Is your business busy-slammed one month then dead-slow the next? Remember how it feels to be so busy you can’t sleep? Then the worry you feel with too much free time because the work isn’t coming in? If you’re a small business owner in Fredericksburg, you’ve probably experienced the stress-then-dread cycle before.
It only took one time through this experience to realize I was making a big, obvious mistake. I was not following up regularly with leads – especially when I was busy. So anyone that was on the edge slipped away and was lost! It was an easy mistake to see, and I knew right away what I had to do to fix my problem. I had to make the new leads a priority every day – even when I was too busy fulfilling orders.
What I didn’t know was HOW to fix this. Fortunately I have good friends – smart friends – friends who like dashes in their sentences! And one of those friends is also a small business owner. She insisted I start using an on-line CRM: a Customer Relationship Manager.
The friend in question is Liz Colon. Liz is an owner at Above Grade Level, an in-home tutoring company serving Fredericksburg, Virginia and the surrounding counties. Her advice has absolutely made a huge improvement in our sales and customer service processes at Websites For Anything.
Thanks to our CRM, we always remember to write a personal note on the back of this card and send it out as a personalized way of following up with a new lead.
CRM Process
Every potential lead we talk to goes into our on-line CRM. (We use Zoho if you want to check it out.) Each time a new lead is created, certain predictable follow-up tasks are automatically created: such as liking their Facebook page and sending them a ‘Thank You For Visiting’ postcard. Each time we speak with the person we add it to their log and set a reminder to follow-up at an appropriate time in the future.
Once a Lead makes a purchase, we convert them into a Client in our CRM, which we use for centralizing all our client data and other features.
By checking on my CRM every day, I’m more efficient with my time, more focused on the communication, and no one slips through the cracks. Rather than de-personalizing the sales process, using a CRM means we actually pay BETTER attention to each valuable lead & client!
If you find sales slumping when you’re busy or walk-ins are lost due to lack of follow-thru, then a CRM is probably the solution for you. If you have questions about it, or want to learn more about how we are using ours to take better care of our clients and our business, please give us a call. I would be happy to share more of our story with you.
Just be warned though – you’ll be followed up with afterwards!