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11 Common CRM Problems (and How to Overcome Them)
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are essential for enhancing customer experience, but they’re not without their challenges.
These are the 11 most common CRM challenges businesses encounter, with actionable advice on overcoming them and keeping your sales processes running smoothly.
We’ll cover:
2. Low-Quality, Inaccurate Data
4. Complex or Limited Reporting
5. Limited Customizability and Scalability
7. High Cost for Limited Benefits
9. Low-Quality Customer Support
10. Too Much Reliance on Manual Processes
11. Difficulty Integrating Your CRM with Your Toolstack
1. Inadequate User Adoption
Modern CRM systems are complex and have a steep learning curve — It’s an inescapable truth. This alone can make your team resistant to fully adopting your CRM software.
The challenge of CRM adoption is worsened by CRM implementation failure, like when leadership doesn’t clearly explain the need for the CRM tool and support employees through proper training.
The result?
When your team isn’t effectively and consistently using your CRM tool, you could end up with incomplete, inaccurate, disorganized data. If you can’t trust your data, you risk poor forecasting and missed opportunities.
Solution:
It’s best to consider the user-friendliness of a tool before purchasing and using it.
If it’s too late for that and you need to improve user adoption for your current CRM system, try the following:
- Offer sufficient training and support to help CRM users feel more confident.
- Request feedback and listen to your team’s pain points so you can find solutions.
- Incentivize successful CRM adoption and celebrate your team as their adoption improves.
- Use a plug-in or CRM integration that can improve the tool’s user experience and streamline sales processes. For example, Scratchpad is a Salesforce plug-in that enhances sales processes and improves ease of use. Among many other handy features, it allows users to edit fields in one click instead of multiple steps.
2. Low-Quality, Inaccurate Data
Human error or neglect can result in incomplete or inaccurate CRM data. Additionally, data can simply become inaccurate over time.
It’s imperative to have systems in place to uphold data accuracy and prevent CRM failure. Poor data quality can lead to flawed decision-making and embarrassing missteps when dealing with customers, such as using the wrong name in an email or sending an offer that’s totally irrelevant.
Solution:
You must regularly audit and clean your data to get rid of any inconsistencies. Do this once or twice a year or even more often if you have a large database.
Different AI automations and CRM plugins can help you clean your data and alert you when something seems off. This automated approach is beneficial because, just like human error can cause data errors, it can also impede auditing.
3. Disorganized Communication
Your team members will often be scattered across different locations while using your CRM tool.
Each user usually inputs data, manages customer interactions, and tracks sales activities and performance. This can cause discrepancies and bottlenecks if users are siloed and not communicating with each other.
Furthermore, it becomes overwhelming to follow up on every task for each customer and keep up with endless notifications from your CRM tool.
This CRM challenge can allow mistakes and opportunities to slip through the cracks.
Solution:
To improve internal communication and data management, you can:
- Establish a clear flow of information and communication and document it thoroughly.
- Ensure everyone is aware of who to report to and what to report.
- Set up cadences for regular check-ins.
- Select a platform for organized, centralized, transparent communication.
4. Complex or Limited Reporting
Some CRMs don’t provide the in-depth data analysis and reporting features needed for razor-sharp decision-making.
Conversely, a modern CRM may offer advanced capabilities but a complex and intimidating user experience.
Either way, it becomes difficult to deeply understand your data and make informed business moves.
Solution:
When comparing CRM tools, pay special attention to those that offer many customizable ways to view data and create reports. Your CRM platform should be able to track KPIs like CLV (customer lifetime value), churn, CAC (customer acquisition cost), win rate, etc.
But don’t worry. If your CRM tool’s reporting capabilities are limited or complex, you can look for a plug-in or CRM integration to help. These can add additional features for data analysis or simplifying the reporting process.
5. Limited Customizability and Scalability
A CRM with limited customizability can quickly become an obstacle as your business grows. Initially, your new CRM tool may seem adequate, but as your company scales, it might not keep up with evolving needs.
For example, you might run into problems like:
- Expanding to new locations reveals a lack of multi-lingual support.
- No cloud support means teams in different geographies struggle to collaborate.
- Adding more users significantly increases costs.
- Organizing data becomes more challenging as the team and database grow.
As your business changes, a rigid CRM is less adaptable, less relevant, and less likely to surface the critical data you need. It prevents you from creating custom workflows to support an agile team and conform to your business’s changing needs.
Solution:
Ideally, you want to select a CRM platform that includes key customization features, such as:
- Custom workflows to standardize and streamline work
- Automations that improve efficiency and accuracy
- Seamless integration with other tools in your stack
- API to extend the tool’s functionality
Difficulty scaling is a common challenge you can avoid if you plan well in advance. You can never be too prepared.
Take time to investigate the integration and API options your tool offers and work out how they can help you down the line. Look into plug-ins that add customization options to tailor and future-proof your CRM.
6. Limited Features
Limited CRM functionality and missing features can hinder business growth and your ability to manage the complex processes of a successful CRM strategy.
As your company grows, essential features like automation, mobile CRM access, and collaboration tools may be missing, forcing you to rely on manual workarounds.
This limits your team's efficiency in meeting the demands of a growing customer base.
Solution:
Many tools have built-in capabilities that aren’t always immediately apparent. Review your CRM to see if it includes any underused features that could meet your needs.
If the required CRM functionality is still missing, find out whether a plug-in or integration can provide it. This way, you can enhance your CRM without needing to switch to an entirely new system.
7. High Cost for Limited Benefits
CRMs are a tool most businesses can’t do without, and because of this, they often have a premium price tag.
That’s largely unavoidable. However, if your tool is not feature-rich or user-friendly enough, you can end up spending a lot of time and money on it without much payoff.
Solution:
Whether you’re still comparing tools or evaluating your current tool’s cost and value, you should approach this CRM challenge with a realistic mindset.
Cost-effectiveness is a valid factor to consider, but you should also discuss goals, outcomes, and a sensible budget with other stakeholders. This will provide a better perspective on the cost vs value of your CRM technology.
It may seem counterintuitive, but you can use plug-ins to improve the ROI of your current CRM. Although plug-ins are often an added expense, they can significantly increase profitability by helping your sales team work more efficiently.
8. Security Concerns
Your CRM is your hub for tons of sensitive business and customer data (or even personal data). So, it’s natural to worry about the security of your CRM vendor and fear that your precious data could be spied on, stolen, or deleted.
Solution:
Every legitimate CRM provider should carefully outline terms and conditions that describe the responsibilities of both parties (your company and theirs) for protecting your data.
To ensure you and your CRM provider are both adhering to data security best practices, do the following:
- Educate yourself about the privacy and data security features your CRM vendor provides and their legal responsibilities.
- Read up about your own legal responsibilities.
- Investigate any local laws or regulations (in your country and the provider’s) that may impact security.
- Use access control features to limit who inside and outside your organization can make certain changes to your CRM system (like accessing and sharing data, managing users, and deleting data).
9. Low-Quality Customer Support
Inadequate, slow, or unprofessional customer service can be a major issue for CRM users. When you encounter technical issues, you need timely support. Otherwise, critical problems can persist, snowball, or even halt business operations.
Additionally, poor support can lead to frustration among team members, decreasing overall satisfaction with the CRM and making it harder to resolve issues as your business grows.
Solution:
Excellent customer support is a crucial factor when choosing a CRM tool. Always check third-party reviews to evaluate customer service.
It’s best to select a tool with multiple customer support options, such as:
- The ability to contact support via email, phone, or web chat
- A chatbot providing automated answers
- A catalog of self-service support documentation and learning materials
If you are facing problems with your CRM’s customer support, you can try:
- Troubleshooting internally to attempt to solve problems.
- Looking for support resources on integration partner sites. A tool that integrates with your CRM may have helpful resources, or their customer support team may even be knowledgeable enough to support you directly.
10. Too Much Reliance on Manual Processes
CRMs should empower you to work more efficiently, especially through automations. Manual processes, such as data entry, lead tracking, or follow-up scheduling, can waste valuable time and slow down operations.
Repetitive manual tasks become inefficient and frustrating, and this prevents teams from focusing on higher-priority activities like nurturing leads or closing deals.
You may also struggle with slower response times and missed opportunities, which can directly impact sales performance.
Solution:
Opt for a CRM with robust automation features, such as automated lead scoring, follow-up reminders, and email campaigns. Ensure you're fully using the automation options your current CRM provides.
If essential features are missing, consider using plug-ins to add extra automation capabilities.
11. Difficulty Integrating Your CRM with Your Toolstack
Integrating your CRM with other tools in your tech stack can be challenging, leading to disconnected data and inefficient workflows.
Your team likely uses a long list of tools each day — customer support systems, accounting software, e-commerce platforms, project management tools, etc. If you can’t easily connect these to your CRM, a host of problems can arise.
For example, imagine you couldn’t integrate your CRM and email tools. When you update customer information in the CRM, it might not automatically sync with the email tool, leading to mismatched customer information. This can result in sending emails to the wrong recipients or failing to personalize campaigns effectively, hurting engagement and customer experience.
Solution:
If possible, consider integrations when comparing tools, and select a CRM that supports connectivity with the tools you use.
In the case that you already have a CRM and encounter this common challenge, check if your CRM works with tools that support building custom workflows between platforms.
If the challenge persists, explore your CRM’s API to create bespoke integrations. Additionally, contact your CRM’s customer support team to request new integrations or enhancements.
Now, is there a one-stop solution that could help you resolve most of these common CRM problems?
There is! It’s called Scratchpad.
Solve All Your CRM Problems Hassle-Free With Scratchpad
We’ve repeatedly mentioned how CRM plug-ins can significantly support and improve CRM operations.
And that’s just what Scratchpad does.
Scratchpad is a powerful AI-enabled Salesforce plugin that offers seamless integration with your sales teams’ existing processes. It can help you manage records, pipelines, and collaboration with ease.
Here’s just a taste of Scratchpad’s incredible features and how it can help you fix Salesforce CRM issues:
- User Adoption: Scratchpad makes Salesforce easy and quick to use, so your team will actually adopt it.
- Data Quality: The AI Sales Assistant helps keep your CRM data clean by flagging anything incomplete or incorrect. It also offers suggestions for fields like next steps or MEDDPICC.
- Efficient Communication: With Scratchpad’s Slack Deal Rooms, Deal Alerts, and Inbox, the right information gets to the right people without clutter.
- Customization: Create custom views, templates, shortcuts, workflows, and more to tailor your CRM processes.
- Enhanced Features: Scratchpad adds powerful features to Salesforce, like easy in-line editing, new views, note-taking, and much more.
- Cost-Effectiveness: Start for free and get more value out of Salesforce without breaking the bank.
- Automation: Custom, no-code automations streamline repetitive tasks, freeing up time for more important work.
- Security and Support: Scratchpad is a trusted and secure solution that provides extensive resources to help you get the most out of Salesforce.
For an example of how Scratchpad helps, check out our Crunchbase case study. Through improved adoption and data hygiene, Crunchbase saw a 138% increase in pipeline generation and trimmed their sales cycle by 15 days.
Are you ready to revolutionize your Salesforce CRM experience? Give Scratchpad a try for free!
Before we wrap up, let’s address some common queries you may have about CRM troubleshooting, including CRM implementation challenges, choosing a new CRM, and more.
3 FAQs About CRM Systems and Related Challenges
Let’s dive deeper into best practices for successful CRM implementation, how CRMs solve key business challenges, and which CRM options might be the best fit. This will help you make informed decisions to get the most out of your customer data management system and avoid potential pitfalls.
1. What Are the Best Practices for Ensuring Successful CRM Implementation?
Your business may struggle with a CRM not because of the software itself but due to CRM implementation challenges. Avoiding CRM implementation failure requires a strategic approach.
Best practices for CRM implementation include:
- Providing proper training and preparation so your team understands the system and how to use it effectively.
- Defining your CRM strategy and objectives, aligning it with broader business goals prior to implementation.
- Establishing strong sales and marketing strategies to attract high-quality leads.
- Avoiding forced and rushed adoption of clunky workflows — take time to optimize them.
- Establishing checks and balances to ensure clean, accurate data.
Ultimately, listening to feedback, identifying shortcomings, and adjusting your approach are key to preventing a CRM failure and optimizing performance.
2. What Business Challenges Do CRM Solutions Address?
CRM tools are indispensable for businesses looking to streamline operations, improve customer relationships, and drive growth.
They help solve a wide range of business challenges like:
- Inconsistent Workflows: CRMs standardize processes across teams, ensuring everyone follows the same steps.
- Disorganized Customer Data: CRMs centralize and structure customer data management, making it easy to track interactions, leads, and opportunities.
- Poor Customer Communication: CRMs allow you to automate and personalize customer interactions, maintaining consistent, high-quality communication.
- Low Sales Performance: A robust CRM solution can help you track leads, manage pipelines, and prioritize opportunities to optimize your win rate.
- Time-Consuming Manual Tasks: CRMs automate repetitive tasks like follow-ups and reminders, freeing up time for higher-value activities.
- Lack of Actionable Insights: CRMs offer detailed reporting and analytics, providing the data needed to make informed decisions and improve strategies.
3. What Are Some of the Best CRM Tools to Use?
Choosing the right CRM solution minimizes problems and helps ensure smooth business operations. A well-suited CRM will align with your company’s needs and scale as your business grows.
Here are some of the best options:
- Salesforce: A powerful, customizable CRM known for its scalability and wide range of features. It's ideal for large enterprises looking for extensive integration options and advanced analytics.
- Pipedrive: A sales-focused CRM with an intuitive interface designed to streamline data management and pipeline tracking. This tool is great for small to medium-sized businesses.
- Zoho CRM: An affordable and flexible option, Zoho CRM offers strong automation capabilities and integrations, perfect for growing businesses looking for a budget-friendly solution.
- HubSpot: Known for its ease of use and robust marketing automation features, HubSpot is a great choice for companies looking to align their sales and marketing efforts in a single platform.
Conquer CRM Challenges and Unlock New Opportunities
CRM problems, such as poor data quality, limited automation, and restricted integrations, can impact customer relationships and hinder business growth and efficiency.
But to make life easier for you, we’ve covered all the essential tips on how to identify and resolve common CRM issues and unlock new sales opportunities. Don’t forget that CRM success also requires strategic CRM implementation.
Now, if your business uses a cutting-edge CRM system like Salesforce, Scratchpad is the solution you need to alleviate common issues and make CRM work a breeze.
Why Scratchpad?
The tool offers robust features like user-friendly data capturing, AI data integrity alerts, advanced automations, and much more. Ultimately, Scratchpad keeps your team happy, your data pristine, and your sales process optimized.
Try Scratchpad for free today to bid farewell to the challenges and frustrations of CRM software use.
