Many OOH sales reps see their company’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system as a one-way street: they put information in but get little value back. Salespeople have long been asked to work for their CRM. What if their CRM started working for them?

What if every rep, including your most experienced sellers, saw your CRM as a tool that helped them sell more, faster? Imagine the improvement in adoption, data quality and sales management.

Good sales reps want to know: “What’s in it for me?”

AI is making that question easier to answer. A CRM equipped with useful AI tools can become a rep’s:

• Personal assistant.
• Research assistant.
• Source of account and prospect insights.
• Competitive advantage.

I’m often asked whether AI will replace OOH sales reps. It will replace reps who don’t use AI.

I recently attended a demonstration of Apparatix’ s CRM and its AI tools. It showed how an AI agent can review an advertiser’s/prospect’s history and recommend next steps. For an expiring contract, it can gather account history, suggest a renewal strategy, draft an email and initiate a renewal campaign.

The opportunity is significant: reduce the administrative work reps dislike and give them more time and better information for selling. Instead of just recording sales activity, a CRM can help generate it. Think about what that could mean for a rep managing dozens of renewals while pursuing new business. The rep still brings the judgment and relationship skills. The CRM helps organize and advance the work.

Any worthwhile sales initiative takes effort before it produces results, CRM adoption is no exception. Account histories, contacts, contract details and next steps need to be entered consistently. Better information gives the tools more to work with. Too often, reps and management focus on the work required today and never reach the productivity gains available tomorrow.

You have to sell the seller on how the CRM will benefit them, and it has to be true.  Mandating CRM use will not produce results; however, a good understanding of the value will produce great short, medium and long term results.

What’s Important Now? This is a good time to evaluate your CRM and how your team uses it. If you don’t have a CRM system, start researching. If you do, find out which useful capabilities your reps aren’t using. Put the tools, training and expectations in place before January. Make better CRM adoption part of your plan for a stronger 2027. The best CRM isn’t just the one your reps are required to use, it’s the one they wouldn’t want to sell without.

If your year isn’t finishing where you want to, let’s talk. I may be able to help make 2027 better.

Learn more at OOHSalesFaster.com

Kevin Gephart
KevinJGephart@gmail.com
612-387-5349

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