Controlling human behavior is a huge step towards getting a handle on CRM Deduplication. Unfortunately, on the journey towards a clean CRM, we encounter humans. They mis-key information, don’t follow a CRM Data Plan, and generally take any shortcut possible that will reduce amount of work they have to do, when getting data into the CRM.
Get used to it. There will always be some level of human input with the CRM. If you embrace it, you stop trying to control it. You can’t win. Instead, put together strategies that will minimize the damage. Even if you have controls to enforce data entry formats, there is always the admin user that can bypass your controls. Don’t ignore the human side of the equation.
Here are some ideas to help your team:
1. Educate your staff on why a CRM Data Plan is important. If they don’t know it is important, don’t expect them to obey best practices.
2. Post your CRM Data Plan. Every sales person, receptionist, administrative person, even the CEO should have it at their desk. If your organization is paperless, put it in a corporate wiki. If your CRM has an area for documents, put it there.
3. Get buy in from your technical team for your CRM Data Plan. If the guys who have administrative access to your CRM don’t see things your way…all hell can break loose. Avoid this incongruity by bringing in your tech team from the inception of CRM Data Plan.
4. When possible, use data entry automation. There is a free technology called Contact Capture that captures contact information from any electronic form and exports to most major CRM systems including salesforce.com, MS dynamics CRM, ACT!, Goldmine and many others.
5. Use the language of your Data Plan in sales and Pipeline meetings. Example, your talking about XYZ Incorporated and you use your Data Plan uses the short form of “Inc”, then refer to the company as “XYZ Inc”. This seems trivial, but reinforcement from all angles will reinforce data quality.
6. Tie good data management to fun incentive bonuses. Free lunch or night out for the king or queen of data. If the record is not correct, conformed and complete (3 C’s of data entry) then no bonus.
7. Publicly humiliate people that don’t conform the CRM Data Plan? No, negative reinforcement is short-lived. Think positive. I’ve hung up $20 bills for sales reps to make it through a morning without saying “Um”, “Ahh”, or “you know”. It is a great training tools to bring attention to behavior they were not aware of. Make good data entry practices part of your culture.
8. Hire the right people. Good reference question to ask when hiring. “Was (Joe) the kind of person who had good data entry practices..did he document the sales process?” CRM is so important to an efficient sales process, but little is asked about a person and how they utilized it in a previous job role.
Even if you have a technology solution like Broadlook’s CRM Shield to enforce your chosen data entry standard (CRM Data Plan), the human side of the equation plays a big part in overall CRM health.