A CRM only works when the data inside it can be trusted. These five fields cause the most damage when they're empty or inconsistent.
Your reports are only as good as your fields
Most CRM problems aren't technical. They're data problems: fields left blank, values entered differently by every team member, and records nobody trusts.
These five fields do the most damage when they're unreliable.
1. Lead source
If you don't know where a lead came from, you can't tell which channels are worth funding. Make it a required field with a fixed list of values — not free text.
2. Owner
An unassigned lead is nobody's job. Every record should have a named owner the moment it is created, assigned automatically by rule.
3. Next step and due date
Deals go quiet when there is no agreed next action. Require a next step and a date on every open deal.
4. Stage
Stages only work if your team agrees on what each one means. Write the definition down and make stage changes mandatory rather than optional.
5. Last contact date
This is the single best early warning for stalled deals. If the last contact was more than two weeks ago, the deal needs attention today.
A simple weekly routine
- Review unassigned and source-less records
- Chase every deal with no next step
- Merge duplicates created in the past week
- Report on stage-to-stage conversion, not just totals
Thirty minutes a week keeps a CRM trustworthy — and a trustworthy CRM is what makes automation possible.
