Uncle Tony lived in the country and never traveled.  He had never even owned a car.

His grand children loved him and they brought him a brand new Ford Explorer. Tony would practice driving it around his field in lazy figure eights.

I went to visit Tony two years later and found the Ford in his barn looking absolutely brand new. I looked at the odometer and it read 137 miles. “Tony”, I asked, “why don’t you drive your car more?”

He replied “You know, it’s very nice, but I just don’t have much use for it.” I figured that his beginner driving skills might make him nervous and suggested I take him for a drive in his Explorer. To my surprise he said “Sure – let’s go.”

It was winter and chilly so I turned on the heater. “Oh man!” he exclaimed, that’s great, I always freeze my ass in this damn thing.” It was late afternoon and I turned on the headlights. “Wow! You mean you can drive it night too?”

Off down the road we went and when I shifted from 1st to 2nd gear, Tony shouted: “Holy smokes – how do you make it go so fast?”

Some companies use their CRM system like uncle Tony – just a computerized address book. While this is an improvement over paper based records, it delivers only a tiny fraction of the benefits possible. Some of the greatest payback opportunities a well employed CRM system can deliver include:

• Fishing an Empty Pond

A sales organization’s greatest resource is a steady flow of high quality leads. Your CRM can deliver targeted communications to groups of people who most need and want your products and services. Fill up the pond and sales grow fast.

• The Palest Ink is Better than the Strongest Memory

Successful sales organizations coordinate efforts to build relationships and win customers for life. Shared calendars and activity management tools make effective teamwork easier. By making who, what and when information visible to all team members, tasks get done more quickly and reliably.

• Champions – R – Us

The initial sale is just the beginning of a profitable customer relationship. Your CRM system can help improve customer service quality and turn first time buyers into loyal champions.

If you’ve already made the investment in CRM software, take the time and effort to find the heater, lights and 2nd gear.  The payback can be enormous.

Your comments always appreciated.

Best – Mike Johnson