Propel Point

One of the most vital pieces of software that you can invest in is your CRM system. CRM, for those uninitiated, stands for Customer Relationship Management. A good CRM can absolutely revolutionize your business. A bad one can be an inescapable pain of life (and can actually hurt your ability to support your customers and build your business).

When I say CRM, many people have many different ideas emerge in their mind. Some CRM’s are focused on customer service issues. Others are sales pipeline management tools. Others integrate everything under the sun and the kitchen sink, including shopping carts, email management, event management, sales funnels, etc. Others just pick one activity or core capability and try to minimize the noise of the other business processes that you might employ.

Here at Propel Point, we’ve not only evaluated several CRM platforms for our own needs, but we’ve also been brought in to support and troubleshoot the systems that our clients have deployed to solve all kinds of problems. It gives us a great perspective on the range of solutions that are available, so I’ll share those experiences on this post as well as many future ones. Like I said earlier, CRM’s may be the most powerful investment that you can make in your business – but they can also be incredibly complex. Making matters all the more serious is that a CRM decision can often be a one-way choice. Once you adopt a platform, you’re basically picking your religion. Sure, you can change deities down the road – but you’re going to have to bring all your followers along with you! The pain factor of changing a CRM can be anywhere from Tylenol-requiring aches to Jack Daniel’s-required pains. The bigger the client base, the bigger the headaches, but more often than not, it’s exactly when you’ve out-grown your first CRM that you realize how brutally painful it can be to step in to the next tier. So, don’t just think about the first week of use – think about the lifetime of use you’ll get out of your sales or customer management solution.

Scared yet? You shouldn’t be. In the next few days and weeks, we’ll take the scary out of the process of picking the right CRM, evaluating the features and functions, and even showing you some tricks & tips to get the most out of your platforms and solutions. Stay tuned to the blog and/or our twitter feed for new updates on this series of CRM articles.