🚀 5 CRM Challenges You Might Face When Starting Your Business (And What Helped Me)
Hey everyone đź‘‹
I'm Edu, Customer Success Specialist in Pipedrive.
I've been in Support before and I've already been in the situation to not understand a thing about CRMs.
If you're just starting your own business and diving into the world of CRMs, I wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way.
When I first started using Pipedrive, I had no background in sales or CRMs — just a need to stay organized and not lose track of leads and follow-ups.
Here are 5 challenges I ran into early on, and what helped me figure them out. Hopefully this saves you a few headaches as you're getting started:
🛠️ 1. Trying to Fit Your Business Into a “Sales Pipeline”
When you're just getting started, it might feel weird trying to match what you do to the stages and terms inside a CRM.
💡 Tip: Don’t stress if it doesn’t fit right away. I realized I could rename pipeline stages, create custom fields, and basically shape Pipedrive to match the way I work. That’s when it started to click. It's also good to have an overall view to every feature available for you.
đź‘Ą 2. Getting Everyone on the Same Page
If you’re not working solo, one early hiccup can be getting your team (even if it's just one or two others) to actually use the CRM consistently.
💡 Tip: Keep it simple at first. We just agreed on a few basic things — like always updating deals before the end of the day — and had short check-ins. Once people see how it helps, it will start to stick.
🧹 3. Keeping Your CRM From Turning Into a Mess
CRMs can get messy fast — duplicate contacts, missing info, lost deals.
💡 Tip: I started doing a quick “clean-up” once a week. Things like merging duplicates, closing out old deals, and double-checking contact info. Doesn’t take long, and it makes a big difference.
⚙️ 4. Avoiding the “Too Much Automation” Trap
Pipedrive has great automation tools, but it’s easy to overdo it early on.
💡 Tip: Start small. I set up just a couple automations — like creating follow-up tasks or sending reminders when a deal moves stages. That was enough to feel the benefit without things getting out of control.
đź“Š 5. Finding Reports That Actually Matter
There’s a lot of data available — which can be overwhelming when you’re new.
đź’ˇ Tip: I focused on a few key numbers: how many new deals are created, how many were won, and how long it was taking. Built a simple dashboard around that, and it gave me just enough clarity to feel on track and understand how it works.
🙌 Final Thoughts
If you're just starting out: be patient with yourself.
You don’t have to get it perfect right away. Just start small, stay consistent, and let the system grow with you.
If anyone else has been through the early stages and has tips to share, please do! It will be quite helpful for those who are starting. And if you’re just starting and have questions, feel free to ask!
Wishing you the best on your business journey 🚀