Using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) can be intimidating or just plain tedious for sales reps, which is probably why so many avoid it. Everyone knows that using a clean, updated, and comprehensive CRM helps a ton. Helps you sell easier, faster, and more. Most of us just don’t do it though, right? Especially the best of sales reps are extremely hesitant to use this technology. Why?

Problem: Up-keeping their CRM takes too much time. Rather than sitting behind their desk and punching in data, sales reps want to be out in the real world, chatting with prospects and making sales. They are sales reps after all and they get paid to make sales, not enter data. Many sales reps are not shown the value in putting all their data into their CRM, so they just don’t do it.

Solution: Train your sales reps how to efficiently use their CRM so they understand the value. If your sales reps knew how to use their CRM to its full potential and knew that would lead to a boost in sales and better relationships with their prospects and accounts, you can bet they would make it part of their daily routine. Take the time with your sales reps to ensure they know how to efficiently use their CRM and all of its features.

Problem: Your CRM does not fit the needs of the sales reps. There are a ton of CRM platforms and technologies out on the market and choosing the right one isn’t easy. If your sales reps aren’t using your CRM, it’s likely you are using a CRM that is outdated or just doesn’t suit the needs of your sales team.

Solution: Find a CRM that meets the needs of your sales team. Have an open conversation with your sales team to identify the challenges they have with your CRM and understand how they approach the sales process. When choosing a CRM and other sales tools, include your sales team in the decision-making process — they are the ones using them after all!

Some questions you might consider when you are looking for the right CRM for your sale team:

Is this CRM easy to operate? Can my sales team access this platform easily? Does this address our specific customer relation needs? How does our sales process look?

Problem: Your CRM is filled with poor quality data. The purpose of your CRM is to build meaningful customer relationships, but that can be challenging when your CRM is filled with outdated, inaccurate, and duplicated information, or even worse missing information.

Solution: Keep your CRM up to date. The best way to keep your CRM up to date is by having your sales reps actually use your CRM and consistently enter their data. But if your CRM doesn’t meet the needs of your sales reps it is unlikely that will happen.

In the era of technology, take advantage of CRM services that can help your sales team keep their CRM clean and help fill in some of that missing or outdated information.

Final words, If your sales team is not using their CRM, it’s likely that they don’t see the value in it or it’s not meeting their needs. Take a few minutes today to better understand your sales reps needs and relationship with their CRM.