One thing we’ve run into quite a few times during CRM cleanup projects is a field that nobody really knows the purpose of anymore.

Someone created it for a specific reason a few years ago. Then a workflow started using it. Later, a report depended on it. Eventually nobody remembers why it was there, but deleting it feels risky.

We’ve had cases where a field looked completely unused until we traced the workflows, reports and integrations connected to it.

So when we clean up a CRM, we don’t start by deleting everything that looks old. We first check where the field is being used and what depends on it. Some things can be removed safely; others just need to be replaced properly first.

It’s a small thing, but it has saved us from breaking parts of a CRM that looked unrelated to the cleanup.

What’s the most unexpected dependency you’ve found while cleaning up a CRM?

Something we've noticed while working on CRM setups is that login and activity numbers don't always tell the full story.

A team can be logging into the CRM every day. Activities are being recorded. Required fields are filled in. Dashboards look healthy.

But then you watch how the actual work happens.

Someone asks a colleague for customer context instead of checking the CRM. Important notes live in Slack or someone's inbox. A sales conversation happens, a decision gets made, and the CRM is updated afterwards just so the record is complete.

At that point, the CRM is being used, but it isn't necessarily being used to do the work. It's becoming the place where work gets documented after the fact.

We've found that distinction matters because usage reports can make adoption look healthy while the team has already started relying on other places for the information they actually need.

Curious if others have seen this happen.

How do you tell the difference between a CRM that people actively work from and one they simply remember to update?