Optimizing CRM Adoption

In my April 2024 CRM column, I pointed out the fact that from the first sales performance study CSO did, in 2004, to Sales Mastery’s most recent, in 2024, the win rate of forecast deals is essentially unchanged, hovering around 47 percent. Since then, I have continued to receive a steady stream of emails asking for suggestions on what companies can do to improve sales performance, especially as related to using CRM to optimize sales effectiveness. As we are approaching 2025, I thought I would use this column to suggest some New Year’s resolutions for companies to consider on this topic, related to one specific challenge: getting salespeople to actually use CRM.

Let’s start off reviewing a couple numbers. According to various studies, on average around 90 percent of companies with 10 or more salespeople have implemented CRM. When looking at the actual adoption figures within firms that have CRM, we see that the percentage of salespeople who are “active” users falls betweenn 43 percent and 71 percent. And of those users, only a small fraction of them are power users, referring to sales professionals who employ advanced CRM capabilities extensively. So how can companies increase those numbers?

My first recommendation is that instead of expecting salespeople to change their workflows to match their CRMs, organizations should look for CRM solutions that match the workflows of salespeople. An increasing number of vertical industry versions of CRM are available today. These include CRM solutions tailored for what sales professionals who work in market segments like finance, healthcare, manufacturing, or technology do. So if you are using standard versions of, say, Salesforce, Microsoft, or Hubspot, explore what your existing vendor is doing to provide CRM solutions that more fully meet the specific needs of your sales teams.

Second, realize CRM is complex. While it originally started out in simpler forms like contact management and opportunity management, the solutions available today are orders of magnitude more robust. I recently bought a new hybrid car and sat through two hours of one-on-one training with a tech to just start to understand how to fully utilize the new beast I was driving, and I was then given access to a library containing 4.5 hours of online videos to get up to speed on some of the more advanced features. So look at what you are doing to help onboard CRM users. Are you giving them the training and support they need to effectively use the CRM you have installed?

Third, in terms of implementing CRM, we need to understand that done never means done. CRM solutions are constantly being enhanced, especially with the wealth of AI-driven innovations that will be evolving the sales profession for years to come. Access to ongoing training and support will be a must-have for sales professionals to successfully integrate those capabilities into their client engagement efforts.

Next, look at what you can do to ensure salespeople embrace CRM. I am a proponent of the stick-and-carrot approach here. You wouldn’t let an employee working in your finance department decide not to use the accounting systems you have in place. Salespeople should be held to the same level of accountability. But we can also provide incentives for CRM utilization, including bonuses for salespeople sharing CRM hacks or for those who have the most accurate records in their CRM system.

Having access to CRM is nothing without the ability and commitment to actively and fully leverage it. So make 2025 the year where you make the changes necessary to get your sales organization totally proficient and motivated to harness the CRM investments you’ve made.

Jim Dickie is a research fellow for Sales Mastery a research firm that specializes in benchmarking case study examples of how companies are leveraging technology to transform sales. He can be reached at jim@salesmastery.com or on X at @jimdickie.

Related Articles

An AI Answer to the Disturbing State of Sales

Too many companies are being complacent when it comes to branching out into AI.

The Business Case for Sales Technology Training

Your investment in sales enablement tools has to go beyond simply acquiring them.

Sales’ Big Challenge: Winning the Game

When it comes to B2B sales, here's a look at one thing that hasn't changed over the years, but needs to.