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At Databox, we’re firm advocates for improving your business through data. But just having that data isn’t enough – you need to manage it well for it to serve you.
Customer relationship management (CRM) software excels at capturing the data you need for your marketing and sales operations. But that data needs regular upkeep and careful analysis for you to use it effectively.
If you don’t feel like you’re on top of your CRM data management, you aren’t alone. So, Databox conducted a 145-person survey on this subject with the help of multiple partners.
This survey is linked to the HubSpot CRM Benchmarks Benchmark Group. There, you can anonymously compare your HubSpot performance with up to 1,300 other members for 13 metrics, including Deals Created and Average Time to Close Deal.
We discovered insights on these topics through our research:
We surveyed 145 companies about their experiences with CRM data management. Among the businesses we surveyed, about 80% have less than 50 employees.
The most popular CRM among respondents was HubSpot, with 57.85% naming it their current software. Salesforce trailed behind it at just under 20%.
The accuracy of their CRMs was generally not an issue for the companies surveyed – the majority stated they are at least somewhat confident in their customer data accuracy.
We asked this group questions related to the following areas:
While the companies we surveyed didn’t have many issues with trusting their CRMs in data accuracy, they did have doubts related to human error.
The top challenge they face related to trusting customer data is a lack of data validation processes. Just over half consider it their biggest problem. Inconsistency in data entry (33.88%) and limited integration between systems (33.06%) were the second most common issues.
Almost three-quarters of respondents encounter customer data discrepancies at least rarely, with 61.98% stating they face them occasionally. Just 25.62% reported they never see discrepancies.
Any resulting lack of trust in customer data can then go on to affect decisions. 47% of respondents believe a lack of trust moderately affects their decision-making process.
Low trust in data also impacts marketing. 39.67% of respondents answered that a lack of trust in customer data moderately affects their marketing effectiveness.
So, if they were guaranteed to improve the trustworthiness of their data, what would these companies use as a fix? 52.89% of respondents chose data validation tools as their preferred solution.
With these doubts in their data , how do teams measure their sales efficiency? The businesses we surveyed still count on CRM data to measure sales effectiveness, but they have similar challenges with data integrity.
The most common metrics participants use to measure sales efficiency are revenue generated (70.25%) and Number of deals closed (63.64%)
And respondents are quite satisfied with this approach, based on ratings from a 1 to 5 scale.
But, the companies we surveyed also face challenges related to data quality and their ability to manage data. The most common problems in tracking sales efficiency they mentioned were incomplete data (45.45%), limited access to real-time data (40.50%), and difficulty in analyzing data (36.36%).
Related reading: 23 Tips for Tracking Sales Activity with HubSpot CRM | Databox
The companies we surveyed count on their CRM data for sales forecasting, and that forecasting and its related data matter for various areas of their businesses.
Sales forecasting is a regular part of business for the majority of respondents. While 38.02% update their forecasting models monthly, 30.58% do it quarterly.
These businesses rely on data accuracy for effective forecasting. Over 50% consider data accuracy moderately impactful to their forecasting abilities.
The companies we surveyed use a wide range of strategies to improve their sales forecasting accuracy. Most of them use collaborative forecasting (71.07%), historical data analysis (62.81%), and market trend analysis (52.89%).
When asked how satisfied they are with their current forecasting methods based on a 1 to 10 scale, respondents ended up being quite satisfied.
Inaccurate sales forecasts affect three core areas of business for respondents: financial planning (66.94%), strategic priorities (66.94%), and resource allocation (62.81%).
While the companies we surveyed are overall satisfied with their data analysis setup, some of them would prefer to have more training and resources.
When we asked about their satisfaction with their current data analysis tools and technology, most respondents were somewhat or very satisfied.
But most survey participants also had features in mind when prompted to share what is missing from their tools. 54.55% would like predictive analytics, 38.84% want integration with other business tools, and 36.36% miss customizable reporting.
Most companies in our survey train their sales team on their CRM and other data tools at least quarterly.
Even though many respondents train their staff frequently, 64.46% of all participants stated that a lack of time is their top barrier in data tool training.
Most respondents consider it at least somewhat important to have a dedicated analyst or team for customer data analysis, with 45.45% considering it moderately important.
The majority of the companies we surveyed involve their sales teams in improving data accuracy, with about half stating they actively involve them.
We now know how businesses currently handle customer data – but where do they see room for improvement, and how can they improve? The second half of our survey investigated these questions.
In the open-ended questions of our survey, we asked respondents what changes they would like to see in their companies’ approaches to handling customer data. We also found some insights on how businesses want to improve when we discussed the survey results with the public during our August 9th, 2024 Live DBUG session.
There were seven major trends among these responses:
One of the most pressing issues that came up among survey respondents and DBUG participants was that companies simply aren’t entering or using their data.
CRO:NYX Digital’s Tanya Wigmore puts it like this: “Our main challenge is keeping the data updated, which falls to the contact owner to keep it updated with changes. Just making sure that these updates don’t fall through the cracks is critical.”
But while CRO:NYX Digital is aware of this importance, Growth’s Alec Whiteside pointed out that many companies don’t put processes in place to maintain their data during the DBUG session. Since sales teams don’t have a process to follow, they don’t enter data correctly or on time.
Companies also need to actually reference this data to make use of it, and Therese Brinkman from Denamico noticed that this doesn’t always happen. During the DBUG session, Therese reported that many companies don’t use first-party data – data they get from customer interactions like forms – to tailor their outreach.
The more data from different sources you have in one place, the easier it is to draw conclusions from it. But companies aren’t always using integrations to send data from other software to their CRMs. Plus, problems can arise with the integration process.
At the DBUG session, Rick Kranz from Weidert Group shared an observation: companies often don’t integrate their revenue data into their CRMs. He said, “If they’re using an ERP, [revenue information is] in a separate system. And they’re not getting it imported into Hubspot or Salesforce.”
Simple Strat’s Ali Schwanke sees a similar trend, but with webinars instead of revenue data. During DBUG, she mentioned that some companies will run webinars and pass a file of attendees over to sales instead of automatically sending it to their CRM with an integration. According to Schwanke, with proper integration, “we should see what the attendee did and how they engaged by integrating the two [systems].”
While the ParamountQuote team does try to integrate their data, Tim Connon notices that technical errors make it difficult. Connon would prefer “a better integration to the CRM of the data in addition to cutting down on duplicate data.” “We get a few duplicate leads due to technical issues with our integrations. This is our main issue in our customer data,” Connon explains.
Even when companies want to work with their data, data accuracy can become a huge barrier. We already explored how much it impacts operations in the closed-ended questions in our survey, and this issue came up again when we let professionals talk about the issues they notice.
In his work, Rick Kranz notices that most companies “have no trust in their data.” They often face issues like multiple fields for the same data, orphaned contacts without companies, and companies with no contacts.
Sometimes, this issue is related to the CRM itself. Jon Ziemba from Heartland Business Systems considers the company’s top issue a lack of predictive analysis, but there’s another problem underneath: data access and accuracy. Ziemba says, “There isn’t any predictive analysis taking place. Data within our current CRM (ConnectWise) is either difficult to find, difficult to compile, or somewhat inaccurate.”
Adopting a new CRM can also impact data accuracy. Daniela Nocker of Precis Digital explains, “Keeping data accurate and up to date is probably our most needed improvement. Especially when rolling out a new CRM system, lots of focus should be on new system adoption, ways of working, and team collaboration to make the most of it and deliver trustworthy data. We’re currently in the middle of that and still in the process of finding our best way forward.”
Related reading: Cleanup Your Bad CRM Data Like the Pros Do
As we went over the survey results during the DBUG session, another problem became apparent: a lack of KPIs.
While it wasn’t a top challenge, nearly 30% of respondents consider a lack of KPIs a barrier to their sales team’s success. This stat stood out to Seth Tilli from The Hypergrowth Project:
“I don’t understand how you can run a sales organization & not have KPIs that are relevant, in 2024. You know? I don’t care if you’re a tech company or an old school company. You still need to know [your] KPIs.”
Seth Tilli
Founder/CEO at The Hypergrowth Project
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One of the most frequently mentioned issues in the open-ended section of the survey was data security. Many respondents want to protect their businesses and customers with secure and compliant data.
At TopSource Worldwide, Reyansh Mestry has a wide range of plans for making the company’s data more secure. “Our company aims to enhance global payroll and HR services, and handling sensitive employee data securely is a cornerstone of our operations,” Mestry says.
Mestry explains, “We’re looking to improve our data storage solutions to ensure they are both secure and efficient. Upgrading our systems to include more advanced data protection technologies, such as biometrics and two-factor authentication, is also a priority. We’d also improve on fostering a culture of data privacy within our organization through ongoing education and training, which is essential for upholding our high standards.”
Compliance goes hand-in-hand with safety, especially when working with countries under GDPR. Guillaume Drew has this issue on Or & Zon’s radar: “With our global customer base, compliance with international data protection regulations such as GDPR is crucial. I plan to conduct a thorough review and update our processes to ensure full compliance, and if necessary, appoint a dedicated Data Protection Officer to oversee these matters.”
Some survey participants want to be more transparent with customer data moving forward. This transparency will help these companies feel secure in the ethics of their data while building customer trust.
Leigh McKenzie will focus on more ethical data use moving forward for Traffic Think Tank. “We need to focus more on the ethical implications of our data use. Enhancing our community’s trust by being transparent about what data we collect and how it’s used is crucial,” McKenzie says.
Here’s how Traffic Think Tank will achieve this goal: “We must implement stricter controls and more frequent audits to ensure data security and compliance with regulations. We must also foster a culture of data privacy within our team, which is essential for maintaining the high standards we set for ourselves.”
According to Brooke Webber, Ninja Patches has similar goals. Webber says, “In our marketing efforts, responsible data use is crucial. We want to refine our data collection methods to ensure we’re gathering only the data necessary for our purposes. Improving our opt-in processes to give customers more control over what information they share with us is also a priority. Enhancing customer communication about how their data contributes to better service would further our commitment to transparency.”
Another issue that came up in the open-ended section of our survey was actually dedicating time and effort to data analysis. These companies have data, but they need more time, resources, or organizational systems to make use of it.
The situation at CallTrackingMetrics is a great example of this phenomenon:
“The actual data is there. What I would love is more time and emphasis on analyzing it to improve outcomes across the customer base rather than focus on looking at just accounts under one owner for their own purposes.”
Chris Todd
Principal, Marketing Operations at CallTrackingMetrics
At Rush Order Tees, it’s a matter of organization. Michael Nemeroff says, “It’s important for us to have our data more organized. There are multiple data points involved in our eCommerce process. Not only do we collect demographic information, but also statistics on the orders requested so we can compile best sellers and seasonal popularity. Having our data categorized specifically will help us analyse and interpret them more effectively. The ultimate goal is to improve our sales analytics capabilities.”
Derrick Hathaway wants to improve VEM Medical’s data analysis techniques. “Our techniques for data analysis is one area where we can do better. In order to get insightful information that can influence company choices, we must go farther into customer data,” Hathaway says.
Hathaway continues, “Enhancing our data gathering, storage, and analysis technologies and tools could enable us to get more valuable insights out of the data we already have. We can more successfully detect patterns, preferences, and pain areas by utilizing advanced analytics approaches, which enables us to customize our goods and services to better meet the needs of our clients. In the end, enhanced data analysis results in improved decision-making and happier clients.”
In the open-ended section of our survey, we also asked respondents about the most effective actions they’ve taken to improve their CRM data. Four tactics came up:
Two of the challenges covered in the survey go hand-in-hand: a lack of processes for handling inaccurate data and inaccurate data that makes it hard to work with. Establishing processes to keep data accurate can address both of these problems. Checklists, schedules, and initiatives can all give the extra push needed to actually manage your data.
During the DBUG session, Therese Brinkman shared one approach that works for Denamico:
“One of the things that we started implementing for all of our clients is what we call the zero dashboard [to eliminate things like] contacts that don’t have an email, contacts w/out a last name, etc. Everyone can go & look at it, but it is one person’s responsibility on a monthly basis to get us back to zero.”
Therese Brinkman
Chief of Staff at Denamico
The Millia Marketing team ensures data quality throughout their operations with additional processes here and there. Anthony Milia says, “The most effective action has been implementing SOPs, QA checklists, and required fields for our CRM data. The outcome is that we’ve seen an improved sales experience, onboarding experience, and a higher close rate.”
If you don’t have the time to manage your CRM data but you have the budget to outsource, consider hiring help. It can be as small as an intern or as big as an agency.
Getting more hands on deck was a game-changer for Inboxarmy. Scott Cohen says, “We’ve hired an additional data analyst, specifically to work with the data in our CRM, and were amazed with the difference in the outcome. Just one extra set of specialized eyes and hands made a huge difference to us, and we were able to dig much deeper in the data. Our forecast accuracy grew by 12.2% in the first three months, and we were able to fix many potholes in the process as well.”
HubSpot took a smaller-scale approach. According to David Torres, “We hired interns to manually update data on existing customer records and slowly, but surely, we’re expanding the footprint of that manual data entry.”
Another way to outsource your data management is to get a tool to handle it for you. Data validation tools check for inconsistencies and inaccuracies in your data so you can feel more confident in it.
CRM Masters’ Vikas Tripathi says, “We have used validation tools and some automatic tools to reduce human errors. This helped in implementing clear user workflows and data management protocols to streamline the process of gathering and storing information in our CRM.”
You might consider your CRM’s custom fields an extraneous feature, but they can serve all areas of revenue operations. Try creating custom fields to track certain aspects of your business or customer behavior to deliver better sales, marketing, and service.
Esthetic Finesse uses custom fields to understand customer buying behaviors and tailor their marketing accordingly. “We implemented a tracking system by last treatment, type, and even adding potential treatments they would be interested in this way we can use our data to not only know what type of messaging to send but better promos to the team. Make it easy for your sales team to understand your customers!” Diane Howard says.
One more tactic for better CRM data management is to anonymously compare your metrics to other companies’ in a Databox Benchmark Group. You’ll have a better idea of what your data should look like in your industry and feel more accountable for keeping your data accurate.
The HubSpot CRM Benchmarks Benchmark Group lets you do this with some of the most impactful HubSpot metrics, covering:
The group has more than 1,300 members, meaning you’ll have a large amount of data to compare your performance to. Best of all, it’s anonymous and free with a Databox account that has the metrics you want to track connected.
Sign up for Databox and join the group today.
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At Databox, we’re obsessed with helping companies more easily monitor, analyze, and report their results. Whether it’s the resources we put into building and maintaining integrations with 100+ popular marketing tools, enabling customizability of charts, dashboards, and reports, or building functionality to make analysis, benchmarking, and forecasting easier, we’re constantly trying to find ways to help our customers save time and deliver better results.
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Melissa King is a freelance writer who helps B2B SaaS companies spread the word about their products through engaging content. Outside of the content marketing world, she writes about video games. Check out her work at melissakingfreelance.com.
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