CRM Systems: Making Engineers Communicate More Efficiently

By Andrew J. Driscoll

Sales teams in every type of business are using CRM systems to increase effectiveness and transparency across their companies. CRM systems such as Salesforce make it easy for companies to track potential and past clients and know who has worked with them before. Within a client’s contact page there is a wealth of information that can be tied to each contact; the information can range from where the client works to the client’s IP address.

The ability to analyze and effectively use big data on all of the people your company’s in contact with can be very powerful, and when used correctly, can be a huge asset to your business.  Such as asset, in fact, that A/E firms that are lagging behind need to look at the success that CRM systems are bringing to sales teams the world over and ask themselves: "Why aren't we utilizing CRM Systems yet?"

While engineers and architects are not sales people, they can use what CRM systems have to offer to keep track of projects and contacts and use the data to win more work. A big way that CRMs change the way companies work is simply by improving communication through transparency. 

For example, when organizing and tracking contacts, it is typically done on a per person basis, or at best, on a per team basis. One person may use their Outlook calendar to keep track of their calendars and projects whereas the next person may keep track of everything in Excel. Even when people are sharing this type of data with each other it is hard to keep it up-to-date because everyone is not on the same calendar, spreadsheet, etc. CRM systems bring all of the contact tracking and managing into one place, giving users the ability to track any contact, while empowering project managers to track the sales/proposal process and delegate the management of each contact.

These simple features make life easier for everyone and open up a whole new way for companies to interact internally that is sure to increase productivity—and that’s just scratching the surface.

In Salesforce, in particular, there are a whole slew of features that will aid any firm in becoming more effective, which include: 

• Real time Data Updates 
• Ability to Send Emails Internally and Externally Directly in Salesforce
• Internal Chat Features
• Lead and Contact Management
• Task Delegation
• Automation of Many Menial Tasks
• Internal and External Tracking and Reporting
• Ability to Pair With Other Programs Such as QuickBooks and Outlook
• Apps Galore That Can Make Any Task More Streamlined and Efficient

After launching your new CRM system you will wonder how you ever effectively (or ineffectively) ran your business without one.

Andrew J. Driscoll is the Marketing Analyst at PSMJ Resources, Inc. and an administrator for PSMJ's Marketing Automation and CRM software. Contact him at adriscoll@psmj.com.