Develop a Strategy Before Launching Your CRM System

Establishing a successful CRM system requires more than just software. It requires a documented plan for how you intend to use it for engaging with prospects and customers. While the automation and features of a platform such as Zoho CRM are appealing, the strategic planning work must be handled before you begin customizing fields or importing data.

We created the following guide to outline the essential steps of developing a high-level CRM system strategy that aligns with your business goals.

Before building anything new, you can begin by evaluating your current processes— especially if you are using a basic platform such as HubSpot or just a series of spreadsheets. A thorough audit goes beyond data to analyze your actual process workflows.

• Analyze existing flows: Identify what you currently like about your system and what actually works for your team.
• Identify barriers: Determine the specific obstacles currently preventing sales success.
• Imagine improvements: Define the ideal "future state" of your customer management.
• Database Education: Understand that a CRM database is more complex than a spreadsheet; knowing how data relationships work makes strategic decisions much easier.

A CRM strategy is essentially a map of how a "stranger" becomes a "loyal fan".  If you do not already know the steps someone takes along this journey, then it is an ideal time to work with your team to document as many of those steps as possible. It will not be perfect and things will get missed, but taking this step is vital to deciding on key things needed such as automations. 

• Visualize the flow: Create a diagram that shows the movement from one stage to the next, identifying potential holes or failures in the process.
• Update the journey: Decide on strategic updates, such as automated welcome emails for new subscribers or integrated booking tools for faster prospect calls.
• Define Relationship Milestones: Identify the key "touchdowns" throughout the lifecycle. This includes tracking non-sales data, like birthdays or anniversaries, to keep conversations going.

The "R" in CRM stands for Relationship. This refers to the nurturing efforts taken throughout of the process and how you can be intentional with communications and the approach to each relationship. The best strategy in your CRM system aims to reduce mundane tasks so your team can focus on building connections.

• Ask Smart Questions: Your strategy should define what information is required to "win the business" and solve customer pain points.
• Listen and Watch: Develop a system for listening to what customers say and watching what they do to offer genuine value.
• Marketing Integration: Ensure the information gathered by sales becomes a powerful tool for the marketing team to offer high-value content.
• Design a Relational Database: Zoho CRM uses a Parent-Child relationship structure (like a corporate tree) to show how records relate to each other. How will your team leverage this powerful capability? 

Once the strategy for your CRM System is set, you can move into the technical implementation. This is best done in a phased approach rather than a quick and sudden launch. Moving too quickly may give your team a bit of a shock. 

• Customization: Throughout the first phases of this process, you may have discovered key data points important to gather. Now it is time to make final decisions on fields and layouts. Answer the question of what data is needed to track your defined customer journey.
• Priority Automations: Identify your "Top 5" workflows or automations that will allow the business run smoother immediately. This could be something simple such as internal task reminders or activity-based emails.
• Launch Plan: Prioritize onboarding and training your key sales and marketing members before rolling the system out to the entire team. Having the confidence of the "main team" before inviting more users in will help your CRM user adoption. 

Every company’s CRM strategy is unique, but it can be helpful to have outside guidance as you define the best approach. That is where a Zoho partner can come in handy. We have experience in sales and marketing as well as the best ways to leverage Zoho applications to match your requirements.  Take the time to ask a lot of questions before deciding who the ideal partner is for your business. 

We work alongside your business to define a custom approach. If you are looking for a hands-on approach to setting up your Zoho systems specifically, start by taking our Assessment and Requesting a Consultation.