For the modern business owner, nothing can be as powerful as a CRM (and marketing departments love them, too — even sales will get on board, eventually).
You know that movie Multiplicity? (If ever we could encapsulate the early 90s in a movie, Multiplicity would be it.) The lead character, played by Michael Keaton in one of his not-so-awesome roles, finds a way to multiply himself (with science, of course), ostensibly to get more work done.
(Wanna skip the bull-hooey and get straight to the podcast? Click the button to get started).
Obviously, things go awry (the movie would suck even more than it already does, otherwise), but the idea is solid — if you can get more ‘yous’ to help you with your tasks, you can accomplish more.
How many of us would love to make a few copies of our awesome selves and send them out into the wide world to do all those things we know we should be doing on the marketing and sales front yet can’t because time is so limited?
The answer is all of us, obviously.
That’s what a CRM can do for you.
Heather Steele — Your CRM, Your Marketing, and You
Our founder, CMO, CEO, and owner of various and sundry other acronyms, Heather Steele, was recently interviewed on the seminal WordPress-focused podcast OfficeHours.FM to talk about how CRMs work, why they’re so crucial to the new business owner and existing business owner alike, and how they multiply your powers and act as a powerful marketing-and-sales resource, keeping contacts, customers, and leads from slipping through the cracks, no matter where they might exist in the funnel.
If you’re in the WordPress world, you already know that OfficeHours.FM is kind of a big deal (I can say that since I’m not Heather :P) — Carrie doesn’t just invite anyone onto her show.
A CRM isn’t the end-all-be-all of sales, marketing, or funnel management, but it does a pretty fair impression of Michael Keaton’s multiplying machine.
A CRM can help you make the most out of your current clients, can help you keep on top of hot and cold leads, can automate certain sales processes (including emails and calls), and can, basically, make it seem as though there are two, three, or four of you operating at all hours of the day or night (even the ones where your customers and potential clients are active while you lie around sawing logs).
Still, it can’t take over the sales process for you, it can’t go out there and find leads, it can’t do the handshaking and presentation-giving that is often crucial to closing certain types of deals, and it can’t add that human touch that other types of customers need before they make a purchase.
Learn How to Combine Your CRM With Marketing to Power Your Sales
While I don’t want to give away the secret sauce of the podcast (you’ll need to listen to find that out), I can give you a few helpful hints that Heather and Carrie cover in the talk:
- Choosing the right CRM from the beginning is crucial — if you get a CRM that doesn’t do enough (or does too much) for you and your business, you’re gonna have a bad time
- You have to actually use your CRM! If you get one and don’t import all your customer and lead data, it’s like you’ve purchased a car without filling it with gas. 100% of NASCAR drivers agree that this is a big no-no
- A CRM can help you easily and simply scale or manage a sales team — you know that guy that just can’t seem to close? The girl who always targets the wrong person? A quality CRM helps you manage the folks who are struggling and provides the best opportunities to your heavy hitters.
- And if you don’t have a sales team, a CRM also works as an invaluable resource of ready-to-contact leads and customers when you’re finally ready to scale and bring on some more sales folks
But I’ve given away too much! Click the button to listen to the podcast, and be prepared to learn more about CRMs and marketing than even 10 Michael Keaton’s could ever hope to.
