Are Your Teams Really Using Your CRM? Here’s Why a Usage Audit Matters
Let’s be honest: just having a CRM isn’t enough. It might look great on paper, and maybe you’ve spent weeks (or months) getting it set up and customized. But if your team isn’t actually using it the way it was intended, it’s not doing much for you.
That’s where a CRM usage audit comes in. And no, it doesn’t have to be a huge, painful process. In fact, it can be one of the most useful tools to get your team on track—and your investment working the way it should.
What is a CRM usage audit, anyway?
A usage audit is simply a review of how your team is interacting with the CRM day to day. It’s a way to check if people are logging activity, entering the right data, using workflows properly, and even if they’re logging in at all. It’s not about calling anyone out—it’s about figuring out what’s working and what’s getting in the way.
Why should you care?
1. Messy data leads to bad decisions.
If the info going into your CRM is incomplete or inconsistent, everything that comes out of it—sales reports, forecasts, customer insights—is going to be off. Clean, reliable data helps everyone make better choices, from the sales floor to the boardroom.
2. You only get value if people actually use it.
We’ve seen it a hundred times: companies spend time and money rolling out a CRM, only to have it sit half-used. A usage audit helps you figure out what’s slowing people down or making them avoid it altogether—so you can fix it.
3. There’s probably more your CRM can do.
A lot of teams only use the basics: notes, contacts, maybe some deal tracking. But there are often built-in features—automations, task templates, dashboards—that could save time or improve follow-up. An audit can help you uncover those opportunities.
4. It helps you build better workflows.
Sometimes the problem isn’t the CRM—it’s the way it’s been set up. Maybe a form has too many fields. Maybe the process doesn’t match how your team actually works. Reviewing how the system is used can give you insights into how to streamline it.
What should you look at?
Here are a few places to start:
- Login activity: Are people signing in regularly, or barely at all?
- Data entry: Are key fields being filled out? Are there duplicates or outdated records?
- Pipeline flow: Are opportunities being tracked and moved through the right stages?
- Automation use: Are there manual tasks that could be automated?
- User feedback: What’s frustrating your team? What are they skipping? Why?
How to do a usage audit without overcomplicating it
You don’t need a giant report to get value from an audit. Start small:
- Pull activity reports from the CRM.
- Have a few short conversations with team members.
- Look at how data is being entered and what’s missing.
- Identify a few quick fixes—like cleaning up a form or simplifying a process.
- Make a short list of changes and prioritize them.
Then rinse and repeat. Do this every few months, and you’ll keep your system lean and useful.
Where SableCRM comes in
At SableCRM, we work with companies who want more than just a database—they want a tool their team actually uses. We help our clients run CRM usage audits, clean up their workflows, and get more out of the features they already have. Whether it’s setting up a knowledge base for field staff or simplifying the sales pipeline, our goal is to make your CRM work the way you work.
If you’re wondering whether your team is really getting the most out of your CRM, we’re here to help. Reach out to our team—we’d be happy to take a look and show you where there’s room to improve.