Like all other things, CRM systems also have some shortcomings that need to be overcome. The technology is still new and has many areas for improvement.
The following are the main disadvantages that prevent CRM systems from becoming a perfect solution for any business:
customer dissatisfaction
Although several companies have implemented CRM systems to focus on customers, many customers are still dissatisfied with their execution.
They call CRM as “technology that delays” or “stops the service”. For example, many find automated voice (or Interactive Voice Response) systems a huge headache and look to companies that have made it easy to use.
According to a recent study by Accenture, poor customer service remains the number one reason consumers leave one service provider and switch to another, whether it’s a mobile service provider or a credit card provider.
Other factors weighing heavily in consumer defections include a lack of personalized products and mindless corporate bureaucracies.
Authenticity of remotely hosted CRM services
Many companies these days tend to outsource CRM. Sometimes cost becomes the determining factor in outsourcing CRM systems and not the reputation of the vendor. In such scenarios, it is possible for the CRM service provider to disappear overnight, along with all official records. Information held with the service provider may also be used for other purposes.
A good CRM service always allows the company to backup/export data so that the outsourcing company has control over the information. Also, in some cases, corporate and government laws prevent companies from keeping all customer information (such as social security number, house number, etc.) in an off-site location.
Cost and complexity involved in setting up locally hosted CRM software
The frequent technical expertise required for CRM system setups and upgrades makes companies pay for ongoing application support.
Security becomes the responsibility of the company, which can cause some headaches, especially as is the case with many applications, security patches are deployed and need to be installed very quickly.
As the business grows, the needs of a CRM package also change and adding these additional features can be quite expensive.
Inadequate vision for the needs of tomorrow
The bottom line is that sellers are only interested in things that will help them sell more now.
A sales rep’s only recourse is time; your most important goal is to meet your quota or budget for this month, quarter, or year.
Yes, they’re worried about the long term, but if they don’t meet the quota now, they know they probably won’t be around to worry about the long term.
It’s not entirely fair to say that CRM doesn’t benefit a salesperson in meeting short-term goals because in some respects it does, but most sales reps feel they can be just as effective in short-term sales without it.
In other words, the benefits of CRM don’t seem significantly greater than the investment of time and effort required to use the system every day.
Sales staff training
Since CRM is still evolving, companies need to spend enough time and revenue on sales staff training. The workforce must be able to judge how to use the stored data in the best possible way.
If they don’t use it (or the information they enter is out of date, inaccurate, or spotty), then they may be of little value to the company that “gathers” all this “garbage data.” Inept call center employees can make the situation even worse.
Essentially, companies that don’t provide service reps with enough training or information, or forms that make people thread their way through repetitive and unsuccessful support systems, will lose more customers. That’s not a big surprise.
Simply put, a bad CRM is sometimes worse than no CRM at all.
