How to pick a CRM for your Startup

Startups are replete with passionate engineers, communicators, and visionaries. Whenever a business of a few people gets validated, it’s vital to go full throttle, and that means you’ll need more fuel. In the business world, income is fuel, and scaling customers and sales is one of the most critical and complex tasks any startup needs to accomplish. The key to managing your business’ sales is to pick a good CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool. People usually don’t need convincing that having a CRM is a good idea; the real problem is which one? Finding a CRM that fits your company’s mission, objectives, and business type is crucial to a stable success. In this article, we’ll review what the best CRMs for startups looks like. We’ll evaluate the needs of startups and how they interface with popular CRM features. Before you dive in, here is a wiki page by Clearbit with a collection of resources on choosing the best CRM for your startup.

Naturally, every burgeoning startup will focus on a few essential items:

• Cost: Startups need to be frugal with their money.
• Simplicity: Startups can’t spend lots of time on process or training.
• Insights: Startups need to retain, grow, an analyze their customers
• Stability: The CRM decision needs to be a rock that provides consistency during times of growth and downsizing.

These four factors are interwoven into the foundation of every startup’s DNA, and with those concerns, we’d like to give you some DO’s and DON’Ts of picking out your CRM.

DON’Ts

Don’t get too caught up in the mobile app domain. Lots of CRMs boast their ability to provide iOS and Android applications, but the quality of these applications is rarely what you want. Remember to keep things simple, and fight on a unified front with your team. Everyone should be trained on a computer, and if a mobile app happens to work, great! Spending any significant amount of time trying to get your CRM perfect on every device is a time-sink.

Don’t worry about collaboration workflow. Building a startup is like building any other complex machine. You’ll change, you’ll iterate, and you’ll need to be able to throw it all away. Jumping directly into collaboration, beyond handoffs and statuses, will cause you to hesitate when you should be pivot.

Don’t worry about integration. Much like collaboration, integration could be a distraction. Yes, it’s great if your CMS ties in with Google Docs, but if it didn’t, did that mean you couldn’t use Google Docs? You’re going to have a hodge-podge of services no matter what integrations are available. Don’t limit yourself based on integrations alone, and don’t get drawn in by large lists of integrations that are more distracting than essential. That means, docs, SMS, and Social Marketing features that are alluring buzzwords, mean nothing in your CRM decision. You can do all of these regardless if your CRM cannot.

Warning: Integrations should not be confused with automation. A good automation can be the life-blood of a startup, where integrations are ancillary benefits that are cute to have. Distinguishing the difference between these two is key.

Don’t worry about activity trackers. I’m sure you share in the ideal that a startup needs trust in staff. Far too often small companies can’t see the forest for the trees because they get pulled into micro-managing when they should be empowering. CRMs that help you track how each person spends their time might work for large companies that can’t trust their employees, and enforce a cookie-cutter formula for success, but for a startup, it’s a no-go. Get your hands dirty and celebrate the different methods of execution that get things done. There’s no single breed of customer, so there’s no silver-bullet by tracking your team specifics more than your sales.

Don’t worry about gamification. Some CRMs try to motivate your team, and that’s a nice feature, but it shouldn’t weigh in significantly on your decision. The metaphorical war drum of any startup comes from the heart of the startup, and not from software.

DO’s

Do include lead scoring, tracking, and sales forecasting. This is the heart and soul of what your CRM should do. At the very core, your CRM should be a rock star with this. If a CRM can’t do this well, then it doesn’t matter what other features it has.

Do include analytics and excellent search. As a startup adjusts to the changing tides, you’ll need to be able to find information essential to your customers, and later on, you’ll need to be able to analyze that data to figure out and strategize your plans. Try to evaluate how findable information is, and will be when the CRM is years old.

Do include excellent reporting and dashboards. Summarize and identify customer statuses with ease. When you’re a startup, you need to celebrate every victory and plug every hole from taking on water. Immediate action is possible through proper CRM reports and dashboards.

Do look for ways to change structure without code. Adaptability is one of the strengths of a startup, but without your CRM able to adapt with you, there will be a heavy weight holding you back. In quite a few ways, this means not limiting your perspective to what your CRM provides, but if you do find yourself using features, evaluate how easy they can adapt. Preferably, you should be able to slide scales, and make vast modifications without any code changes.

Do apply your specific needs above all others. Everything listed should be taken with a big grain of salt since your startup is as unique as you. If Social Media marketing is a cornerstone of your business plan, then it’s not optional, it’s quintessential. Perhaps you’ve got an army of coders at your disposal, and API integrations are free, so you’re happy to see an extensive list of well-documented APIs. Whatever your personal situation is, be sure to apply that difference to each CRM you evaluate. What might be infeasible for your competition, could be the edge for your growth.

In Summation:

Startups require time, attention, and fuel. Armed with your objectives, use this article to help you confidently evaluate CRMs in a light that works for your business. You should be keen on anything that optimizes your marketing strategy and supports selling efforts without distraction. Keep in mind CRMs are built for all sizes of companies, but the best CRMs for startups, will be the few that serve your needs.

Do you enjoy startup related posts? Do you have a story about your startup experience? Hit me up with feedback in the comments.

Gant Laborde is Chief Technology Strategist at Infinite Red, published author, adjunct professor, worldwide public speaker, and mad scientist in training.