CRMs and Sales: Friend or Foe?

A Biomed friend of mine at a hospital was frustrated last week because their sales rep wouldn't call them back.

This Biomed simply wanted quotes because they were ready to spend millions of dollars in equipment. How does this happen that a customer WANTS to buy, but can't because the sales rep won't call them back?

It could be that the sales rep is a slacker.

OR...I think it could be that sales reps are so inundated these days with administrative tasks, like Salesforce, budget reports, etc that it's hard to catch up.

It's absolutely amazing to me how a tool that is supposed to streamline, such as a CRM, can actually create SO much more work for a sales rep.

Plus, I think sometimes quotes can get really confusing and sales reps are scared to quote the wrong thing.

Sales managers, do you have a handle on how often this is happening in your territory?

If this is happening, and customers can't get ahold of quotes for equipment they want to buy, it's a real problem, but it's fixable.

Do you struggle with the overwhelming amount of administrative tasks you have on a daily basis?