One year CRM sales

    I want to write about my experience selling CRM systems in our small startup . Over the year, several observations have been made, which I want to share.

    Where to sell: in a small segment there is little money


    Unlike the West, we have poorly developed small and micro-enterprises. Very bad. It seems that this is due to the children's commodity economy. But now is not about that. Ultimately, this means that small companies (up to 10-15 people) will not have money to pay you. They will try to shrink to a minimum, or look for free options.

    We felt most comfortable with medium and large companies. Pressed with modifications, trying to save, but they pay money. Here the main point is to build a relationship with the client correctly: clearly distinguish the cost of licenses, implementation and customization. The client is more willing to pay when he understands what he is paying for.

    However, for some reason I believe in small business. The only question is how to go out on it. In my opinion, the most interesting and correct way is to roll out the free version, make it mass and find an alternative way to monetize. But it is not easy. I don’t know how to do it yet.

    How to sell: cold calls are bad; contextual advertising is good


    It's funny, but at first we thought that cold calls greatly spur sales. An individual man sat and called. In general, he called unsuccessfully, but the quality of the customers received was poor. Usually, these were random people who did not understand what they want. With such a difficult and expensive.

    Contextual advertising gives a more correct contingent. When people come consciously, it means they have already decided to implement. There were only doubts about what to implement. It is much simpler and you can work with it.

    What to sell: you need customization and niche solutions


    Yes, I need it. When the team exceeds 5 people fantasies begin. I want my own tasks, my own projects, binding to my own ERP / 1C / warehouse / ... I can say that there was not a single project that would not require customization. And these requirements are well founded. Thus, in order to stay on the market, you need to:
    - write a flexible development platform (our way) and a powerful api
    - make many industry niche solutions (realtors, retail, call centers, etc.)

    Where are we going: Russian companies are in no hurry to SaaS


    Another funny fact. Whatever they say, SaaS is convenient. First of all, for money. Secondly, in terms of quality. Compared to licked products like SalesForce, custom offline solutions look creepy.

    Of course, there are objective limitations. For example, for large organizations, customization and integration with their own zoo are critical. But this can be solved, in one form or another. The main reason, in my opinion, is purely psychological. Unusual, unfamiliar, scary. I think this will pass soon.

    Perhaps this is all. There will be no withdrawal. The facts are given as-is. If you have ideas or objections, I will be glad to see them in the comments.

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