In many relationships, there finally comes a time to break up. You’ve tried to make it work because you’ve invested a lot in the relationship, but it’s just not working. Even though it’s hard and you can’t quite think of the future without the other party, you know it has to end. It’s not you, it’s them!
CRMs (client relationship mangers) are supposed to be your partner in success. But in the last few years, more and more communities and healthcare services companies are coming to the conclusion that their old CRM is no longer on their side.
It’s a painful reality – especially when it leaves you feeling lost for options. But I would suggest “the Right One” is out there for you (more on that later).
How do you know it’s time to break up? Here are three signs it’s time to break up with your old CRM:
1. It’s not doing anything for you.
You entered this relationship with the understanding that your CRM was going to contribute to your success. Unfortunately, old style CRMs are no more than electronic rolodexes. They only house your contact info and notes that you take the trouble of putting in there, but they don’t do anything to move your sales process forward to get you more business. They don’t help you get more sales. That’s why we lovingly call CRMs Client Relationship Mazes – it’s where your clients go in, but they never make it out. Other than serving as a big brother tracking tool that your sales team resents, your CRM doesn’t help you generate more revenue or Residents. Whatever happened to being your partner in success?
2. It’s hurting your team.
The rest of the family is suffering because of your relationship with your old style CRM. If you mention your CRM to your marketing/sales team, and they groan, you know it’s an albatross to them. Besides not doing anything for them, it’s actually hurting them. IF they are using it (big IF), it just creates more work for them. It is draining their time to jump through hoops to keep it updated. It doesn’t help them, suggest next steps or even provide them with resources they need to be more successful. They still need to keep outside spreadsheets, manila folders, manual checklists and communication tools to help do their job, and that just adds to their workload. No wonder they groan when you mention the name.
3. It’s costing you money.
Let’s figure out how much money your relationship with your old CRM is costing you. Not only are you paying for outdated CRM, but now you need to pay extra for a reporting module (that may or not be accurate), an email campaign system, an internet marketing system or tool or person, and a social media posting tool (or person). And then there’s your time. There’s the time you spend updating spreadsheets, re-keying your website leads and re-keying info between all your systems. Did you just hear a “cha-ching”? Then on top of all that, there are the lost Leads, sales opportunities, and upsells that have fallen through the cracks because of follow up failure. Entering a relationship with CRM was supposed to be a beautiful thing – even a smart decision. But staying with the old, wrong CRM can be worse than not having one.
At this point, the decision to break up with your old CRM is the best one you can make. And I’m happy to share with you that “the Right One” is out there. It’s smart, it’s simple and it’s ingenious. It’s modern, it takes advantage of internet marketing technology and it has a great track record of more than doubling Inquiry to Resident/Patient/Client Conversion Rates.
Let’s go out for coffee together. We may discover we have a future together.
Mona G. Hilton is the CEO of OccupancyAdvantage.com.