70% of Sales leaders say their CRM hygiene is bad. Are you one of them?

Sales forecasts are the backbone of any good sales team. But without reliable data to feed into your forecasting software, you're going to be guessing at how much you can sell. One of the most common reasons for incomplete or bad CRM data is that it's too hard to keep on top of things or people forget to enter the information. If you want to avoid all these issues and have accurate data for your forecasts, check out this blog for tips on how to tackle CRM hygiene in your team.

What is CRM Hygiene?

Simply put, CRM hygiene describes the quality of data in a CRM system. If a CRM system contains inaccurate or incomplete data, it can lead to frustration for sales teams and leaders who have to use it on a daily basis. 

The first step to improving CRM hygiene is to take a close look at the data that's already in the system. Is it accurate? Is it complete? If not, it's time to clean things up. 

Inaccurate or missing data can be caused by a number of things, but one of the most common is the friction in entering data. When your CRM is clunky and complex, there's a good chance that your data will be incomplete and inaccurate.

Another common cause of bad CRM hygiene is outdated data. This is far more common and happens because sales reps (SDRs, AEs) typically do not keep the CRM updated as and when they get new information through meetings, calls, emails or chat. 

Why is CRM Hygiene important for sales teams?

 The 1-10-100 Rule states that it takes $1 to verify a CRM record when it is initially inputted, $10 to clean it later, and $100 to do nothing (as a result of lost revenue). The later you try to address this problem the costs of doing so only increases. This can lead to a bloated sales stack in terms of spend

In addition, here  are a few other key reasons why CRM hygiene is so important for sales teams:

1. It ensures that your data is accurate and up-to-date. This is critical for sales teams, as they need to be able to rely on their CRM data to make decisions about where to focus their efforts. If the data in your CRM is inaccurate, it can lead to incorrect forecasting and wasted time pursuing leads that aren't actually qualified.
2. Good CRM hygiene helps to keep your sales pipeline organized and tidy. A messy sales pipeline can be a real nightmare to try and manage, and it can lead to deals falling through the cracks. By keeping your pipeline clean and organized, you can avoid these problems and keep your deals moving forward smoothly.
3. Good CRM hygiene makes it easier to measure and track your sales team's performance. If your data is clean and up-to-date, you'll be able to see exactly how your team is performing against their goals. This information can be invaluable for making tweaks and improvements to your sales process.

Fixing bad CRM hygiene

Good CRM hygiene requires data to be entered correctly and consistently, duplicates removed, and outdated information is purged or updated.

Unfortunately, bad CRM hygiene is all too common. In many organizations, Salesforce is treated like a dumping ground for random contact information and half-baked leads or worse, like a data desert which is barren and useless. This creates a massive headache for sales teams, who have to wade through mountains of inaccurate data to find the needles in the haystack.

So how can you fix bad CRM hygiene in your organization? The first step is to get everyone on board with the importance of accurate data. This means creating processes and playbooks for sales data management.

The problem of CRM hygiene is not only behavioural but also due to bad tooling.

CRM hygiene is not only behavioural but also bad tooling. In order to get the best ROI out of your CRM system, it needs to be properly set up and maintained in a way where all stakeholders derive value out of it. It is important for companies to invest in good CRM tooling for their sales teams. Without good tooling, a sales team will not be able to function properly. This will lead to frustration and eventually, a decline in sales. 

One way to keep your CRM up-to date is by using Luru. Luru helps reps take meeting notes right within their meetings on zoom/ Google Meet. Go ahead and give Luru a try. It’s free!