Dominate the Vital Few with CRM!

The Pareto principle is the very famous 80/20 rule from Vilfredo Pareto, the famous Italian economist of the 19th century. He observed that in his community 80% of land ownership (and hence the power base) was controlled by 20% of the citizens, the “vital few”. The other 80%, the “trivial many”, did not own or contribute much to the economy.

The “vital few” for CRM systems like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 represent the key activities that have the greatest impact on your company’s wealth and presence in the market place. Of course, these may vary by function and responsibility.

There are three major functions that impact revenue in your company: sales, marketing and customer service. These three are fundamental. Sales and marketing are obvious, but we cannot neglect customer service! To keep your company on a growth path, you need a solid customer service function to build raving fans and have strong customer retention.

In CRM you want to spend time where the impact for your energy is maximized by results! Remember what Goethe said, “Things that matter most must not be at the mercy of things that matter least!” Focus on the 20% that will drive 80% of your results!

So how effective is your CRM?

To help you answer that question, use the questionnaire below and rate each question as follows:

• 1 means you disagree.
• 2 means you are not sure.
• 3 means you agree.

Once you have rated each question, add all your numbers together.

CRM Effectiveness Questionnaire

Sales and Marketing

1. Our sales funnel is always 3-5X our sales target for the month, quarter and year.
2. Our sales reps get reminders for their top activities daily, so they can make prioritized sales calls.
3. Our sales reps sell simultaneously to more than 10 customers at any given time and always know where each account stands in the sales process.
4. Our email communications support our sales and help the sales teams advance their deals.
5. Our marketing lists are growing and helping us find new qualified prospects.
6. Our marketing department generates leads weekly.
7. Leads are scored in order to prioritize all follow-up activities.
8. Sales and marketing team members know where each lead originated, i.e. website, networking event, etc.
9. Our CRM tracks new networking contacts, so that sales reps can follow-up with all new contacts after an event.
10. We can identify and group our contacts by interest, service, products and target market.
11. Our customers and prospects get relevant communications at least bi-monthly.
12. Our customers receive new product communication on a timely basis.
13. Our company uses workflow automation to support communications with our customers.

Customer Service

14. Customer issues are being logged as cases.
15. Our company has resolution time standards tracked in CRM.
16. Projects are tracked and listed for each account.
17. Notifications are being used to keep the sales team informed of special customer issues.
18. Customer service is empowered to create opportunities for our sales team.

A score of 50 to 54 means that you are using CRM at its full capacity and that your organization is proactively focused on important activities which drive revenue.

A score of 45 to 49 means that your organization has a handle on CRM but lacks the discipline to focus on some key areas of your business.

A score of 44 or below means that your organization is missing the opportunity of leveraging CRM to grow your business.

TopLine Results can help you get more out of your CRM, including running CRM health check reports. Email info@toplineresults.com or call us at 1-800-1960 to start the process of improving your sales, marketing and customer service effectiveness.  A little focus on the “vital few” can yield great results!

About the Author
Fred Varin founded TopLine Results Corporation in April of 1999 with the goal of helping businesses optimize their success. For more than a decade, Fred has been dedicated to delivering outstanding CRM solutions to organizations worldwide. Fred has a passion for teaching workplace productivity techniques, business analytics and the importance of business goal setting.

As a sales professional, technical consultant and trainer for more than 20 years, Fred has a keen understanding of CRM and the sales cycle. Fred’s CRM certifications include: Silver Certified Microsoft partner, Microsoft Certified Professional, Act! Certified Consultant and Registered Salesforce partner.