We surveyed about 50 CRM professionals from various business fields on LinkedIn. We asked what annoy users the most in CRM systems. We got a lot of feedback and food for thought. We decided to share our impressions with readers.
Answers were received from different people in the industry – CRM vendors, CRM consultants, and top managers of organizations. We also had a lot of feedback from salespeople.
CRM is like a vehicle and like a vehicle it needs to be driven by an engine to get successfully from A to B. This can only be accomplished if the person at the wheel knows how to navigate and successfully arrive at the destination. – Michael Frenkel
The first most common thing that has been reported by almost all users is low speed. When the system is slow and produces multiple errors, it wastes a lot of user time and disturbs all business processes regardless of how efficient the company itself is.
What frustrates me is that organizations tend to treat them like they are the end-all-be-all for Sales when, in reality, CRM systems are merely the technology component of what is required for any successful CX endeavor: people, process, and technology. Throwing technology at CX without considering its effect on process and people just leads to unrealistic expectations, unrealized return…and frustration. – James Ries
The second biggest problem is poor user experience. Especially, too many clicks to achieve something. Duplicate data entries and inconsistencies with other parts of the system make you waste your time and efforts even more.
Other frustrations with CRM systems include:
- Vendors adding too many new features instead of improving the old ones
- Lack of follow-up training
- Too complex functionality
- Time-consuming dropdowns and big forms
- Over-customization
As a consultant, one of the main concerns (and frustration) is the lack of commitment of top management. Like any other new way of doing thinks within organization, CRM needs patience, change management program, compensation changes, and significant commitment of senior managers. I’ve seen several CRM initiatives fail or at least shorten because of that. – Miguel Angel Narvaez Camacho.
Implementing CRM in a big organization is not easy. Frustrations arise when executives resist adopting new systems, or when they expect immediate results, not investing enough time and effort in onboarding and adoption. If companies have poor sales processes inside, then the CRM impact will be meaningless according to some industry experts.