Is Your CRM a Bomb Waiting to Detonate?

Ditch Your CRM, Before It Gets You with CRM Software Reviews

Tick. Tick. Tick. That is the sound of your CRM system waiting to detonate. If your CRM overflows with old, inaccurate records, you have a potential bomb on your hands.

The importance of CRM

Customer relationships are central to your business success. Failure to manage those relationships means failure for your company.

To make managing and nurturing those relationships easier, most companies use a customer relationship management (CRM) software package. This software allows a company to collect all sorts of data about each customer. The information gathered gives critical insights into what drives customers. It offers data that makes it possible to break a business’ customer base into tightly focused marketing segments. This makes it possible to communicate and market more effectively.

A fully developed and properly managed CRM system can launch a company to success. But, as many CRM software reviews can tell you, a poorly managed system can also open up a ton of problems.

The problems with some CRM systems

How old is the data in your CRM system? If you launched it only a couple of months ago, the data in it is fairly fresh and accurate. However, if you have old data from several years ago, your CRM is already a potential threat.

Outdated CRM data poses a real threat to your company’s ability to market effectively. Email addresses and phone numbers can change quickly. Addresses become stale if a customer moves. This can cost you money if you send out mailers. It can cost you in productivity when your employees are struggling to figure out what data is fresh and what is out of date.

An unmanageable CRM creates tons of busy work that does not pay off in the long run. Your CRM likely started out pretty simple. You had a name, address, email, phone number, and company name. Then, you needed to track all their social media account information. After that, you added tracking information for every interaction you had with the customer. You grab tidbits about the customer’s family, income level, housing situation, etc. Where is the balancing point between entering such data and the actual value it brings?

An outdated, unmanageable CRM can plummet employee morale. This is a problem not often found in CRM software reviews. Your employees do not want to spend most of their time digging through outdated information to find the rare nuggets of gold. Employees will start looking for workarounds to avoid using the system all together. As the CRM becomes more and more unwieldy, it will gain a bad reputation. The older employees will warn the newer ones against using it. That just spells more trouble for the CRM’s future and CRM software reviews.

While most CRM systems have some level of security, it is not always enough to prevent data leaks. And those leaks present a ton of liability for your company. Many jurisdictions have strict laws concerning a company’s liability for a data breach. A single leak can put your business at risk of large fines and liability costs. That is on top of the fact that consumers can sue your company for the breach.

These are just a few issues that you may be facing with your CRM system. If your CRM has become unmanageable, it is time to consider taking a new approach. Take some time to go over CRM software reviews to see what is out there. You can learn more in our free CRM Software Reviews ebook.