Six signs it’s time to switch from spreadsheets to CRM. 

Spreadsheets have been working for your business since the start.

You manage your pipeline with leads in one spreadsheet customers in another, and you’re also using spreadsheets to track projects, revenue and tasks.

In fact, everything is set up and running, and business is going well, but could things be working better?

Here are six signs it’s time to go back to the future…

1. You’re doing too much admin.

You (or your team) are spending more time doing admin than actively getting out there, building relationships and deals.

When you are spending more time working on your spreadsheets than doing the actual job, you know you need a better system.

2. You don’t trust your data anymore.

Your data is increasingly unreliable and inaccurate. Spreadsheets are breeding grounds for typos and accidental information or lack of information.

Shared files will always be a liability; multiple people mean multiple errors, double entries and incorrect formulas and no way of tracking who has done what and when.

3. You’re not sure what everyone else is up to.

You have no idea what some of your team are doing all day. The spreadsheets get updated, but you’ve got no way of keeping track of what progress has been made and whether anything has been achieved.

Are you actually managing your team at all?

4. You’ve got no high level view of your business.

Making sense of the data is arduous work – and you are struggling to get a clear view of your pipeline.

You know what you want to find out, but searching multiple rows, columns and fields is hard work, and what happens if you need to merge data sets to get the answers you need?

Your spreadsheets are not giving you a 360-degree view of your sales activity.

5. Your forecast is way out. 

As a business owner, you need to be able to produce a realistic forecast. You need to know how much cash is in the pot to keep the business running and the deals progressing.

However, your spreadsheets are never up to date because the team can’t update them ‘on the go’ and your figures are always a few days (or more) behind.

Unlike a mobile CRM, spreadsheets need the users to be in the office and updating on the PC, rather than on the go as business happens.

6. It all feels a bit messy.

All your business ‘paperwork’ is held on a laptop within a multitude of folders and files and email systems. Finding anything is a bit of a chore, especially if you need it quickly, and what happens if someone has moved a file?

So how can a CRM help?

1. A CRM will fix ALL of the above.

2. You can build links between a contact and ALL the related files and correspondence.

3. You can update it ‘on the move’ from your phone, tablet or laptop.

4. You get access to the full picture of a relationship or a deal quickly and easily.

5. You have all the information at your fingertips not just in the office 9 to 5, but 24/7 wherever you are.

About the author

Steven Lai is a property investor, founder of Super Developments and creator of CRM for Property Success. He is a CRM expert with over 12 years commercial experience of managing sales teams.

Join the CRM for Property Success Facebook Group to ask him anything (about CRM, property or 80's trivia!).