CRMs are essential for the success of modern businesses. However, many enterprises are making mistakes in the way that they use them. Unfortunately, when this happens, it can lead to missed revenue opportunities, low adoption by staff, and wasted business potential.
So, what are the biggest CRM mistakes? You might be making mistakes in your enterprise, so how can you fix them?
Lower than expected user adoption
Lower-than-expected user adoption is one of the most significant issues that enterprises face with CRMs. Many staff treat them as extra paperwork instead of a helpful tool, leading to spotty coverage.
The best way to get around this problem is to tell your employees how using the CRM will benefit them. For example, you can tell them it will increase their bonus at the end of the year, reduce the amount of time they need to spend talking to customers, improve the quality of their conversations with customers, or reduce the amount of real paperwork they have to do, like entering conversation recordings.
When you do this, your staff suddenly see the benefits of CRMs. They may not have understood them before, but now when they do, they are much more likely to implement them and adopt best practices.
Poor data quality and bloated databases
Another issue you may face with your CRM is poor data quality. This is something that affects the vast majority of firms.
The problem with low-quality data is that it leads to “garbage-in, garbage-out” problems. You might think that you have a lot of information to leverage, but AI and other analytical tools can only work with it if it is accurate and truly representative.
Fixing this problem is challenging, which is why you might want to use a technology consultancy like Incremental. Bringing in experts who understand data and how it relates to customer relationship management software is critical. They assist with things like running audits or de-duplicating data in your databases. They can also help implement mandatory fields and strict entry rules which are required for the cleanest possible data.
If you are migrating data from another CRM or piece of software, then leveraging expert advice is critical. Importing nonsense into your CRM will generate sub-optimal outputs no matter how advanced your artificial intelligence or data analytics tools are.
Choosing the wrong CRM or vendor
You might think that all CRMs offer a similar level of quality, but that’s unfortunately not true. Different vendors have different standards, and you may pick the wrong one, even if the marketing is targeted towards your particular type of firm. Also, there’s the fact that some CRMs simply don’t have the tools and features that a brand in your industry requires. While it might serve accountancies, that’s not helpful if you’re in the tech sector.
To fix this problem, start by defining your essential KPIs. Think about things like your team size and the integrations that you need. Once you know these, you can whittle down to a short list of CRMs that are compatible with your requirements.
If that’s still too risky and you don’t want to commit, you may be able to ask vendors whether you can run pilot trials. These allow you to test the CRM in your enterprise for a few days or maybe a couple of weeks until you know whether it is the right choice for you.
When engaged in this process, consider the long-term requirements of your firm. Don’t think exclusively about your short term needs; consider how your CRM will need to evolve in the future in order to meet customer demands.
Lack of clear CRM strategy
Don’t be one of these firms that suffers from a lack of clear CRM strategy. You need goals and KPIs in place from the start. Treating the CRM as an extra stage in your workflow without a way of measuring success is doomed to failure.
If you think you might have this issue in your firm, fix it by mapping your existing customer journey and then using the CRM at particular stages to improve outcomes. For example, let’s say that you are using a cold outreach method to attract new business. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but the challenge comes in measuring improvements in your approach. If you have a CRM, you can set specific goals, for example, “improve first call conversion rates by 20%.” Once you have these objectives in place, your CRM then becomes a useful tool for you to track them.
The same happens further down the sales funnel. For example, let’s say you already have a lead and you want to convert them. You can use your CRM to track your progress towards a specific conversion metric, like a 15% conversion rate.
Over-complicating customizations
Customisations are a lot of fun. However, some companies and enterprises over-complicate them. They add too many rules, stages and features which slows adoption and puts staff off. It can also lead to the phenomenon of scope creep. This is where the CRM starts taking on responsibilities that it was never intended to fulfil.
To fix this problem, start with your minimum viable product approach to CRMs. Check that they have all of the core essentials and then iterate based on where you see success. For example, you could start with something as simple as forms and fields and then add in some metrics. You don’t necessarily have to immediately integrate it with your accounting software.
Neglecting staff training
Finally, some enterprises fall into the trap of neglecting staff training for their CRMs. They often assume that the tool is intuitive like a consumer app, when in reality most products out there are not.
The best way to deal with this issue is to work with an external consultancy or training firm. These can train individuals in your company in a role-specific manner. They can provide them with the information they need to get the most out of the CRM tool and even become CRM champions themselves who can train new users as they join your firm.