How are you managing contacts that come your way?
Is there a plan of attack in place when a new lead comes through?
This boils down to one question: What does your Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) look like?
You likely have a sales team in place to follow up on leads as they come in. And while many companies have some type of CRM in place, believe it or not, we run into huge companies that don’t have any kind of software in place to keep track of their customer information. Companies that do millions in sales each year, but they don’t have an organized system.
So if there is more money to be had — just laying it out there on the table — why wouldn’t you go get it?
What will a CRM system provide?
Many companies have a spreadsheet (or multiple), use Quickbooks, an email inbox or even just a folder full of handwritten notes. But is this really a scalable business plan? What happens if you lose that one sticky note with the phone number to the lead you spoke to last week?
This may be working for now, but there is a way you can get your team organized and more efficient!
Writing things down is good — it’s something that I do — but that doesn't mean you are picking up the phone or sending that email to reach out to that lead.
A CRM system can do so much for you. Once you get some contact info from a lead it can send an automated text, or email and even create a task to call the lead quickly. It practically does the work for you!
The idea behind utilizing a CRM is that it’s a one-stop-shop that allows you to collect and organize all customer-related information that you receive. From there, you’ll be able to manage that data across your teams, and different departments. This allows your whole company, and not just the sales team to be on the same page, from start to finish.
Not only that, but because you have this software in place, once that that lead is converted into a paying customer, you have a streamlined method allowing for better and easier customer communication-- ultimately leading to a higher retention rate.
And this is huge. We can tell you from experience this is a game-changer.
It saves time and it gives you a chance to dedicate that time to other things, streamlining your processes.
Which CRM should you choose?
Now, this is the fun part… well maybe not, because finding the right software to fit your specific needs can take some trial and error. And let me tell you, we have some experience in this.
We have used six… Yep, SIX different CRM’s over the years. So we have seen it all. We’ve gone through the struggles of learning a new system over and over again. Wasting precious time and money that could have been spent instead on growing the business.
Then we found HubSpot.
This is by far the best CRM that we’ve used. It's easy to understand, and the support for the software is the BEST! No joke.
There’s no waiting on hold forever with the support team, just to speak with a real person instead of a chatbot. They are there for you, and it really shows, always working to ensure you get a solution to the problem you're having.
And that is key! It gets you rolling quickly on a path that will help you to grow your business efficiently.
This isn’t a sales pitch for HubSpot either because the basic CRM software is free. Yep, no cost to get started with this great platform.
The way that you can fire off emails, send text messages and alert your sales team of a news lead is unmatched. It’s quick, and that is a big deal when it comes to converting leads into clients.
So while it is good and well to set up a new CRM system, as a business leader you need to be using it. Don’t just set it up, force it on your team and then abandon it yourself. That will not get the job done, and will only lead to the same issues you were seeing before you installed the CRM.
Don’t fall back into your old ways of just writing everything down on sticky notes. If you are using the software, so will the rest of your team.
Leading by example will show your team the value that comes along with using the software. And in turn, will yield better results.
Here is some more good news for you!
We know that setting up new software for an entire team can be daunting, so we can help! We have seen success with this system and we can help set you up to see that same success!
Let’s talk about growing your business!
