Why Solo Consultants Hate CRM

Walking home with groceries is not a good option for most people. You know that a vehicle could be helpful. So you get a vehicle, but somehow the grocery run is even more tiresome and difficult. Why?

It's absurd to take a space shuttle to the grocery store, just because we need a vehicle.

I get asked all the time, "what CRM should I use?" That's like asking, "what vehicle should I get?" It depends on what you need, but so many people think you can just check the box. And then you're trying to park your space shuttle at the grocery store.

To be clear, there are situations when you might need a space shuttle. Like if you're NASA.

Just as the space shuttle is for a different purpose than a family car, traditional CRMs have a different purpose than you might expect. They are not so much for "customer relationship management" as "sales team management"-- letting the VP of Sales keep track of the sales reps. This is pretty vital if you're leading a sales team.

But if you're an independent consultant (or coach, fractional, etc), you're not a VP of sales. You don't have a sales team. You're not a VP of marketing or a marketing analyst. Yet you have to wear all these hats in your "spare time" to generate business.

But your business doesn't come the way it does in big corporate sales environments-- marketing generating leads, sales reps pushing them through pipelines to make their numbers.

Your business comes from existing clients, referral partners, and some marketing activities that lead not directly to sales, but to relationships and then sales.

You're in a relationship business, not a "people are numbers" business. (To be fair, the VP of Sales at a Fortune 500 company can't have relationships with every sales rep, let alone every prospect and partner of every rep. They have to flatten people into numbers.)

If you're in relationship business, you're in a conversation business.

And if you're in a conversation business, you have a 2-step sales cycle (emphasis on cycle, because it keeps going around).

1. Figure out exactly who you want to talk to (Ideal Client and Ideal Partner profiles)
2. Talk to them

You need a CRM with emphasis on 'R' -- relationship, which means emphasis on conversations. ('R' could also stand for Referrals, given how central they are-- wouldn't it be nice if your CRM tracked them?)

AFAIK, Mimiran is the only "CRM" designed for these 2 steps, while getting most of the complexity out of the way. So if you're tired of lugging groceries home on foot, or parking your space shuttle or jet, and just want an effective way to get to and from the store, start a free trial of Mimiran...