3 Steps to a successful CRM (using AI)

Why have CRM systems underwhelmed? It’s not due to poor software design, but rather poor implementation. If we’re honest with ourselves, it’s the way we fickle humans use CRMs. If we’re counting on more reliable humans to deliver more successful CRM results, we’re likely to be disappointed.

Why is highly successful CRM performance such a rarity? It’s because three steps—yes, ALL three—must occur. Imagine one of your salespeople visits an important account:

• Step 1: PROBING: Your salesperson must ask the right questions to understand what’s important in the customer’s brain… so it becomes part of their
• Step 2: DATA ENTRY: Your salesperson must take the time to record in your CRM the insights they gained.
• Step 3: DATA MINING: You must convert troves of CRM information into actionable market foresight.

Before we get to the bad news—which you knew was coming, right?—here’s some good news: Every CRM software producer is adding immense AI power to their systems. This means you don’t need to worry much about Step 3. But this does raise the stakes: If competitors master Steps 1 and 2 first, they’ll be driving with their high beams on while you’re using fog lights.

If competitors master Steps 1 and 2 first, they’ll be driving with their high beams on while you’re using fog lights.

In this article, we’ll look at how AI helps with all 3 steps. Specifically, we’ll use our very own SalesPrep^TM software as an example for building a successful CRM. Why? Besides the obvious reason (shameless marketing), SalesPrep software is unique in that it helps ALL three steps.

Step 1: Probing

Before we talk about effective B2B customer probing, let’s discuss its precedent: strong preparation. According to Forester research, 75% of executive buyers say salespeople don’t understand their business or the issues they face. If you’re unprepared, it will “show” and you won’t get the opportunity for a deep customer conversation, regardless of your probing skills.

How can AI help? You enter just three things into SalesPrep software—your customer’s name, your product, and how customers use it—to generate an extensive report.

In just 60 seconds, you’ll see 1) the latest company news, 2) 15-20 industry trends, 3) 15-20 common problems, 4) 15-20 process steps, and 5) an overview of this company, all “tuned” to your product and this customer’s application. You can even download detailed briefs on each of these trends, problems, & steps, as well as job descriptions of key stakeholders, and suggested questions to ask.

Great, you’re prepared… but how does AI help you ask better probing questions? The SalesPrep system includes e-learning on The AIM Institute’s tried-and-true What-Why-Clarify probing method. You can now practice this probing method with Claire, your AI Guide.

You start a conversation with an AI customer about your product and your customer’s application. After you ask the AI customer each question, Claire gives you advice for asking better questions. (This is very cool: Try it out at www.SalesPrep.com using the free 30-day trial.)

Get this preparation and probing right, and you’ll have valuable customer insights entering your salespeople’s brains… the first step to a successful CRM.

Step 2: Data Entry

OK, let’s just say what you’re probably thinking: The main reason you don’t have a successful CRM is that you can’t get your salespeople to consistently enter customer insights. And really, should this be a big surprise?’

• Your salespeople are busy, constantly reacting to their customers and the home office. They know more customer face time equals more sales, but more writing time? Not so sure about that.
• Your salespeople are often amazing at building customer relationships. But do they count English composition, grammar, and spelling among their academic super-powers? Most do not.

Do your salespeople count English composition, grammar, and spelling among their academic super-powers?

AI can help with any of their customer meetings, virtual or in-person. It’s easiest with a Zoom or Teams call, since there are many AI programs that summarize these conversations when recorded.

But what about in-person visits? Even in this digitized world, many customers are…

• Uncomfortable when you type as they speak, or record what they’re saying.
• Impressed when they see you diligently taking hand-written notes.

So let me introduce Paige, the AI ghostwriter… also part of the SalesPrep system. Imagine your customer meeting is over and you’re in the back of an Uber headed back to the airport. You pull out your phone and let Paige interview you about your meeting, as your review your hand-written notes.

This voice interview typically takes 5-10 minutes and generates 1) a 2-page internal call report, and 2) a follow-up “recap” you can email the customer. And the call report can be “mapped” so key sections (such as “opportunities”) are delivered to the right section of your CRM.

Why do professional salespeople love this? Sure, it’s a big time-saver, but that’s not all. A good customer meeting is mentally draining, and it takes considerable “activation energy” after a customer visit to draft a call report from whole cloth. It’s much easier to answer a few questions from Paige.

It takes considerable “activation energy” after a customer visit to draft a call report from whole cloth.

If you get Step 1 (Probing) and Step 2 (Data Entry) right, you’re well on your way to a much more successful CRM. But wait… there’s more.

Step 3: Data Mining

Back in 2015, a good friend at Corning (Fran Behan) challenged me with this: “Why are you letting your Blueprinting clients decide when to innovate, instead of their customers?” He was right, of course, and together we introduced the concept of Market Scouting in our white paper, Timing is Everything.

Here’s how it might work if you produced glass for phone displays and were considering if you should improve crack resistance:

• When phone displays were tiny, your phone-producing customers didn’t care about crack resistance.
• As phone displays got larger, crack resistance became a problem… until it was eventually solved (in this case by Corning’s Gorilla^® Glass).
• You could work on crack resistance too early or too late. But you should work on it as customers anticipate the problem.
• The best way to build an early-warning system is to turn your sales force into a “learning force.”

After 10 years of hoping salespeople would make consistent CRM entries for this market scouting, I now believe it will happen. I just never realized AI would be needed.

If you pursue market scouting before your competitors, you’ll have a huge advantage. You’ll hear weak market signals (on customers’ rising needs) long before competitors hear the loud signals everyone hears. That’s how you create a successful CRM that drives your organic growth!

 

Next steps…

The problem with AI isn’t finding what it can do for you. It’s sifting through so much it can do and choosing the best over the rest. I encourage you to choose effectiveness over efficiency in critical cases such as successful CRM performance.

• Efficiency lets you do what you’re already doing faster.
• Effectiveness lets you do better what you’re doing poorly or not at all.

AI efficiency improvements such as sales route management and calendaring are certainly helpful. But for successful CRM systems, pursue AI effectiveness first, so that…

• Your well-prepared salespeople engage and impress their customers.
• Your salespeople get to the heart of customers’ needs through strong probing.
• You enjoy a successful CRM based on a flood of high-quality data entry.

I’ve seen many new technologies in my career. (I guess that’s because I started my engineering classes using a slide rule.) But I’ve never seen a technology hit as fast and impactfully as AI. If you’d like to explore this new world together, contact us.