CRM cleanup guidelines for movers

Using a CRM for your moving business does not mean you have a done deal for a successful business. Even though CRM software greatly improves client relationships, there is still a lot of room for errors. “Dirty” CRM data may harm your business more than not having a CRM at all. With that in mind, it’s crucial to take a look at and follow important CRM cleanup guidelines for movers. In this article, we show you how to maintain clean data that will actually help your business!

The downsides of having bad data in your CRM system

First, let’s explain why having bad data is bad for your business. CRM system collects all sorts of information about your clients:

• contact information;
• purchase history;
• leads tracking;
• complaints;

Your business is using this data to do various reports and forecasts that will define all future services you offer and deals you make. If this data is not clean, your company will make mistakes. Moving company CRM should instead help you in understanding your clients better. Furthermore, it should help in tracking moving leads and acquiring new customers.

How does “dirty” data get into your CRM system?

The first step in preventing a problem is understanding what caused it. Bad data can appear due to multiple factors. First of all, customers often fill in forms with their data on your website. If a client wants to organize a relocation, they might send you their requirements. For example, how many rooms their property has, what services they want, the pickup and delivery address, and so on. If they make a mistake, you will have the wrong data.

Next, your sales reps may accidentally make a mistake. If they don’t understand what the client needs, they will input the wrong data. Human errors are expected. They should not be judged, but we do need a way to proactively stop them.

Also, it often happens that multiple people work with the same customer, so they create duplicate entries. Finally, it sometimes happens that various data, like customer contact information, is not updated regularly.

How much time does it take to clean CRM data?

On average, companies clean their data at least once a week, or once every month. This is a concerning fact. It only tells us that customer data has its way of getting “dirty”. Furthermore, the amount of time spent to clean up a database varies. It can be anywhere from one to five hours per cleanup. This all depends on the size of the database and the quantity of wrong data.

A project of this size requires thorough planning. Consider getting project management software that will automate the processes of cleaning data.

What data should you fix?

If you start looking at a large database with bad data, your head will start to hurt. The first question that comes to mind is, where to start? The easiest way to approach this project is to prioritize. Figure out what data is important, and deal with it first.

Common problems with data in a CRM database and how to solve them

Formatting issues are the most common, and we will look at them first. These include errors in the capitalization of customer names and addresses. There is also a need to standardize formats for some types of data. For example, how and where to put ZIP codes, how to write dates, and so on. The key is to be consistent. If you start collecting data and displaying it differently for every customer, you will only make a mess.

A good way to proactively solve this problem is to standardize these fields in advance. As an example, you can make changes so that all names start with a capital letter. Also, try to reduce the number of free text fields. Use dropdowns or picklists as much as possible.

Another common problem is when you find duplicate data. If you have two profiles for one customer, you will have bad data on both. One person will update one account, and another person will update the second one. That way neither has full info about the client. What you should do is a complete audit of customer profiles. Find duplicates and delete them, or merge accounts if necessary.

Work with your customers and your employees

You should also make it a practice to ask customers to verify their data. If they are using a form on the website or contacting you via email, send a confirmation message back. Ask them to verify contact details and other information, just so you are sure you have the correct data.

Finally, another step to do is to get rid of bad leads from your system. If sales reps use the wrong parameters to find and track leads, you will have a bunch of bad ones in your database. This means you will focus your energy and resources on the wrong customers. Use lead tracking software for movers and only keep track of quality leads.

Use best practices to keep everything organized

Doing data cleanup will not help in the long run if you continue making the same mistakes. It will only consume more time. You don’t want to ask your employees to do repetitive work every few weeks.

What you should do is come up with a system and use it. Understand how to organize your data and keep it clean.

You will not be able to do this on the first try, especially if you are just starting your business. This is a trial and error process, and you can only learn from making mistakes. However, it is important to learn from those mistakes. As time goes by, you will understand more about customer data, and come up with an efficient system that works.

CRM cleanup guidelines for movers make simple

Take your time when cleaning the customer database. These CRM cleanup guidelines for movers should help you to be more organized. Approach the cleanup process prepared, and know exactly what you want to achieve. Otherwise, you will feel like living in a labyrinth with no exit. Good luck!