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CRM Setup

A new CRM system requires you do two tasks right away. The first is to create custom fields you will want for your contacts and accounts. CRM software allows the user to add custom fields because everyone’s needs are different. The fields you choose to add will vary depending on what you sell and your target audience.

Note: Custom fields in Salesforce.com, Act! 2007 and personal versions of Microsoft Dynamics CRM are simple to set up. If you are running a network-based software or team version of these tools, the custom fields are setup by your administrator. In this case, contact your administrator and simply ask them to add the desired fields.

The second thing you need to do is import any of your existing data. Unfortunately, I don’t have the space in this book to explain how to achieve this for every CRM product, but the applications I have mentioned are fairly straightforward. Accessible documentation is included to walk you through a complete data import (with the exception of Microsoft Dynamics CRM).

Before you import your existing data, take a look at the next section to cleanse your data before you bring it in.

House Cleaning

Whether you’ve chosen to stay with your current CRM tool or are about to import existing data into a new one, it’s important to cleanse your data. Your data will be less effective if not cleaned properly. I’ll give you a real life example:

A previous salesperson in my territory couldn’t understand the last name of one of his contacts. So he entered “Can’t Understand Name” in the last name field. We regularly plug the persons first or last name directly into email campaigns to personalize them. As a result, this poor contact has been getting emails addressed to Mr. Can’t Understand Name. How embarrassing for us and frustrating for him!

Another mistake to be wary of are names entered in ALL CAPS or all lower case characters. This apprears unprofessional in email communications and the chances of that person wanting to do business with you are diminished.

It’s also important to augment the data you already have. Incomplete information is of little value. If you plan to target a specific industry, but half of your contacts don’t have an industry associated with them, it won’t work.

You’re going to spend a lot of time on this endeavor, but the good news is when it’s all done, you’ll be staring at a gold mine!

Here is a list of things to do to clean your data;

1. Do a search for any accounts (companies) that don’t have contact records associated with them. Unless there is a compelling reason not to, delete these accounts. They are only place holders. If there is pertinent information in the record, then why doesn’t it have a contact?
   
2. Print (or export) a list of all of your accounts. Find any duplicates, and merge the records together. This is usually done in a few clicks.
   
3. View, Print or Export all of your contacts. Look for any oddities in the capitalization of names (all caps, all lowercase, etc.) and correct these for consistency.
   
4. Do a search for any contacts or accounts that don’t have data in the fields which you will use to target your audience (industry, employee size, etc.). Spend some time now to complete all of this information. Missing data is a good reason to reach out to your clients and have conversations under the guise of cleaning up your records. You can gain additional information and contacts easily, primarily because it isn’t technically a sales call.
   
5. Find any accounts that don’t belong in your database. If you work in territories, look for accounts that aren’t located in your region. If you work in verticals, get rid of the companies that don’t match. If you work a specific company size, eliminate companies that don’t match your size criteria. I don’t mean permanently delete them, but get them out of your database and let your sales manager deal with them. You may be hesitant to drop accounts but why clutter up your database and spend your time marketing to a client base that is outside your area of expertise?
   
6. Look for contacts that don’t have a company associated with them. Unless you sell to individuals, match them up with an account or delete them.

During this process, instead of doing laborious manual searches, plug your criteria in and let the software find them for you. In the next chapter I will show you exactly how to build queries. If you are unfamiliar with how to do the things I’ve described above, consult the program’s “help” menu or someone who is experienced with the product.

Data cleansing is vital. If you complete this right now, and in any future data imports, you will never have to clean data again! If you settle for incomplete or inaccurate data now, your effectiveness will be cut in half, at least.