How To Efficiently Manage Action Items in Your CRM

 

Dreading your list of overdue tasks in Salesforce?

If you are like most executives, you dread logging into your CRM because it will present you with an overwhelming list of overdue tasks.   Despite your best intentions, there are days when key clients or prospects need attention and you quickly fall behind in managing your tasks.

CRM is a powerful tool and if setup correctly, can help you manage your action items list effectively.

However, we see several challenges with the current ‘best practice’ recommended by the typical CRM structure.   While there are some benefits to the practice of setting future tasks, they are outweighed by:

• The lack of data to re-prioritize these tasks
• The difficulty in re-scheduling these tasks
• The sense of defeat that overwhelms you when you see a list of overdue tasks

There is a better way

Based on over 100,000 hours of supporting executives, Prialto has discovered that there is a more effective solution to managing action items in your CRM.   The method we suggest is:

• Turn off the ability to schedule future tasks
• Instead create a date field in the contact record entitled “Next Action”

We do not suggest you stop tracking completed tasks but, as you will read below, there are some subtle benefits to tracking future action items in the contacts module.

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Tags: best practices, CRM Action Items, CRM Adoption, CRM Managment, CRM Optimization, offloading recurring tasks, Salesforce, time management

Six tactics for building stronger business relationships

 

Developing a system is easier than you think

Prialto manages the relationships for numerous executives and has the unique opportunity to observe them at work.  Surprisingly, when they initially engage with us, many executives confess the nagging feeling that they often drop the ball on developing and maintaining relationships..

Below are proven tactics we’ve observed for relationship building. They are simple and don’t require you to push beyond your comfort zone.

 

1) Get a system

Many executives fail to rationalize to a single system to manage their contacts.  They rely on a combination of Outlook, Google, or a spreadsheet. These systems lack a way to retain key data and the failure to centralize makes any data that is compiled hard to retrieve.

We are big believers in social CRM, and we use Salesforce as the engine around which we manage all else. You need not equivocate long on which tool. The key is how it is used. We like Salesforce, but we slim it way down and eliminate many distracting fields. The key is simplicity. Complexity is the enemy of adaptation, and without adaptation you have an unused tool instead of a powerful solution.

 

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Tags: building relationships, CRM Adoption, Salesforce, Social CRM

How to get your team to adopt CRM

 

Your Sales Reps are using systems, just not yours

Prialto has a lot of experience working with busy executives, well over 100,000 hours worth.  Although each client is unique, we’ve discovered some very interesting trends. One of the most notable is that the best sales reps are the ones least likely to rely on their company’s CRM. This is a surprising result and bears further analysis.

Before Prialto brings on a new account, we conduct a Needs Analysis, which looks at each executive’s practices, pain points, and preferences.   We recently surveyed 100 sales professionals from four large companies on the primary tools they use to manage sales contacts. The results (see chart below) were shocking.   Just over  1/2 of the sales reps saw CRM as their primary method for managing contacts:

 

 

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Tags: contact management, CRM Adoption, CRM Optimization, Offload Admin Burdens, Salesforce

How to have your assistant schedule for you

 

Scheduling manually is inefficient

Most senior executives don’t stop to think about the time they spend on scheduling.   However, when we analyze their processes, most new Prialto members spend a great deal of time on meeting “ping-pong”, the back-and-forth email exchange to agree on a time and place to meet.   Your Prialto PA can help you offload this burden and provide a better experience for your clients and prospects.

Offloading scheduling isn’t a big a step as you think

Prialto guides many executives as they begin to work with their new assistant for the first time.   While some executives are intimidated by the concept of giving up their calendar, there is nothing to be afraid of.   Below are a few simple tips to get you on your way to successfully offloading scheduling:

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Tags: calendar management, email management, offloading recurring tasks, Productivity Assistant

The Secret to Growing your Business: Power Scheduling

 

Scheduling need not be stuck in the dark ages

The art of scheduling has changed considerably since the dawn of the computer.  Most executives still rely on Outlook or Google to manage their calendar and contacts.

With over 100,000 hours of service supporting executives, Prialto has observed three key scheduling mistakes:

• Treating everyone the same: Why should you provide a casual acquaintance the same access to your calendar as a vital client?
• Focusing on in-bound meetings: Do you primarily schedule with people that ask for your time or are you pro-active in getting meetings crucial to growing your business?
• Doing it yourself: Why are you dealing with the back-and-forth Ping-Pong?

If the questions above resonate with you, remember, the tools you are using aren’t broken, just the way you are using them.  By integrating CRM and a remote assistant team into your process, you can quickly address these mistakes and maximize every moment on your calendar.

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Tags: CRM Optimization, Productivity Assistant, scheduling management