How to Make Confident CRM Decisions Through Uncertainty

"What becomes more difficult when there's a lot of unpredictability in the world is making decisions using the model you were using when things were more predictable and you had more confidence.” - Mike Paton, Speaker, Author & EOS Implementer

Over the past few months, our team has heard this uncertainty play out in real conversations. 

Leaders tell us their CRM and revenue operations aren't working: HubSpot is full of duplicate records, critical data lives in spreadsheets instead of systems, and teams are frustrated. However, decisions that would have taken weeks now stretch into months. 

The reasons to wait sound reasonable on the surface: 

• We’re exploring AI tools first.
• We’ll try it in-house again.
• Let's revisit this once things settle down a bit.

If we’re honest, the uncertainty is a bit deeper than that: 

• If this goes poorly, will it take the organization off track?
• What if there’s a better option I haven’t seen yet?
• Will I lose my job if I make the wrong decision?

Uncertainty is real, but waiting for certainty has its own price tag. That price is usually higher than the cost of moving forward strategically. 

Two client stories illustrate what’s at stake: 

Porch Windows Direct tripled their revenue and expanded into manufacturing last year. Their founder Brandon Williamson candidly shared, “You have to spend the money before you get the results. It’s a little scary to put that money out and hope that the results will be there, but they were right away.”

A publishing client we work with knew leads were falling through the cracks, so they started managed services to optimize their HubSpot. What they didn’t know was that one new automation would generate six figures in revenue every week. If they had waited just two more months to invest in optimization it would have cost them nearly one million dollars in revenue. 

You'll never have perfect information. The question isn't whether to wait for more certainty, it's how to make confident decisions despite uncertainty.

We advise leaders on these decisions every day and frameworks help build confidence. As an EOS organization, we align with Mike Paton's advice on uncertainty: anchor decisions in your vision and core values. When those elements are crystal clear, they become your compass in uncertainty.

We also use practical filters that complement this strategic clarity. Here’s our framework for evaluating when it’s time to take a step forward. 

Questions That Create Clarity

Before you can decide how to move forward, you need to answer whether to move forward. These questions help leaders cut through the noise:

1. Is this problem getting worse or staying the same?

Most CRM and operations issues compound over time. If your answer is "worse" or even "the same but more frustrating," waiting will only make it worse. 

2. What is our current state actually costing us?

Make the invisible visible. Calculate the hours spent on manual work, the leads that slip through cracks, the decisions delayed because you don't trust your data. You might discover the cost of inaction far exceeds the cost of investment.

3. What information do we need to move forward?

Most decisions stall because we're waiting for information we don't actually need. If you can answer these four questions you have enough to start. You will figure out the rest of the details along the way. Ask yourself: 

• Do we understand the core problem?
• Do we know what success looks like?
• Do we have a way to measure if it's working?
• Can we clearly articulate why this matters now?

4. Can you take a step forward and adjust, if needed?

It’s common to treat decisions like they’re all-or-nothing. In reality, you’re just choosing the next right step with the information you have. Can you start small or pilot to test? One data clean up project, one team onboarded, or one integration could make a big difference in proving results and building confidence. You don’t need perfect foresight if you can test and iterate to prove out what works. 

 3 Ways to Move Forward

Once you've worked through these questions, it's time to decide which step toward improvement is right for your organization. We see success with three main options.

1. Foundations First

Best for: Teams struggling with the basics who need quick wins.

Start with data cleanup and process documentation. This pays off quickly and sets you up for whatever comes next (including AI).

2. Pilot and Prove

Best for: Organizations that need to demonstrate ROI before fully investing.

Pick one high-impact migration, integration or automation and nail it. Identify your highest priorities based on relevance, impact, readiness and urgency.

3. Strategic Buildout

Best for: Companies ready to fix the root causes for good.

This is complete CRM architecture designed for scale, including integrations, automation, reporting infrastructure, and team training. 

Choosing the Right Approach

Whichever path you choose, you'll need to decide: do we have the expertise internally or do we need help? Here's how to decide whether to tackle the project internally or hire a partner. 

Can your team design for what should be, not just replicate what is?

The biggest risk is automating broken processes outdated systems. If your team can envision the optimal future state and architect toward it, you may be ready to DIY. If not, you need strategic thinking from someone who's built this before.

What's the real cost if this takes 6 months instead of 6 weeks?

If your salespeople are building pipelines instead of selling, you're trading revenue for labor savings. Calculate all tradeoffs honestly.

What to look for in a partner or internal approach.

Whether you're evaluating a partner or an internal project plan, you need:

• A clear process (discovery, milestones, how risk gets managed)
• Someone who will push back when needed, not just say yes
• Proof it works (talk to references who were in your situation)
• Focus on training and user adoption, not just tech set up

The readiness checklist:

✓ We can articulate what's broken and what it costs us
✓ We have leadership commitment to get this done right
✓ We’ve defined what success looks like

If you can answer these questions, you're ready to take a step forward. Not because you have certainty, but because you have enough to start.