Effective Business Management

One of the most common questions we get asked is what CRM we use/recommend. While we have worked with a great firm called Nutshell, the reality is that there are many good systems to choose from. Nutshell provides us with flexible costing and an easy to use interface. To be able to have our entire business development and admin team living in a single environment that acts as a hub for all our operational and client information is key– we can’t imagine operations running smoothly without it.

As important as choosing a particular CRM is the simple act of adopting and managing some sales management tool regardless of what it is. A surprising number of smaller M&A firms still do not use a central tool to manage their sales prospects and process.

What are the benefits of using a CRM tool to manage your M&A leads?

Scalability– Your old Excel deal tracking spreadsheet can’t be easily shared and managed by a growing team.

Visibility– Knowing how many clients are nearing close or about to sign up at the click of a button saves time and ensures no opportunities are missed.

Time Savings– Most modern web-based CRMs will integrate to your email and marketing platforms. The days of entering your notes by hand into your static CRM are gone.

Cost Savings– With most new CRMs adopting a low cost monthly billing cycle the time you save more than justifies the cost. Our CRM costs $10 per user per month.

I once asked a friend in M&A to list all the projects he was working on. He had no formal tracking system and listed 19 deals in detail on my whiteboard before he stopped. While I was impressed at his memory that was no way to run a business.

To break free of the one deal maker-one deal mentality, you must lever technology in your favor and a good CRM is a great place to start.

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