In this season of Elevated, so far we've been demystifying the idea of a sales system, why you need it, how you can use it. And in the last couple of episodes got into the nitty gritty on how to get your team to embrace the system. In this episode, I'll be answering some of the most frequently asked questions from business owners like yourselves about sales systems. A quick sidebar here, in case you haven't caught earlier episodes, a sales system is not just software. Certainly, software or an app can help power your sales system, but the system itself is the defined, repeatable, and scalable process you use to convert people that are interested in your services to paying clients. Okay, now on to the questions. How is a sales system different from generating estimates and proposals? Let's get into this. Generating estimates and proposals are steps. So a sales system is the larger view of the method used to qualify prospects and take them through a process that includes creating an estimate and proposal. I've heard from several kitchen and bath design business owners that estimates and proposals can be a, um, Serious pain point in the sales process, as they tend to be very labor intensive and don't always result in a sale. So, end up eating into the profit. Taking the time to define your sales system can help by reducing wasted time and effort on estimates and proposals because you qualify prospective clients earlier in the process. This means you end up generating estimates and proposals only for those prospects that meet the criteria that qualifies them as a likely client. Increasing the chances that they'll become paying clients. Alright, next question. How much does a sales system cost? Yes, this is one of the most often and first asked questions that I get asked. And like most critical questions, the answer is, it depends. Don't worry, I'm not going to leave you hanging. Let's dig in further and get a real answer. First off. You can create a fully functional sales system using just a Google or Word document to capture the process and a Google Sheet or Excel document to capture the information on the companies and people you're talking to. In that case, there's not any additional hard costs to the system as you're already paying for that software. Of course, there is a soft cost of time and effort to define, set up, and use the system. My position in regards to these soft costs is that the time and effort investment to create the system pays dividends every time someone uses the system. Because without it, The customer data is who knows where, and it's likely taking double or triple the time to do anything if you have to chase down that information on that post it note that's in your locker. No, not to mention the lost opportunity cost when a hot lead falls through the cracks because there isn't a system to track it. Now, to take this further, using a Customer Relationship Management software, or CRM, typically comes with a per user cost. I cover setting up a CRM in depth in episode 10, so check that out for all the details. In the interest of finishing out the answer to this question, there are many CRM apps that have a free tier to get you started, like HubSpot, Zoho, and Streak. Once you get to the point of needing the paid features, the cost can range from 15 to 300 or more per user per month, depending on the CRM you choose. Now, while that can seem like a hefty investment, it's always useful to consider the context of what each deal is worth to the business and the cost of the salesperson's time. If a CRM can save them even an hour per workday, so five hours a week, with an average hourly rate of 30 an hour, that would save 150 per week, per salesperson. In that case, the math of paying up to 150 a month per user for a CRM to save 630 a month in wage costs to likely make them more effective at closing deals really adds up. Which CRM should I choose? Ah, yes, our final question here. That also gets the standard answer. It depends. When clients ask me about choosing the right app or software, I tell them the right one is the one that actually gets used. Yes, that, that really is my top criteria for software evaluation, but knowing if you'll use it usually comes after you've selected one or two to try. So to get to that point, here are some additional selection criteria. First, does it have the functionality and features you need? Yes, you'll need to do a bit of prep work before shopping around to figure out what specific features are must haves for your business. You can do it. Number two, does it work with the other software and apps you already use? Uh huh, more prep work, but be sure to have a list of software and apps you use so you can check for integrations. And number three, are there tutorials and or communities of users you can access for learning? Newer software solutions may not have large communities yet, but the existence of robust learning libraries and communities of users means it will be easier to get you up and running and get your questions answered. Number four, is the paid tier in your budget? Even if you'll be starting with the free version, ensure that the paid tier is in the ballpark for you as you don't want to adopt the software and then need to change applications later because the paid version isn't aligned with your budget. That covers the top most frequently asked questions about sales systems. If you've got another question you want answered, send me a message on social or submit your question on our website. In the next episode, I'll walk you through a sales system health check, what it is and why you need it. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss it. Was this episode helpful? Take a moment to rate and review this podcast. Rating helps other kitchen and bath design owners discover our episodes.