I was wrong about CRM software for years

For like 5 years I thought Salesforce was the only real option for B2B sales teams. My boss at my last job swore by it and I just went along. Then I took over a small team at a new company and our budget was shot. I tried a cheap spreadsheet plus Trello combo out of desperation. Four months later our close rate actually went up because people actually used the dang thing instead of fighting with a bloated system. Has anyone else found that simpler tools beat the expensive ones for certain teams?

3 comments

3 Comments

betty_perry243d ago

Exactly what I ran into at my last place. We dumped a pricey HubSpot setup for a shared Google Sheet and a simple calendar tool. Took me about two weeks to get everyone on board because it was so obvious and easy. The key is matching the tool to the team's actual work habits, not the sales director's ego. That close rate jump you saw isn't a fluke - it happens when people aren't fighting with the software all day.

erickelly3d ago

Ditched Salesforce for a whiteboard and sticky notes. Best decision we ever made.

nathankim3d ago

Ha, totally makes sense. I bet most teams don't realize how much their "process" is just fighting the tool instead of selling. @erickelly's sticky note setup probably forced people to actually TALK to each other instead of hiding in a CRM.