The best way to imagine Customer-relationship management (CRM) software is like a robo-Rolodex, it is like a self-managing contact book and virtual assistant rolled into one.
The idea is that it will help you take leads, like event organizers, potential clients, and key decision-makers from organizations, and then help you turn them into paid gigs where you can deliver excellent customer service.
While you could self-manage this with a spreadsheet and your time, the point of getting a CRM system is to make you more efficient by helping you keep track of the details of all your potential leads and automate your interactions with them.
Imagine this situation:
You give a talk at an event and a conference organizer named Daphne comes up to you afterwards and says that she really enjoyed your talk.
Before she leaves, she gives you her business card, which you put in your wallet.
You spend the next three week on the road, and when you finally get home, you pull out the one hundred business cards you’ve picked up and start email each person individually saying it was nice to meet them and that you hope you can work together in the future.
This method might be holding you back because:
Daphne may have forgotten who you are or may have found another speaker for her event in the time between you getting her business card and you contacting her.
It is time-consuming to have to type each person you’ve met into an email. It is time you could be spending on other things.
Let’s imagine the same situation, Daphne gives you her business card but instead of putting it in your wallet, you take a quick photo of the front and the back and upload it into your CRM app. You might even make a quick audio note about which organization she came from and what you talked about.
The CRM system then sends her an email saying it was nice to meet her, and sending her some links, like your website, your SpeakerHub profile, and your booking calendar because you’d like to chat within the next few weeks about how you could potentially work together.
Daphne thinks this is a wonderful idea because she is still really pumped up from hearing you speak, and books a chat with you the day you get back from your trip. It automatically adds it to your calendar and will remind both of you the day before your call so you know what is coming up when.
This method works because:
It is timely. Daphne is still excited about hearing you speak, and you strike while the iron is hot. You can even set up multiple triggers, like if she visits your website she gets a certain email, or if she doesn’t reply within a week she gets another kind of email. All automatically.
It requires very little work from you, and saves you a lot of time emailing back and forth trying to turn potential leads into bookings.
What is more, a CRM can be adjusted to suit your needs, whatever the source of your leads.
For example:
networking events,
referrals from past event organizers,
business cards you’ve received,
an email list,
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram,
a pop-up lead generator on your website,
The CRM help you keep track of all your potential leads’ details and automate time-consuming interactions so that you can go from potential to booked, faster.
In researching this article, we looked at dozens upon dozens of CRM software systems, and all of them seemed pretty good at first blush. But what became clear to us early on was that having a crystal clear idea of what your business needs are is paramount to figuring out which system is going to be best for you.
For example, if you never really use LinkedIn, having the functionality to scan through potential leads and email them is not going to be useful.
Whereas if you get hundreds of business cards a month, having the option to snap a photo of the card and save it in the system would be very helpful.
You have unique needs, and your CRM should fit those needs, and luckily, there are so many CRM software systems that there is probably one out there that will have everything you are looking for.
But how do you know what your needs are?
Let's start with these questions:
What budget do you have for a CRM?
Price is always important, especially for solopreneurs. CRMs can range from being free to costing hundreds of dollars each month—so think about what you can feasibly afford before entering your credit cards details.
How tech savvy are you?
Do you need something that is simple to learn and easy to use? Or do you want something that has a lot of functionality and can be customized exactly to you needs? If you don't have time to learn a complex system, or probably won’t invest the time in watching a handful of videos, make sure you choose a simple system.
What do you actually need?
Many CRMs are built very broadly for multiple kinds of businesses, but that also means they might include a lot of functionality which won’t really be useful for you. Think about your process—from gathering contact details to booking your next client—what's truly essential? For instance, incident management software like Freshworks can streamline your customer support, making it easier to resolve issues quickly and efficiently. By focusing on the features that matter most to your business, you can improve your workflow and save time without paying for unnecessary tools.
A good example of this is data and analytics. You can end up paying a fair bit for statistics which might not actually be helpful for you. While having some data is good, if it is not essential, it can be expensive and time-consuming.
What integrations are essential?
Many CRMs are built with integration in mind, but double-check that they can integrate with the platforms you already use, like Gmail or LinkedIn. Make a list of the platforms you currently use for your business and see which CRMs have integrations available for those platforms.
Can it scale with your business?
Think long term. It may be tempting to go with the cheapest and simplest option because that’s what your business needs right now. But what about in 5 years time when you may have hundreds of potential leads each month? Will a simple and cheap system be able to support this? You want to find CRM software which will scale with you as you grow, and that you can upgrade as you go along.
By taking a moment to think about what you actually need beforehand, there is a better chance you’ll find a system that does what you need without paying extra for features you will never use.
In our opinion, here are the five best CRMs for solopreneur speakers we found, after researching dozens in the category.
What is HubSpot CRM?
HubSpot CRM is one of the leading CRM apps currently available on the market. It is an "all-in-one marketing software" that provides tools that can help your company with blogging, SEO, social media, email, landing pages, marketing automation, and web analytics, and sales leads.
Why it’s great for solopreneur speakers
It is an all-in-one software solution with many integration options. It may take a little longer to figure out how it can help you with your unique business needs, but once you do it will save you hours of work each week.
It gives you a view of your entire sales funnel. Click, drag and drop your way to customize your contact records and the stages that your leads are in.
Email automations, templates, and follow-ups can easily be customized so your correspondence is personalized.
Schedule meetings easily. The booking calendar syncs to your Google or Office 365 calendar, so your availability is always up-to-date.
Cost: After the 14-day trial, monthly plans range between $25 - $125
Website: HubSpot.com
What is ZenDesk Sell?
Make calls, send emails, schedule meetings, and view a lead’s history all from one place with ZenDesk Sell. Use “smart lists” to help you segment and filter your leads and deals in real-time, so you can stay organized and spot opportunities.
Why it’s great for solopreneur speakers
A highly intelligent and intuitive program, meaning onboarding will not be overly complicated
Lots of helpful functionality like their channel optimization, “smart lists”, and easy to customize automations, will help you stay organized and generate more business.
Email templates that make responding to repetitive queries a breeze
Loads of integrations, meaning it will play well with the other platforms and apps you are using. See the list here.
Cost: After the 14-day trial, monthly plans range between $25 - $125
Website: GetBase.com
What is Zoho CRM?
Zoho CRM allows you to capture leads directly from clicks. It lets you prioritize your agenda so you can manage what you know is most important. This CRM allows you to decipher trends and use that information to market to the right customer, tracking your customers’ footprints in real time.
Why it’s great for solopreneur speakers
See what your leads are doing, and tracks footprints
Automatically prioritize your agenda
Capture and showcase audience trends in real time
Easily track and measure marketing campaigns
Cost: After a 15-day trial, monthly plans range between $12-$35
Website: Zoho.com
What is Insightly CRM?
Insightly has been build for small to mid-sized businesses. With over 1.5 million users worldwide, it is one of the very best CRM systems, especially for solopreneurs who are looking for something to easily on board. The flawless integrations for Gmail and Outlook make it simple to start using.
Why it’s great for solopreneur speakers
Clean, efficient, and user-friendly.
Automatically add business cards: take the drudgery out of data entry by uploading all contact information from any business card with a photo.
Email templates and automations are available, as well as the ability to send out bulk emails to a list of contacts.
There is also a project management tool. So after you are done turning a lead into being booked on their stage, you can manage the preparation for the talk in the project management section.
Cost: Insightly is free for up to two users. There are monthly plans ranging from $12 - $99(billed annually.)
Website: Insightly.com
What is Agile CRM?
Agile is an “all-in-one” CRM built specifically for solopreneurs and small businesses. It incorporates marketing and service seamlessly, helping you turn potential leads into booked speaking event.
Why it’s great for solopreneur speakers
It has a simple interface, is easy to set up, and easy to use
Automatically gather contacts from your website or social media, then manage all levels of the funnel until the project is complete.
Social media integrations: Search for and locate the leads you want on social media (such as LinkedIn or Twitter) and import them into your sales funnel.
There are plenty of automation options, such as when a lead visits your website it can trigger an email to them.
Cost: Free for up to ten users and 50,000 contacts, but with limited functionality. Monthly plans range between $8 - $48.
A CRM software system can save you time and help you turn more leads into bookings. With the right system, you can nurture new relationships and grow them more efficiently than doing everything manually.
The above 5 CRM software tools are some of the best on the market, but the list just scratches the surface of the number of tools out there.
It is important to figure out what you need and which tool will help you get there before entering in your credit card details and signing up for a lot of bells and whistles that won’t really help you build your business.
Are you using a CRM software system at the moment? What advice would you offer other speakers? Please contact us here, or share ideas with thousands of speakers around the world in our LinkedIn Group “Need a speaker / Be a speaker”
This series on solopreneur speaking is aimed at helping you build your speaking business. We look at which tools and techniques can help you start adding to your bottom line. Read more of our articles for solopreneurs.
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