Manual Data Entry: Biggest Hurdle in CRM Adoption
It is no surprise that manual data entry remains to be one of the key hindrances in CRM adoption. Instead of selling, or doing real productive work, end-users end up having to spend their valuable time manually inputting data from their daily interactions. This is a tedious, time-consuming task.
According to Hubspot, manual data entry is the biggest factor for the lack of CRM adoption, as 32% of salespeople end up spending an hour or more per day trying to cope up with manual data entry. No wonder the industry suffers from very low adoption rates.
Why Manual Data entry is a Problem
Imagine this scenario with manual data entry:
Your company spends thousands on your CRM subscription efforts. Plus, you spend money on training, and other resources to ensure smooth CRM adoption. To encourage the further use of the system, management decides that data inputs by users should become directly linked to salary, benefits, or other credits, creating an environment wherein data entry is an absolute must. However, due to the number of customer interactions, calls, emails, and conversations, the amount of data gathered daily becomes overwhelming. Salespeople and other end-users are forced to resort to manually entering data by bulk, perhaps once every week, or once every month. Information is also cherry-picked, and only the most important interactions are entered, disregarding other minor details and possible prospects, due to lack of time. The data becomes outdated, incomplete, and largely based on memory, but at least they have data entered, right?
This scenario is a common occurrence in companies struggling with CRM adoption. It is a recipe for failure because it compromises the key component that drives CRM productivity: data quality. Entering data for the sake of having data in itself, is useless. The accuracy, and wholeness of that information matters more.
Low quality, incomplete, and inaccurate data can blind sales forecasts, reports, and future strategies. Using them as a basis to assess one’s standing, and plan future actions can lead to serious losses. Yes, you have data to back your company’s next move, or data that shows you the company’s current status, but how accurate is that data? How confident are you to trust that data, when data capture is done manually, with a high chance of having errors?
Looking back at the scenario, is it the CRM’s fault? CRM is merely the system or the database that holds and interprets the information, which means, it’s only as good as the data being given to it.
Is it the user’s fault? Salespeople and other end-users have other things they need to do, and CRM data entry, most likely, isn’t their main job in the first place. People in sales, for instance, have to meet up with clients, send emails, and make sales daily. To manually enter data, they would have to use their free time off work, or use some of their working hours to input data, instead of selling and doing their job. Either way is not a very favorable situation for them to be in.
Is it the management’s fault? Perhaps, but in reality, the root cause of this problem is the fact that CRM users have to deal with Manual Data Entry.
The data is all there, yet the method of capturing it is unreliable and tedious. Having to type in updates, or the names and details of all the prospects, or the notes from a meeting, every time, can be problematic. Such admin work demands time and effort that ought to be spent productively.
How Manual Data entry hinders CRM adoption
A company becomes fully adopted to a CRM system when CRM becomes a natural, and consistent part of their users’ workflows. The way to achieve this is to train, educate, and make sure that your users are using CRM the right way. The keyword here is “use”.
How can you encourage end-users to utilize the software daily?
It’s simple: make it easy for them to use.
CSO insights have revealed that 72% of CRM users would prioritize ease-of-use over functionality. If they are going to use it every day, it needs to be simple, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
The issue is that manual data entry overrides this important feature. Regardless if the user interface is stellar, and navigation is clear and simple, having to manually type in such huge amounts of data daily, makes CRM very unappealing to its end-users, discouraging them from using it altogether. After all, how can it be easy when it takes up so much time and effort?
Truly, Manual data entry is the bane of CRM adoption, one that needs to be eliminated in the process of using CRM.
No more Manual Data entry
The solution is to make data entry effortless, seamless, and most of all, automated. With the level of technology that we have today, why should we continue to stick with paper, note-taking, and even typing? Technology that automates data capture and entry already exists. There are many apps and programs that are dedicated to this movement of data entry automation.
One of the best ways to eliminate manual data entry, and improve a CRM’s usability is by utilizing Voice to CRM technology. It is a CRM data entry transcription service that enables the user to simply speak commands, information to be entered or even to record calls and meetings, and the software does all the work. The information is sorted out and appropriately entered into the right data fields. Voice to CRM makes data entry hands-free, quick, and automated.
This notion, however, does present its own set of problems. A major concern with the idea of relying on technology alone to enter data into CRM, or any database for that matter, is the effectiveness of the said function. How accurate and reliable is the data captured and entered? How can we make sure that this data is correct, each time?
For companies such as Hey DAN, AI is combined with human intelligence, to entirely make sure that data is correct and placed in the right fields. It utilizes voice-to-text technology, CRM integration, expert systems, and most of all, human intervention, in its Voice to CRM strategy. After all, having accurate data, without all that tedious manual data entry, is worth it.
