Late Feb/early March. If you didn’t know, it’s actually break up season…According to several studies – including one that tracked trends in Facebook relationship statuses the few weeks just after Valentine’s Day is the yearly peak season for break ups. Valentine’s Day hangovers are possibly just a coincidence, but possibly not, as it might also be the result of the added pressure to showcase your relationship on social media around this time. This weight of expectations could be the trigger to one party embarking on a period of self-reflection and deciding it’s time to call it quits.
At Hatchit, we’re not qualified to help with your personal relationships, but we do match companies with software solutions to solve their business problems. And while we take great care to build lasting connections between organisations and their technologies, sometimes companies find themselves in a relationship gone bad – particularly with their CRM software.
So, how do you know it’s the right time to call it quits with your current CRM software? Here are a few signs that it could be time to start that awkward conversation:
1. Your CRM has become too high maintenance.
If it costs too much time to keep up with upgrades and too much money to scale with your growing business, it may be time to move on. What was good at the start now requires too many tricky integrations, too many workarounds and the information coming back out has too many variations.
2. Your users and your CRM just can’t seem to get on.
It’s often said when you marry the girl you marry the family and with a CRM it’s similar – except it should marry your whole organisation. Your CRM will only deliver it’s best value if it has widespread use. If you’re struggling with user adoption, sit down with the users and have a deep and meaningful. Understand why they are not using your CRM – maybe they need more training or the setup is too complex for them. Maybe with some changes the relationship can be saved, but if your CRM just doesn’t get along with the people who are important to your business, then something needs to change.
3. Your CRM’s user interface has really let itself go.
Whether we like it or not, looks matter. And when it comes to user interface, your users crave a good experience and that usually means that your software needs to look and operate like the other modern software they’re using. So, if your CRM has an outdated look and feel, it may be turning people off using it meaning it’s time to change things up.
4. You’ve simply outgrown your CRM.
The right CRM for your company a few years ago isn’t always the right technology after your organisation has matured. Whether you’re now bigger, require better integrations with other software, more advanced reporting capabilities, or more modern functionality, there’s a right time to acknowledge that you’re struggling to keep your CRM together by creating endless workarounds, or recognise you’re just making do with what you’ve got because it’s just too much effort to go through the pain of break up. You may need a more supportive CRM that can satisfy your needs today and make you excited for the future.
If you’re ready to call it quits with your existing CRM software, have a read of this guide to learn what to look for in a new solution or contact us so we can help match you up with the right solution for your business.