So we know this isn’t a sexy topic, but it’s one we get asked a lot about. Purely because we are detail orientated people who love systems! But first some of you will be asking what is a crm system & why should you have one?
A CRM system is software that enables you to:
- Create automatic email nurture campaigns that act as automated cups of coffee with prospects that nurture your leads into customers
- Provide Good customer service with automated responses
- Enable Data segmentation — a way to talk to your customers based on their wants / psychometrics
- Storage of data. With GDPR rules in place where it applies, you need to be clear on why & how you are holding personal data & prove that they’ve asked for you to have this information
- Automated way to follow up on lead generation, when they’ve opted in to download a guide or checklist from you — the CRM will email them this download
- A way to promote events / launches via email broadcasts & see the open & click through rates
- A way to set up and send out your newsletter
So the main question we get asked is ‘what is the best CRM system’ and it’s a bug bear when people start making suggestions , AS THIS ISN’T A ONE SIZE FITS ALL ANSWER!!! It completely depends on you & your business.
What we come across with most speakers, authors and coaches is that they require more of an email marketing system than a full blown CRM that most corporates would require.
So we’ll go through the various things you need to consider when choosing a CRM system… and to make it easier, we’ve put together a CRM matrix of the ones that are most popular with speakers, authors & coaches.
These are the questions you need to know the answers to, to help you make the right decision for you.
- How big is your existing database size and how much budget do you have to spend on a CRM?
- Different CRM systems price themselves on the amount of contacts you have, the amount of emails you will send a month or they will provide you with a flat rate price. Know your numbers to help guide your decision.
- What do you want to use it for? You have some very basic features that all CRM systems come with, like email template design, so you can brand the look & feel of your emails, separating data into lists so you know where the contacts came from, tracking open rates of emails.
However, do you want your CRM system to send automated email campaigns when someone downloads a report/guide? Do you want the system to be able to manage affiliates? Do you want to be able to tag customers when they do a certain action (like purchase a product) Do you want the CRM to have it’s own shopping cart so you can sell products online?
- What do you need your CRM system to integrate with? Your squeeze page software? Your merchant account? Your diary? Your course hosting platform? Your social media?
- Does it allow you to run campaigns based on your customers actions? For example making decision trees — if they clicked on a link in an email they get sent a specific follow on email, if they didn’t click they get sent a different email? Or different follow on sequences if they bought a product or didn’t.
- How deliverable are the emails? Infusionsoft/Keap has had a lot of complaints over the years that many of their customers aren’t receiving emails as they go into spam — so look for independent customer reviews
- Can it be managed on your mobile? as this is the trend now.
- We’ve put together a matrix to compare the most popular email marketing based CRM systems — it doesn’t cover the heavily sales focused like Pipedrive, Salesforce etc. as we find most speakers, authors & coaches don’t require this level of detail or analysis.
- You can download it here: https://www.speakerinsight.com/crmcomparison
We support speakers, authors & coaches to monetise their message, market their purpose and create & manage their portfolio business, ON THEIR TERMS™.