The Power of Touch

Many organizations have decided to only allow the sales people to use the CRM.  This is often a decision based on cost.

"We can't afford to pay for licenses for everyone in the organization!" is usually the argument.

What if you took a different approach?  What if you looked at the cost of lost data and sales opportunities because you weren't documenting every time someone touched a customer?

We now live in a world in which customer behavior translates into data that can be used to uncover trends and indicators that could lead to more sales or more efficient sales activities.

• Joe calls in to Customer Service to order that next day item, leading to a sales conversation about examining his supply chain and why he was out of stock for that project.
• A conversation with Mary about her late invoices leads Mark to de-prioritizing that sales meeting, now that he knows there are cash flow issues and they won't be able to decide on his proposal.
• That third service call related to that large piece of equipment indicates that Steve may be more open and willing to upgrade to another model

When you allow the CRM to give you critical mass intelligence on your customers from every angle, that's when the magic happens.

You increase sales with your customers because you are constantly putting together a narrative about them.

Every time someone in your organization touches a customer, this is an opportunity.  Don't let the relatively small price of a license cost you business down the road.