When do you know you are ready for a CRM?
Common triggers for change
Every business is unique, which means numerous motivations may have landed you in the market for a new CRM software. As you consider whether now is truly the right time to adopt a new system, ask your teams if any of these scenarios sound familiar:
#1 Your teams operate from multiple sources of truth
Your customer data lives in several systems or records, which means each team references pieces of the truth and fills in the gaps as needed. Perhaps you’ve noticed that each department operates with incomplete or outdated information, leading to internal frustrations and inconsistent customer experiences.
#2 Your sales, marketing, and service teams work in siloes
Poor cross-team alignment is another side effect of using a unique system for each department. Maybe your sales, marketing, and services teams each rely on their own management system, which gives them poor visibility into each other’s goals and operations and makes for a poor handoff between lifecycle stages.
#3 Your teams rely on manual reporting processes
Without a CRM, your teams are likely forced to use manual processes — like spreadsheets or a legacy system of record — to keep track of customer information and build various internal reports. This approach means hours of tedious work and increases the risk of human error, meaning you’re likely missing out on critical insights.
#4 You’ve identified gaps or inconsistencies in your reports
Reports provide a detailed overview of how your sales and marketing teams perform. They help you develop or improve campaigns, optimize sales processes, and strengthen customer relationships. However, if your reports are incomplete or simply not aligned with your goals and KPIs, they aren’t effectively serving you, your business, or your customers.
