When is the right time to get CRM for your Business?

I've had a few clients who tell me that they will implement their CRM once they start business or start getting customers. Why does this strike me as surprise? because it just shows that you don't believe in yourself and your company. Why start a business if you don't think you're going to drive in enough customers?

A few years back, I was working in a small business as sales manager, selling communication technology hardware and we didn’t have a CRM. I had to keep track of all my contacts, their contacts and clients in an excel sheet and make different archive folders in my outlook account.

Now you can imagine how drastic that was!

I kept telling our manager that this system needs a CRM, I can’t keep track of my leads or clients like this….till we finally got a simple and practically free CRM. 

Mission accomplished ! 

You think? Nope. 

I still faced so many problem. I couldn’t send emails, archive my leads, call and record the calls I made and I just got lost in all the different data I was receiving every day.
My outlook archive was more up to date than my CRM!

Cheap work isn’t good and good work isn’t cheap!

So there we were again in the battlefield, cheap vs quality…something I’m seeing repeat all over again with my clients.

Everyone’s looking for the solution to be handed to them on a silver plate but of course, with cheap prices.

Any product/content producer worth their salt should know how to "trim the fat" without "damaging the flesh"

This is what I’ve learned from my 14 years of marketing.

there will always be someone who says that they can do it cheaper, but at what cost?

So if you ask me, yes, there will always be someone who promises you to do the work cheaper, but will they be giving the quality end result you’re looking for?

On the other hand, if you’re starting a business, if you believe in your business, if you believe in your product and value your leads, your clients and your work, then why are you wasting your time on excel sheets? Why archiving your files in places that only you know how to find?

Any business starts out with a foundation of great customer relationships. You and your seller connect with the people that need your product.

And as your company grows, these business connections grow more sophisticated. It’s not just a transaction between the buyer and seller. You start to manage countless connections across time, within each company you do business with. You need to share information across various teams within your own organization who are making contact with the same customers.

Yet, you still don’t have your CRM and the list is just getting longer and more complicated.

For those who feel that they’re on the same page as me right now…be ready for that sales co-worker or marketer or even account manager to start knocking your door and complaining or start receiving inaccurate updates on your revenue and business income….

You want my personal experience? Save time on meetings, fishing through various documents and content and start investing on something that can automate all that info for you and help you focus on the real needs of your business.

A CRM system is a vital nerve center to manage the many connections that happen throughout the growth of your business.

And if you have the right system from the beginning, your CRM can quickly expand to include more sophisticated features to help teams collaborate with colleagues and customers, send customized emails, gather insights from social media conversations, and get a complete picture of your business health in real time, which at the end of the day, will give you a clear picture on the growth, success and revenue of your business.