Managing a business requires incredible attention to detail, an almost supernatural sense of progression and achievement, and reliable teams to help you get it all done. Handling all of these requirements may often feel like a burden, and some days it may also feel like it’s impossible. Growing a company is not a one-man show, and knowing how to delegate can not only help alleviate your own personal burdens, but it can also translate into a better business model with the right teamwork, collaboration, and efficiency.
Implementing a management system that allows you to focus on your business strategy without missing any of the required steps to make your business run efficiently not only means your brand stays technologically relevant, but your company will adapt all the processes in place easily and effectively.
Zoho CRM can help manage all of the above steps in addition to tons of other incredible features and integrations that are customizable depending on your company’s needs. While migrating to this system and way of operating might feel overwhelming, Zoho recognizes the undertaking, so there are quite a few ways to be prepared for the program’s launch.
Understanding and dealing with change can create apprehension, but if you follow these easy five steps during the implementation process, you can avoid tremendous amounts of animosity, frustration, or bumpy roads.
1. Determine the master goal of your company and your business
Every company and every industry is different. Your brand goals are probably drastically different from a company in a different industry. You may be focused on generating greater revenue (who isn’t?) or maybe your focus is increasing brand awareness. Do you want tp strengthen your non-profit arm? Do you want to rely heavily on your social media practices for broadening your reach?
Before you take the initial steps of implementing the program, it’s a great idea to develop a general mission for using Zoho CRM so that you can better understand how you want to the program to cater to your needs. If your wish list is long, that’s okay! The program has so many dimensions that there’s a service for practically every need. With tons of partnerships and system integrations available, your business can achieve any goal with the help of Zoho CRM. Building this blueprint will allow your consultant (should you choose to utilize one) to better customize your program for optimum results.
2. Research the tools that others are using
Chances are, your company is not the only one of its kind. Sure, you have points of differentiation that set you apart from your competition, but there are naturally some similar elements within your competitive set. With this, you can easily determine the strategies of theirs that work and don’t work. From this, it’s helpful to mold and personalize your business to fit your own model.
It’s helpful to look at the competitive landscape to better understand trends within your industry and to see how your like-minded competitive set behaves and reacts to these trends. Find out the tools and systems they’re using, partners they’re trusting, and third party vendors they may be using (if you can dive that deep). By doing this, you can understand how technologically connected and advanced they are, and from there, your model can follow suit as you see fit.
Additionally, if you work with partners, they’ll appreciate it if your company keeps up with advancements, and with the usage of Zoho CRM, they’ll take comfort in knowing that their business is handled optimally and in a trusted and professional manner. More often than not, your clients will prefer to have their business handled by a company that uses a management software.
3. Include all key stakeholders in conversations
The whole premise behind using a customized Zoho CRM model is to streamline processes and make your business model more efficient for all teams involved. For projects that must utilize multiple departments and stakeholders, it can be difficult to keep all responsible parties in-line and on schedule. Having a system that ties all of these people together for every project means that multiple employees will be operating the system at once. With this, it’s important to keep these people and every respective department in mind when you’re in the customization step of the process.
It’s best to first tie in the team leaders on the project, since they know both their team and their team’s roles and responsibilities the best. From here, it’s also a great idea to consider the usage points for each team member to gain a visualization of how they might benefit from using Zoho CRM. Gather feedback, compile reactions, and listen to concerns as you’re running the preliminary plan by everyone. This will avoid future surprises, and you’ll be able to predict and react to pain points more quickly.
4. Take advantage of a consultant’s expertise
While this step isn’t required, it’s still a great idea to take advantage of the expertise of a Zoho CRM consultant. This person will not only have a vast understanding of management software, but with enough detailed conversation, this expert will also have a deep understanding of what your business requires from the software. From there, he or she will be able to recommend specific products and implementations that cater to your brand’s requests, delivering the best possible product for your company’s growth.
5. Develop a process of measurement and improvement
To identify and highlight what’s working and what’s not, consider developing a system of monitoring and tracking your business’s growth to determine how the software has helped your company. If you’re not seeing the social growth you were hoping for, you can change your strategy. If you’re not getting as many leads as you were hoping for, you can alter your marketing strategy, all with the help of Zoho CRM. By monitoring and tracking these changes, you can continue to move forward with all the other beneficial elements that your customized Zoho CRM has to offer.
