5 Ways to Maximize Your CRM and Boost Productivity
CRMs and service-based businesses go together like peanut butter and jelly. Having a CRM software means that you have a digital database for all things pertaining to your leads and clients.
While we know service providers who are getting by tracking their leads and clients using spreadsheets or other methods, CRMs allow you to boost your overall client experience. You’re able to streamline the way you send contracts, proposals, forms, invoices, schedulers, and other documents, all the while maintaining a consistently branded and professional image.
Unfortunately, we often see service providers massively underutilizing their CRM, so in this post, we want to share 5 ways to maximize your CRM and boost your productivity!
1. Use Your CRM’s Native Scheduling Tools
If the CRM software you use has its own scheduling tool, we’d recommend trying it out! We know many service providers use tools like Calendly or Acuity, but we’ve found the experience to be so much more streamlined when we use our CRM’s scheduler (in our case, Dubsado).
We’re able to create multiple schedulers for different needs. Then, we can send them manually, in an automated workflow, add the public link to relevant locations, or even attach them to forms, like lead capture forms or questionnaires. Since we have our Google Calendars connected to Dubsado’s calendar, scheduled appointments are cross-added to our Google Calendar.
We also have total control over sending reminder and confirmation emails, any custom follow-up emails or other automated steps in a workflow, plus we have the ability to attach invoices to the scheduler if we want to get paid for our time. Since you can usually collect payments with your CRM, this makes that process 10x easier and more smooth.
2. Integrate Your CRM with Your Project Management System
Although many CRMs have simple task and todo features, you probably prefer using a separate tool for project management. By using a tool like Zapier, you can integrate your CRM with your project management system to really streamline and automate how you complete client tasks and projects.
For example, we’ve used Zapier to add new leads from Dubsado to our projects in Asana. We’re able to create new tasks and subtasks, change tags, assign the task, add due dates, and more. When a lead or client changes stages in Dubsado, there are corresponding actions that are being taken in Asana as well.
Unfortunately, we often see our audience confused on the difference between CRMs and project management systems, so this is a huge missed opportunity. Put simply, CRMs are for handling the client experience– onboarding, invoicing, communication, etc.. Project management systems allow you to manage the tasks that go into fulfilling the service you provide.
3. Utilize Your CRM’s Automation Tools
If you haven’t already, check to see if your CRM has an automation feature, and then work on utilizing it! As we already mentioned, our CRM, Dubsado, has a Workflows feature that allows us to create multiple automated sequences for various purposes. (And, boy, do we use it!)
We have workflows for multiple stages that our leads and clients go through, for example:
Accepting or denying Incubator applications
Sending new clients our orientation call scheduler with our intake form attached
Sending new clients their contract
Once clients sign the contract, we send their onboarding guide
If you’re a current or future Dubsado user, we recommend reading this blog post that walks you through Workflows, what you can do with them, and how to create them.
4. Revamp Your CRM’s Forms
If your CRM offers a native form builder, take a day to give your forms a complete makeover. This will be dependent on the functionality of your CRM’s form builder, but if there is an option to add images, you already have a big opportunity to beautifully brand your forms.
With Dubsado, we’re able to use our various Dubsado form templates to completely redo the way our forms look, and therefore our client experience is boosted as well. Plus, Dubsado never adds their branding to anything your clients see, so we’re able to really have creative control over what our assets look and feel like.
Giving your forms a look that you’re happy with and that your clients are able to easily complete or view is a small step you can take to improve your client experience. If anything, you’ll be even more proud to show them off!
5. Use Your CRM’s Client Portal
Many CRMs nowadays come with their own client portal feature, which are often underutilized when they shouldn’t be! Giving your clients their own portal allows them to easily access all forms, documents, invoices, appointment schedulers, etc. that you’ve sent them.
We aren’t sure if all CRM client portals have this perk, but because Dubsado allows you to connect your email address to send and receive emails, the client portal also allows your clients to see all email communication you’ve sent. (No more “I didn’t see your email” excuses!)
See if your CRM comes with a client portal feature and what kind of information it will allow your clients to view. It can be a super quick set up, as easy as simply needing to activate it for your clients, yet it can make a drastic impact on the client experience.
And there you have 5 ways to maximize your CRM and boost your productivity! Remember, your CRM is there for you to streamline your overall client experience and systems, whereas a project management system will help you streamline the tasks that go into fulfilling your services.
If you want to take our favorite CRM, Dubsado, for a spin and save 30% on your first month or first year when you upgrade, just head here!
