CRM – Nature or Nurture?

Always looking for the opportunity to grow.

Implementing a CRM across multiple sales teams can be challenging when it comes to gaining adoption. Sales reps often find reasons to criticize the CRM, claiming it's too complicated or time-consuming or that a notepad works just fine. However, some reps naturally embrace CRM and eagerly learn new features to stay on top of their prospects and deals. This raises the question: Is using a CRM a natural inclination, or does it require nurturing?

In our case, we use HubSpot. Our marketing team utilizes marketing tools to drive prospects to our website, educate them, and close deals in our online store. However, we face difficulties in getting adoption from our outside sales team. How can we convince sales reps that investing a little time upfront can free up more prospecting time?

To address this challenge, HubSpot recently added a "Last Active" matrix, which allows us to see when a sales rep was last active in HubSpot. We have seven outside reps with the same tenure, territory size, and opportunity. Among them, the top three reps were active in HubSpot within the past hour to a day, while the bottom three reps haven't been active for months. Interestingly, the top three reps generated twice as many sales as the bottom three reps.

Additionally, I examined our enterprise sales team, which supports the top customers of our outside sales reps through phone interactions. These reps also have their own customers. It was found that enterprise reps who use HubSpot to log calls and follow up on proposals earn three times the commissions compared to those who don't.

So, the question remains: Is it natural for reps to use a CRM, or does it require nurturing? I believe it's a combination of both. Numerous resources, such as books and blogs, provide guidance on increasing CRM adoption. However, the best approach is to hire reps who are process-driven or can demonstrate past success in utilizing a CRM during a directed interview.

It's important to note that I'm not suggesting that a CRM alone can double sales. The top three outside sales reps excel in various areas. However, it's worth considering how much of their success can be attributed to the CRM.