Global Manufacturing Company Implements CRM Process

Here is an example of a Global Manufacturing Company, which underscores the impact of implementing new CRM processes on an organization’s operations.

A global manufacturing company proposed to streamline its sales process using CRM automation software and mapped the existing sales process via a Visio flow-chart.  By mapping the sales process, this manufacturing company determined that the process currently had seven steps and took an average of six months to close.  The vice president of sales suggested that using CRM could cut the sales close process by two months (from six to four months). During the process, however, the company also learned that delays in the sales process were not necessarily the result of delays in the sales department. Instead, they were often a result of inefficiencies in other departmental processes that impacted the sales process. For example, to complete the fourth step of the sales process (the work scope and definition step), sales personnel depended on receiving timely drawing (takeoffs) and preliminary pricing, which were almost always arrived late. To complete the fifth step of the sales process (the proposal submittal step), sales personnel depended on the corporate and legal departments to approve the bid, which were also routinely late. In other words, decreasing the sales process from six to four months depended as much on streamlining how other departments conducted their processes and interfaced with the sales process as it did on helping sales personnel to sell more efficiently. 

In this case, it’s clear CRM software can only do so much: It won’t create or replace a business process, fix an ineffective or broken process, create or maintain customer relationships, make decisions, or produce products and services. So, take time to review customer-facing processes in detail and make the necessary corrections before implementing your CRM initiative.

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