A CRM isn’t the answer to all of your problems.
(Just don’t let them know that we told you that, ok?)
We know, we know - it sounds pretty ironic coming from, well, a company that offers a CRM solution. But it’s really true, and it’s better that you hear it from us directly.
We didn’t just challenge the narrative of a multi-billion dollar global industry (whoops) for no reason, though. We’re just trying to catch your attention so we can tell you how we really feel about CRMs.
Still with us?
We see CRM as a tool. And just like any other tool, it works best when you use it the way it’s intended to be used, clean it well between uses, and regularly check it for issues.
So before you jump into buying one, or jump into switching to a new one (have you considered Fireberry, an all-in-one, 100% customizable, no-code option that will help you deliver on your KPIS month over month without burning a hole in your pocket?) give the rest of this piece a chance and see if it might be worth making a few changes on your end first (and if you have any further questions, the Fireberry sales team is highly responsive).
Organizing Your CRM for Success
Data structure basics:
Let’s start with an easy question: How do you organize your records?
By this we mean, how you track your customers, leads, and deals. How are you measuring success? Where do you gather the information to set new goals?
To illustrate, let’s examine how a real estate agency might structure its CRM.
A real estate agency’s business model revolves around matching buyers and renters with the right properties. In its CRM, organization is key to managing these relationships effectively.
- Leads : New inquiries from potential buyers, sellers, or renters who are just entering the sales funnel.
- Contacts: Individuals directly involved in the business processes, such as property owners, prospective renters, or prospective buyers.
- Accounts: For commercial real estate, these might represent businesses seeking to lease or purchase office space.
- Listings: These are the properties available for sale or rent, often connected to specific contacts, like owners.
- Deals: Represent active transactions in progress, such as ongoing negotiations, offers, or counteroffers, ensuring the agency has a clear view of its pipeline at all times.
Use your business model and apply this framework.
No matter your industry, whether you’re in retail, manufacturing, education, or service - your CRM should reflect your business model.
Certain CRM tools are built with comprehensive customization capabilities, enabling them to adapt seamlessly to your business processes rather than requiring you to conform your operations to their system.
Whichever approach you choose, stick to clear and consistent naming conventions and labels (e.g., status categories, deal stages). Simple, intuitive organization makes your system easier to use while ensuring smoother onboarding for future team members.
Big data cleanup.
A CRM is only as good as the data it contains. To maximize its potential, start with a strong foundation of accurate record organization and clean data entry. While data cleanup may seem daunting, it’s a critical step that can be approached methodically:
- Remove duplicates and outdated records: For example, if you’re migrating from spreadsheets or an older system.
- Standardize data formats: Ensure consistency in fields like phone numbers and addresses. Pay attention to parentheses around area codes, dashes between numbers, capitalization, abbreviations.
- Set up industry-specific fields: For real estate, fields like “Property Status”, “Listing Type”, or “Year Built” add precision and personalization.
- Create and use tags for easy filtering: Real estate examples here include: “Buyer”, “Renter”, “Hot Lead”, or “First-Time Homebuyer”.
While this stage might test your patience, it’s the foundation of your CRM’s future success. Taking the time to clean and organize your data will pay dividends as you build a system that works seamlessly for your business.
2. Secure Buy-In from Your Team
Why Employee Adoption Matters:
A CRM only works if people use it consistently and correctly.
It's not just about setting up the software; it’s also about how well it’s integrated into the daily workflow - and if your team isn’t fully on board, the CRM’s potential will be limited.
To secure team buy-in, get employees involved early in the setup process. Encourage them to provide feedback on what features would be most helpful to them, and be open to addressing concerns.
Outline the individual and team benefits of using a CRM.
On an individual level, a CRM can be a game-changer for employees’ productivity and performance. For example, a salesperson might track customer interactions and automatically get reminders to follow up. This not only helps meet their personal sales targets but also boosts customer satisfaction by keeping things organized and timely.
On a team level, a CRM can help the team track progress on shared goals and spot issues like stalled deals. As with most Sales environments, accounts and deals move from one salesperson to another frequently (remember that rep who left the company with all the account related info stored only in their head…?) so maintaining the best possible CRM hygiene ensures that any new account rep will be able to find information quickly and avoid information gaps.
When employees see that the CRM helps everyone work more efficiently, it’s easier to convince them of its value.
Training & Support:
Even if your team is excited about the CRM, they’ll still need guidance to use it properly.
Offering hands-on training sessions is crucial for building confidence and know-how.
Walk through the key features and provide scenarios they might encounter in their day-to-day roles. Quick-reference guides should also be available for users to easily look up answers to questions as they come up.
Don’t stop at just initial training—ongoing support is key. Have a go-to person or team available for troubleshooting and questions. This could be an appointed internal CRM champion who is well-versed in the system and can assist others.
If an employee hits a roadblock, knowing they can reach out for help without friction will keep the momentum going.
Make It a Habit:
It’s essential to integrate the CRM into everyday tasks, in order to make it a natural part of your team's routine.
Anyone who has experience managing a team, especially someone who has led a team through any type of change, will tell you that that’s easier said than done.
So start small.
Remind employees to update customer info right after every call or interaction so that logging tasks, scheduling follow-ups, and documenting deals becomes second nature—just like checking emails.
Highlight the benefits of using the CRM regularly to help employees see the long-term value:
- Employees will save time on manual tasks
- Reduce errors from having multiple systems (Even the most experienced rep might forget or misplace critical details that aren't recorded in the right place)
- Easily track lead, deal, and ticket progress
Most importantly, don’t underestimate the value in making it fun!
One way to encourage CRM adoption is through gamification. Set up friendly competitions, like rewarding the team member who logs the most updates in a day or week, or give small prizes for hitting milestones.
Random callouts, prizes, and public recognition can also go a long way.
Celebrate successes, no matter how small, and use these moments to reinforce the idea that the CRM is a tool for personal and team growth.
3. Automate and Optimize
Set up automations.
In today’s fast-paced world, customers have all come to expect quick responses from companies— instant follow-ups and immediate engagement. It’s actually become atypical for a business not to respond right away.
For those who haven’t yet dipped their toes into the world of automation, these levels of responsiveness seem unattainable, and automation - complicated - when in reality, CRM automation is actually a fairly simple and powerful way to get more out of your CRM and, in all honestly, the most out of your manpower.
For example, you can set up an automation that sends a personalized welcome email to a new lead as soon as they enter your CRM, or schedule follow-up reminders to ensure no potential deals fall through the cracks.
A more sophisticated example is the use of required fields or dependent fields. A trigger can be designated that will prompt Sales reps to update them in specific scenarios.
Some companies build their CRM fields and automations to mirror the sales methodology framework that they apply, like MEDDICC. This allows them to enforce structure around a practice that is otherwise impossible to track and monitor.
If that's your goal, take time to sit down with each department—marketing, customer service, and sales—to build automations that align with their workflows.
It’s important to note that automation is not a set-and-forget process, and that revisiting your workflows regularly is key to ensuring that they remain efficient and aligned with your team's needs. Don't forget to use triggers to automate critical handoffs between teams.
For example, when a deal reaches a specific stage in the pipeline, an automatic notification could be sent to the next team member (e.g., a sales rep or account manager) so they can pick up where the previous team left off.
This kind of seamless transition can speed up the sales cycle, reduce delays, and ensure everyone involved is updated on the deal’s status in real time.
4. Don’t Let Your CRM Get Stale
Audit Regularly:
Your CRM is only as good as the data it holds, which makes regular audits essential. Periodically review your records to ensure accuracy and relevance—duplicate, incomplete, or outdated data can clutter your system and slow down processes. For instance, archive inactive records, such as leads that have gone cold or accounts that are no longer active, to maintain a streamlined and efficient database.
Stay informed about updates and new features offered by your CRM provider. Many updates include enhancements or tools that can save time or improve your workflow. Keep an open line of communication with your account manager to learn about these updates and even suggest new features tailored to your needs.
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to show your CRM provider some love! If your system is delivering results, take a moment to support them on social media or review platforms. Your positive feedback can help them grow—and encourage them to keep delivering exceptional features.
Adapt to Changes:
Your business isn’t static, and your CRM shouldn’t be either. As your processes evolve, revisit your workflows, automations, and custom fields to ensure they align with current operations. For example, if you expand into a new market, you might need to create new tags, fields, or pipelines to accommodate those changes.
Staying proactive in adapting your CRM will not only keep it relevant but also ensure it continues to support your team in achieving their goals.
5. Additional Tips for Creating and Maintaining CRM Hygiene
Integrate Other Tools:
A clean and organized CRM becomes even more powerful when it works seamlessly with the other tools your business relies on.
Connect your CRM with marketing platforms to automatically sync leads and personalize campaigns, with customer support software to track service interactions, or with accounting tools to link payment statuses with client profiles, and easily track and follow-up on overdue invoices.
Integration reduces manual data entry, ensures consistency across systems, and creates a more holistic view of your operations.
Set Permissions:
Setting role-based permissions protects sensitive data and prevents accidental changes to critical records.
Celebrate Wins:
Reinforce the value of your CRM by showcasing how it contributes to team success.
Share success stories in team or company settings to keep morale high. Share stories like how using the CRM helped close a major deal faster or identified a new opportunity that led to increased revenue.
You can even use dashboards or reports to visually highlight progress, making the impact of the CRM tangible and motivating for everyone.
Conclusion
Whether you’re starting fresh or revamping your CRM, taking the time to organize and optimize it will pay off in better productivity, higher compliance, happier customers, and increased revenue.
Ready to bring sanity to your CRM? Start with one tip today and build from there. Your future self—and your team—will thank you!
