Tips for a Successful Transition to a New CRM
Updated: Jun 7
It’s a fact of business today that changing software platforms is a necessity from time to time. The reasons can include outgrowing limited features and capabilities, not getting the support you need, obsolescence, and a lack of integration with your other systems. The senior living industry is no different.
Change is seldom easy, but making a successful transition to a new senior living sales CRM doesn’t have to be difficult! You can make it go more smoothly with some planning in advance and preparation. We’ve listed below some of the top tips for a successful transition to a new CRM!
Name a coordinator
Just like the idiom, ‘too many cooks in the kitchen will spoil the broth,’ transitioning to a new CRM is a situation in which having multiple people in your organization in charge of the transition is likely to create unnecessary obstacles. Assign a lone staff member to be the primary point of contact that will coordinate all tasks and deliverables between the CRM provider and your company.
Identify your needed integrations
Senior living providers today rely on a spectrum of software platforms to aid in the operation of almost every aspect of their business. Your company almost certainly has health & billing management software, marketing software, incoming leads platforms, and a variety of business productivity software. Your CRM will need to integrate with each of them to get the most out of them all. Spend some time identifying and listing all the software your company uses so your CRM provider can work to integrate with them.
Map out what needs to be imported
The details your sales professionals collect from your prospects is at the heart of your sales system –and you don’t want to lose any of that crucial information! Make an inventory of all the data fields your current CRM uses to collect sales details about your prospects.
Define your sales system
To drive sales and occupancy in their communities, most senior living providers have a formal sales system consisting of processes, procedures, metrics, and standards. Clearly define your sales system so your CRM provider can incorporate them when setting up your system. Doing this goes a long way in making your CRM a valuable tool for your sales teams from the start instead of being a hurdle.
List the reports your company needs
Senior living management relies on reports to track and analyze the performance of your sales teams – and if your company is like most, you have a long list of reports that you can’t do without. To be sure your new CRM delivers the reporting you need, list all the reports you require. Pay extra attention to these 3 W’s: WHAT sales data you report on, WHO gets the reports, and WHEN the reports are needed!
Create a list of properties that will be using the new CRM
Let your new CRM provider know the details of the communities in your portfolio by creating a roster of properties. For each community you’ll want to give the following details: the community name, address, levels of care, number of apartments, number of beds, if the apartments are able to be shared or if they are single occupancy, and the market rates.
Create a list of users and their level of access
Just as you need to create a roster of properties, you will also need to create a roster of users across your entire organization who will need access to your CRM. This roster should ideally be a hierarchy based on job function, with corporate management/owner groups at the top and community sales professionals subsequently following. Detail the users, their job function, the community they’re associated with if (they are at the community level), their region (if they are a regional manager), and the degree of access they should have within the CRM.
Champion the transition
More often than not, transitions to a new CRM fail because of two reasons: lack of commitment to the project by the executive leadership, and lack of accountability for the transition team. Championing the transition to a new CRM is a make-or-break part of onboarding; getting behind it 100% is a non-negotiable if you want it to succeed.
Are you in the market for a new CRM? WelcomeHome is a game-changing CRM built specifically for the senior living industry. With its intuitive user interface, recommendation engine, and clear workflows, the WelcomeHome CRM is a game changer for both users in the community and owner/operators. Experience for yourself what thousands of senior living professionals rely on to make their job easier: request a free demo of WelcomeHome’s CRM today!