In spite of what you may have heard from CRM software vendors, a customer relationship management system is not a "shot in the arm" or "30 days to productivity". In all but a few teams (those that are highly process-driven) a CRM project takes time to fully adopt.

CRM Slows Me DownAs the nearby chart illustrates, you should expect things to slow down before they speed up.

Like that new year's resolution to get fit - you're going to be sore for a while before you get more fit. But stick with it.

Like road construction - traffic is going to build up for a while before the project is done and things move faster. Hang in there, traffic will get better.

Like tweaking your golf swing - it's going to take time and practice before your score starts to come down. Don't fizzle out, keep up with your practice and your game will improve.

Getting up to speed on CRM is like improving your golf swing

In other words, take a long-term view of your commitment to CRM. Don't fall prey to those who lead you to believe that you'll be more productive in just a few weeks. It will take time to get your information into the system. It will take training and repetition to get more efficient with it. It will take discipline and focus to form new habits that last. But the results have been proven out time-and-again. If you'll stick with it, you will see the benefits.

Other Sales Rep CRM Quick Tips

This article is a part of a series of quick tips targeted to sales reps. To see an index of all the articles in this series, click here.