We know how valuable a CRM system is for sales but what about everyone else? As a CRM is such an important investment, it makes sense to encourage as many departments as possible to use it. That's why we have a fascinating feature called Projects - a storage area or memory box for important information.
This extra feature is unique to Capsule and opens the CRM up to everyone. And the more people that use the CRM, the more successful it will be in your business.
Here are three examples of how our customers use Projects:
1. Projects for Marketing
Before the sales cycle begins, a project can be created for marketing activities such as nurturing a cluster of leads, managing a prospecting event or simply storing marketing collateral.
If for example you held a webinar for a group of prospects you could create a Project for them that looks like this:
It’s a very clear way to manage a cluster of leads. You can:
- store all your emails with the group or individuals
- use a pre defined list of tasks, a Track, to guide the nurturing process
- store all relevant marketing collateral.
Another interesting way to use Projects in marketing is to simply create a Project for each product or service and store all related documents in there such as:
- marketing collateral
- price lists
- suppliers
- partners
- product codes.
If there’s a new price or a rebrand planned for a product, all the information and email history will be in the project, easy to find.
The search functionality is great too, so if you have a lot of Projects just type in a word you remember from the Project and Capsule will find it for you.
It can sometimes be a headache trying to find a document you need in a shared folder or drive with tonnes of documents, especially when you’re on the road or using your mobile. With Projects it’s very easy to do, simply log into your capsule app and they’re right there.
2. Projects for client or customer services
When an Opportunity is won, sometimes that’s when the CRM journey ends for that contact. Sad but true. If only sales people use your CRM, they have no reason to look at past sales, they’re too busy working on the next one.
In Capsule, once the opportunity is won, a Project can be created for the customer focused team. Here they can store all the post sale information and processes. This is one of the most popular ways our customers use Projects.
Here’s an example of a post sale Project.
Here the Project uses Tracks to create a step by step guide for onboarding that the whole team can follow. There’s also a separate task area for all the unique activities related to the new customer.
All email correspondence within the group is stored along with any notes. As the Project is linked to an Opportunity, all the sales history is at your fingertips too.
Whatever your onboarding process, a Project can be created to make sure every client gets a consistent, first class experience.
3. Projects for HR
Another department that can benefit from Projects is HR or whoever looks after the recruitment process and new hires. A popular way to use Projects is when you’re welcoming a new recruit to the team.
When you’ve perfected the right steps to give people the best start to their career, it’s best to record and repeat it. What better way to do that than in your CRM.
You can also store the new hire’s relevant correspondence and documentation in the Project too. If you have the Capsule Growth plan, you can even restrict access to just the line and HR Manager so it’s super private.
The Project can stay open for as long as you like, you can add review documents, congratulatory emails or positive feedback from clients.
It can be a fantastic memory box for each employee that they can refer back to throughout their career.
We see Projects used in a multitude of ways, other examples include:
- Travel companies create a Project for each tailored tours eg. safaris, mountain trek.
- Real estate companies create a Project for each property sale.
- Fitness companies create a Project for each class or equipment installation.
- Tech companies create a Project for each set of beta customers.
We all know a CRM system is a fantastic tool for sales and building customer relationships but you can increase the value of your CRM in your business if you use it across multiple departments too. Projects are a great way to do this and other CRMs will have useful functions too, you just need to know how to use them.
When your CRM can be adapted to suit different needs, it’ll be a long term success. The more people that love your CRM, the longer it will live.
