Five things you just can’t do using a spreadsheet

12th February 2018

When you’re used to using traditional business tools like spreadsheets your sales team ends up using it for big projects – projects they’re not meant for.

If you are using shared spreadsheets to manage sales activities it can often lead to frustration and there are serious limitations on what your team can accomplish. While spreadsheets can be useful for data sorting and organising contacts, they do not help your sales team reach their business goals like a CRM does.

Why do sales teams still use them?
Well, change can be scary. A lot of the time people prefer to use a tool that they are comfortable with and can find learning how to use a new programme very daunting. 9/10 most will already have access to a free or existing spreadsheet software on their computer. BUT, rows and spreadsheets are simply not built for managing prospects and collaborating with other members of the staff.

Here are five things you just can’t do using a spread sheet.

1. View a historical record of every interaction.
   A spreadsheet can only really tell you who made the first contact and last contact to a customer or prospect. If you can see a historical timeline of every interaction with a prospect or customer it removes the need to search your notes before every sales call and allows you to hand over a prospect or customer to another team member without having to explain everything that has happened or been discussed so far.
2. Build a standard sales process.
   Building a standard sales process starts by identifying the activities that produce the best results for your team. You then turn them into a formal template that the sales team can follow. Having a sales process provides a great and straightforward way to train new staff, set expectations, highlight sales efforts and very importantly, build a foundation of consistency that makes your team more confident and efficient. Building a sales process will be one of the most important things you can do for your team and business growth.
3. Work together and communicate.
   Spreadsheets are sharable but not the best tool for collaboration. Having to edit or review a spreadsheet together is disorganised and inefficient. A spreadsheets comment field isn’t meant for notifications, nor back and forth communication. CRM allows your team to share notes, receive notifications when opportunities need attention and collaborate to help move prospects through the next step of the sales cycle.
4. View the status of your sales pipeline.
   It’s a known fact that no-body likes the challenge of looking at layers of spreadsheet data and trying to come up with accurate sales forecasting or an overview of opportunities in progress. It’s vital that you understand your sales pipeline and know how your doing against your business goals.
5. Integration with other business tools.
   Who loves that feeling you get when your software working seamlessly together? The best thing a spreadsheet can do is export data in comma separated values however this isn’t much use when you want to integrate with customer support software or email platforms. The best CRM’s will be compatible with other business tools that allow, where needed, your staff to work within a single platform instead of having to work back and forth between them all.

Register for a demonstration by sending an email to hlavery@setforbusiness.co.uk or sign up to a 30 day free trial here to find out first hand why SET is the best CRM for SMEs. See for yourself how our contact management features, sales process tools, intuitive reporting, performance tracking and powerful sales integrations can help your business grow consistently.

We can make your switch easy by assisting and delivering the tools, tips and free support you need to get started and be at the top of your game.