Unpopular opinion: those expensive CRM tools are overkill for a 3 person agency

Last month I dumped a $150/month CRM for a simple Google Sheet + calendar system and my team actually got more done. Has anyone else scaled back their tools after realizing the fancy stuff just slows you down?

2 comments

2 Comments

fiona_lewis375d ago

Exactly what I found when I ran a small shop. You're right, the sales pipeline stuff in those tools is overkill for 3 people. We switched to a shared Google Sheet with columns for contact name, last touch date, next step, and a simple status like cold/warm/hot. Also set up calendar reminders to follow up every 2 weeks. Took maybe an hour to set up and now I can actually see where every deal is without clicking through 5 screens. The fancy CRM was creating work just to justify its own existence.

thomas_johnson354d ago

Hang on, you set up a whole working CRM in just an hour? That's actually kind of blowing my mind. I spent three weeks evaluating different platforms for my dentist office and none of them worked half as well as that sounds. The calendar reminders thing is the part that really gets me - I bet that alone saves you more time than all the automation in the paid tools. And you're only tracking four columns? Most CRM sales people would tell you that's not enough data, but honestly it sounds like exactly what a small operation needs. The way you put it about the fancy CRM creating work to justify itself is dead on. I might just try this for my own client follow-ups.