Do I need a CRM?

[casfan]

Have been away from the boards for a long time but back now.

I run a small business from home. There is just me.
I use Google apps for business mainly the drive, email and calender.
I do all my accounts on spreedsheets which then goes to my accountant. Invoices I do using a template and just mail out to the clients.
Should I be looking at a CRM or is it OK to carry on as I am ?

 

[Paul_Rosser]

If your current way of doing things works for you then no need to rush into getting a CRM, but will your current system work if you expand your client base ? If not then putting in a CRM now may be easier than waiting until you really need one.

 

[iboxsecurity]

Really depends as Paul has said - if your current 'system' works for you - why reinvent the wheel. If you are growing and need to keep track of things a little easier - then yes look into CRM. I can say that CRM has been one of the most productive and useful tools we ever put in place in our business in the early days.

There are so many to choose from capsule, sugar, base, etc etc or depending on your business you may require something a little more specific for example if you have a specific sales pipeline or are in a particular sector such as finance that most of these CRMS don't overly cater for (and we have in the past written custom CRMs for).

But look at where your at now if you need find all the relevant information for a customer or a project/deal can you do that efficiently and quickly at the moment or not?

 

[davehayes]

This is an Interesting thread. Here is my thoughts on it, as I am in a similar posistion to casfan. I do a lot of networking and attend events such as business shows and the like.

I usually end up collecting a lot of business cards, which as I am collecting them, always ask if they wouldn't mind receiving an email newsletter. I then enter them into my CRM and send a message, on a regular basis, usually with a business update or similar.

Not sure if that helps casfan or not, but its the benefit of my experience

 

[Berics Accounting]

Hi Casfan

In my experience, CRM systems are usually much more beneficial from the start however, as mentioned above, it is largely dependant on your business model.

Having worked with may start up companies, an option we have used often, is to use an all-in-one Accounts / CRM package. Obviously there are hundreds of these to choose from however, my personal favourite is Xero, (online accounts.) It has hundreds of add-ons available including CRM, inventory, payroll, payment processing etc. Its not massivley expensive and well worth a look, (I believe they do a free trial.)

Its certainly well worth giving serious consideration too though. Start as you mean to go on.

 

[casfan]

Thanks for the replies guys,
after a turbulent few years I want to really concentrate on getting going this year.
Up till now I think I have coped well, but really need to get more work in.
I have 2 main clients who I work with on site for part of the week... This is the main income of my business so far. it pays the bills and basically underwrites my company.
The rest of the week is left for me to fill with any work I can find.

I have found that i hate doing my accounts even just the spreadsheet variety. admittedly I had a few months worth of stuff to catch up on.

Im thinking it may be worth getting one set up now while i'm small

 

[Jon-YB]

Casfan,

Have a look at zoho, Its fantastic, and up to three users is free.

I never used one before then took a new job that used salesforce and the ease and usefulness of being able to organise what needs to be done where, and with who, and what youve done with customers and when makes life so easy and removes the stress. Zoho allows mass emails for marketing as well and has templates to set up. Its really simple and easy to use to.

Jump in and try a crm, most have free trials to use for a month so you can play with it.

You will never look back.

Jon

 

[Alan]

I have found that i hate doing my accounts even just the spreadsheet variety. admittedly I had a few months worth of stuff to catch up on.

If you have a CRM linked to an accounting system, you'll find the accounts become less of a chore, especially if you pick an easy to use accounting system.

 

[Uzair Kharawala]

I would highly recommend Highrise from 37signals.com. It really is a great & easy to use software.

 

[casfan]

Just installed vTiger on my system. Does anyone have a like to a good dummies guide to CRM .
For example do I add clients and Suppliers to the system

 

[bostontd5]

Hi i use insightly as a CRM system, its completely free up to three users.

Yes you can pay for mass mail linked to say mailchimp, however i am the same for my glass business have one main customer that sells the product on from them, i have in the past used salesforce, goldmine when i was employed.

I think any CRM system is great for not only getting and keeping records together and track as you grow, but for Identifying opportunities.

You can attach files such as quotes, invoices etc so dont have to keep loads of icons or files in different folders (altho i do have files that i put these in to out of habit i guess).

With most these days been cloud based, i have piece of mind that it is always there from any device anywhere and if i lost my laptop or ipad or phone its all backed up automatic.

Also if your working on a project that involes involves other people you can give them different levels of permissions so they can add to it, they only see what you want them to see.

Hope the above helps

 

[Adam.Vause]

ZoHo Invoice is quite good for invoicing and you can store basic client information. It's a good way to protect your invoices too as above rather than in a traditional spreadsheet.

I find a CRM is really useful when you have lots of clients/leads and need to store more information about them. If you then bolt an invoicing and quoting module on to that it should make invoicing and client management easier.

 

[jdluckhurst]

CRM's are great...if you use them. If you don't they can end up being a considerable waste of money. It's sort of a different story when you are a one man band because either you use it or you don't. As you grow however, it is really important that everybody uses it so that you don't end up with loads of different Google Drive folders and potentially lost data. In the end, unless your spreadsheets are incredibly well organised (I'm sure they are!), there comes a point where leads will get lost in the mayhem or data become harder to find. A good CRM will make navigating to the correct information both quicker and easier.

 

[George Smiley]

I'm looking for a CRM that would be best suited for a small Freight & Shipping company that sends international containers

anyone?

 

[OvcaX]

Answer yourself a simple question

Do you know what your clientX has ordered and what are his needs?
If the answer is yes, you don't need a CRM

 

[George Smiley]

no the client hasn't ordered anything thing

needs are what I stated above.

 

[Alan]

@George Smiley as your question is a new question and you added it to a thread that has been inactive for 3 months, I would suggest you start your own new thread, you may get less confused and more constructive feedback.

 

[dpcatkins1983]

@George Smiley - I use SugarCRM which i think is great. I've designed my own modules for my sector and fits great into my network.

Yes CRM are always a great tool, for each department sales/marketing. We are a IT Solutions Provider and is great for us when out on site and wanting to know details of customers network (custom made Module) contact details and can be access via a mobile/tablet.

i have started to sell this solution to my customers and so far has been quite good and have some good feedback from them.

 

[F.H Lencería]

Hello,

We are using fresh desk at the moment and seems to be going good for us, Everything we need and its free for again up to 3 people. We took the step to have one right from the off and are now trying to think how we could of worked with out it. It combines everything we need from returns to talking to people on social media for a small team like ourselves it feels like we all have a personal assistant only down side they don't make a cup of tea! For any small business starting out who thinks they will have documents all over the place, Take out a free trail and find the one what suites your needs best its well worth investing a small amount of time to find out witch ones suites you.

 

[Alan]

freshdesk is great, we use it, but it isn't a CRM its a helpdesk. We have Capsule which is a CRM, and Freshdesk for support and KashFlow for accounting.

What is great about this (or any other combination of cloud based solution, for instance you can use ZenDesk instead of FreshDesk, xero instead of KashFlow etc) is that they all integrate with each other through their APIs.

 

[philbaxter]

Coincidentally, I wrote a blog post on this subject a few days ago, highlighting the following advantages:

1. Web sales growth. Traffic to your website probably goes uncaptured. Most CRM systems allow you to capture leads directly from a form on your site into your sales funnel.
2. Reducing feast & famine. CRM systems provide functionality that allows sales pipeline management to be embedded in your organisation, minimising the risk of missing opportunities and focusing resources.
3. Building sales from past and current relationships.There is typically enormous uncaptured value in past and current relationships and clients. CRM offers the opportunity to add rigour to the process of managing your relationships.
4. Improving customer service. Ensuring everyone who needs to in your company has a full view of interactions with a customer can only enhance your service. Recording information, such as customer feedback, helps you take actions and deliver even better next time round.
5. Increasing productivity. Storing information once, finding it and using it quickly all enhance productivity.
6. Helping your people. Using CRM can be really helpful in getting new people up to speed as you grow, spreading the load, and make your company less vulnerable to people leaving (or even just being on holiday).

 

[davehayes]

I think the above post is very useful.

 

[Nivas Ravichandran]

An interesting thread.

I work with Freshworks (The company that runs Freshdesk). I saw a couple of people mentioning about using Freshdesk with another CRM. Recently Freshdesk built its own CRM - Freshsales CRM to help access customer support tickets within the CRM. Has anyone given it a try?

And Casfan, I was curious which CRM you decided to go with or how are you managing the process?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Why are you opening a thread from 2014, Things may well have changed

 

[Jonathan Black]

Hi,

I would recommend using a CRM, if only for saving you the hassle of switching over to a CRM when you get busy enough to actually need one!

Cheers

 

[Alan]

Stop - this is an old dead thread