Why CRM adoption fails and how Evolve plans to fix it

By Bruce Bignell, Founder of Evolve, Elite Pipedrive Partners.

The CRM adoption crisis SMEs need to solve

Picture this: you’re running your business, wearing a dozen hats (ala Sam Thomas), trying to grow your company. You’ve invested in a shiny new CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool, hoping it’ll organise your sales, track your leads and make life easier. Instead, it’s a mess. Your team barely touches it. Deals slip through the cracks and you’re left wondering where all that time, money and effort went. Sound familiar?

You’re not alone. HBR Research shows 67% of sales reps don’t fully use their CRM, and half of all CRM projects flop because no one adopts them.

That’s millions of pounds down the drain every year in the UK alone, all because the tools meant to help end up gathering digital dust.

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I’m Bruce Bignell, founder of Evolve, and I’ve seen this story play out too many times. Over the years, we’ve helped hundreds of companies untangle their data and systematise their CRM, and I’ve learned a thing or two about what’s important.

In this piece I want to introduce

three ideas.

1. Why CRM adoption so often fails

2. Why Pipedrive is a game-changer

3. How our brand-new AfterCare product, the Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (EPS) aims to tackle this

We believe in elevating your CRM experience for the team and empowering the Admin. Whether you’re a one-person business or a growing firm, this might be for you or someone you know.

High stakes of getting CRM wrong

Let’s start with a story. Imagine your friend Dave, who runs a roofing business in Horsham. Dave’s brilliant at fixing roofs, but keeping track of enquiries and customers? That’s another story. At first, he scribbled names and numbers on bits of paper. As his business grew, he hired a couple of lads to help, and those notes turned into a jumbled mess. “I’ll get a CRM,” he thought, “something to sort this out.” But six months later, his team’s still not using it. One forgets to log a job.

Another misses a follow-up. A big contract slips away, and Dave’s left fuming, out of pocket and no closer to cracking the CRM enigma code
(Sidenote: Dave may or may not have chosen Monday.com for his CRM!)

Those are the stakes. When you’re small, you might get by keeping it all in your head or a trusty notebook. But as you grow (eg: hiring your first salesperson or you just want to systematise your business), a dodgy CRM can stop all momentum. Even if you’ve got one, and if it’s too tricky or your team hates it, you’re back to square one.

Legacy “Salesforce” trap: too big, too complex, too expensive

Anyone who has spent time with me speaking about CRMs may have heard me say the phrase “No one gets fired for buying Salesforce” – a play on the old saying “no one gets fired for buying IBM”. It’s a bit of a joke, but it’s true, but I think there’s more to it.

“No one gets fired for buying Salesforce… but they also don’t get a promotion.”

In the CRM world, Salesforce is the big name (huge, packed with features, and is the #1 CRM globally by revenue – yep, it’s expensive). But, for most businesses, it’s like buying a tank when all you need is a bicycle to get you to work.

That’s the problem. Big legacy CRMs like Salesforce take an age to get going (nine to 14 months, sometimes more). Your team’s stuck in limbo, you’re spending a lot of money on the software and just as much money on an admin team to set it up. Worse still, once it’s live, it’s overkill for small and scaling businesses that need something quick, simple and effective (not a year-long project).

Defining your business requirements ahead of making any software decision is key.

Taking the time to define your requirements using a framework like MosCoW (we have some free templates if you email support@weevolvebusiness.com we can send them your way) to map out your processes, understand your needs, and configure the system to reflect your business requirements not, starting with what any software can do.

Meet Pipedrive: a refreshingly simple alternative

If Salesforce CRM is the clunky, legacy software that no one likes to use, then Pipedrive CRM is the easy to use, effective and scalable system your team actually want to use (kind of like if Apple designed a CRM – it just works).

Pipedrive was designed by salespeople, for salespeople, and it’s simple and easy to understand. Forget endless menus and techy nonsense (Pipedrive gives you a clear, visual pipeline). From my experience, CRMs like Salesforce or Odoo always meant extra work. I would have to leave 30/45 mins a day in my calendar at the end of the day to update the system, to tell it what I had done that day.

When I first saw Pipedrive, I was drawn to the visual pipelines, and activity based selling notion, that tracked activities as I competed them and logged emails and calls against contacts and deals I was working on, as I was working them – this can now be done together when working in Linkedin too with tools like Surfe.

Why Pipedrive stands out – why Evolve loves it

User-focused design:
Pipedrive’s Kanban-like interface is intuitive. Deals appear as cards in different stages, from “Lead In” to “Negotiation” to “Won”. Move a deal with a simple drag-and-drop. No more 12-click sequences to update basic fields.

Fast results:
While conventional CRMs might take half a year to tailor to your needs, Pipedrive can be up and running in weeks. Speed to value is crucial for any scaling company that doesn’t have the luxury of year-long rollouts.

AI-driven insights:
Despite its simplicity, Pipedrive continues to develop advanced features like AI Sales Agents. This means it can automatically suggest activities or highlight deals at risk. So you get a user-friendly CRM and the benefits of modern tech.

Affordable and scalable:
Whether you have a two-person team or 500, Pipedrive grows with you. And it won’t break the bank, licensing costs are famously lower than many enterprise platforms, letting you reinvest savings back into your business.

Community and marketplace:
Pipedrive’s Marketplace offers hundreds of integrations – from email marketing to accounting – and can integrate with the likes of Zapier and Make.com, as well as a developer portal to build out custom integrations or apps. Allowing you to build a custom tech stack as your business needs evolve.

Pipedrive’s been around for 15+ years. It’s proven itself with over 110,000 companies worldwide, 15-plus years on the market and raised $750Million in November of 2020.

So how does Evolve help, as an Elite Pipedrive Partner?

Success story #1: $2Billion company ditches Salesforce for Pipedrive

Last year we were approached by a $2Billion global business who were looking to move away from Salesforce. This business has 70 studios across the globe and had been running Salesforce for years. However, employees complained it felt like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Adoption was low, annual software costs were sky high and the complexity overshadowed any gains.

Enter Evolve: we recommended the switch from Salesforce to Pipedrive, based on their business requirements. We got to work, and here’s what happened:

• Timeline: Under three months from initial planning to go-live, compared to an earlier 14-month Salesforce saga.

• Adoption surge: Once the new system was introduced, weekly active users soared because the sales team found it intuitive. “You log deals in real time, it’s basically ‘drag, drop, done,”.

• Cost savings: They slashed tens of thousands of pounds on their CRM spending overnight. Pipedrive’s lower rates and flexible pricing meant more seats at lower cost.

• Concrete ROI: A senior director reported, “Our pipeline finally became trustworthy. Forecasts improved, and reports were using live data, saving countless hours a month exporting and importing data from spreadsheets.”

For a global business used to enterprise-level customisation, the question was: “Can Pipedrive handle our workflows?” The answer was an emphatic yes, once we mapped out and translated their workflows into Pipedrive, we were able to make the customisations in app as well as leveraging tools like Make.com to leverage more insights and automation.

Key takeaway: Even big businesses can find value in a simpler CRM, especially when their workforce is tired of an overly complex solution that knowone understands or uses. The decision to switch paid off in higher adoption, better data and immediate cost savings. Just because Salesforce is “enterprise-grade” – if your people don’t use it, the ROI is zero.

Success story #2: a 15% revenue boost in 12 months

We began working with a mid-sized electrical contractor and training centre. Their “CRM” was essentially a web of Excel files scattered across department folders. A missed follow-up had recently cost them a lucrative project in the region of £900k. That was the final straw. They approached Evolve for help, having seen systems like Monday.com advertise to them, we recommended Pipedrive based on their CRM enquiry management requirements. Once implemented, the results were tangible and swift.

How Evolve tailored Pipedrive for construction

• Custom Pipelines for tenders and projects: Quotes move from Enquiry
Recieved > Quote Required > Quote Sent > Leading to a 3 steps follow up sequence. We set up custom stages, so reps and management had a clear, visual journey for every potential project including renewals and tenders that may require site visits etc.

• Data import in under two weeks: We migrated their old spreadsheets, ensuring no lead or contact was lost. Instead of months, the system was ready to roll in a fortnight, with training taking place the following two weeks.

• On-demand tutorials: Because not everyone was tech-savvy, we embedded short “how-to” prompts within Pipedrive. If a user was unsure of their next action or what to do in a certain stage, they could hover for a quick explanation. Our Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (EPS), which I’ll discuss in detail soon, took this approach even further.

15% growth and more profitable

Within 12 months, they saw a 15% increase in revenue – a direct result of responding faster, and never letting deals go stale and a clear follow up process on all enquiries and quotes.

“We can see where each tender stands, spot bottlenecks, and fix them in real time,” said the Finance Director. Before, quotes might sit for months. Now, automated reminders ensure follow-ups happen promptly. Having real time data on activities allowed for better resource management and coaching for team (Eg: which teams are performing or not and providing indicators as to what may be affecting performance)

They also became more profitable, thanks to factual insights into the pipeline. This gave the Finance Director and Senior Leadership Team the confidence to make more informed decisions across other areas of the business. The improved visibility in the pipelines, with accurate sales figures and forecasts, not only resonated in their internal reports but also made the business more attractive to outside investors.

Reporting was another game-changer. With Pipedrive’s straightforward dashboards, the managing director could log in and see the entire funnel at a glance, what was likely to close this quarter, which deals were stuck, and how many new leads arrived this week (when we first spoke with them, this was done line by line in an Excel spreadsheet!).

Key Takeaway: You don’t have to be a tech startup to benefit from Pipedrive. Even “traditional” industries can reap massive rewards by adopting a streamlined CRM that fits how they work. The 15% revenue bump more than justified the investment and they’ve been keen Pipedrive advocates ever since.

When CRM turns into the enemy

Even your best salespeople start seeing the software as a chore. They’d rather chat to a customer or prospect rather than update a clunky system. So they skip logging calls. They ignore reminders. Before you know it, your pipeline’s a shambles (full of gaps and guesswork). Managers can’t forecast sales and business owners are left asking: “Why are we even bothering?”

HBR stats back this up: half of CRM projects fail because people don’t use them – we call that User Adoption. Training can help, but what usually happens with training? You spend money for onsite training, or for training documentation and videos. These training resources then live somewhere in your OneDrive or Google drive, that no-one can find when they need it. When they do know where the resources are, they then have to open a new tab, taking them away from the CRM where they are doing their work.

Introducing Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (EPS)

Pipedrive’s brilliant, but we at Evolve wanted to take it further. Even the best tools need a nudge to stick with your team. Training’s a slog, and managers hate repeating themselves. So we have invested in the Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (EPS). It’s like a easy to use guide living inside your CRM, making sure everyone gets the answer they want, when they need it, with speed to insight being key.

Why Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (EPS)

• Help when you need it: Think of EPS as an interactive layer on top of your Pipedrive, offering “in the moment” help without having to move away from your Pipedrive instance.

• Manage definitions at scale: No more arguing over what “warm lead” means. You can set the rules, so everyone’s clear using your company’s own definitions and training accessible in-app.

• Frictionless onboarding: Fresh hires learn by doing it themselves. EPS shows them the ropes, step by step. Which means one-on-one or group training can be much more effective at answering specific questions, rather than the laborious onboarding tasks.

• Boost productivity: With embedded best practices from Evolve and industry experts, EPS has best in class templates and frameworks included for you to use.

• Direct access: The EPS is designed to improve speed to insight for your team, and empower your CRM Administrator.

How to use EPS

We designed the Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (EPS) to bring insights into your Pipedrive experience without leaving the app.

Our self serve learning ladder has 3 steps

1. ASK EVE

Evolves Ai partner – Designed by us to answer your daily Pipedrive questions in app

2. SEARCH BASES & GUIDES

Search Evolve content library – includes templates, guides the Evolve team use & industry frameworks in-app for you to use

3. MESSAGE THE EVOLVE TEAM

Raise Evolve Support Ticket and the Evolve Team will be in touch on email

Real world EPS user case

The CRM Admin for a building surveying firm with 20+ users, felt like she was repeating herself to staff, answering the same questions over and over. Repeated questions like: “How do I mark a deal as ‘Lost’ with a reason?” Now, they can ask the EPS in-app and there are step by step guides. EPS also has the flexibility for your CRM Admin to build out their own guides and in app resources for training.

CRM adoption: a final word

I started this piece by saying I wanted to introduce you to three key ideas. Why CRM adoption so often fails, Why Pipedrive is a game-changer and How Evolve’s brand-new AfterCare product, the Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (EPS) aims to tackle this.

Now, I must say, technology will not solve your business problems, and there is no one system to fit all business needs. I think of it as People, Systems and Technology, you must have an understanding of the people and roles in your business, which allows you to map out your workflows and systems. Then you can accelerate your growth with automation and software.

Ready to Evolve your business?

We help two distinct groups of businesses. Those who are considering a new easy to use CRM or those who want to maximise their current Pipedrive investment.

1. No CRM at all / tired of existing CRM

Don’t let outdated spreadsheets or overly complex CRMs slow you down any longer.

• Discuss your needs: with Evolve in a no-obligation session to see if Pipedrive is the right fit – we’ll let you know if it’s not.

• Quick implementation: Our Launchpad projects can have you set you up in weeks – Workflow Mapping / Handle Data / Config & Test / Training.

2. Already using Pipedrive

Let’s maximise your CRM with Evolve AfterCare expertise and the EPS.

• Try the Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick: bringing Evolve and industry insights into your Pipedrive experience, without leaving the app – available with all AfterCare Plans.

• Empower your Admin: with Evolve as your local CRM Partner, we include unlimited email support for all AfterCare plans and flexible monthly ongoing CRM support from as little as 1 hour a month, ensuring your team stays up to date and on top of your CRM.

How to contact Evolve

You can reach us at

www.weevolvebusiness.com or call +44 (0)1273 011187. You can also find us on the Pipedrive Partner Marketplace.

Want to try the Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (EPS)? https://calendly.com/bruceatevolve/evolve-pipedrive-sidekick-sbt

We empower small and scaling businesses to squeeze everything they need out of the #1 easy-to-use CRM, Pipedrive – it’s the only CRM we work with.

We also run Evolve Pipedrive Podcast, where Bruce has interviewed 60+ sales leaders and app founders that build apps which connect to Pipedrive.

Evolve Services

• Implementation (Evolve Launchpad)

• Training / Onboarding (Evolve Pipedrive 101, Advanced & Admin)

• Evolve CRM AfterCare (stay ahead with continuous improvement)

• Evolve Pipedrive Sidekick (Increase user adoption & speed to insight)

• Pipedrive Software Reseller (serving 100+ businesses)

FREE Resources: Evolve Sales OS – Free software trials & 4-hour video workshops

Want to partner with Evolve? We are always looking for great businesses to partner with as we continue building a world-class Pipedrive Partner Team, Empowering Pipedrive CRM Admins and Driving User Adoption.