A customer relationship management (CRM) for startups is a must. When it comes to keeping all your clients and contacts organized, a CRM is crucial in keeping it all together. We have worked with over 40 startup companies and most do not have a Customer Relationship system in place. They are managing the process using Excel and their email/calendar system. There is no good reason not to use a CRM. At VA Partners, we recommend the Salesforce Group Addition for companies with less than 10 employees.
Here are some of the common objections that we hear, but remember, CRM for startups is a must.
“A CRM is too Much Work”
It does take some time to get an account and a contact into the system, but no more than doing it properly with Outlook as an example. Once the information is in the system it is easy to use. Salesforce.com has the ability to upload contacts from Outlook, Gmail, or Excel. It is also easy to integrate your email system to automatically archive emails into Salesforce.com
“Excel and Outlook/Gmail Work Fine”
It may work fine right now, but how to do you share information with others on the team? A CRM is great for sharing information, planning for future activities, and ensuring that information is backed-up in a central location.
“We are too Small, we Don’t Need one
Even if you are a company of one I suggest you get a system. Once you hire your next employee it is easy to add information. Creating a funnel is easy and creates a great deliverable to share with the team or investors.A CRM is too much work.
“We Don’t Have the Money for a CRM”
We recommend Salesforce Group Edition for many of our clients. The cost is $25 typically per user a month, right now it is $15 per user until July 31, 2011. If Salesforce is too expensive, try Zoho. It has many of the same features and is free for the first three users.
“We Have Other Needs Other than Just Sales”
The CRM system can handle so much more as well. You can also integrate marketing, customer service, and third party apps like Freshbooks.
A CRM is an important part of the sales process. Not using one today, maybe you should be. If you have any questions leave a comment or contact me.
For more helpful articles, be sure to check out our blog often and subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
