“CRM is my worst nightmare” - every med device rep, ever
CRM can be a valuable tool for medical device sales reps. It allows them to keep track of their leads, opportunities, and customers. However, many top med device sales reps don't enjoy using CRM or simply won't use CRM.
This can have a damaging effect on the bottom line for sales and revenue. It causes unnecessary friction and makes it harder for reps to do their jobs—sell more and close more deals. We refer to these hangups and blockers as revenue leak. It represents spots in the sales process that break down or go off the rails. And it’s totally avoidable!
In this article, we discuss the three reasons why med device reps don’t use CRM and how commercial organizations can help their reps (and their companies) get more value out of CRM.
3 reasons why top med device reps don’t use CRM
- CRM is time-consuming. Sales reps spend roughly 6 hours a week manually entering data into the system, which can take away from selling time. As a result, updating CRM is inefficient and typically a waste of time.
• 71% of sales reps say they spend too much time on data entry
• 79% of salespeople regularly spend time inputting the same data into multiple systems
• Sales reps cite manual data entry as the #1 biggest challenge to using their CRM
- CRM is complex. CRM wasn’t built, deployed, or customized to be easy to use. Additionally, there are many features and functions that sales reps may not need or use. Complexity and confusion lead to frustration, which results in lower usage.
• 50% of sales managers say CRM is difficult to implement
• On average, businesses use only 50% of all CRM features that they are paying for
• 43% of CRM users use less than half of the features provided by their CRM system
- CRM doesn’t provide the value sales reps need. In practice, CRM should simplify workflows and maximize med device rep productivity. In reality, CRM does the opposite. If CRM can’t provide the results sales reps need, they may not be motivated to use it.
• Only 29% of sellers admitted to using their CRM for key activities such as prospecting, deal progress, opportunity management, and lead tracking
Clari changed the way I sell forever:
As a medical device sales rep, I lived in CRM purgatory for years. Sadly, I had no idea there was a better way to manage customer relationships until I pivoted to the tech industry and joined a SaaS company. The company I joined, HackerOne, had deployed modern sales tech to make my life easier and enhance my overall sales efficiency.
However, only one product I used changed how I sell. A Revenue Platform called Clari.
As a customer, I became a raving fan of Clari. I couldn’t imagine life without it. So much so that I joined the company to sell the very product I fell in love with to the industry where I started my career—Medical Devices.
I still use Clari every day and maintain my status of being its #1 fan. But now I’m focusing on empowering the next generation of elite med device reps to unlock more sales efficiency by transforming their sales process with Clari.
The CRM painkiller
Clari was designed to alleviate sales team’s pain associated with using CRM. Today, Clari’s purpose-built Revenue Platform does a lot more than just provide the anecdote to CRM pain, but that’s a conversation for another time (read more about that here).
Clari helps med device sales reps in ways CRM cannot:
- Pulls actionable insights from data, giving sales reps more time to focus on selling
- Shows the true risk and upside of the sales pipeline, allowing for reps to adjust their strategy accordingly
- Helps sellers follow a tested sales process, emphasizing rigor during a sale
- Make opportunity updates frictionless, leading to less CRM-usage resistance
- Automatically captures all activity data with a customer or account, limiting the amount of manual data entry required by reps
As you can see, Clari works alongside your CRM to drive revenue growth and customer retention. Clari uses AI to automate CRM and eliminate do-it-yourself spreadsheets, reports, and offline conversations.
Not convinced? Check out these results from a previous Clari customer survey:
- 90% of reps say Clari gives them back time to sell
- 89% of managers noted better pipeline visibility
Need more? We had Forrester Consulting validate Clari’s impact. Their study found Clari customers achieved an 80% increase in sales team productivity.
Above all, Clari shifts the narrative from making CRM updates "for the org" to updates made "for the seller’s bottom line.”
Less CRM pain leads to happy sales reps, managers, and leaders
With Clari, sales reps finally have a Revenue Platform that makes life easier. But what about everyone else? The company sees immediate benefits from Clari as well, including:
- Accurate CRM data (for the first time)
- Better sales visibility (which leads to better sales forecasting)
- More value out of an expensive CRM (positive ROI, anyone?)
Med device reps need the support of the #1 Revenue Platform
CRM is dead. Med device reps know this. It’s time for med device companies to invest in the future of customer relationships and sales management.
If you're looking for a solution that top medical device sales reps will love, check out Clari. With Clari, you'll get all the benefits of CRM without the downsides. Reps will be more productive, you'll see a better ROI from your CRM investment, and you won’t experience breakdowns in the sales process.
Ready to unlock the full potential of your med device sales team? Click here to see how.
Read more content like this:
- Is Relationship Selling Dying in Medical Devices
- Bad CRM Data Can Cost You 10% in Annual Revenue
- Why Value Selling is the Best Path Forward in a Downturn
Want to hear more? Shoot me an email at nlang@clari.com
Check out our industry solutions page, Healthcare & Life Sciences companies, to learn more.