Why a messy CRM costs you
If three records exist for the same customer, you do not know which one has the latest note. If half the open leads are a year old, the real ones are hidden among them. People stop checking, and the follow-ups stop with them.
Four short sessions
- Close the dead ones. Mark anything with no contact in six months as closed. You can reopen one if they call.
- Merge the duplicates. Sort by phone number or email and combine the records that match.
- Cut the fields. Hide every field nobody has filled in for months. Fewer boxes get filled more often.
- Give every open lead a next step. A date and one line. If you cannot name the next step, close it.
Keep it clean
Cleanup only lasts if new records come in clean. Decide the few things every new lead must have, such as name, number, what they want and next step, and do not save one without them.
Do not start over
Moving to a new tool feels like a fresh start, but a messy list moved into new software is still a messy list. Clean first. Then decide whether the tool was ever the problem.
How Venture IQ helps
Venture IQ sets up the CRM with only the fields you use, moves your list in clean and keeps each record tied to its next step. Follow-ups are drafted from those records for your approval. See CRM or spreadsheet.
How many of your open leads have had no contact in six months?