A bad CRM setup costs you more than no CRM at all. Five patterns we see again and again, and the rule we apply to fix them.
Half of the CRM rebuilds we run are not first-time setups. They are second-time, after a previous setup quietly broke and nobody noticed for a year.
If your sales rep cannot tell you the difference between “Engaged” and “Working” without thinking, the stage definition is wrong. Three to five stages is the right number for almost everyone.
Every required field that does not change a downstream behavior just trains your team to type junk. Audit fields quarterly, kill any that are not driving an action.
That clever workflow your last consultant built? It silently broke six months ago when the source app changed an API. Every automation needs an owner and a “this still works” check.
If your reps mix up which object holds the contract vs the conversation, your forecasts are wrong. Pick one source of truth per concept and enforce it.
If your CRM dashboard is not pinned in someone’s morning routine, it does not exist. Build for the daily check, not the quarterly board deck.
Our CRM setup engagements address all five.