5 Tips For Quick ROI With CRM Technology

Is your technology set up for success?

According to Entrepreneur Magazine, the number one factor influencing a non-tech company in its technology investment decision is finding tools that make the most short-term financial sense.

This means that if certain products are too complicated to set up (and demand extensive training time) or require extensive customization, leaders will feel reluctant to invest the needed resources. They don't want to slow down business development and operations or risk disrupting current workflows, frustrating team members, or breaking existing tech systems. Why would anyone want to lose time, money, and possibly even human capital, which could derail or stunt growth, all in the name of a brand-new tech stack?

In CRM implementation, there is no right path. Yet, there are a few approaches you can take to ensure you get the most out of your CRM technology investment. 

1. Define value in your own terms

As leaders, you need to set the priorities for your digital transformation – to focus on the deliverables that matter most to your business as well as your customers.

This means you'll need to determine what that value means for the long-term trajectory of your business before moving forward with any tech modernization effort. Since business priorities differ, no two organizations will have the same needs when it comes to adopting a CRM and all that it offers. Rather than following generic CRM best practices, you want to engage a HubSpot partner who leverages “common proven practices” — frameworks and workflows that have demonstrably benefitted companies facing similar sales and marketing challenges.

2. EMBRACE THE CHANGES

Change is disruptive, so how do you buffer against that? 

You don't.

Both training and adoption for the new HubSpot tools need to be ongoing rather than one-time initiatives. At the same time, engaging users to harness the innovations fully is pivotal to maximizing ROI. Essentially, customers must be able to harness the new tools to an unprecedented breadth and depth. Value is not created by simply completing onboarding and clicking "Upgrade"; it is created by ensuring that the transformation process drives deeper adoption, helping to optimize business processes and create real value for your organization.

3. FOCUS ON THE USERS

All too often, large companies adopt a top-down approach to CRM implementation, selecting systems based on strategic and financial goals at the executive level, and then imposing them on individual teams and departments.

CRMs, as much as they're advertised, are not simply plug-and-play. To make them work out of the box, solution architects have to run a series of experiments and adjust the system for your specific business. For a project like this, if the people on the ground aren't excited about the CRM, they might cite the need for adjustment as an excuse for declining or slowing down implementation. But when people are on board, they'll welcome the obstacles and do the work necessary to make the adoption succeed. To maximize their chances of success, leadership teams need to pinpoint which users will be the most receptive to the CRM. This could be the team members who are annoyed with the status quo — for example, sales teams who struggle with disconnected platforms — or it could be people with a particular interest in the CRM.

4. ROLL OUT THE FEATURES IN PHASES

Timing is your best friend when it comes to CRM success. You want to adopt the new platform with plenty of time before peak usage but don’t want to rush it at all. One of the best ways to limit disruption and optimize pacing is to plan your timeline well ahead of schedule.

Divide the rollout into milestones, starting with the most essential workflows or systems to change, then gradually expand to less immediate areas. This also allows room for beta tests, which can provide valuable insights into user experiences with the CRM — creating agile feedback through testing and going live. If possible, aim to reach those key milestones before busy periods to mitigate complications.  

Consider, for example, making a feature available to only a few members of the team. As you test the function's performance, slowly expand the reach of your deployment. A binary rollout — where everyone is able to use the entire platform at the same time — should almost never happen. Mistakes happen, and you will need to account for unforeseen challenges.

5. TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN

You’ve probably heard this a thousand times, but it’s worth repeating: your technology is only as good as the people using it.

And the same goes for CRMs.

Employees are more likely to remember information when it feels relevant to them, when the information is something they can use right away, and when the skills are directly applicable to their work. That’s why you should skip the 90-page manuals, the 4-hour virtual classes, and the coaches who just dump a ton of data on them. Instead, think of training as a show-and-tell exercise — provide CRM tool demos and ample practice opportunities. 

There are plenty of practice programs that can track progress, offering valuable insights into which parts of the system users understand and where they might be struggling. This helps steer your efforts in the right direction.

Effective training efforts are often continuous. Information fades over time when there is no attempt to retrain. To guarantee stickiness, a training schedule should include interventions at regular intervals, and you can even use resources like tests, videos, mailers, Q&A, and follow-up sessions to reiterate and reinforce information.

ACHIEVE CRM ROI WITH FLAWLESS INBOUND

Digital transformation is not merely about improving your "tech stack" but predominantly about evolving your overall business into one that is more responsive to customer and employee needs. The real ROI from CRM adoption comes from the people who will actually benefit from using it.

At Flawless Inbound, we assess your business requirements to pinpoint clear issues and expected outcomes from CRM adoption. We don’t simply deploy HubSpot and move on; we focus on fostering deeper adoption of the platform, helping to optimize business processes, and delivering genuine value to your organization. We offer support at every stage of your HubSpot journey—from planning to migration and maximizing your ROI.

Want to discuss CRM adoption and realizing ROI? Contact us today!
 
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