8 Signs Your Online Business Is Ready For The Best CRM
Is it time for your online biz to implement the best CRM?
The first year or two (or three or four) of launching and running a small business feels overwhelming for everyone. Slowly though, you’ll start to check high-priority items off your never-ending to-do list. Items like:
- Identify your target audience
- Create your core services
- Design a website (or hire a designer)
- Write your web copy (or hire a copywriter)
- Market your business online
But one piece that’s almost always missing from a new business owner’s to-do list is setting up a client relationship management system like Dubsado.
Instead, you get by with responding to every email, manually plugging meetings into your Google calendar manually, and creating your invoices. You might even use a collection of free tools like Calendly, Acuity, and Docusign to manage some of those steps…but it soon becomes impossible to keep track of them all.
A CRM might not be on your radar in the first few years of operating a business. Or if it is, you may question if you need to spend $20+ each month on one.
In the end, you know a streamlined CRM is necessary for a successful, sustainable, and efficient business that attracts high-paying clients without sucking up every free hour of your day.
But when is the tipping point?
When does setting up a CRM for your online business outweigh all the free tools you use and the daily admin tasks you complete?
That’s exactly what we’re going to cover in this blog post – the 8 signs your online business is ready for a CRM like Dubsado.
8 signs your online business is ready for a CRM
1. You’re losing track of leads and referrals
It may take a little while before inquiries trickle into your inbox. Eventually, though, one new lead a month turns into one new lead every week (or every other day!).
If you’re feeling swamped with responding to inquiries and tracking where your leads come from, it’s time to let a CRM organize your leads for you.
2. You’re struggling to manage multiple projects
Once those new leads turn into client projects, you’ll need to manage multiple projects with varying deadlines, deliverables, and client contacts. Trust me when I say sticky notes aren’t enough to manage your projects and delight your clients.
If you’re serving multiple clients simultaneously, and need to to track project progression and client feedback, then consider implementing a CRM to help with communication and organization across multiple platforms.
3. You’re repeating the same steps over and over
When you first launch your business, there will be some trial and error as you figure out the best way to complete your work, help your clients, and deliver your services. Finding, understanding, and refining your work processes takes time.
But after you’ve landed on a repeatable process, you’ll likely find yourself writing the same emails and re-creating the same forms. This is a clear sign you should automate your workflows with the help of a CRM.
4. You’re wasting 3+ hours per week on admin tasks
Unfortunately, administrative tasks cannot be erased completely from your to-do list. Even if you hire a virtual assistant. It’s just a part of running your own business.
However, if you’re wasting over three hours each week on administrative work then it’s time to set up a CRM so you can get more hours back in your day to do the work you enjoy!
5. You’re stressed over late payments
Ugh. Late payments.
They bring so much stress and awkwardness into your relationship with your client…but you need to be paid on time!
Instead of writing uncomfortable payment reminder emails, a CRM not only automatically reminds your clients to pay, but it can set up auto-payments so you never have to worry about a late invoice again.
6. Your client communication is scattered
If some clients book a meeting on Calendly, some send you an email with project feedback, and other clients pop into your Instagram DMs with a question, it’s hard to feel confident you’ve responded to everyone.
Having your client communications scattered across multiple platforms is a strong sign you need a CRM for your online business.
7. You want to scale your online business
Sure, a CRM takes pesky, time-sucking administrative tasks off your plate. But what does that actually mean for your business?
It means you can create a new online course to serve more customers. It means you can hire a business coach and maximize your time with them. It means you can build a template shop *ahem, like this!* and grow your business.
So if you’re thinking about scaling your online business, then you’re ready for a CRM.
8. You want to increase your revenue
The final sign your business is ready for a CRM is you want to increase your revenue, but you’ve capped out your capacity.
With a CRM managing your weekly administrative tasks, you’ll have more free time to book more projects, complete your work, and create new services to bring in more income.
But another huge part of a CRM is elevating your client experience so that you feel confident increasing your rates while knowing your clients will keep coming back to you over and over again.
What is the best CRM for online businesses?
You might think that since I’m a Dubsado expert, I’m biased about which CRM is the best for online businesses. But the truth is I’ve experimented with a tooooon of CRMs, from Dubsado to Honeybook, and still believe Dubsado is the best.
Check out my honest review of Dubsado’s top competitors, right here!
Dubsado has every feature your creative business needs to track projects, manage leads, automate follow-ups, deliver information, request feedback, and generate invoices
It’s one thing though to know it’s time to set up a CRM for your business. It’s a whole other ballpark to set up your Dubsado.
This is precisely why I’ve created a new course, Onboard Like A Pro!
In this self-paced video course, I give you the step by step instructions to set up your entire onboarding experience in Dubsado, including your lead inquiry, Discovery Call scheduling, proposal and invoice creation, and onboarding questionnaire.
Best of all?
You can do it in just one weekend.
