Tips and Tricks

When adding new tags be concise as possible. Make sure to check existing tags in order to avoid duplicate categories. This will make it easier to keep a contact’s information all in one place. For example, you wouldn’t want to create three different tags that all identify someone you met while networking: "Networking", "Networker", "Networking Event" etc.

The more concise you can be with your tags, the more effectively you can sort and filter your list to get your hands on the right names and numbers.

Stages can be a very important component to organizing your pipeline. If you take the time to customize your stages according to the milestones in your sales process, you can have a bird’s-eye-view of your prospects at any given time just by glancing at your stages.

The organization provided by stages helps to make more accurate predictions about the health of your pipeline and allows you to treat each stage accordingly.

This one is so important we could have led off with it. An out-of-date, stale CRM can be more dangerous than using sticky notes and crayons to save contact information. An up-to-date CRM instills confidence in each member of the sales team because they know that they have all the information they need to be successful. The time spent keeping contacts current will be repaid as your company grows.

Write down everything and you’ll never have to remember anything. When logging information about correspondence with contacts, remember that other people will be going off your notes. Do your best to provide a complete picture of where the contact stands in the sales process. Even if yours is a one-man sales team, logging information in the CRM will help keep it solid, accurate, and available at a moment’s notice. Shoot. Michael Scott never had this good!

One of the premier features of using customizable filters is the ability to cross-reference contacts and past sales into a social web where you’re the one pulling the strings. Think as a marketer to find and follow recommendations and client connections. You’ll soon cross-sell, up-sell, and out-sell the competition by simply connecting your own set of dots.