5 CRM Setup Mistakes That Kill Your Sales Pipeline

Most businesses have a CRM. Few use it effectively. Here are the mistakes we see most often—and how to fix them.

Mistake 1: No Clear Pipeline Stages

Vague stages like "In Progress" tell you nothing. Define concrete stages with clear entry/exit criteria:

• New Lead → Contact info captured
• Contacted → First outreach completed
• Qualified → Meets ICP, has budget
• Proposal Sent → Formal quote delivered
• Negotiation → Active deal discussion
• Closed Won/Lost → Final outcome

Mistake 2: No Automation on Lead Entry

Every new lead should trigger an immediate response. If you're manually following up, you're already behind. Set up:

• Instant email confirmation
• Internal team notification
• First follow-up task created
• Lead scoring calculation

Mistake 3: Missing Required Fields

If your team can skip important fields, they will. Make critical data required:

• Lead source (essential for ROI tracking)
• Company size
• Budget range
• Timeline
• Primary contact method

Mistake 4: No Activity Tracking

A CRM without activity history is just a fancy spreadsheet. Track:

• Every email sent/received
• Every call made
• Every meeting held
• Every proposal sent

Mistake 5: Ignoring Reporting

If you can't answer "Where are our deals getting stuck?" in 30 seconds, your CRM setup has failed. Build dashboards for:

• Pipeline velocity by stage
• Win/loss rates
• Lead source ROI
• Sales activity metrics

The Fix

Start with a CRM audit. Map your current process, identify the gaps, and fix them one at a time. Need help? That's literally what we do.