Any organization or user of a CRM, such as NetSuite, knows that it can only be as accurate and trusted as the data in the system. Despite this, it’s often a struggle to ensure the information in the CRM is complete and up to date. Adding emails to NetSuite is typically a goal but one that sometimes gets displaced by other initiatives. The reasons for this are wide-ranging, including time constraints, difficulty working within the UI, accessibility, and user adoption. If it takes a long time or requires a lot of steps to add data to the CRM, users largely will not do it. Business users in sales, support, marketing, customer success, and finance often have multiple priorities competing for their time and attention, and data entry typically is not high on the list. The UI of the CRM can also be difficult to work in. If users spend most of their day working from their inbox or marketing automation program, or if users have technical challenges, asking them to enter or update data in a completely different location can be frustrating and less productive for them. In addition, at some organizations, despite the desire for users to add important data or communication to the CRM, they may not have the resources to provide each user with their own license, creating additional accessibility and adoption issues. 

Despite all of these reasons, the majority of organizations still need to have better contextual data in the CRM for decision-making. There is typically no other place to go to see as much information as what resides there. The alternative is reaching out to individuals internally across the organization one at a time to try to secure the latest information about customers or prospects, and that would not only be inefficient but also incredibly time-consuming. So, removing barriers to data entry is very important, but so is communicating why users should do it early and often to ensure that they understand why they are a critical part of the solution. Key reasons to share include:

1. Improve the Customer (and Prospective Customer) Experience

During the buying process, prospective customers want the vendor they are working with to be on the same page as them. It can be frustrating to be asked the same questions repeatedly or to not receive timely communication. The NetSuite CRM is a critical component of that workflow. If emails, meetings, and files do not get added to NetSuite, and internal team members are changed or added, how will the new team know what steps have already been taken or what issues have been raised by the buyer? They would be required to manually search for that data, slowing response time down and potentially losing the buyer. 

Existing customer relationships are similar. Many customers choose to buy not just because a vendor has a great product, but also because they have taken the time to understand their business challenges and are committed to helping solve them. It is much more difficult to have that kind of relationship with a customer if communication and information about them do not get added to the CRM.

2. Increase NetSuite User Adoption Through Improved Team Collaboration

A CRM such as NetSuite can only be as valuable to users as the data that is added to it. If all of the pertinent contacts associated with an account do not get added, especially if communication is actually happening with them, users of the CRM lose interest and trust in it quickly. This may cause them to revert back to working in the silo of their inbox, not sharing information about an account that could be valuable to others in the organization. Internally at CloudExtend, we say “if it is not in NetSuite it did not happen.” This may seem extreme, but if there is no visibility to internal teams in the business, it ultimately proves to be true. 

At the highest level, businesses also want to ensure their users are actually utilizing the applications they invest in. Taking time to search for a CRM solution, go through the buying process, and then purchasing, only to find out later that there is very limited data in it, or that users are not using it very much, does not make the need for the CRM go away, but causes the company to have to search for another way to enhance its adoption.

3. Enhance the Value of Tools You Already Have

Companies want to be confident that users in their business are fully utilizing the tools available to them and exploring ways to enhance their value. During challenging economic times when purchases and technology are more heavily scrutinized, businesses look for mission-critical applications or tools that integrate their essential apps together. Businesses want to provide users with a path to efficiency and productivity, and their applications and automation are an important part of that. If users are already in their inboxes, why not invest in a way to make it easier for them to use and integrate with NetSuite?

Making sure that users add emails to the NetSuite CRM is one of the most important ways to enhance its value. Checking information, building reports, and using them to create dashboards, all rely on it. The CRM should be trusted to be the single source of truth and that is a requirement to get it there.

4. Better, Faster Internal (and External!) Communication

It is inevitable that employees get sick, go on vacation, or even leave the company. If all of their important emails, events, and files are already in the NetSuite CRM, the business can continue to perform normal operations with no delay. Communication is faster and more fluid, and employees can ultimately be significantly more productive. This impacts sales and marketing processes as well. If all the pertinent information is available to make the best business decisions, marketing and sales alignment and interaction are positively impacted as a result.

5. Enhance the Security of Information

Security protocols and procedures are top of mind for businesses around the world. Creating an environment where personally identifiable information (PII) and customer data are controlled and protected is paramount. Provided that the NetSuite CRM is set up with the appropriate user access roles, by storing important emails there, an organization can ensure that sensitive customer information is kept secure and that access to this information is restricted to authorized team members.

The Path to Making NetSuite the Single Source of Truth

Virtually every business wants its CRM to be the most trusted source of information. It is often difficult to accomplish because it is not always easy to add information, such as emails, files, and events to it. Business users have many priorities and if getting information into the CRM is very manual, they often will not do it. 

Business users live in their email inboxes. Finding a solution like ExtendSync for use with Outlook or Google Workspace that integrates with NetSuite right from where users already work every day can bring the best of both worlds to an organization. Try email integration free.