Why Salesforce Fails to Gain Traction in B2B Sales: 3 Reasons and Tips for Effective Data Utilization

What Is Salesforce?

Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system developed by Salesforce, Inc. in the United States.
It allows for the centralized management of all customer-related operations, including sales, marketing, and customer service, on a single platform.

It is designed to optimize corporate business processes and is characterized by its high level of flexible customizability.

By implementing Salesforce, companies can streamline sales activities and enhance customer support through advanced analytical functions.
It has been adopted by companies across various industries and sectors worldwide and is highly regarded as a tool that accelerates business growth.

Salesforce offers a rich product lineup, allowing users to select the necessary functions for their operations, such as Sales Cloud, which specializes in sales support, and Account Engagement, which automates marketing activities.

Reference Article: What Is the Appeal of Sales Cloud? Introducing Its Implementation Benefits and the Characteristics of Companies That Should Utilize It ▶︎

Disadvantages Caused by Failure to Adopt Salesforce

Even if Salesforce is implemented at a cost, the expected benefits will not be realized if it is not adopted by the actual teams using it.
In fact, it may lead to the following disadvantages.

• Unable to Achieve Revenue Growth and Sales Efficiency
• Failure to Generate Results Commensurate with Implementation Costs
• Decline in Sales Team Motivation

We will explain each of these individually.

Unable to Achieve Revenue Growth and Sales Efficiency

In B2B sales processes, there are multiple decision-makers, making it essential to accumulate and analyze data in an SFA system like Salesforce to understand their individual needs and challenges.

For sales representatives to appropriately engage in the B2B decision-making process and provide proposals, it is necessary to meticulously manage communication with each stakeholder and the progress of business negotiations.

However, if data is not accumulated in Salesforce, it is impossible to visualize and analyze such complex sales processes.

As a result, it becomes difficult to identify the right prospects, and oversights in follow-ups are more likely to occur.
Without implementing repeatable sales activities that lead to orders, you will be unable to achieve revenue growth or improve sales efficiency.

[Reference Article] [Understand in 3 Minutes] What Is B2B Sales? Explaining the Only Two Essential Elements for Success and the Differences from B2C Sales! ▶︎

Failure to Generate Results Commensurate with Implementation Costs

Implementing Salesforce requires significant investment, including license fees, operational costs, and training expenses.
However, if adoption does not progress and the platform is not fully utilized, these investments will not yield a sufficient return.

A low return on investment (ROI) makes it difficult to secure support from management. There is a risk that your valuable investment will go to waste.

Decline in Sales Team Motivation

If data entry into Salesforce is not strictly enforced and utilization fails to progress, the motivation of the sales team will decline.

When the burden of entering data into Salesforce increases, and sales representatives feel that these additional tasks do not contribute to revenue, the perception that "Salesforce is a useless tool" spreads. This creates a vicious cycle that makes successful adoption even more difficult.
If the morale of the sales team drops, it can negatively impact overall sales performance.

Three Reasons Why Salesforce Fails to Take Root in B2B Sales Organizations

There are three primary reasons why Salesforce adoption often fails to progress within B2B sales organizations.

• Reason 1: The Burden of Data Entry
• Reason 2: Inconsistent Data Entry Formats
• Reason 3: A Data-Driven Sales Culture Has Not Taken Root

Let us examine each point individually in the following sections.

Reason 1: Data Entry Creates an Operational Burden

To effectively utilize Salesforce, data entry by sales representatives is essential.
However, data entry is a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, which places a significant burden on sales representatives.

This sense of burden is further amplified when there are numerous input fields.
In busy sales environments, data entry is often postponed, which ultimately becomes a primary reason why the system fails to gain traction.

Reason 2: Inconsistent Data Entry Formats

When data entry methods and levels of detail vary among sales representatives, the data becomes difficult to utilize effectively.
For example, if the terminology used to describe the progress of a sales negotiation is not standardized, it becomes impossible to accurately track the sales pipeline.

To maintain high data quality, it is essential to establish and enforce strict input rules.
However, many companies may be struggling with adoption because these rules are either not clearly defined or not effectively implemented.

Reason 3: A Data-Driven Sales Culture Has Not Taken Root

To leverage Salesforce successfully, it is vital that a culture prioritizing data is deeply embedded within the organization.
Conversely, in many companies, such a culture has not been fostered, resulting in data that is entered but never fully utilized.

Embedding data-driven decision-making requires top-down commitment.
When management recognizes the importance of data and takes the lead in utilizing it, that culture will permeate throughout the entire organization.

What Issues Must Be Resolved to Ensure Salesforce Adoption?

So, what must be resolved to ensure Salesforce adoption? In conclusion, it is essential to address two key issues: 1. Data Quantity and 2. Data Quality.

　

1. Data Quantity

Entering data into Salesforce is a time-consuming and laborious task for sales representatives.
Especially when there are numerous input fields, the operational burden increases, leading to a shortage of data accumulated within Salesforce.

Generally, the following items are considered the minimum requirements for corporate data in B2B companies.

• Basic Corporate Information (Company Name, Address, Phone Number, Industry, Capital, etc.)
• Contact Information (Name, Job Title, Contact Details, etc.)
• Opportunity Information (Opportunity Stage, Opportunity Amount, Expected Close Date, etc.)
• Activity History (Visit Records, Email and Call Logs, etc.)

Such data is collected in a fragmented state across the company due to "separate tools managed by individual departments" and "business card exchanges at exhibitions or sales meetings."
As a result, the volume of data in Salesforce becomes insufficient, leading to a situation where it cannot be fully utilized.

Another issue is that data managed by departments other than sales or at different branch offices is not integrated into Salesforce.
For example, prospect information held by the marketing department or customer inquiry history maintained by the customer support department would be extremely valuable information for conducting sales activities.

If the number of corporate records in Salesforce is insufficient, sales representatives cannot achieve a comprehensive understanding of their customers, making it impossible to execute appropriate approaches.
Without sufficient data sharing between departments and branch offices, the true value of Salesforce cannot be realized.

Reference Article: What Corporate Information Should Be Acquired for ABM? Explaining Methods for Data Acquisition and Management ▶︎

2: Data Quality

It is not uncommon for data registered in Salesforce to be outdated and not updated with the latest information.
For example, even if a customer company's address, phone number, or contact person's information has changed, it often remains unupdated and neglected within Salesforce.

Conducting sales activities using such outdated data leads to inefficiencies, such as being unable to reach contacts or failing to execute appropriate approaches.

There are also many cases where the same customer information is registered as separate, duplicate records.
Specifically, this includes instances where "information for the same company is registered separately by different sales representatives" or "information for the same individual is split across multiple records."

Such data duplication not only reduces the efficiency of data management but also hinders communication with customers.
There is a risk that different approaches may be made to the same customer.

Conducting sales activities using inaccurate data can damage trust with customers and negatively impact the accuracy of data analysis.
Therefore, it is essential to perform regular data cleansing to correct inaccurate information and improve overall data quality.

[Reference Article] [Understand in 5 Minutes] What Is Data Cleansing? An Easy-to-Understand Explanation of Objectives and Concrete Examples! ▶︎

Integration with Corporate Databases Is the Key to Salesforce Adoption

Improving the quantity and quality of data is essential for Salesforce adoption. However, maintaining high data quality solely within the sales department is not easy.
In reality, sales representatives are often overwhelmed by daily tasks and lack the time to manage data maintenance.

This is where "Integration with Corporate Databases" becomes a focal point.
By linking your internal sales activity data with an external corporate database, you can efficiently improve both the comprehensiveness and accuracy of your data.

For example, by utilizing a corporate database service like uSonar, which we provide, you can automatically import vast amounts of corporate information into Salesforce.
This allows you to increase data volume without relying on manual entry by sales representatives. Furthermore, regular data updates ensure that the information remains current.

Furthermore, data cleansing using a corporate database can guarantee data consistency.
By automatically identifying and merging duplicate records within Salesforce, you can significantly enhance the quality of your data.

Summary

The most critical factor in Salesforce adoption is how to collect daily sales data without increasing the burden on the sales team.
Improving the quantity and quality of data is essential to promote Salesforce utilization and maximize the return on your investment.

In particular, integration with a corporate database contributes significantly to improving data quality.
Whether your company has already implemented Salesforce or is currently considering it, we encourage you to re-evaluate the importance of data management.

With that in mind, let us proceed with initiatives aimed at successful adoption, while keeping the integration of corporate databases in view.

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If you are concerned that "you have implemented Salesforce but are struggling to see results," please download the materials below.