CRM Clean Up – And How to Maintain It

A Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) is an excellent tool for keeping track of your data.
It’s a powerful tool for cultivating consumer and client relationships. It’s also a good approach to communicate with your coworkers (like delegating tasks, collaborating data, and easily sharing reports). You can make your data accessible to everyone in your organization, or you can restrict which users have access to certain content and contacts, depending on which CRM you use. This tool was designed to bring efficiency and organization to your daily tasks.

What impact will it have on your team’s productivity?

• Some contacts will have duplication, inconsistencies in their creative records, and inaccuracies in their tasking.
• Marketing strategies will be ineffective.
• Teams will have poor data results.

What procedures should you consider while cleaning your CRM?

1. Start with deleting unnecessary data 

Run a duplicate check and see if there are any duplicates in the database. There may be duplicates in the CRM due to multiple team members entering the data into the platform or from an import from multiple different sources. Duplicates should be either merged with the correct data or have the inaccurate / excess data deleted.

2. Appoint a dedicated user to maintain the CRM

Your dedicated user will not only be the point of contact for the CRM vendor but will also maintain the CRM for the sales team. One of their roles and responsibilities will be deleting old email templates, removing duplicate contacts, eliminating excess reports, and reviewing automations and integrations.

3. Fix Formatting Issues and Be Consistent with Formats 

Some people will just enter the data into the system without even formatting their contacts such as name capitalization or phone numbers. If you are a B2B company, it’s crucial that consistent Account names are tied to contacts. When setting up new custom fields, limit the use of free-form text fields so the system will have uniform data. Drop-downs or check box fields will provide you with better reporting.

4. Fill in the Empty Fields 

Even if you don’t have anything to put into the empty field, it’s helpful to put an N/A. As your dedicated user checks the CRM, they may notice a trend where an old field is no longer applicable or in use and should be removed.

5. Tasks should be Managed Correctly 

A great sales manager will keep an eye on the CRM and task status. Users should be reminded to check off tasks that were completed, address tasks that are overdue, and update task dates if necessary. It’s worse to have a deal in your pipeline without a task, then it is to have one with an overdue task. So make sure when you complete one task, you add your next follow-up to the deal.

6. Set a schedule for CRM Cleaning Day 

Admins or the dedicated users will have to impose a CRM Cleaning Day for everyone to keep being productive in the CRM. When everyone works together collectively to keep the CRM clean on a regular basis, it won’t be an overwhelming task for any individual and your team can be a lot more productive with their daily usage.

How do you maintain your CRM? 

Even if you are cleaning your database regularly, it is important to have best practices and to create a system to maintain your cleanliness. Once you have created your set of standards, impose them and make it a habit.

With consistency you can prevent errors from happening in the future. A clean CRM is the key to sales and marketing success.