Best for
Business owners, freelancers, and anyone learning the fundamentals of sales, marketing, and running a business.
Use this when
Read it when the question comes up, or work through a whole section to fill gaps in the basics.
Preview
Answer
A CRM — customer relationship management system — is where you keep track of everyone you are talking to and what needs to happen next. Do you need dedicated software? Not necessarily. A spreadsheet with the right columns works well up to a few dozen active conversations. What you genuinely need is a single place where every lead, prospect, and customer has a record with a next action and a date. The signs it is time for real software: you have forgotten to follow up more than once, more than one person needs to see the same records, or you cannot answer "what's in the pipeline?" without opening four different places. Whatever you use, the discipline matters more than the tool. See SOP: Maintaining CRM Records.
The rest of this resource is for members
Members get the complete What is a CRM and do I need one?, one-click copy, saved favorites, and every other resource in the library for $149 per month.
One-click copy unlocks with membership
A CRM holds personal data. Choose a tool with appropriate security, limit access to people who need it, and follow the data-protection rules that apply in your location.
Related resources
- Learning CenterFree
What is a target audience?
Your target audience is the specific group of people most likely to buy from you and be glad they did.
Marketing fundamentalsfaqlearningRead it now - Learning CenterFree
What is a value proposition?
A value proposition is one clear sentence explaining who you help, what changes for them, and why you rather than someone else.
Marketing fundamentalsfaqlearningRead it now - Learning CenterFree
What should I post on social media?
Five kinds of post cover almost everything, and rotating them removes the guesswork:
Social media marketingfaqlearningRead it now