Checklist: What to Look for in a CRM

A guide to selecting the right CRM to help grow media revenue and profitability 

It’s no secret that the right CRM sets media businesses up for success. In fact, an effective CRM increases booked revenue, improves customer relationships, improves productivity, and reduces labor costs, according to research from IBM. The CRM software market is booming—it's expected to reach $40 billion this year— which can put publishers into a state of analysis paralysis when choosing the right platform. 

What should media businesses consider when selecting a CRM? And how can you home in on the right choice for your business? We’ve organized the top considerations into a checklist that will quickly move you from decision fatigue to effective customer management, broken down into five crucial categories: 

1. System onboarding and customer service
2. Analytics 
3. Integrations
4. Sales process tools 
5. Value 

System onboarding and customer service

Bringing new software into an environment where teams must juggle many channels, products, and clients can lead to overwhelm—or, worse yet, resistance from your team. The right solution can help sellers more easily manage complexity, reduce time spent on manual tasks, and sift through scattered data or endless email exchanges. It all comes down to ease of use, smooth onboarding, and the customer service offered by the CRM provider. 

Start with these questions to ensure your CRM will serve your company’s greatest asset—its people—from Day One: 

• Was it designed with media businesses in mind? 
• How readily configurable is it? 
• Does configuration require coding or hiring a consultant? 
• What kind of customer support is available from the provider? 
• Is in-app and implementation support available? 
• What can the provider share about its history of sales team adoption and adherence?

Analytics 

While any CRM can show your sales data at a glance, the most useful ones do much more, allowing users to slice and dice data however they need to and quickly find the numbers that matter most. With the ability to parse, visualize, and digest data in a number of ways, publishers can better understand advertisers’ habits and needs and the effectiveness of their outreach strategies. 

Analytics are at the heart of any CRM. Make sure that the software you select has all the latest capabilities by running through the following questions: 

• Does it offer agency and advertiser mapping? 
• Is upfront management available? 
• Can it track seasonality, net revenue retention, and churn? 
• Are media-specific dashboards built in? 
• Can you manage splits? 
• Are hierarchies easily organized? 
• Is forecasting … accurate? inclusive of time of flight? done across multiple revenue streams? able to include what’s already been delivered?  able to be organized bottoms-up?

Integrations 

What good is a CRM if a sales rep has to leave the system every time they want to send an email to a prospect or organize their appointments? Or worse yet, manually share that information back to the CRM? Without the right capabilities and integrations, a CRM can become time-consuming and cumbersome for sales teams. As such, seeking a solution that can easily integrate with the business software you already use—or even better, has the most crucial functions built-in—is important for functionality and, ultimately, satisfaction. 

Consider the following to make sure you’re getting the most out of your CRM: 

• Does the CRM offer an OMS in a single platform? Alternatively, does it integrate easily with your OMS? 
• Can marketing automation easily be connected with APIs? 
• Can email be integrated? 
• Can calendars be integrated? 
• Can deal creation be done natively via email? Or, at a minimum, with a third-party plug-in? 

Sales process tools 

The right CRM makes sales teams more effective, not just more organized. Extra tools, capabilities, and workflows can ensure that teams close more deals at higher rates, not just manage tasks. While analytics facilitate strategy, other aspects of a CRM are just as important to getting the work done. 

Here’s what to consider: 

• How many product hierarchies can be used? 
• Is a commissions tool built in? 
• Can approval rules be set easily for deal creation, etc.? 
• Can you create custom layouts and fields?                                    
• Can you configure your own workflows and alerts? 
• Are multiple sales processes handled easily? Can you drag and drop items through stages?

Value

No matter the size of the business, media leaders know that every dollar counts—and consultants, extra features, reports that incur extra costs, and downtime during onboarding can all eat into profits. 

The bottom line is usually top of mind when it comes to any purchase. Still, as a centerpiece to any media company, value is especially important when investing in a CRM. Here’s what to think through before purchase:  

• Is support free? 
• Can you use the CRM out of the box? 
• What is the total cost of ownership? 
• How will you determine ROI? 

Raise efficiency and lower costs with the right CRM 

Ultimately, a CRM supports a publisher’s broader goals of reaching more people, retaining customers, making an impact, and generating profit. Automation, organization, and insight through data analytics—all funneled through the CRM—can move the needle forward, helping media businesses innovate and create long-term sustainability. 

Boostr was developed by former media executives for media businesses, making it the only CRM designed for the unique needs and concerns of media publishers. Workflows, dashboards, and more are all purpose-built for publishers so that you can do more with your CRM. 

Find out how Boostr can help you achieve efficiency. Let’s talk. Book a personalized demos today!