Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Some of that corporate treacle we get so frustrated with can benefit SMB’s.
When transitioning from corporate life to the world of the SMB, I hear people say that one of the biggest ‘liberations’ is to leave behind all of the process and red tape to work in a less constrained manner. Now whilst I agree this is appealing, I do believe there are some disciplines that those of us who have worked in large companies carry with us that are worth deploying in a smaller and typically less structured environment.
One thing I have noticed is how SMB’s tend to have less appreciation of the various steps in a Sales cycle and how to use this knowledge to forecast future revenues. Whilst I was as guilty as the next person when it came to moaning about the use of CRM at every stage in the cycle, I now realise it helped to keep me on the right path with the right actions at pretty much (but not always!) the right time. The business could use the information to forecast both income and expense in a consistent way and prepare for the consequences and I knew where I was in the process at all times. CRM is a vital tool to help companies both large and small keep on top of their Sales processes and to ensure that actions are followed up for the benefit of client and supplier alike. The discipline helps build a stronger tie with clients that last.
