It's Not Your CRM - It's You

Let’s stop pretending CRM data isn’t useful. Let's break down why bad data isn’t the real problem (hint: it’s fixable) and talk about how to use your CRM for deliberate, profitable success.

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I'm working with a client this year who is completing a CRM roll out. They're consolidating, they're changing, and they're updating their CRM. Fact. I'm working with 2 or this year. It must be the year for CRM.

But in all of this, what I'm noting with sellers is that many of them are just afraid of the data, or they don't like the data, or they think the data is wrong or useless. And you cannot be afraid of using big data - your CRM data in sales. It is a sales accelerator. The data is what the data is.

So the first thing, if you say the data is bad or the data is wrong, you need to ask yourself who put the data in there. And if it's you, then you've got the problem, but you can fix it. What the data says about your closing ratios, where sales are in the stages of the pipeline, the total value of the pipeline, either by net discrete number of opportunities or the value, is the data. And if you don't like it, then change it. But if you operate blindly, then you will never create success on purpose.

When we use data, however it's showing it in your CRM, to tell us exactly where we are today and to allow it to predict the future. Because what the data says today is going to predict how you end up with your sales in a month or a quarter or a year from now. If you use that, then you can make conscious decisions on what deals to close, what deals to quit, how much more to put in the pipeline where you've got problems. Your managers can be alerted to red flags on things that are dragging too long. You can look at the opportunity size and speed and make some decisions to change that, to improve that, but only if you're paying attention to the data.

Don't turn a blind eye. If you ignore the data and refuse to use it, you will never create as much success in your pipeline and your sales territory as those who are embracing it.

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