10+ PERSONAL CRM OPTIONS REVIEWED
Yes, there are “solutions,” but nothing is perfect. Here is the path of what I evaluated, what I liked, what I didn’t and why. I will outline some of the available options and hopefully save you some time.
CRM Software: Efficiency
Let’s say you are looking for a new job.? Or you are working on getting backlinks for your website.? Or you own a small business and the entire sales team is a total of 1.5 people.?
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If you read my article Maximizing BDR Sales: Strategies for Success, you know I mention split testing with BML loops and the importance of enhancing customer segmentation.? To improve customer segmentation you need to classify by industry correctly. ?In LinkedIn, I feel that is so confusing I wrote an article on it called LinkedIn Industry Classifications Explained.? But how will you manage outreach consistently?
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You need a way to manage and track it, better known as a CRM.? Are you following up in a disciplined, scheduled manner?? Following an intelligent cadence?? Excel and Word lists can work, but seem like too much work?? Is there a CRM for this?
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The Answer Is…
Meh.? That’s my answer.? Yes, there are “solutions,” but nothing is perfect.? Here is the path of what I evaluated, what I liked, what I didn’t and why.? I will outline some of the available options and hopefully save you some time.? But don’t expect perfection. ?I’m not sure if that’s available (yet).
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Here is What I Reviewed
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Email Sequencing Software
Lemlist & Reply
So I’ve used Lemlist and Reply, both of which I love, for email outreach.? However, there is ZERO lead funnel tracking really.? Lemlist won’t even do sequence triggers (but for limited quantity outreach, it is THE BEST).?
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Apollo
Apollo is an amazing all-in-one software that does contact info acquisition as well as automated phone & email sequences.? For lead list building, many BDR teams use this in conjunction with Zoom Info and some use it exclusively.?
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It does some stage-based tracking, but that doesn’t seem to be its core function. Engagement tracking and customizing stages, etc. just don’t appear to be but so robust.? So, IMHO it’s currently the ultimate Swiss Army knife for BDRs, but it’s not also a boat and an airplane (still amazing software though).
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Standard Sales CRM
HubSpot & Salesforce
Many consider these two to be the gold standard for enterprise CRM.? Too big and complicated??? Too much $???
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Pipedrive
Some said this was easier and more simple than HubSpot and Salesforce so I took a look.? Thought it was too complicated.? Really everything is geared toward sales TEAMS, but maybe in your case that might be fine?
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Other Options
Here are other sales CRM names I need to check out (but haven’t):
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Sales Engagement Software
Outreach & Salesloft
Outreach and Salesloft are tops in their class.? Looked at them both last week, but since I’m not running a sales team (right now) I don’t need them.? Too heavy for my needs.?
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Project Management Software
Monday CRM
Limited categories.? Stages are predetermined and I don’t like them.
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ClickUp
Used as CRM; hard to do.? Not designed for it.
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Airtable & Asana
You could probably customize this to sort of do what you need.? Maybe?? I’ve worked in Asana specifically a good bit.? It works but the amount of time setting it up to sort of do what you want…then it still doesn’t do what you want…just as easy to stay in Excel?
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Airtable is powerful.? The stock sales workflow looks pretty good, but to try and set it up to work like I want, didn’t look so easy.? Monday and ClickUp were easy, but didn’t do what I want.
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Simple Sales CRM
SalesFlare
Importing accounts, contacts and getting into an “opportunity” workflow has not been easy.? Put an hour or 2 into is so far and can’t get it to work.? The drop-down menus for field mapping are SLOW compared to dex.com, Lemlist and others I’ve used.
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Dex
Maps relationships.? THE BEST for this I’ve seen.? Automatically pulls your contacts from gmail, LinkedIn, calendars, phone, you name it, then consolidates your “stay in touch” efforts.? You can set up automated emails every certain number of days but that’s it.? Worth checking out, but was missing some features I wanted.? No lead scoring, customized funnels, day-to-day workflow management, etc.
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I’ve found other relationship mappers, but they only map.? That’s it.? I thought they were kind of worthless.? Dex is the reigning champion in their category.
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Zoho
Thinking this was really more integration software, I never really took a careful look at Zoho. However, I keep hearing about it as a solid option for a personal CRM. Taking it for a quick test drive, it looks pretty good!? But no silver bullet?? I need to spend more time reviewing this one but here’s what I have so far.
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Importing Contacts
Importing contacts was pretty easy. However, there is nothing that includes a link to a social profile like LinkedIn or Facebook. Do I have the right John Smith? No idea.
Customized Funnels
It looks like you’re able to customize different workflow, funnels, and have multiple funnels going at once. That’s great!
Task Management
If you want stay on top of what you’re supposed to do each day, I would think you would go to tasks? The default view is meh.? It’s not like it gives you a calendar view or allows you to sort by anything without running a custom filter. That’s a bit tedious, but OK.
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Let’s say you complete a task. You click the task checkbox to mark it complete.? It does nothing. You have to select a task, open the task and tell it to close the task, mark it complete, then go back to the list.? 5 steps instead of just being able to mark something complete from the task view. Ouch.
Nimble
This does what I would think most people want.? It can be customized too.? BUT I found data entry to be a bit tedious.? And the UI was cumbersome.? Still, because it is probably the closest thing to a good personal CRM, I did a deeper dive:
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Chief Executive Officer | Former Founder | Board Member
1 年I know everyone is probably at the meeting today but I'll include you anyway Tim Ashmore, Laine Watson, Neil Vocke, William (Bill) Keely
Chief Executive Officer | Former Founder | Board Member
1 年Lowrie McCown and Juan Carlos Sanchez this is something you have asked me about in the past. Thought I would include you in the comments.
Chief Executive Officer | Former Founder | Board Member
1 年Chris Girard, Magda Dason, Alyssa McElrone this is another one I think the folks at C3G might like.