What Virtualrain Members Look for in a CRM Partner

We recently had the privilege of joining Virtualrain members at their technology conference this year in San Antonio. The most interesting feedback we received was around their requirements in a CRM and business intelligence partner.

Virtualrain is the fastest growing and most successful marketing and buying group in the green industry who define their mission as helping independent distributors be successful in all aspects of their businesses through valuable networking, national marketing initiatives and strategic partnerships with leading suppliers. We’re proud to help them with their sales and marketing technology and were eager to receive their feedback.

When we asked what is important when selecting a CRM software vendor partner, most of the members we spoke with told us they want integration to their distribution business system and that they want their CRM to be integrated to their business intelligence, marketing processes and ERP data.

The distributors at the conference want their systems connected for maximum effectiveness. The power of a connected CRM system comes from providing the ability for a distributor take their sales strategies and tactics from thought to execution all in one platform.

About half of the participants are also looking for a hosted solution that is easy to implement, maintain and support. A hosted solution features regular, automatic updates rather than requiring continual IT projects and support. This seems to line up with what we have always believed here at SMP, that CRM belongs with the sales team, not the IT team.

Fortunately, SMP scores very high in all of these areas, making it a great fit for Virtualrain members and other distribution sales teams.