and Why Saleswah.

What other CRM implementation mistakes have you seen?

Saleswah CRM powerful user management features

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There is a lot the Saleswah user account admin can do

Change user password

We now made it possible for the Saleswah user account admin to change the password for any user.

To do this, goto your admin area, and click on Users and Licenses.

Goto the user list.

Yes, it is that simple! Your users will be sent the new password by email.

Deactivate user

The admin can select any user in the above user list and click- deactivate user.

The user will lose access to the CRM immediately. And, the Saleswah user license he had would not become available to be assigned to any other user without a license.

Remember, deactivating the user does not affect the data. All accounts, contacts, deals which were looked after by the user, would continue to be shown under him. Other active users, who had earlier access to his data, would continue to do so. In fact, he would continue to show up in the user hierarchy in all the lists- Contact, Account, Deals, Tasks etc.

As a matter of fact, this helps when a sales executive leaves and a new one is going to join in his place. So, you can transfer “the territory” from old to new with minimal disruption.

Re-assign territory- from old executive to new

  1. Go to the Accounts List.
  2. Use the user hierarchy filter to drill down to the old user who is still showing up. So, now you have only the accounts which are assigned to the old user on screen.
  3. Select the accounts- in bulk and click on Assign accounts- follow instructions to assign to the new user.

Remove user from hierarchy

Once you have re-assigned all accounts from this user to another, then you can remove the user from the hierarchy totally. To do that, go to the Users and License section again. Select the user to remove from the hierarchy and click on Remove from Hierarchy.

 

 

Guide to drive successful CRM adoptions

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Why CRM implementations fail

The reasons why there are so few truly successful CRM implementations vary from industry to industry and even one country to another.

I can give you my reasons based on my observations over the last decade. The reasons are in 3 broad groups:

  1. No clarity on existing process:
  2. Lack of clarity on expectations.
  3. Commitment should start from the top- but it does not.

Much before the search for a CRM- either for the first time or to replace an existing system, there must a serious effort to document existing processes. If they need to  fit a software – understand what is critical and what is not.

A CRM like Saleswah is a fairly large piece of software with multiple features. Rare is the customer who uses all the features and that is okay. What the successful implementer does is understand how his must have processes will work in the CRM.

Process clarity and expectation setting

Process documentation even if not very formal, is must. Have the internal clarity before you speak to the vendor.

A shortcut that often works, is to ask (as a customer)

  • what reports do I need to run and grow my business?
  • what data do I need to capture to get those reports?
  • how can I make the job easier for my people (who will get me the data)?

Reports and required data: these are self explanatory. Ask these questions and you will be surprised how easy the process for looking for a CRM and getting it to work for you will become.

Leading by example

Now for the boss- the one that needs to drive the implementation.

For the user adoption and implementation to work, the boss needs to use the CRM.

Sounds trivial. But it isn’t. Bosses are busy and they simply are unable to fit the CRM usage into their schedule.

So, here’s what we suggest. If you are the boss and you want the CRM implementation to go smoothly, get your reports ONLY from the CRM. Let it be known to your entire team that they do not need to send you reports separately. You will get your reports from the same source- the CRM.

Tell them you won’t read their forecast reports or funnel health or win-loss reports offline or sent on mail. You will only read it in the CRM.

Have you encountered other issues why CRM implementation/ adoption stalled in your company? What did you do to solve them?