Schedule CRM time on your calendar

This article was included in the June 1st, 2016 issue of the LACRM Newsletter.

Whether you’re using it for the first time or the 500th time, a CRM takes time out of your day. One of the trickier things about incorporating a CRM into your workflow is being able to make time for it. After all, it’s easy to leave data entry for the end of the day, when you aren’t busy with calls and client meetings. But then your notes may end up missing a few details since so much time has passed, and those details make all the difference in closing a sale. Tom Crouser, founder and president of Crouser & Associates Inc., avoids this by giving the CRM a spot on his calendar after every meeting:

“We have meetings throughout the day, and what we like to do is schedule some time in our calendar to take notes after these meetings. For instance, if we are having an hour long meeting, I will put it down on the calendar for an hour and fifteen minutes. This is so we have this extra time to put our notes together, enter them into the CRM, and ensure that we are prepped to start the next meeting.”

-Tom Crouser, Founder and President of Crouser & Associates Inc

Tip to try: Build time into your schedule to work with the CRM. Ten minutes of CRM use before a meeting will help you know exactly what you need to talk about, and ten minutes after a meeting ensures that all your notes are as accurate and detailed as they can be. By saving notes on a contact or company’s record immediately after a meeting or a call, the conversation is still fresh in your mind and you are less likely to miss key points and ideas. You also cut out the excuse of not having enough time to enter good notes when you allot time for the CRM in your daily schedule. This helps you build up and maintain your ideal CRM tool -- one that you can trust to contain the most accurate log of all your client interactions!

We hope Tom’s advice helps give you some ideas on how you can make sure you (and your team!) can use CRM to its full potential. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us!

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