How do I decide on a CRM?

[gracccy]

SaaS MVP about to launch.
Never used a CRM before but I’m familiar with the basic concepts.
Initial customers will be < 20 total and heavily vetted.

I’m the business cofounder doing all the initial sales myself.

Am I overthinking this?

Update: Salesflare looks cool.

 

[arwyn7]

@gracccy Google sheets.

Unless you've already used a CRM before (which I presume not), keep it simple. Or else you'll waste valuable time fighting the tool for very little benefit. Don't feel like you're behind you're not using a "proper" CRM.

Plenty of SaaS companies I've seen got to $1-2M ARR using Google Sheets.

 

[gracccy]

@arwyn7

fighting the tool

This is exactly what I want to avoid. I'm already using Trello for task management, so maybe I'll just add another board there. Thanks!

 

[nmc]

@gracccy This is the way. Keep it simple, optimise later.

 

[phoenix77]

@gracccy If you need a more versatile tracking system, since you're doing it manually, Notion.so is my favorite project management tool. It does absolutely everything and is customizable.

I manage all my projects and notes and appointments in it. You can have selected pages for team sharing features and calendars, Gant charts, databases, etc. I use it for all that and all on the free tier.

There are paid tiers for if you want to upload files or some other features, but even then, it's worth every penny. I don't need to switch apps except for saving my files, but if that's an issue, just up it to the paid version. I have everything I need in the free version to run my business and home.

 

[inchristwestand]

@phoenix77 Def + 1 to google sheet or notion.

Unless you need all the automations that come from a CRM or the purpose built UI to help you manage lots of lead (100+).

Your goal is to close deals, and so whatever helps you start doing this with the least setup time the better.

In case it’s relevant though, I’d go with pipedrive if you must use a CRM. Seems simpler the hubspot, but that could just be personal option. The 2 are pretty similar tbh.

 

[verdanavivian]

@gracccy As a CEO of a SaaS company and have created and successfully exited from several in my career, the CRM is critical at this stage of your business. It's not just about your clients, but collecting, recording and putting notes on any prospective clients. All leads and prospective clients should be input into your CRM so you never lose them.

Later on, when you are ready to get more aggressive in sales, most CRMs have automated marketing to help you with drip campaigns (either email or text) to always keep this pool warm so when you are ready to sell them they know who you are; which dramatically increase the conversion rate of the close.

Equally important for your current clients, it keeps 'all things client specific' in one place for everyone to have access to.

In my humble opinion, there are lots of CRMs that are free and there is no excuse to not do this now. It will pay off in the long run.

 

[gracccy]

@verdanavivian

there is no excuse to not do this now. It will pay off in the long run.

This was all helpful, but this summary is pulling me towards using at least something resembling a CRM from Day 1. Thanks!

 

[effigy303]

@verdanavivian This is the right answer.

As for a specific tool, Pipedrive is popular amongst SaaS'es.

 

[southernlady1967]

@effigy303 Use Salesflare. Also a simple sales CRM, but much easier to keep up to date. Syncs everything.

 

[charize]

@gracccy And……. Again, not a single person asked the two most important questions…

 

[gracccy]

@charize Which are...?

What's my favorite ice cream?

Who would I bet on if Elon Musk did a cage match with Mark Zuckerburg?

 

[charize]

@gracccy Definitely good ones. Add:

What problem does your SaaS solve?

Who is your customer avatar?

They are the basic ones

PS: Ready, Fire, Aim.

 

[gracccy]

@charize They're certainly important ones, but I don't see how do those questions play into my choice of CRM. (genuine question) Can you elaborate?

PS: Ready, Fire, Aim.

I beg to differ: being ready is a tertiary matter, not the primary one. I posit that Aiming is the logical first step. In military and LEO circles, firing without aiming is called a Negligent Discharge.

 

[southernlady1967]

@gracccy What you exactly sell, how and to whom very much defines what CRM is best for you.

No selling at all? Maybe Intercom will help to track and manage conversations.

B2B SaaS sales? Something like Salesflare will be tremendously helpful to keep track.

It's B2C SaaS? You probably just need a customer data platform and some email automation. Start with Segment.

And in some grey area cases... use all the above

 

[gracccy]

@southernlady1967 Yeah, it's a B2B SaaS. I'll check on Salesflare: I'd never heard of it until yesterday. Thanks!

 

[mommabird]

@gracccy My side passion project is a sales automation CRM

Goal: making consistent outbound affordable. Would be h happy to help you set it up and all

AnotherCRM.com

 

[gracccy]

@mommabird

AnotherCRM.com

Thanks for the tip. Off the cuff, I would advise a name change. I bet a lot of people will subconsciously add "Just" to the front of that name.

 

[rexcolin]

@gracccy Having all your data pouring in to a single platform can make a huge difference when starting off. Think of this as having control on your priorities to make informed decisions. In the early stages as suggested putting things together on a Gsheet may serve your use case the best. In case, you are looking to scale soon, and are looking for additional capabilities when using a tool. You can try out the product we are building at DevRev, a platform where you can have all your teams work on the most important tasks. For example, the opportunity is tied to product features that you would want so that a particular account be onboarded, and this is in turn tagged to the issues that are used by engineering teams to perform work.

In the early stages as per your business needs you might want to use a lighter tool that will help you keep track of things than evaluating a bunch of tools for different use cases. Let us know what you end up using!

 

[gracccy]

@rexcolin

Having all your data pouring in to a single platform

Yeah, I'm just going to use Trello for status tracking and then later upgrade when I want reporting and metrics after we start selling seriously. I suppose that I'm not really worried about migrating data though, so having a clean start with a grown-up CRM later shouldn't be a big deal. Thanks for the help!