Report Immediately/Respond immediately: Value of Current, Accurate, and Complete CRM Information

Posted on April 17, 2012 by admin

The only value of a CRM system is the quality of information in its databases. What good is information from the field that is a month old before it is reported? Of what help is information to a manager or to the organization when the manager doesn’t read reports regularly?

Here is a note sent from a manager to a sales rep:

“Shawn,

Why are all these reports so old. There are no new reports that have been filed in this last batch. Not really any point filing reports this old; as Jim and I read them, we can’t really do anything with reports a month old. Are you this far behind on your call reports? Have you filed your more recent reports?”

Two things we might surmise from this statement: (1) the sales rep is not reporting his sales meeting information immediately or regularly, and (2) the sales manager isn’t reading reports anyway, as he doesn’t seem to notice the missing information until a month has gone by.

1. Sales reps who do not report immediately and regularly

Again, the problem is the quality of the CRM database. Sales reps who do not report immediately following a sales event are limiting severely the capability of the database to aggregate or accumulate information sufficient for a reader to see and understand patterns. The only information of any worth in a CRM database is that sufficiently accumulated to reveal patterns and trends. We have to have bulk, mass, accumulation from all sources of good information if we are to “see” (discern or detect) patterns. Therefore, it is imperative with a CRM system that the sales team understands its responsibility to create a continuous flow of good information into the CRM system databases. Regular reporting isn’t a merely trivial administrative activity that is forced onto the sales team. It is not something of choice. We need the sales reps to report because the entire CRM database depends on mass and accumulation for meaningful understanding, analysis, decision making, and action. A sales rep who withholds information for a month before reporting it doesn’t understand what is going on with a CRM system implementation. Once they understand, they contribute willingly and meaningfully.

2. Sales managers who do not read sales reports immediately and regularly

This is the most interesting issue with CRM sales team reporting – a manager who doesn’t read the reports coming in. Sales reps are quick to pick-up on this lack of attention by the manager, and they delay, procrastinate, and often fail to report at all, knowing there are no consequences for not reporting and no purpose for reporting at all. In many companies, because sales managers do not read the reports, the reporting function languishes and disappears. What is the consequence of this? What the sales manager doesn’t realize is that the quality of the CRM function for the entire organization depends heavily on the continuous inflow of accurate, current, and complete information from the field, from those closest to the customer relationship experience. By failing to pay attention to the reporting function, the sales manager – not the sales reps – is seriously compromising the value of the investment the company has made into its CRM program.

We encountered a sales rep who was writing this statement at the bottom of each of his daily sales reports: “If there is anybody out there reading this, please give me a call at (phone number).” For over a month, no one responded and he kept adding this statement to his reports. When we flagged this to senior management and they went checking with the sales manager, they found that the sales manager was so busy doing his own paperwork and tasks that he didn’t have time to read the sales reports and respond to them. He was fired on the spot because of his failure to understand organizational priorities.

We often ask, “If your most productive sales rep, the one bringing in the most revenue, won’t report his/her sales activity, would you fire him/her?” If the answer is yes, then the priorities of the organization towards its commitment to a quality CRM database are clear. If the answer is no, then the “tail is wagging the dog,” and revenue production ONLY is the activity of greatest interest in the organization and they should not have invested in CRM in the first place. Any simple activity tracking software would have worked better. Companies often have Lone Ranger hero sales people who “do their own thing” and seem to be successful in producing. If revenue only is the goal of management, then this is tolerated and even applauded. However, if long-term customer relationship and care management (CRM) is the goal of management, then this person needs to change or be let go. The CRM databases need this person’s sales meeting information, without exception, and the person should consider it his/her sales responsibility to report immediately and regularly.

The purpose of buying and implementing a CRM system is the quality of the databases that will result and the power that gives to everyone in the organization to see patterns in the data, to understanding more clearly what is going on, to apply meaningful analytics for clearer sense of pattern, to engage in fruitful decision making, and then to take proper action. With that goal in mind, it is easy to see why a sales rep who does not report any of his/her customer interactions for months on end, why a sales manager who doesn’t read the reports and only talks about the issue after months of non-reporting have gone by are serious constraints to a powerful and successful CRM system.

The Two-Part Human Dictation/Transcription Solution: Voice-Based CRM Data Entry System

Posted on March 21, 2012 by admin

Only a voice-based dictation system can capture longer, more complex explanatory information simply and quickly and sync or push it directly into the CRM databases.

Capturing explanatory knowledge requires processing capability far beyond that of speech recognition or speech-to-text applications today. As interesting as these technologies are to our technological brains and imaginations, they are not facile or agile and not accurate enough to handle the rugged and open environment of the sales reps on the go with noise in the background, the wind blowing, and the cold in the nose of real work on the road. Speech recognition works in a closed dictation environment where the system has been trained on the person’s voice, where the vocabulary is very narrow and well prescribed, and where there are no ambient noises or distractions that overwhelm the clarity of the audio quality.

A two-part voice-based CRM data entry system starts with (1) human dictation and human transcription and finishes with (2) sophisticated technology that syncs the information automatically into the CRM system database. First we have to capture and process the explanatory information; second, we have to move it automatically into the databases.

PART 1 HUMAN DICTATION AND HUMAN TRANSCRIPTION. Let’s talk about the first requirement, the human dictation and human transcriptionist, for a moment. Many is the man or women a little older who enjoyed the environment where a manager was supported by a human administrative assistant. Let’s call the person ‘Sam’ (male or female). Sam has been with the “boss” (man or woman) now for many years, knows exactly what is going on with the business, runs the major office systems, processes the dictated information, and otherwise is, in most cases, the most important person in the office. Sam takes dictation using shorthand, types it, and prints it out for signature. It is near (if not completely) perfect. He/she knows what the boss is talking about, listens with a perceptive human mind to make adjustments even when the wrong things are spoken, and otherwise “manages” the dictation/processing system to make sure the end result is as perfect as possible. One person is speaking or dictating; the other is listening and processing. The dictation/transcription channel is clear, so the information transfer is accurate.

That kind of applied intelligence is what the voice-based CRM data entry system provides to the sales team. The sales people are the speakers, and their clear dictation is the start of the process towards the database. The transcriptionists are native-English language speakers, experienced business environment adults, and U.S. Citizens living in the United States. They are using company-specific glossaries of names and terms, so they can produce a transcript that is near 100% correct in all aspects. It is these essential human characteristics that the voice-based CRM data entry system brings to ensure a clear channel of communication for accuracy. This means the sales reps speak in the information once and is done with it – no lengthy and time-consuming editing of documents machine processed poorly, with the revision of complex explanatory information often taking longer than the dictation, thus doubling the demand on the sales rep.

PART 2 SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGIES. Now, let’s talk about the second requirement, the sophisticated software and hardware of today that syncs or pushes the information automatically into the CRM database fields. As a company sets-up a voice-based CRM data entry system, the leaders determine the fields of information they are most interested in gathering from the customer relationship meetings. These fields are then listed on a prompt card given to the sales reps to assist them in directing the focus of their sales meetings, taking good notes, and then reporting. The sales rep then speaks into the phone in his/her information and hangs up. The human transcriptionist converts the information from audio to digital and enters the various information threads into technologies that prepare it to push into their proper CRM database fields. All it takes then is a “Submit,” and the information is now synced or pushed into the CRM databases.

GoToMeeting demonstrations and discussions are an excellent way to see voice-based CRM data entry tools in action. Put “Voice-Based CRM” or “Voice 2 CRM” into your browser and look around at the solution offered there. Perhaps you will see there a tool that you can add to your existing or being implemented CRM system to ensure (1) user adoption and (2) the most fertile and rich CRM databases possible for understanding, decision making, and action.

After all, isn’t that why you bought CRM in the first place?

“Voice 2 CRM”: Why CRM is going RETRO!

Posted on March 19, 2012 by admin

“Apple Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Siri. New York City iPhone 4S customer sues Apple, claiming Siri advertisements are misleading and that the service doesn’t work as depicted in commercials. [Writer says,] From my perspective, it’s hard not to disagree with Fazio [man suing Apple]. I have an iPhone 4S, and I find that Siri works less than 50% of the time. I’ll ask Siri a question or issue a command, and more often than not Siri tells me that she didn’t understand what I was asking her to do or simply fails to do it correctly. I’ve had Siri dial the wrong phone number, inaccurately transcribe dictated messages (despite my perfect diction), as well as completely time out or crash.” (InformationWeek Mobility, Eric Zeman, March 13, 2012)

Oh, well. That’s just a ‘beta’ version of Siri. Right? So, after a while Apple will get it right, and Siri will do the amazing things it is advertised to do. Right? Apple Siri is the ‘Holy Grail’ for sales reps. Right?

NOT!

For twits and tweets and notes and jots and thumbs in closed environments, Siri will develop over time into a very useful and practical tool. However, for longer text-based and more complicated open environment reporting, Siri or any other speech recognition, voice-to-text application might never be a useful tool and these efforts are heading in the wrong direction.

Think about it (as in the movie ‘Back to the Future’) – maybe going FORWARD into glamorous and expensive technology is not the path to a solution for simple and fast sales reporting. Maybe going BACKWARDs in time is where we will find a critical ingredient for a great CRM application for the FUTURE.

Consider this – a sales rep out on the road after a customer meeting sits on a bench or in his car, with a good phone cell connection, and speaks his long and complex sales report into his cell phone (4-5 minutes and several paragraphs) and hangs up. Within hours, the voice-based system processes and syncs the report automatically into the correct fields of the CRM database, with 98% accuracy and with professional formatting and appearance. Sweet!

THAT’S THE HOLY GRAIL! VOICE 2 CRM!

Millions of dollars are being spent to find a practical solution that is already operating effectively among us and has been for years. Voice and phone, the ultimate mobility and efficiency tool! RETRO! Who would have thought! As much as we try to develop “modern” improvements, sometimes something from the past is brought forward, added to the brilliance of the new computer tools, forming a new blended tool that is far more powerful than anything the new tools can create by themselves. The older RETRO capability of simple voice is given new vitality and viability in business work.

Put the words “VOICE-BASED CRM” into your browser and be surprised – a vibrant new industry is developing to provide an effective sales reporting tool that is simple, fast, and intuitive. Your CRM system or implementation will gain significantly if you add a voice-based CRM data entry capability.

CHECK IT OUT!

Missing Data! “What happened?” Putting Explanatory Data into CRM

Posted on January 10, 2012 by admin

Why did that happen? Explain that to me; I don’t understand! What’s going on?

How do we get longer, paragraph length explanatory text into the CRM system efficiently and with the willing and positive contributions of the sales reps?

Explanatory data is sentences and paragraphs of information that tell the details and specifics of what is going on or what has happened. Explanatory data is the kind we get when we stand at the water cooler or sit at the hotel bar in the evening talking about things, telling the stories, giving all of the details, telling what happened and why. It is the information a sales rep speaks to his/her manager over the phone after a great sales meeting or winning event, telling all of the details of the people present, the discussions, the competition, the pricing and deal making, and, finally, the glory of the close and contract signing.

Explanatory data is talk, speech, telling, explaining – words, sentences, and paragraphs.

Some estimate that the 98% of the most valuable sales information from the field is explanatory or qualitative. It is words, sentences, and paragraphs not numbers, statistics, or notes or jots. These data are the background, context, and history of the situation or event. These data are the insights, perceptions, feelings, and observations gained during a meeting that have tremendous significance in the long-term service to the customer. These data display the intelligent imposition of meaning and purpose on the events and facts.

The big fish mounted on the wall and why it is there, what it means to the main decision maker, and what it tells you about his/her interests and passions. The photos of the three girls in soccer uniforms on the shelf behind the key account manager, and the excited talk concerning games and teams and the success of this manager’s daughters. The observation that the contact person’s mediocre office is in the basement of the 10-story building and the walk to meet with the decision makers takes you up the elevator to the 10th floor plush offices where the contact person is hardly even recognized by name by the secretaries. The gut feeling, as you listen to the pre-meeting talk and priorities that there is money to send a corporate jet to Norway to pick up a needed part but, you realize, there seems to be no money for your product or service.

The onsite visit to check out a task failure on a high-cost project to determine the involvement of your company’s products, with all of the companies involved trying to avoid responsibility, with the analysis of the actual failure and the technical discussions of why it happened and the reasoning behind the decisions reached.

How does this explanatory information get into the CRM system?

Someone has to talk it, explain it, tell it. The story has to be told, articulated, given form and structure and intelligent explanation. You can’t thumb it or tweet it or jot it.

Only a voice-based CRM data entry system can handle explanatory data, where the person calls on the phone and dictates the long explanatory message, in all of its details, with the system open to the person doing the explanation as he/she chooses in a way that is comfortable and intuitive. The voice-based system needs to be simple to operate, completely transparent to allow the entire story to be told, and then, when finished to allow the person to hang up and get on with the work. The voice-based system then transcribes the information, converting it to digital, and syncs it into the CRM database fields. Because this is a manual transcription system, with native English educated and trained persons, U.S. Citizens residing in the U.S., the transcription is 98% accurate and professionally prepared and secure, so the CRM databases are filling with clear, correct, and meaningful information for understanding, decision making, and confident action.

Why use a Voice-Based CRM Data Entry System for Longer Documents?

Posted on December 19, 2011 by admin

Please listen to the voice of a long-time user of a voice-based CRM data entry system tell you why he is using it. This is an unsolicited user comment of 12/15/2011. The speaker is an adult male, a long time outside sales rep in the chemical field. He has been using the voice-based system for over three years. He makes about three calls into the system each week, with each call averaging 30 minutes of dictation time.

Here is his comment:

“I, actually, don’t have any report dictation right now. But, I wanted to let you know that I just got a nice email note from your Customer Care Manager, saying that somebody in the transcription group really enjoyed my recent dictation for 45 minutes. I apologize for it being so darn long, but there are a lot of thoughts going on in there with that client, a lot of good business discussions, and I hate to leave anything off. So, you are really doing me a big favor. I wanted to thank you for your Customer Care that keeps me informed. That’s good. I’m glad that things are going well. It is actually making my life a lot easier by dictating it as opposed to typing everything out; I only can ‘hunt and peck,’ so, this is a good blessing here. I really appreciate you taking the time to send a thank you note, and, to your transcription folks, thank you for getting my technical words spelled correctly. Take care. Have a happy holiday! Bye, bye.”

Let’s take that comment apart and consider the five discriminators for voice-based CRM entry he lists:

1. “… my recent dictation for 45 minutes. I apologize for it being so darn long,…”

Voice-based CRM data entry is especially useful when the speaker has specific, detailed, and complex explanatory information to enter. This speaker spoke into the system for 45 minutes, and the final report had 24 longer paragraphs of text. An “open” voice-based system allows the speaker to control his own input manner and time, doing it as is most natural and intuitive, so he/she says what is in the notes the way that he/she wants to say it.

2. “… but there are a lot of thoughts going on in there with that client, a lot of good business discussions, and I hate to leave anything off.”

A world-class voice-based system enables the speaker to give accurate, complete, and timely information that has the specifics and explanations that make the communication meaningful to many others in the organization and provide a basis for the rep’s continued service to his client. This is far from a short note or jot, far from a number or statistic or word or phrase of “closed” speech recognition systems. The voice-based system is designed for longer, paragraph-based textual explanation.

3. “I wanted to thank you for your Customer Care keeping me informed. That’s good.”

A voice-based CRM data entry system is human based with manual transcription. The very best systems have bonded transcriptionists who are native English educated speakers and U.S. Citizens living in the United States. In addition to security, this ensures the application of human intelligence to the transcription, such that often the meaning of the passages are made clear through human choices of spelling, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and technical mechanics such as number usage. Because of this application of human intelligence, the final text is 98% accurate, meaning the speaker will have almost zero time required to glance over the report and have it 100% professional and accurate in the database.

4. “So, you are really doing me a big favor. It is actually making my life a lot easier by dictating it as opposed to typing everything out; I only can ‘hunt and peck,’ so, this is a good blessing here.”

Sales reps love to talk and use their cell phones in their work. Talking on the phone is natural and intuitive to them, so it is no big deal to speed dial the number of the service, speed dial the ID or PIN number, and then speak in the details as they choose. They know they can explain things to the transcriptionist, as far as changes, text movement, spellings and abbreviations, etc. They have a human partner they are working with that is motivated to making them look like a hero through professional, quality looking and reading work. The 45 minutes of dictation would have taken this speaker more than 4 hours (maybe more) of keyboarding with his “hunt and peck” method. One thing we can suppose is that he probably would not have reported at all or would have abbreviated the whole thing to get it into a few sentences, leaving out all of the rich detail of background and context and discussion that makes the report so useful. He would be just another CRM “user adoption” problem.

5. “and, to your transcription folks, thank you for getting my technical words spelled correctly.”

A professional voice-based CRM data entry service will have dynamic glossaries of user terms, names, abbreviations, and special grammatical structures. The human transcriptionist easily incorporates these correct usages into the report, so when it is finished it is 98% accurate in all respects. The transcriptionists are constantly adding words into the glossary that speakers spell, often checking them on Google to be sure even the speaker’s spellings are correct. It is difficult to calculate the value of accuracy when we consider the time saved all around as the sales rep speaks in his/her report as opposed to keyboarding it or having to review a text filled with errors and confusing grammatical uses (nouns turned into verbs, adverbs turned into prepositions with speech recognition software misapplied into an “open” dictation environment).

So, this long-time user has given five good reasons to use a voice-based CRM data entry system for longer, paragraph-based explanatory information from the field.