If you're not using a CRM in 2019, it probably means that you've done okay without one. You've probably built up your own tools, or you're really good with spreadsheets, or you've connected a few point solutions to meet your needs. 


If you've been successful with your non-CRM sales process until now, you probably don't feel much need to change. After all, if it's not broken, don't fix it, right? Marketing finds leads, sales closes deals, and leadership hits its targets. Simple!


Well, maybe it's not that simple. If you look closer, you'll probably see that your teams are working through some pains. When we ask non-CRM companies how they'd improve their sales process, we hear the same answer again and again.


Handoffs, transitions, whatever you want to call them — the real pain of working without a CRM heats up when one team needs to pass critical information to another. And most of the time, it's Sales that ends up taking the brunt of the punishment.


Here are 3 of the most common ways your sales team ends up feeling the pain in a non-CRM sales process: 

1. Marketing passing new leads to Sales

Why is it painful for Sales without CRM?

Passing a lead from Marketing to Sales is similar to a relay race. The handoff is crucial and when a baton is dropped, the receiver must recover and run even harder to catch up. Similarly, companies working without a CRM have their own transition methods. However, this handoff can be fraught with many problems that tend to show up anytime data needs to be transferred between multiple teams and systems. Leads arrive with incomplete data, or with inaccurate data, or too slowly for sales to convert. Regardless of the lead quality, sales is responsible for converting them into customers. 

How does CRM help?

In a handoff process rooted in modern CRM, Marketing and Sales share a single view of each lead. The details and context about that lead are stored and/or updated in one place. When the lead is qualified, converted, and assigned to Sales, all those key details are right there and ready for the salesperson. Better yet, those qualification, conversion, and assignment processes can all be automated so that Sales has everything they need to follow-up in minutes, not days.

2. Sales Ops passing pricing to Sales

Why is it painful for Sales without CRM?

Sales teams are on the hook for closing deals, and the pricing stage is when Sales is at the mercy of other peoples' timing, processes, and priorities. Despite it being the stage of the sales cycle where details really matter, pricing is also the part where everyone wants to move as fast as possible. The process often includes back-and-forth email strings with multiple revisions and approvals of the pricing document or proposal. There is often lots of pressure to beat deadlines, but rushing increases the risk of including costly mistakes in a final proposal. When anything goes wrong, from pricing errors to communication delays, Sales has the most to lose.

How does CRM help?

With a modern CRM, everyone involved in pricing a deal can collaborate and communicate in one shared space. The relevant product and pricing details for the specific customer are available in the same view, as are any discounting or approval considerations. Sales can then automatically generate a quote knowing that there are no version control issues or errors in copy-and-pasted formulas or data tables. 

3. Sales passing forecast updates to Leadership

Why is it painful for Sales without CRM?

Forecasting is one of Sales Leadership's top responsibilities, with the added pressure of being a critical business health meter for the rest of the business’ leadership. In a non-CRM sales process, this means that Sales reps need to continuously share updates via email, chat, or other tools so Sales leaders can collect status updates on each deal in the pipeline. This method is inefficient twofold: 1. Salespeople want to spend time working their deals, not completing internal administrative tasks and 2. Sales Leadership is often left with forecasts that are static, quickly outdated, and unreliable. Because Sales Leaders watch their forecasts closely during key closing periods, they’ll often want more frequent or more detailed updates about deals. Forcing Sales teams to focus on non-selling activities during those periods is as painful as it gets.

How does CRM help?

When your sales process runs on a modern CRM, all the latest details about each deal in the pipeline are always available and up-to-date. Sales Leadership can use automatically updated reports and dashboards to get real-time views into their forecast without distracting the Sales teams who are trying to close deals. With customized sales stages built directly into the CRM, Sales Leadership can also trust that forecasts reflect the weighted expected value of the pipeline, without having to consider over-optimism or sandbagging.


Still not sure whether a CRM could help your Sales process? Check out our resource page: The Top 9 Excuses for Not Having a Modern CRM