Do I Really Need a CRM?
As the owner of a CRM company, you’d think I’d say, “Yes. Everyone needs a CRM.” I might surprise you. Plenty of businesses don’t.
Here’s the short answer. You need a CRM when you have more customers and prospects than you can follow up with from memory. AllClients has been a CRM for very small businesses since 2004. It keeps your contacts, captures your leads, sends your email marketing and runs your follow-up automatically, starting at $24 a month. If that doesn’t describe your situation, keep reading, because you may not need a CRM at all.
When You Don’t Need a CRM
A CRM is just a tool to help you manage customer relationships. If you don’t need help in that area, you don’t need a CRM. Here’s who can skip it.
You only have a handful of customers and prospects
If you only work with a few prospects at a time, say you work with celebrities or very wealthy individuals, you might not need a CRM. We can all keep track of 5 to 10 people in our heads. Adding software to that can cause more problems than it solves.
A CRM earns its keep when you’re juggling a lot of balls at once. If you only have one ball, you don’t need a CRM.
Your customers come to you no matter what
eBay, gas stations and the DMV have little use for a CRM. People pick a gas station because of its location and the price on the sign. Nobody from eBay calls to check in and see if there’s anything they can do for you.
If your business doesn’t depend on repeat customers, referrals or following up with leads, a CRM has nothing to do.
Your brain is wired for paper
Some of us are just old school. We think on paper, take notes and write everything down. Maybe it’s spiral notebooks, journals or a stack of yellow pads. Maybe it’s a whiteboard with everyone you need to follow up with, plus the trusty filing cabinet holding the past records.
Moving from paper to software is sometimes too much to ask. If your brain is wired for paper, a CRM might even get in the way of your organized chaos.
One warning, though: paper doesn’t send anything. A notebook full of people you meant to call back isn’t a system.
A Small Business Doesn’t Mean No CRM
The version of this question I hear most is, “I have a very small business. Do I really need a CRM?”
Size isn’t the test. A one-person real estate office with 400 past clients needs a CRM more than a 20-person shop with a walk-in counter. What matters is how many relationships you’re responsible for and how much of your next sale depends on following up.
If You Don’t Have a CRM, You ARE the CRM
Every business that runs on follow-up already has a CRM. If software isn’t doing the job, you are: your memory, your inbox, your phone and your sticky notes.
That holds up when things are slow. It breaks down when you get busy, which is exactly when the leads are coming in.
Here are the signs you’ve outgrown being your own CRM:
- A lead came in and you got back to them days later, or never did.
- Past customers haven’t heard from you since the sale.
- You follow up when you remember to, not on a schedule.
- Customer details live in four different places, and you’re not sure which one is current.
- You keep meaning to send something to your list, and it never goes out.
Here’s the best way to know whether YOU need a CRM. If you feel a little out of control, customers are falling through the cracks, and your follow-up and follow-through need some help, you need a CRM.
What a CRM Should Actually Do for You
A CRM for a small business has four jobs:
- Keep your contacts organized in one place, with notes on every person.
- Capture your leads from your website so nobody gets lost.
- Send your email marketing so past clients keep hearing from you.
- Follow up automatically, so nothing depends on your memory, and remind you who to call today.
That’s the job. Anything beyond it is optional, and a lot of it gets in the way. If you’ve tried a CRM and quit, it was probably built for a bigger company than yours. I wrote about that in Why You Quit Every CRM You Start. If a spreadsheet is your system right now, When Spreadsheets Aren’t Enough covers when it’s time to move on.
So, Do You Need One?
If you have only a few customers, your customers come to you no matter what, or paper works and nothing’s slipping, skip it. I’d rather you didn’t buy software you won’t use.
If leads are slipping, past clients are going quiet, and follow-up only happens when you remember, you need one. That’s who AllClients is built for. When you need help, you reach a real person, not a sales rep, and we’ll help you get your contacts moved in.
