One of the toughest things for an entrepreneurial company to do is transition from relying on the individual talents of the founders to being able to institutionalize successful techniques throughout a growing organization. Small business CRM applications can help with this transition.

Indeed, with hosted solutions and continued advances in CRM software, the cost threshold for implementing a CRM program has never been lower. This makes it wise to adopt CRM applications early in the company life cycle, when their implementation will be least disruptive.

In return, entrepreneurs can use CRM software to manage growing sales and marketing teams to systematically repeat the successful approaches that were instrumental to the firms initial success. In this way, an entrepreneur can hand off marketing and sales functions with confidence, knowing that certain essential disciplines are firmly in place.

Three Essential Marketing Disciplines
The following are some examples of marketing disciplines that CRM software can help implement.

1. Know the competition. Generalizations about the market will only get an organization so far. Knowing specifically who has what pieces of business will help a firm identify emerging trends and target weaker competitors. Using CRM applications to track this information will institutionalize the type of market knowledge that entrepreneurs have built through first-hand experience.
2. Target market segments with specific messages. A one-size-fits all approach never quite fits anybody in a segmented market. By coordinating marketing messages with customer characteristics, an organization can seem more like the right fit for different customers.
3. Measure results. Trial and error is a necessary component of marketing, but the trials can be shortened and errors minimized if CRM software is used to track how success rates correlate with different approaches. This can help the firm get pricing, message, and delivery method right, while concentrating resources on successful techniques.

Three Essential Sales Disciplines
Successful entrepreneurs are able to communicate their vision to others, and have the drive to get this message across as often as possible. Having a sales team perform this function can increase capacity, as long as certain sales disciplines are implemented.

1. Keep up the numbers. People outside of sales tend to equate sales success with andquot;the gift of gabandquot; and other outgoing personality traits. Those with successful sales management experience know that sales is much more of a numbers game than that. CRM applications can help set activity goals and track progress toward those goals, to make sure that the corporate message is being spread with the same energy an entrepreneur would bring to the task.
2. Know customer decision cycles. Sales is often a matter of being at the right place at the right time. Rather than chalking this up to luck, CRM software can be used to track customer decision cycles so sales reps make more timely contacts.
3. Repeat successful techniques. From targeting techniques to sales pitches, entrepreneurs know what works, and can use CRM applications to make sure the same tactics are followed by the sales team. As that team grows, the most successful sales reps can be identified, and their approaches disseminated to the rest of the sales team.

By implementing key disciplines, the burden of growth transfers from the entrepreneurs individual talents to the quality of the organization. This transition is an essential ingredient for growth.

Sources
Call Center Magazine
Fortune
Yahoo Finance