COVID has changed the game for all of us. It has forcefully fast-forwarded everyone into a digital era. Now, we have no other choice but to adopt technology to run our businesses. Although small businesses are agile to adopt changes, sometimes adopting technology can be challenging. Three friends – Anubhav, Jagdeep and Irshad – are running different businesses of different sizes in various industries. One of them already bought and failed CRM and the others still thinking of buying one.
Liladhar Shastri, their class-mate, guides them through this bumpy but exciting journey of making a decision and actually buying CRM, then implementing it, solving user adoption problems and growing their business with CRM. I am sure you will find answers on their journey.
If you have not yet thought of implementing CRM or you are in the process of buying one or you have already purchased it and struggled, I am sure Cracking the CRM Code will help you. This book will be specifically useful for business owners, sales managers and sales team leaders. CRM sellers and consultants will find useful insights into customer behavior and their CRM buying process. It will help them sell better.
Ancient Indian knowledge and wisdom have been expressed through storytelling for thousands of years. With this in mind, Limesh Parekh wrote his first business book Cracking the CRM Code in fiction format. CRM, which the author fails to define in the book, stands for Customer Relationship Management and is a useful process for businesses to interact with their customers.
Rather than produce a mundane manual about how to purchase and use CRM software, Parekh writes a story about four friends and their journey with CRM. Liladhar Shastri, a successful business owner, is encouraging his friends, Anubhav, Jagdeep and Irshad to consider using CRM to improve their businesses. What follows is a lengthy discussion about buying CRM, using CRM and getting the most out of the software.
As the Indian entrepreneur, Rashmi Bansal writes in the introduction, Limesh Parekh is "not a salesman but a friend." The author gives advice through the voice of Liladhar, and the other three friends express the reader's questions and concerns. The book is written for small business with the potential to grow with the help of CRM. The story analyses what the friends do wrong and what they need to change.
Cracking the CRM Code is written for business-minded people who understand the jargon and acronyms, many of which are unexplained. As a layperson, some of the information went over my head, but the fiction format helped hold my interest. English is presumably not the author's first language, hence the sentences do not always flow, and the punctuation is far from perfect. At times, it is difficult to work out which character is speaking, making it a little confusing to follow.
Many business books and manuals are nondescript and boring, whereas Limesh Parekh keeps the reader engaged with anecdotes, stories and quotes. Rather than learning how to use CRM, the characters show the process of purchasing and using the software, which is far more enlightening than a step-by-step guide. Cracking the CRM Code has the potential to be a big hit with small business owners and business consultants.