Being an avid Cricket (sport) fan, I have been following the Indian team taking on Australia down under. Unfortunately, India has been mutilated in the last 3 test matches against Australia. And it has been a collective failure of batting, bowling and fielding.

What exactly is collective failure?

In any organization, we work as part of a team, whether it be for marketing, sales, production, IT, HR, etc.

We have objectives, monthly / quarterly goals, personal goals and achievements that we have to meet. We have to deliver individually as well as a team.

At Spanish Translation US our business model is based on a team comprised of an Account Manager, who essentially works to serve our clientele, and a Project Manager, who is the production interface working with our suppliers whether it be in-house resources or freelancers. They have to work in tandem and in the best interest of the client. A lot of times we work under a lot of stress and tight deadlines.

Collective failure occurs when critical deadlines are not met, projects are not completed within the desired budget or there is no collaboration between the account manager, the project manager and all the members of the team to get the desired outcome. This is where the blame game starts, but it is everyone’s loss.

An Account Manager should understand the challenges a Project Manager faces. So should the Project Manager appreciate the Account Manager’s “yes we can” attitude.

Financial success should not be the only objective; you have to take pride in your work and deliver the best product/service you can.

Even if you are selling a slice of pizza at the local mall, sell it with pride and conviction. Believe in yourself and your team.

Always remember, there is no “I” in team and our culture based on shared values should guide every decision we make, every interaction among our team members, every product or service we provide, every channel we operate, every customer interaction.

In this final episode, I would like talk about the most important tool that all companies nowadays utilize, CRM tools. CRM tools are utilized extensively for managing a company’s interactions with prospects & clients. It involves using technology to organize, automate, and synchronize business processes, sales activities, but also those for marketing, client services and tech support. Analyzing, measuring and valuing customer relationships are critical to implementing this strategy. Let’s have a look some the most widely used CRM tools and their benefits.

1. Salesforce: One of the best known online CRM tools, Salesforce was built with sales in mind.It provides features useful for a sales staff, like the ability to easily access contact information through an iPhone while you’re out of the office.
2. Sugar CRM: Sugar actually offers several different CRM tools, which happen to be open source. While Sugar CRM is not free, it’s extremely adaptable, allowing you to easily create custom modules as well as add external data.
3. Zoho CRM: CRM grew out of managing sales and marketing efforts and you’ll find the CRM tools necessary for large-scale efforts in Zoho CRM (e.g., integrated inventory management) so that you can quickly complete sales.

CRM systems are chosen based on these key features, versatility, quality, efficiency, enterprise agility, customer attention and cost.

CRM systems come with a set of challenges as well and may require extensive training of the sales staff. Interfaces that are difficult to navigate, hence, implementation can be fragmented and not entirely complete. It is also very important to understand how the CRM system being put into operation blends with the various software that are currently in use.

All being said, CRM systems are the key to success in today’s work environment. This is one investment that any professional organization cannot afford to neglect.