Legacy CRMs were built for sales leaders, not sales staff. If you jumped on this bandwagon early on, you are almost certainly rueing the day now. While it may have seemed a clever move to bolster win rates and engage with leads, the reality of a legacy CRM is that it falls somewhat short. You are, however, not alone in this predicament. The pressure was on to crack conversions, increase lead quality, and boost revenue. The unfortunate outcome in many instances was a CRM system that was clunky and didn’t work as expected.
What you will learn in this article
- 4 telltale signs you are using a legacy CRM
- The top 6 myths about legacy CRMs
- How these myths are debunked
- What to do next
- Getting started with cloud CRM
4 surefire signs you have a legacy CRM
If you and your sales team shudder at the thought of using CRM and win rates don’t improve, it’s time to take a step back. Here are four ways you can tell if your legacy CRM is not fit for purpose.
- Spreadsheet vs. CRM: Your sales team is still firmly clinging to their Excel spreadsheets because the CRM system is too complicated.
- Overpromising: Your CRM system continues to rack up expenses but shows a negligible Return on Investment for your business.
- Complexity: Your CRM is awkward to use and requires an IT team to keep it going.
- Difficult to keep track: Extracting numbers from your CRM is like pulling teeth.
If your CRM displays any of these symptoms, it’s time to consider a cloud-based CRM solution. You are not alone here either. A recent Forrester study reckoned almost 70% of businesses are set to replace their CRM system within the next two years.
The top 6 legacy CRM myths debunked
Here are the top 6 common misconceptions about legacy CRMs and why they don’t stand up to scrutiny.
No. 1 – Legacy CRM systems can grow along with your business
Legacy CRM vendors promise growth, greater market share, better win rates, and more sales.
Debunked – Far from delivering sunny new business landscapes, legacy CRMs are a brake on your growth. A recent CSO Insights report found that most legacy CRM systems had failed to deliver on their promises. The report found that most business metrics had remained stagnant, and some had even fallen.
No.2 – Expensive CRM systems are value for money
Many sales leaders bought sales claims that expensive CRMs would see overhead costs reduced over time.
Debunked – According to Forrester, almost a third of buyers believe legacy CRMs entail expensive upfront expenditure. Meanwhile, some CRM suppliers quote inexpensive per-user costs. But when you dig into it and the extras charged for features you need, the cost can be ten times higher. So expensive CRMs are just expensive.
No. 3 – Legacy CRMs are simple to implement
According to the nice salesperson, anyway.
Debunked – This one should have you choking on your coffee. Legacy CRMs invariably involve a heavyweight IT team to implement the software and ensure it runs properly. This is an unnecessary expense when you measure legacy CRM systems against cloud-based CRM systems. By comparison, cloud CRMs are infinitely easier to implement and use.
No. 4 – Legacy CRMs improve productivity
More sales pitch hyperbole and wishful thinking.
Debunked – Star salespeople spend an average of six hours per week trawling LinkedIn to find prospects and connect with people. But they could claw most of this time back if you had a CRM solution that automatically captured these details. By comparison, legacy CRMs typically rely on manually adding leads, a process that’s time-consuming and which could be better spent interacting with customers instead. You can also automate many other admin tasks and workflows to save even more time.
No. 5 – Legacy CRMs are easy to use and intuitive
CRM is a salesperson’s best friend.
Debunked – Yes, this is true. But not legacy CRMs by any stretch of the imagination. In reality, legacy CRMs are clunk and overly complicated, turning salespeople into CRM administrators instead. Most legacy CRM users agree the interface is difficult to navigate. Definitely stick with a cloud-based CRM built from the ground up to be user-friendly, not a techie tool. CRM should help sales, not get in the way of them.
No.6 – Legacy CRM suppliers provide good customer service
This is clearly a myth perpetuated by legacy CRM vendors.
Debunked – After spending megabucks on a legacy CRM, you expect excellent customer support to help you deal with problems. But, again, you are mistaken. Some legacy CRM vendors charge you extra for customer support. Over time, this will add up to a tidy sum.
What to do next
The next step you should make is to investigate cloud-based CRM systems. These are ideal for small businesses as well as their larger counterparts. As everything is hosted online, setting up a cloud CRM system is a breeze; sign up, log in. There are no servers to run and no need for an IT team. Plus, they are highly affordable and can be scaled up to meet your changing business needs by simply switching subscription tiers. The difference between a legacy CRM and a cloud CRM is as stark as night and day.
How to get started with cloud-based CRM
The best way to evaluate a cloud-based CRM system is by getting yourself a free trial. These last around 14-days or longer and give you hands-on experience with a no-obligation demo account. Indeed, you might want to try out a few free trials to get the lie of the land. You can then make properly informed decisions on which system is the best match for your company.
Verdict
Small business owners like you face numerous challenges daily. However, your CRM should not be one of them. If this is currently the case – or you want to get into CRM for the first time – contact us today. We are the small business cloud CRM specialists and will talk you through the entire process.
