What Kinds of Topics are Discussed in a Leadership Roundtable?
The roundtables are intentionally set up to be open and flexible, allowing participants freedom to share thoughts and pivot to new topics as they arise. We also understand the importance of structure, and always provide a loose framework of topics/ideas to help guide the conversation. Below is an overview of the topics covered in the June CRM Leadership Roundtable.
The Benefits of Salesforce as
a Platform-based CRM
Our June roundtable opened with a short presentation on the benefits of Salesforce as a platform-based CRM. When it comes to a platform, the biggest benefit is that the system can be modified to fit the needs of the team. Data analysis and reporting dashboards can be customized, organizations have the freedom to choose “best-in-breed” additional tools for email marketing, forms, etc, and the system as a whole can be designed to reflect an organization’s values, vision and workflows.
CRM Staffing: A Strong Admin and Engaged Leadership are Essential
Following the platform-based CRM presentation and discussion we pivoted to the importance of having adequate staff to steward an organization’s CRM. The group agreed that it is important to have a strong staff member in an Admin role, as well as engaged leadership who will continue to advocate for and champion the CRM cause. More information on roles for success with Salesforce can be found in this recent article published by the North Peak team.
Pros/Cons of Automations
The conversation then turned to one of Salesforce’s strengths: automations. We’ve all been hearing a lot about the value of automating processes to streamline workflows and free up staff to focus on other tasks. It was generally agreed that automations are great when they are set to perform specific, actionable items, like assigning a task to a team member to send a personal acknowledgment letter to a donor, but too many automations can gunk up the system and cause problems down the line. It was also noted that, when deciding what and how much to automate, it’s important for organizations to consider how their decisions may affect the system as a whole.
CRM Reporting and Metrics
As we mentioned previously, one of the benefits of a platform-based approach (as opposed to an out-of-the box CRM product) is the ease of customization. Dashboards and reports can be customized based on different viewer needs, ensuring that an organization’s business intelligence metrics are easily tracked and readily available to the staff who need to see them. The group agreed that when it comes to reporting and business intelligence metrics, the technology is the easy part. The more difficult aspects are determining with leadership and mid-level managers what indicator metrics will be monitored and acted on, in relation to the overall performance of the team.
How to Participate in a CRM Leadership Roundtable
Are you interested in attending one of our quarterly CRM Leadership Roundtables? Or perhaps you’re an expert or leader who has some great info to share related to CRM management or best practices? If so, we’d like to hear from you! While our roundtables are currently invite only (to ensure small group size and appropriate subject matter) we are always open to bringing in new voices and viewpoints. Please contact Brian Pickett for information on how to get involved.
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