A CRM won't fix your organization issues
Today I have a bit of a PSA for you: if your business is really disorganized and you're trying to get everything in order, and you're trying to streamline your day-to-day tasks, one thing to keep in mind is that if you already have organizational issues, getting a CRM is not going to fix that for you.
I have seen this so many times.
A business owner contacts me because they feel overwhelmed. They feel like the back end of their business is a mess, and they’re looking for a magic fix.
So they want to get a CRM platform (or they already have one, but it’s a mess), and they think the CRM software is going to magically make their business organized.
But without a solid plan, this software is either going to collect metaphorical dust or it’s going to overwhelm you more.
So let’s dive into it.
What a CRM can and can't do
I'm sorry to tell you that a CRM is not a magic wand that is going to just instantly fix the structural problems in your business for you.
I wish that was the case, but unfortunately it's not.
If you don't know what a CRM is, that is Client Relations Management software, designed to help you organize your client records and all of your other day-to-day operations in your business; to make things run more smoothly for you.
This software keeps track of leads, clients, and other contacts. You can use it to send out things like invoices, contracts, and questionnaires. Some of them will allow you to schedule appointments through their software. You can set up workflows and automation. You can keep client notes in there. There are so many things you can do with this type of software.
But you have to be using it properly for it to have that effect on your business.
It is designed as an organizational tool, but you need to have some foundations in place to help it do its job. Otherwise, it's just going to be one more thing for you to be stressed out about and one more thing to take up your time and attention, without actually giving you that return on your investment that you're hoping for.
It's not your fault
So you've got the CRM software.
You know that you want it to help you save time in your business. You want it to help you get organized. You want it to help you streamline your tasks.
And it can do all of these things, but you need to know specifically what you want it to do.
As I mentioned, I have talked to and worked with so many people who have a CRM but they don't really know how to use it, or they've had it for a long time, but they're not really taking full advantage of it.
Maybe it is really cluttered and disorganized, with old templates and things that don't work for their business anymore. Maybe they never got it fully set up properly.
I've talked to lots of people who have gotten template packages from other people that didn't actually fit their process, so now they're just taking up space.
And if this is you, it's not your fault.
You don't know what you don't know.
You were hoping for this software to be a magic fix, and in some ways it can be, but you just weren't given the tools and the knowledge to get there.
Where to get started
When you are working with this kind of software, you really need to have a knowledge of your business's process.
Here are some questions to get you started thinking about your unique processes:
When someone comes into your business as a lead, what do you need to happen for them?
What will move them through your funnel to get from being a lead to being a client?
What are all the steps in that process?
Once someone is a client, what do you need to get to them?
What do you need to get from them?
Write this out as a list step by step - what happens first, what happens next, and so on. Put it on sticky notes if you want to be able to move things around.
But you need to map out this process, and you need to map out all of the different directions that someone could go depending on what they do. If they do one thing, this is how you respond. If they do something else, you might respond in a different way. Then what happens next?
Mapping out the process
Think about this like a flow chart.
A new lead comes into your business. What are the options for what can happen right away? Maybe one option is that they respond to your email and the other option is that they don't.
So what happens in those two different scenarios? And then just keep moving down the flow chart.
What are the possible things that could happen next? And then what do you need to do in response? And you're going to get a big list or flow chart, and that's okay.
What to do if you have multiple services
Now, one thing that can be overwhelming when you're trying to set up a CRM software is if you have a lot of different products or services, and the process is different for all of them. I would recommend trying to simplify this as much as possible.
For example, the process for a new lead coming into your business is probably fairly similar no matter what it is they are interested in. This means you can either have one set process for every lead, or you can at least set the process for one service and then duplicate it for the others.
Don't make more work for yourself than you have to!
When I'm setting up workflows and automation for other businesses, we generally talk through one main workflow and then if the process is the same or similar for other services, you better believe I'm going to duplicate that instead of creating it from scratch every time!
Here's a sample process you can implement right now
If you don't have your process worked out for your business, or you feel like what you have right now isn't getting the job done, let's start with something easy that you can put in place in as little as a couple of hours.
For most businesses I like to start with the process for new leads coming into your business, because this is something that I see a lot of businesses struggling with and an area where there's a lot of possibility for improvement.
When a new lead is contacting your business, this might happen through your website. An easy way to collect lead information is to have them fill out a form on your website and have that go directly to your CRM software.
The reason why you want it to direct to your CRM software, rather than just emailing you or something like that, is because then their information is going to already be recorded in your system, and you can set up automations to contact them without you having to do anything, so that those leads are getting an instant response from your business.
This is really going to help increase your conversion rate, because a lot of business owners miss out on potential leads because they don't get back to them fast enough, and those leads have already moved on to somebody else.
For step one, I encourage you to create some sort of contact form or lead capture form that you can embed on your website.
The next step is to automate the response that they get when they fill out this form.
This is probably going to be something like sending them a document with your pricing and packages in it, or sending them a link to book a consultation or discovery call with you, or something like that.
You want them to have the information that they need to move forward plus some sort of action step. Do you want them to book a call? Reply to this email? Make it really clear what they need to do to move forward.
Standardize as much as possible
If the back end of your business is really disorganized, it’s likely that you need to work on creating things like consistent pricing, set packages, and templates.
With a CRM platform, you can create email templates, standard contracts, set quotes for your services, and more.
I definitely encourage you to stop changing your pricing for each new client coming in, if that's something that you're doing. This is something that I come across a lot. Don’t do it!
The more that you can standardize your packages and your pricing, the easier it's going to be to automate it or set up workflows to help you get that information out there, and take these administrative tasks off your plate.
Even if these things aren't completely automated, just picture being able to click a button and send a standardized quote, and then once the person accepts that quote, they automatically get an invoice and a contract.
Then once they've paid and signed, they automatically get a welcome email telling them what to expect and thanking them for choosing to work with you.
These things are possible and fairly easy to set up with the CRM software.
Think about how much easier that's going to make things, rather than having to come up with a new quote or proposal every time for every new lead. Having to change the language for everything before you send it out.
Forgetting to send them a welcome email because you just don't have time with all of the other things on your plate.
These are things that I come across regularly, and it is an easy fix. But you have to have this process mapped out before you can get all of this set up.
Prepare before you automate
I encourage you to map out your entire process, and even have contracts, invoices, and email templates written up before you start creating the automation in your software.
It makes it so much easier if all you have to do is drag and drop, rather than having to write and come up with these things as you go.
Trust me.
It is so much faster and easier if you already have these things pre written, and if you already have your process mapped out in advance.
Mapping everything out in advance also allows you to make sure that you're not missing something, and you're going to see where the gaps are if there's anything that you need to add or change. It’s going to make your life so much easier.
If you have questions about what CRM software is best for you and your business, or how to set up the right process, how to create workflows, these are the types of things that I do every day, so please leave a comment or feel free to reach out. I'd love to chat with you about it.