In my time as a CRM consultant, I have had the opportunity to work with hundreds of companies and their employees where they train CRM. In these experiences, I have noticed some trends in common problems across all industries.

Today I will discuss the five most prominent issues that impact your business’s efficiency and growth.

1. Lack of Standardization – 

Every company has unique needs and requirements along with multiple users controlling data integrity and content updates.

Organizations cannot afford to support their clients and prospects by making them work around pre-designed business processes or structure customer data themselves – without the necessary customization tools available within Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

Therefore, your company needs to create systematized processes so new users can quickly learn how reports are run and reports can be reproduced consistently.

Standardization is a key theme of the CRM industry because it ultimately saves companies time and money by creating a usable system that can be adopted by a vast number of employees across multiple teams.

Standardizing processes will eliminate the hours wasted each day on training new members who lack knowledge or familiarity with your business’s overall structure.

This will then allow them to focus their efforts on more productive activities – making your company more efficient as a whole. 

2. Data Isolation – 

Data isolation occurs when users neglect to organize their data in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, instead of storing every piece of information they receive within one main activity or lead source (I bet you are guilty of this) time this causes issues with duplicate records, inaccurate data, and irrelevant content.

CRM consultants always recommend that companies separate general business data from prospect records.

Sales, marketing, and support teams can all benefit from this standardization because it makes finding the information you need as easy as a click of a button – by utilizing tools such as filtering and search functions to pinpoint exactly what you are looking for.

CRM consultants also advise that users group data into custom entities within CRM to help increase the visibility of records that are most relevant to them.

I will use sales as an example because it is a very typical CRM industry issue. Let’s say you have two sales executives – Susan and Robert who work in the same department but have different territories.

Susan focuses on selling to companies located in the Northwestern USA and Robert sells to businesses within a 3-state area surrounding his home office. CRM consultants would recommend that these two users have all information about their prospects assigned into separate custom entities, such as “Susan’s Accounts” or “Robert’s Accounts.”

By segregating your data it becomes easier to assign CRM activities, tasks, and reminders because CRM will only show the relevant information that each user needs to execute CRM processes efficiently.

3. CRM Isolation – 

A CRM consultant’s job is also to help their clients integrate Microsoft Dynamics CRM into existing business practices and ensure it is utilized by every member of a company’s staff to its fullest potential.

CRM can be one of the hardest technologies for companies to adopt because CRM industry jargon is often coined by CRM consultants or other CRM professionals who use terms that may sound foreign to non-CRM users.

CRM isolation can occur when CRM users neglect to spread information throughout the company or when CRM’s benefits are under-valued.

CRM consultants believe that CRM is not just another software package but instead a valuable business solution that should be used by everyone in your organization to improve business processes, productivity, and sales performance.

4. User Misconceptions – 

Being new to CRM industry jargon can cause CRM users to develop some false CRM ideas that can ultimately hold them back from CRM success. CRM consultants often call these misconceptions CRM fallacies, and they are usually based on CRM industry hearsay.

CRM fallacies were created when CRM users who did not fully understand how CRM worked implemented their CRM practices. CRM consultants explain that CRM is only useful to your sales, marketing, and support teams if it adds value to each department’s CRM processes.

CRM fallacies are incorrect methods of using CRM to process CRM activities that can actually cause damage to existing CRM data or pull valuable information out of CRM altogether – resulting in CRM user frustration!

CRM fallacies are common CRM industry issues that CRM consultants frequently come across when consulting for clients.

5. CRM Data Overload – 

CRM data overload occurs when users fail to keep their CRM records updated and organized, which can be a result of CRM user misconceptions (such as CRM fallacies).

CRM data overload can cause delays and lost sales because CRM users may not be reaching the right people with their CRM touches. CRM consultants advise that CRM data should always be updated and organized to ensure CRM information is current and accessible.

CRM touchpoints only provide value to your company when they reach the right CRM users at the right time. CRM touchpoints that reach old or outdated CRM records will not add CRM value to your CRM processes.

CRM consultants recommend that CRM users update and organize their CRM information regularly to prevent data overload from occurring in their Microsoft Dynamics CRMs.

In conclusion, CRM consultants believe that CRM is not for everyone and CRM users should be sure to utilize CRM data to its fullest potential. CRM data isolation, CRM fallacies, and CRM data overload can all cause frustration for CRM users who do not understand the full value of their CRMs.