“That one there Smithers…tell me his numbers…” The perils of micromanagement
We’re hearing reports around the web of salespeople falling out of love with their work
The team at BuddyCRM is here to remind you to manage not micromanage your team…
The Work From Home mandate that many are living with requires spending more time in front of screens, conducting remote appointments, and managing our time online. Contact with other team members is often through a Zoom or Teams call. While video technology has been a game-changer during this crisis, remoteness can lead to a sense of detachment for sales team leaders.
Enter the CRM. Its ability to give a complete picture of a customer account from contact history through to marketing, sales, inventory and quotes make it a crucial part of your work-life. The CRM becomes the virtual office, connecting remote workers with team leaders and administrators.
What gets measured gets managed
Sales team managers use CRM tools to monitor activity and keep an eye on their sales pipeline but as increased economic pressure arrives, more stress from above can lead to managers relying on the increased use of targets and KPIs.
With every call, email, task, and activity, being stored in your CRM, the temptation is to put targets on everything.
But just because it can be measured, doesn’t mean it should be managed. Setting targets for every single piece of activity often leads to a sense of distrust in sales team members and potentially they’ll game the system by entering false data…“Just fake the activity. No big deal.”
But if they’re putting garbage in, you are getting garbage out. We’re people, not numbers!
Activity is typically a leading indicator of success. Making xx calls -> x appointments -> leads to x sales. However, you run the risk of adding a layer of complexity when each member is given the same KPI targets for activity. Some make quota with five calls a week, some need over 50 calls to meet the same target.
What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another
Setting accurate KPIs and adjusting them for individual performance will be beneficial to your company and your team members. Ultimately what matters is creating sales.
A CRM is a hugely powerful tool which sales managers use to gain an overview of company sales activity but misuse of targets and KPIs can cause stress and anxiety in team members.
Set goals but give your workers the flexibility to achieve them in a way that works best for them.
Don’t micromanage team members through your CRM just because you can.
