[tags]

Episode 119 – How to Pick The Perfect CRM

Feb 24, 2020

This Episode



Mark Stephenson & Marc Vila



You Will Learn

How to choose CRM software

Resources & Links

Episode 119 – How to Pick The Perfect CRM

Show Notes

A CRM is a Customer Relationship Management software. It’s designed to help you organize your customers, track interactions and even more complex items like creating invoices and setting reminders to follow up.

A CRM can also help you create business automation. For example, if you mark a customer as someone to follow up with in 6 months, you can have an email automatically go out in six months and a reminder pop up in your calendar to call them.

Why have a CRM (should you have one)?

– If your customer database isn’t organized you will lose / forget things
– You can make notes about this customer:
They are really cheap / They are really high end driven
They prefer phone calls over emails
They don’t like polyester shirts
– Save quotes in CRM
– Set reminders to follow up
– 1 place to keep names of contacts, emails, phones, websites
– Instant access to database from any computer or mobile device

YOU MUST COMMIT TO USING IT AS YOUR COMMUNICATIONS HUB TO BE SUCCESSFUL!

Picking a CRM – 2020 Pics

ZOHO CRM

PROS
– Free up to 10 users
– Tons of built in features
– Lots of reporting tools
– Built in email marketing tools

CONS
– Tons of add-ons can add up
– Support isn’t hand holding, you will have to learn the system well

HubSpot CRM

PROS

– Free Version available with tons of features
– Excellent email and website integration
– Easy to use interface

CONS

– Really can get costly when you add more features
– Hard to leave hubspot once your website, email, etc integrated

Freshsales CRM

PROS

– Lots of built in integrations:
Phone calling
Emailing
Live Chat
Marketing
– Easy to use interface

CONS

– Try for free, but don’t get access to integrations
– No reports in Free Plan
– Less Popular = Less help online

SalesForce

PROS

– Tons of advanced features
– Biggest and baddest in CRM industry
– Extremely customizable

CONS

– Big learning curve (be tech savvy)
– Pricey to start and grow

Apptivo CRM

PROS

– Affordable
– Very customize-able for small business
– 24 hour support
– Built in apps (email marketing, quotes, invoices)

CONS

– Integrations all take a developer
– Less popular means less help online (hopefully they have good support)

IF NETWORKING IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR BUSINESS, THEN SO IS CRM!

There are many more than this, but this is a short list we have compiled from reading online and personal experience. It’s up to your business to decide!

Other things to consider:

– Do you have current systems you want to connect to your CRM?
Quickbooks or other accounting? Will the one you pick connect? How much work is that?
Do you have a website with live chat and forms? What will you need to convert or connect those?

– Is your business 100% ecommerce? Do you need a CRM or is your ecom system enough?
– Try their free trials in the real world with a few customers. The way it looks, feels and interacts will help you decide what’s good for you.
– Try their mobile app, do you like it?

– Attempt to use their support (test them out with questions) is it good?

– Talk to other business owners and see what they use
This is a perfect convo starter at a meet up like a chamber of commerce meeting or SBA or BNI

Reference Episodes where we mention CRM:
CAS Podcast Episode 91 | Steps to Getting More Customers by Networking
CAS Podcast Episode 108 | Thinking Like a BIG Business