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When Government Contractors Know They Need Customer Relationship Management (CRM)



Government contractors, even those that sell high tech software solutions, are not always the first to embrace automation.   Many regard tracking the capture management (sales) process with suspicion because they recognize the importance of personal relationships and high touch sales techniques for winning government contracts.  Therefore they wait until something happens to bring the need for CRM such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Salesforce to the top of their priorities.

What are the top signs that you  need customer relationship management (CRM) for your government contracting company?
  1. Growth of sales people.  If you only have one or two sales people, you can get by emailing spreadsheets with a list of opportunities and notes on their status.
  2. High transaction volume.  If you are a reseller and handling a large number of small transactions, you need a system to keep track of them. 
  3. Proposal deadlines. Federal proposal deadlines are constantly changing, so you need a shared system to store all the key dates and provide notifications not only for writing proposals but for conducting internal reviews.
  4. Working with teammates. If you work on a team with other contractors, you need CRM to coordinate your efforts and track the roles of all the people at each company who are working on the opportunity.  
  5. Mergers and acquisitions. When two companies combine, you are faced with a great opportunity to change the culture of the sales organization and encourage more collaboration and sharing with sales and corporate management.  We often receive inquiries from companies that are initiating a merger and want to standardize their sales systems.
  6. Marketing and outreach. Government contractors can go for years ignoring marketing, but many eventually realize they need to use marketing techniques such as email newsletters and events to stay in touch with their customers, prospects and partners.
  7. Contract management. As a government contractor wins more contracts and projects, their contract compliance becomes more demanding.  A CRM system provides a shared view for delivery and finance as well as sales departments to track their obligations.
Once your company decides it's time for CRM, you have the opportunity to examine your business processes and introduce innovations that will make your sales team more accountable and productive. 

InfoStrat's Dynamics 365 for Government Contractors is tailored to support the business processes of government contractors, and may be tailored for the unique requirements of each government contractor. 

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