Nimble CRM for Solopreneurs

Nimble CRM Was Built for Salespeople Who Hate CRM

Articles, CRM, Selling

Which pretty much makes all salespeople. However, it’s true. Nimble CRM is built for salespeople. While it will do some sales managery things, it’s really not built for managers and particularly for those who are data and report driven.

“Sacrilege!” you say. “How can I manage my salespeople without my reports!?” “News flash!”, says I. If they won’t use it, or use it properly, you will have either no data or flawed data which makes this … a moot point. 

Instead, you must learn how to manage your salespeople in new and better ways. You should do this regardless. Beating them over the head, while an attractive thought, rarely yields the desired results. I know because I have tried these methods myself.

I spent most of my life as a sales manager asking my salespeople for reports that … I rarely read. I should have been coaching them one-on-one, reviewing deals with them, and looking at their prospect records. I should have been more of a teacher and less of a manager. 

My job, your job, is to develop your people. Not to monitor them. For more on this topic, I would humbly suggest that you might wish to read the “Sales Manager Survival Guide” by David Brock. It more than humbled me. It opened my eyes!

So, what makes Nimble the salesperson’s CRM? Simply put, it focuses on those areas that salespeople want and need in order to be able to sell more and it minimizes those tasks that salespeople will traditionally chafe at. 

One such area of discomfort for salespeople is data entry and data entry is a key part of contact organization. I suppose that would make two areas. In order to understand this, it helps to be a salesperson. Fortunately, I have always been a salesperson first and a sales manager second.

Most salespeople are simply not wired for tedious data related tasks. They are coded to sell. If they don’t sell, they don’t eat. If they don’t enter data, they still might eat. It’s really that simple. It may be primitive, but that doesn’t change the facts.

Let’s see, I can sell or I can sit at a keyboard? Hmmmm. The time I spend on the computer could be better used to sell more. Which will I gravitate toward? I choose to sell more, make more, eat more, and eat better.

What if we could help our salespeople to sell more with a minimal amount of extra time spent in preparation to do just that? I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that Nimble or any CRM will maintain itself via thought transference! However, with a little bit of effort, it will increase your sales. Dramatically!

The challenge lies in communicating this trade off to our salespeople and in a manner that they will fully accept as being valid. While this might be a tall order, it’s still one that must be taken.

In its simplest form, Nimble asks salespeople to do three things …

  1. Create a contact record. However, this can often be done with one or two clicks and Nimble will then automatically create the record for them, populate emails, and discover and add recognized social profiles.
  2. Record tasks, notes and activities. These are also easily completed and even from their mobile device.
  3. Create an opportunity (deal) and drag and drop it through their sales pipeline.

If they will allow Nimble to do the heavy lifting for them, all of this will take no more time than stuffing a scrap of paper in a manila folder and then trying to find it later. All contact information is neatly organized in one place, they can take it with them on their phones, and they can refer to past activities prior to their next call.

No more forgetting to do something. Nimble will remind them that that “something” is coming due. All of this results in increased revenues and repeat and referral business.

I simply cannot stress repeat and referral business enough. The most time-consuming aspect of selling is finding new business. The call-to-sale ratios suck at every level and this is no matter how good at these parts of the selling process that you may be. 

Repeat and referral business are the “golden eggs”. They take a fraction of a time and their ratios, all of their ratios, are through the roof! These types of deals are simply … better business and this fact holds true for the salesperson, the sales manager, and for the company.

Try Nimble for yourself with a free, no credit card required. 14-day trial!

Craig M. Jamieson

Craig M. Jamieson

Managing Member at Adaptive Business Services
Craig M. Jamieson is a lifelong B2B salesperson, manager, owner, and a networking enthusiast. Adaptive Business Services provides solutions related to the sales professional. We are a Nimble CRM Solution Partner. Craig also conducts training and workshops primarily in social selling and communication skills. Craig is also the author of "The Small Business' Guide to Social CRM", now available on Amazon!
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