CRM as Single Source of Truth: Why 80% of B2B Companies Fail at It

CRM starts as a sales tool. Over time it becomes a place where reps log deals because the manager requires it — not a place they actively use for work. Result: degraded data, duplicates, missing values, outdated contacts.

1. Marketing and sales have different numbers at the same meeting. 2. The forecast comes from a manager's Excel, not the CRM. 3. Reps enter data "after the fact" or "before quarter end". 4. Nobody trusts CRM reports.

Step 1: CRM Audit — what's in there and why it's not working. Step 2: Data Cleansing — deduplication, verification, enrichment. Step 3: Field Architecture — required vs optional fields. Step 4: Governance — who owns data quality. Step 5: Adoption — how to make reps actually use the CRM.