Business System Essentials
2 Business Systems That Every Entrepreneur Needs
I talk about systems for your real estate investment business quite a lot but I don’t talk enough about some basic business systems that every entrepreneur, every small business in fact, needs for smooth sailing and success, regardless of your business endeavors.
Two absolute musts for good business management are Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and a good Project Management System.
So what are these essential business systems and why do you need them?
Customer Relationship Management Software
The term CRM describes a broad spectrum of enterprise software that helps organizations track and nurture leads, maintain customer data, automate marketing communications, facilitate customer support, maintain vendor communications and management, keep partner and client contact information, and more. Depending on what system you use, a good CRM will handle all or just some of these tasks with little effort on your part once you have configured them properly.
A basic CRM will help you manage your leads and your customers by storing pertinent data, reminding you when to contact them and tracking your history with them. More robust systems go so far as to include customizable email templates and email marketing software, automated sales funnels according to a built in if-this- then-that kind of script, back end analytics for customer tracking and insight, vendor management and more.
CRM software systems can range from the most basic free cloud-based systems to the full Monty kind of systems that can cost as much as a few hundred dollars per month.
Project management Systems
A good project management system is a software tool, usually cloud based, that enables small businesses and large enterprises alike to keep their projects organized and moderated.
There are a number of good project management software systems available and many that are free or extremely cost effective, coming in at a very low monthly cost. Traditional project management systems implement a standard approach of initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and completion. More modern systems are agile; they are more adaptable and dynamic, addressing the needs of various business eco-systems including those of start-ups, entrepreneurs and freelancers.
Keep an eye out for a list of my favorite Customer Relationship Management and Project Management systems for small businesses and entrepreneurs. Once you see the difference these two systems can make for you business, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them.