Tips for Post-Sales CRM Management

In 2020, it seems as though there is a technology solution for everything – especially for SaaS organizations and teams. One of the biggest breakthroughs of the last decade or so is CRM, or Customer Relationship Management platforms. These systems help account managers, salespeople, and executives report on, keep track of, and control client interactions throughout a customer lifecycle.

Given the name, it is interesting that CRM is mostly associated with pre-sales and sales activities and not post-sale activities. Most high-yield SaaS sales teams rely on CRM platforms to move customers through prospecting stages and the sales lifecycle. Once customers actually become, well, customers, this is where things can often break down. Some SaaS teams don’t think to continue their CRM use post-sales, or they can’t find a CRM that is comprehensive enough to capture the data required by customer success teams.

 If your team is thinking about leveraging a CRM during the post-sales cycles of your SaaS business, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Your company’s CRM process should be seamless from pre- to post-sales

One of the biggest reasons the customer onboarding process has such a negative stigma is that new customers, often already overwhelmed by a long sales process, are jolted into yet another long line of meetings and introductions. Although it may sound revolutionary to some, the post-sales process should be seamless for customers transitioning from sales, and this same mentality goes for the CRM itself. Whether it’s recording customer interactions, collecting meeting notes, or assigning tasks, your post-sales CRM management process should look the same for both customers and your internal team alike.

2. Find a platform that is custom-built for customer success

As CRM platforms have become ‘must have’ tools for sales teams, the market has been flooded with platforms designed for all kinds of customer-focused activity. For post-sales activities and customer success workflows, having a CRM platform that is specifically designed to help onboard, retain, and grow customers is key. All of your post-sales customer activities from meeting notes to customer sentiment to growth forecasting is available in a single location for easy access and organization.

3. Work with other teams to dictate your customer journey

The customer journey is in place to help guide customer success teams and their customers towards desired outcomes. While a dedicated post-sales CRM is a great tool to help manage this process, actually working with your sales, marketing, finance, and product teams can help ensure that the steps outlined during this process (and the features available in your CRM platform) are all providing value at every step of the process.

For many new customers, transitioning from the sales process to the onboarding process can be glitchy and uncomfortable. Post-sales CRM platforms are a key tool for customer success teams who want to show immediate value to customers out of the gate and to keep that momentum going down the road. By keeping the above tips and mind – and adopting a dedicated post-sales CRM platform and process – your team can ensure that customers remain happy and satisfied with your team. You can learn more here.