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As I read through the results of the Small Business Technology Survey we recently conducted with SmartCompany, I was reminded of this amusing and yet equally insightful cartoon. Too often people are so immersed in the crazy, frenetic and all encompassing dynamic of their business that when a powerful new tool comes along they haven’t any time even to look at it.

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Credit: Trinity Marketing Systems (trinitymarketingsystems.com)

That is what the results screamed out loud and clear. The survey revealed that fully 64 per cent of SMB respondents weren’t using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system; and of those, most cited a lack of time and resources to manage it (37 per cent), as well as those who simply didn’t see the need (33 per cent). While CRM has proven itself to be the answer to so many typical Small Business challenges - such as growth, productivity, marketing - it emerged that for many SMB owners CRM is just something that happens to other people.

Interestingly though, SMBs also showed throughout the survey results that they are actually very well-disposed towards doing business using a cloud-based, mobile-first CRM such as the Salesforce Sales Cloud.

  • 71% of SMBs rely on technology for sales and marketing

  • 68% said they were using cloud in their business; 63% cited Software-as-a-service (SaaS)

  • 63% spent more than half of their time doing their business on a mobile device such as a phone or tablet

  • 41% said that having access to all aspects of their business on a mobile device was “very important; a further 25% that it was “priceless”!

But despite all this natural affinity for modern CRM, David Markus says  "most SMEs... haven't got their heads around how a properly used CRM actually drives sales pipeline or helps to manage the whole sales process." A “properly used” CRM can increase sales and grow the business faster but also makes it possible to run that business on a mobile device from anywhere. Can there possibly be a business in Australia that doesn’t need those outcomes?

Inside too, many business there is a day-to-struggle because employees aren't properly connected, there’s over-reliance on clunky, manual processes and in many cases information is stored in multiple systems? This wastes resources and prevents Australian SMBs from growing faster.

Take for instance Platinum Direct Finance, a 40-strong Financial Services company who grew revenue by 44 per cent in just six months by streamlining its process through the salesforce.com Sales Cloud. Or small travel web site company TripADeal who not only grew web site traffic by a staggering 500 per cent because of the Sales Cloud, but also drove a five-fold increase in customer spend. Learn more about how small companies have grown faster using CRM here.

So if you aren’t sure whether you need CRM, read this free eBook “Your Complete CRM Handbook”. Businesses that question whether they have the time to embrace a new technology should instead wonder how much it is worth to have processes and tools that would drive both greater growth and productivity throughout their business. As with any mighty new weapon, it’s worth taking time out of the melee if your chances of survival or even winning will be greatly increased as a result.

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Melissa Apte works at salesforce.com as a Senior Marketing Manager, where she gets to combine her passions for marketing, small business and technology.