Updating your sales notes in your CRM system is vital for productivity. Although you don't need to add everything, these 5 notes are essential.
You’ve just stepped out of that all-important sales meeting that you’ve spent hours prepping for, but the admin doesn’t stop there. Now you need to update your CRM notes to reflect on what was just discussed.
Working closely with salespeople, I know that this is regarded as a chore rather than an important selling task. Surely, every minute your taking notes is a minute lost selling. Right?
However, post-meeting notes are an important selling task because they give you the information you need to prioritize calls, use your time efficiently and follow up at the correct date and time.
To ensure you don’t lose selling time and you have all the information you need it’s best to strip down your post-call notes to the bare minimum. The following information is a must for your notes.
You must make a record of the time and date that your call or meeting took place. That way you can remind your prospect or customer of your past communications during your follow up call. What’s more, you’ll be able to report on any sales activity to your line manager. Before you spend precious time inputting this data, see if your CRM system can automate this task by populating the date and time based on your call activity.
If you’re in B2B sales you’ll need to update any changes in circumstances for the contact. For example, Jeff, was a Financial Controller the last time you spoke but has now climbed the ladder to become Finance Director. Jeff would now be more likely to be the decision-maker so you’re going to want to make sure that you’ve made a note of this change.
So, you’ve just finished your meeting with your prospect and you have a list of tasks you need to accomplish. Maybe you need to send a brochure, find out certain information about a deal or give them a call back next week. Whatever the task, make sure you’ve updated your CRM to coincide with it so that you don’t forget. You’ll also get a prioritized task list every day.
During your meeting was there any key discussion areas? Who was present? What are the priorities for future meetings? Did you capture all their contact details and are they correct? Any information that is important to winning a deal needs to be inputted into your CRM system as soon as possible. Even an elephant couldn’t remember everything that you spoke about so you either add it or lose it.
Sales is all about building strong, lasting relationships (especially in B2B) and there’s no better way of doing this than ensuring you know their personal details. I’m not saying you need to stalk them from the bushes outside their house but it’s worth knowing if they have any hobbies, specific challenges that they face daily or if they use certain IT software. These are the sorts of details that can help you close current and future deals. Focus on which details are key to bettering client relationships and make sure you always note them into your CRM system.
So, there you go, basic I know but you’d be amazed at how many salespeople either forget to add this information or can’t be bothered to. Every successful salesperson is on top of their notes and can prioritize their work accordingly.