CRM Best Practices for Sales Reps

I met a sales team that tracks 27 different metrics. But none of them matter. They measure: - Calls made - Emails sent - Meetings booked - Demos delivered - Talk-to-listen ratio - Response time - Pipeline coverage But they all miss the most important number: How often prospects share your content with others. This hit me yesterday. We analyzed our last 200 deals: Won deals: Champion shared content with 5+ stakeholders Lost deals: Champion shared with fewer than 2 people It wasn't about our: - Product demos - Discovery questions - Pricing strategy - Negotiation skills It was about whether our champion could effectively sell for us. Think about your current pipeline: Do you know how many people have seen your proposal? Do you know which slides your champion shared internally? Do you know who viewed your pricing? Most sales leaders have no idea. They're optimizing metrics that don't drive decisions. Look at your CRM right now. I bet it tracks: ✅ When YOU last emailed a prospect ❌ When THEY last shared your content ✅ How many calls YOU made ❌ How many stakeholders viewed your materials ✅ When YOU sent a proposal ❌ How much time they spent reviewing it We've built dashboards to measure everything except what actually matters. The real sales metric that predicts closed deals: Internal Sharing Velocity (ISV) How quickly and widely your champion distributes your content to other stakeholders. High ISV = Deals close Low ISV = Deals stall We completely rebuilt our sales process around this insight: - Redesigned all content to be shareable, not just readable - Created spaces where champions could easily distribute information - Built analytics to measure exactly who engaged with what - Trained reps to optimize for sharing, not for responses Result? Win rates up 35%. Sales cycles shortened by 42%. Forecasting accuracy improved by 60%. Stop obsessing over your activity metrics. Start measuring how effectively your champions sell for you. If your CRM can't tell you how often your content is shared internally, you're operating in the dark. And that's why your forecasts are always wrong. Your move.

Your CRM thinks that deal is closing. Your buyer isn't even thinking about you. Monday morning pipeline review. Your rep says "500K deal, proposal stage, 80% probability." Three weeks later? Radio silence. Deal hasn't moved. Buyer isn't responding. Now you're scrambling to replace that revenue. I don’t know if you didn’t know but…  Your CRM stages measure what YOU'RE doing, not what the BUYER is thinking. That's exactly why your forecast accuracy is like flipping a coin. As a former #1 sales director who managed 110 reps, delivered $190 million annually in new business. I've seen this problem destroy quarterly forecasts, kill sales momentum, and get really good sales leaders completely fired. But I've also seen the fix. When organizations implement the ADVANCED method, their forecast accuracy jumps from 60% to 95% plus within the first quarter. ADVANCED tracks buyer progression, not seller activity: A - Acknowledged Problem (10%) Documented acknowledgment of a specific costly problem. "This security breach cost us $2 million and we need to prevent it." D - Documented Issue (15%) Written evidence. Email, internal memo, project brief. Something tangible that says this problem is real and needs solving. V - Validated by Team (25%) Multiple stakeholders agree this problem impacts executive-level metrics. Not one person complaining. A - Authorized by Executive (40%) An executive officially sponsors solving this problem. They've mandated their team to evaluate solutions. N - Narrowed to External (60%) They've decided they can't solve this internally. They're committed to buying from an external vendor. C - Chosen as Vendor (75%) You're the preferred vendor. They've stopped talking to competitors. The scope reflects all stakeholder input. E - Established Timeline (85%) Implementation timelines based on business outcomes. Not arbitrary dates. Timeline driven by business need, not sales pressure. D - Deal Terms Finalized (95%) Commercial terms agreed. Pricing approved. Contract in legal review. All decision makers confirmed. I was working with a $50 million e-health company. They had $30 million in pipeline in "proposal stage." When we applied ADVANCED? A very small percentage was actually at closing stage. Most hadn't gotten execs involved. Most didn't have multiple stakeholders. Most didn't have documented issues. They were sending proposals thinking deals would close. But they were creating false forecasts and fooling themselves. Your pipeline is either built on buyer reality or seller fantasy. There's no middle ground. — Sales Leaders, think you’re leaking revenue somewhere? You might want to check this out: https://lnkd.in/g8M-ah5s

Your team should be selling. Instead, they’re drowning in admin work. Sales reps just want to sell. But when we sit down with them, it’s always the same story. They’re buried in 20 screens, clicking through fields that don’t help them close deals. And if it takes that much effort? They’ll stop using the CRM altogether. Not because they’re lazy. But because the system wasn’t built for them. Here’s what we see over and over—and how to fix it: 1) Too Much Manual Data Entry No rep wants to spend their time: • Logging calls • Typing out notes • Moving data between tools They’re here to sell—not push buttons. Fix it by automating everything you can. Use tools like Gong & QuickBooks to log calls automatically and sync invoices. The less manual data entry they do, the more time they have to close deals. 2) Clunky CRM Layouts If it takes 20 clicks to close a deal, they’re not going to use the system. Most CRM setups are bloated with fields that reps don’t care about. Half of them aren’t even for sales. The answer: fewer clicks, better layouts. • Two clicks, max • Only show fields relevant to their role 3) Tools Aren’t Integrated Reps live in: • Outreach • Gong • Slack If none of these tools talk to Salesforce, they’re forced to double their work. That kills adoption. Integrate the tools they already use. If it doesn’t make their job easier, it doesn’t belong in the stack. 4) The CRM Feels Like a Surveillance Tool Managers care about dials. Reps care about closing deals and hitting quota. If the CRM only tracks activity, it’s just another micromanagement tool. Fix it by making the CRM valuable for the rep. • AI-driven next steps • Deal insights • Sales shortcuts that actually help them win It has to feel like a competitive advantage—not a chore. 5) Training That Doesn’t Address Real Gaps Most training is based on gut feelings: “Reps need to know this.” But it doesn’t actually address the biggest problems. Fix it by making training metric-driven. If reps aren’t filling out critical fields, start there. Focus on what actually moves deals forward. Make the CRM work for reps, and they’ll actually use it. Make it a burden, and they’ll find ways around it. Enjoyed this post? Follow Jordan Nelson for more insights on making CRMs actually work for sales teams.

Sales reps don’t lose deals because they skip steps. They lose because they stop thinking. Sales processes create consistency. But let’s be honest...they’re also a crutch. Too many reps focus on moving deals from Stage 2 to Stage 3 instead of understanding why the deal should move at all. They ask questions to check boxes, not uncover insights. They run demos because “that’s next,” not because the buyer is ready. Then they wonder why deals stall - or celebrate advancing a deal that’s DOA. The problem? Sales processes are linear. Buyers aren’t. So how do you fix it? Stop managing the process. Start managing curiosity. 1. Replace process adherence with insight benchmarks Instead of “Did the rep schedule the demo?” ask, “What critical insight justified the demo?” Add a “Discovery Debrief” field in your CRM: What is the buyer’s internal trigger for change? Track Insight Discovery Rate (% of calls where new insights are uncovered). Low rates? Time for coaching. 2. Train reps to find the “pain behind the pain” Most reps stop at surface pain like “We need more efficiency.” That’s weak. The real pain is usually political or personal. Use the “5 Whys” Technique: - Why is efficiency a problem? -> Processes are slow. - Why? -> Outdated tools. - Why not upgrade? -> Budget cuts. - Why cuts? -> Revenue is down 20%. - Why is revenue down? ->Boom. Now you’ve found the real problem. 3. Reward qualifying OUT, not just advancing deals Reps hate killing pipeline. But bloated pipelines kill forecasting and waste resources. - Track “Deal Health” (pipeline velocity + win rates, not just size). - Offer an “Opportunity Kill” Bonus: Reward reps for disqualifying bad deals early. 4. Build deal progression checkpoints around buyer readiness, not rep actions Most CRM stages track seller activity (“Demo completed”) instead of buyer engagement (“Buyer defined success criteria”). - Shift stage gates to buyer actions: - Discovery Completed -> Buyer confirmed a business challenge + agreed on success criteria. - Proposal Sent -> Buyer agreed the solution meets success criteria + secured budget. Run Pipeline Audits: If deals are stuck, ask, “Was the buyer truly ready for the next step?” The Result? - Fewer ghosted deals. - Faster cycles...because reps only advance when buyers are bought in. - A healthier pipeline that reflects real revenue potential. Sales isn’t about process adherence. It’s about curiosity-fueled conversations that uncover real urgency. Curiosity, not checklists.

Do you have your Sales process documented? Deal pipelines that aren't documented on paper BEFORE they go into HubSpot helps to tank GTMs. If you want to make the most out of pipelines and automation in HubSpot you've got to ensure that you've got your process mapped out. When we're working with our clients here's what we want to understand: • 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲: Outline the seller’s role at each stage, emphasizing their responsibilities in diagnosing needs, demonstrating the product, making recommendations, creating proposals, negotiating terms, signing contracts, and evaluating losses.    • 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲: Define the buyer’s journey, detailing how they share information, evaluate products, engage in discussions, review proposals, negotiate, and finalize the deal.    • 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹: Identify the stages of the deal from discovery call scheduled, demo requested, proposal sent, to negotiation in-progress and closed/won or lost.    • 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹? Set clear objectives for each stage. For example, diagnosing pain points, educating decision-makers, presenting tailored proposals, and reaching mutual agreements.    • 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀? Specify the actions required at each step, such as preparing for discovery calls, identifying decision-makers, clarifying needs, presenting proposals, and finalizing contracts.    • 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗼 𝗪𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗘𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲? Detail the tools and resources needed to support each stage, like demo setups, proposal templates, and negotiation guidelines.    • 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲: Define the expected outcomes, such as gaining buyer trust, proposal acceptance, successful negotiation, contract signing, and insightful feedback collection.    • 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱/𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀: Analyze and document reasons for deal losses to refine strategies and improve future performance. We generally like a radio select and open text here to be able to report at a broad level and go deeper when necessary. Any questions? Drop them in the comments below! #hubspot #salesprocess #selling #crm