7 Signs it’s Time to Switch to a New CRM

Smart business owners understand that switching CRMs is not to be undergone lightly. Upending what your teams are used to can be a scary and sometimes risky operation. No one wants to take that risk unless they’re certain the ROI is worthwhile. So, how do you know when it’s time to ditch your old system and move to a new one? Here are seven signs that it may be time to switch CRMs:

#1 It’s Limiting Your Growth Potential

One of the most important factors for long-term success with a software system is whether it can grow with your company. If your current CRM lacks the scalability or configurability to adapt to your changing processes, it’s time to give it the boot.

Think about the usability of the system as it relates to your business goals. If the system does not offer the features and functionality you need, can they be built? More importantly, is it worth it to build those features? Will building those features solve the issue or just act as a temporary Band-Aid? If the enhancement doesn’t optimize how the system scales and interacts with other existing systems, it’s not enough.

#2 Non-Existent User Adoption

Poor user adoption is the #1 reason why CRM implementations fail. When the users don’t see value in the system, or don’t engage with its features, the investment is wasted. There can be many possible reasons for low user adoption, including poor training.

However, if your teams were trained with the CRM and they’re still not adopting its use, you could be facing a bigger issue. In this case, it’s more likely that the CRM is not aligned to how your teams work. If they want to make changes, do they know how? Are the right changes possible with your current set up? If you answer “no” to those questions, it’s time to switch to a new CRM.  

#3 Limited Accessibility

These days, mobile accessibility is everything. We’re constantly checking our phones and using our mobile devices for everything from reading the news to driving directions. A CRM without a mobile app is no longer feasible, especially for businesses who have sales reps out in the field.

If you’re using a legacy CRM, your accessibility issues may be an even greater concern. Many legacy systems run on specific versions of Windows. If you migrate to a non-Windows platform like a Mac or a Chromebook, you risk losing accessibility to that system.  For teams working from home, this could pose a nearly insurmountable obstacle to productivity.

#4 Poor Integration Potential

If the company adopts additional technologies and they are unable to connect to the CRM, it may be time to migrate. Integrated systems are critical not only for team collaboration and stronger analytic reporting, but also for proper data management. The pros of migrating to a new system outweigh the cons if you cannot connect your existing solution. Sharing information about accounting, marketing, consumer behaviors and social interactions, and email histories creates a full database of insights that drive optimal sales, marketing, and service performance across the board. Missed integrations are missed opportunities.

#5 It’s Outdated & Hard to Learn

Does your CRM have an interface that looks like it jumped out of 1999? Then it may be time for CRM migration. Not only can the outdated interface inhibit the usability of the system, but it can add another roadblock to user adoption. An outdated interface is less intuitive and visually engaging, which makes it less appealing to your users. Once they reject it, it’s extremely difficult to reengage them on it.

In addition, an outdated user interface may translate to more limited data capabilities. Does the CRM offer data enrichment tools to enhance data entry and guide best practices? Would filling these gaps help teams streamline how they work?

#6 Too Many Add-Ons

CRM add-ons can be great assets to enhance the CRM experience and expand the functionality of the product. However, if you’re using several add-ons to supplement the usability of the product itself, you’re inhibiting your growth potential. In addition, if your add-on does not come with vendor support, any issues that arise will require much more attention to resolve.

Add-ons shouldn’t supplement for a CRM that fully aligns to your business. By using too many add-ons, you’re opening yourself up to a slew of potential issues. What happens if the add-ons break during an update? What if they are no longer being supported? Your CRM should be able to stand on its own legs and speak to your business goals. If you use a bunch of add-ons to jerry-rig the solution to meet your needs, you’re probably spending way more than it would cost to simply migrate to a better suited CRM.

#7 Spending Too Much on Upgrades

Speaking of spending too much money, what about the IT expenses you’re incurring through upgrades? Businesses spend between 1.2% and 11.4% of their revenue on IT, depending on their industry. If your CRM spending is far outside the norms of your industry, you may be spending too much on your CRM upgrades.

An updated CRM system that lives in the Cloud could help mediate these expenses by reducing the level of IT overhead you must incur to keep it running. Cloud solutions upgrade automatically, so you won’t waste additional IT budgets on this simple aspect of CRM ownership – a move that could save you big bucks in the long term.

Knowing when to switch CRMs can be difficult. No one wants to go through the hassle of changing systems and uprooting users without confidence that the switch will solve their issues. In addition, a proper migration requires considerations on much more than the CRM itself. Data cleaning and preparation is crucial to a successful migration.

The process of migrating to another system can be daunting and appear as a roadblock to your desire to move to a CRM that better serves your organization.  StarfishETL can facilitate the necessary prep work and provide configurable migration maps to help you move over all your important data and custom fields. For help getting started with your migration, contact our team today at sales@starfishetl.com.