If garbage goes in, then garbage comes out
You have worked hard to configure your CRM system for your business, and you are growing - congratulations! You've hired additional people, and they're all working hard to grow the business and gathering new leads, contacts, and opportunities. Your CRM system seems to be serving you well, but as you may have already experienced, scaling your business can get messy quickly. You want to keep your CRM data organized, but are probably starting to notice:
- Tags are everywhere
- Each opportunity has different naming conventions
- The sales pipeline has outdated opportunities from three plus years ago
- Your contact records lack segmentation
It can be overwhelming to clean this up, which is why it is best to have concise guidelines and processes to keep your CRM data organized, no matter who is helping to maintain the system.
No doubt you've heard the saying, "Garbage in, garbage out." Well, this statement certainly applies when it comes to managing your business data. A messy CRM system can hinder your business processes and engagement with your clients or potential clients. What better way to help with the clutter than seeking the help of a coach or consultant? Partnering with CRM Growth Strategy can foster a deeper understanding of what your workplace truly needs when it comes to customer relationships.
If you're not ready, that's okay; we have compiled some helpful tips that will help you keep your CRM data sharp! There is no better time to develop effective habits as you continue to grow.
Host a training session for your team.
Let's start by hosting a team meeting to talk about checking data quality in your CRM system. Your team must understand the importance of data input and how consistent efforts will give them quick and easy access to relevant business data that improves their customer service and simplifies their job. Refining the data used to identify leads can help you identify your ideal clients or potential customers. You can start a team discussion on what kind of CRM data points are vital for your business' segmentation strategy. Once that's done, you can create a system of notes outlining the information that your team should capture during a sales cycle.
After a detailed discussion, host a training session to review the steps for adding new companies and contacts to your CRM. You want to ensure that everyone on your team is using the same methods. During your training session, you should review your sales pipeline, marketing efforts, and naming schemas you have in place. This will help your team understand how new leads are entered into your system and what happens to them during the sales process. Do leads need to be reviewed/qualified by the marketing team, or does the sales team need to review/research them before reaching out?
Beware of duplicate contacts.
When manually adding contacts, it's essential to check whether the lead has already been added to the CRM system. Duplicate information can quickly make a confusing mess and throw off all your analytics. Dig a bit deeper into this issue. How do you currently handle duplicates? Most CRM's have a function to search and merge them. Be sure that you review the steps to merge duplicate contacts with your team.
Maintaining greater efficiency
What would help make your business processes more efficient? Create email templates to share information about your company and tags that can be applied while adding contacts to your email list. Check with your team to see what could help simplify their steps in the process. You want to ensure your existing and potential clients are receiving follow-ups so that they don't fall through the cracks. Don't forget to include a process for gathering testimonials from satisfied clients you have been working with for a while.
Spring clean once a year!
Remember to clean up your CRM system at least once a year. Use this opportunity to review all of your processes, evaluate how effective they are, and update your software and related technology. Determine what you should keep and what needs to be purged. Explore new business strategies along with checking data quality to keep leads and client engagement high.
How are you tracking your clients and potential sales? Is your business growing? Do you need a better system, or are you having a hard time figuring out how to use all your current CRM features? Contact us at CRM Growth Strategy to help you choose between desktop applications or cloud-based solutions with more data storage options and access across digital devices.
Get the most out of your CRM by reaching out for a Discovery Session to assess your situation.