2 Common Mistakes Distributors Make with CRM - Modern Distribution Management

Log In

2 Common Mistakes Distributors Make with CRM

Mark Dancer of Channelvation provides tips for CRM adoption in the latest episode of Executive Briefing.
lindsay-articleonly
Author
Date

CRM has had a bad rap in distribution, but Mark Dancer of Channelvation says the tide is starting to turn. The cost to adopt customer relationship management tools and the technology that makes it easier to use are both contributing to more distributors considering or already using CRM for managing sales pipelines, automating sales and marketing processes, lead management and sharing information internally.

I spoke with Dancer on the topic of customer relationship management tools for the latest episode of Executive Briefing, available at www.mdm.com/executivebriefing. Dancer is publishing a book on CRM this summer with the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.

Dancer said distributors commonly make two mistakes when approaching CRM for their businesses.

The first is doing too much, too quickly.

“It’s really easy to get caught up in a lot of excitement about a lot of the features and benefits,” Dancer said, “and look at it as almost a smorgasbord of solutions you can use and try to do everything all at once.”

A better approach, Dancer said, is to pick just a couple of functions or to choose one territory or a couple of salespeople. In starting small, you can build credibility and generate early successes. “Those early successes can then be used to go to the rest of the sales force and show them how CRM is not just hype, it’s actually something that can help them.”

The second most common mistake distributors make is having an obsessive focus on return on investment, or the ROI. Distributors are practical, Dancer said, and it is good to look at ROI. But the cost to adopt CRM is much lower than it used to be thanks to emerging cloud-based services that don’t require investment in traditional software or maintenance. And the benefits reaped from using CRM are not always tangible. “They should think about it in terms of outcomes that they achieved that they would not have achieved without CRM, as well as things they are doing today that they can stop,” Dancer said.

CRM may enable better win rates, better allocation of effort toward sales opportunities, higher customer retention, moving new products through the sales process faster and other benefits that are harder to put a dollar figure on.

Hear more about Dancer’s advice for using CRM tools, as well as how distributors use CRM today, lessons learned from other distributors who use CRM and tips for selecting a CRM vendor in the latest Executive Briefing, available on-demand or to download and watch on your computer.

Hear more about common mistakes and lessons learned in the clip below.

Share this article

About the Author
Recommended Reading
Leave a Reply

Leave a Comment

Sign Up for the MDM Update Newsletter

The MDM update newsletter is your best source for news and trends in the wholesale distribution industry.

Get the MDM Update Newsletter

Wholesale distribution news and trends delivered right to your inbox.

Sign-up for our free newsletter and get:

  • Up-to-date news in a quick-to-read format
  • Free access to webcasts, podcasts and live events
  • Exclusive whitepapers, research and reports
  • And more!

2

articles left

Want more Premium content from MDM?

Subscribe today and get:

  • New issues twice each month
  • Unlimited access to mdm.com, including 10+ years of archived data
  • Current trends analysis, market data and economic updates
  • Discounts on select store products and events

Subscribe to continue reading

MDM Premium Subscribers get:

  • Unlimited access to MDM.com
  • 1 year digital subscription, with new issues twice a month
  • Trends analysis, market data and quarterly economic updates
  • Deals on select store products and events

1

article
left

You have one free article remaining

Subscribe to MDM Premium to get unlimited access. Your subscription includes:

  • Two new issues a month
  • Access to 10+ years of archived data on mdm.com
  • Quarterly economic updates, trends analysis and market data
  • Store and event discounts

To continue reading, you must be an MDM Premium subscriber.

Join other distribution executives who use MDM Premium to optimize their business. Our insights and analysis help you enter the right new markets, turbocharge your sales and marketing efforts, identify business partners that help you scale, and stay ahead of your competitors.

Register for full access

By providing your email, you agree to receive announcements from us and our partners for our newsletter, events, surveys, and partner resources per MDM Terms & Conditions. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Learn More about Custom Reports

Request a Market Prospector Demo

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.