Anyone actually using CRM?

Per the title, does anyone that has one, actually go into their CRM and manipulate the data? We implemented one last year with the "hope" of managing our firm's relationships and storing meetings notes, but I don't think a single one of our senior guys have even logged in. We're still running our mandates in excel even though we have a CRM for it lol.

22 Comments
 

I implemented it at my last firm and used it a lot. However, important to mention it was a placement agent type of business, not a PE asset manager per se.

 
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Ignore title. I wouldn’t worry about other people. Using a CRM and using basic drip marketing if you are anywhere below mega cap is extremely useful (I have seen this bear fruit in MM/UMM by getting a proprietary deal in 2021/2022 at a non-sourcing non-call center shop; let that sink in).
 

You just need to spend a week setting up workflows like Outreach.io and Salesforce and periodically come up with some gimmicky marketing. The old guard poo-poo’s this as unnecessary or grungy. I don’t care about that - I want to make money. 

 

I use it religiously but I'm a BD professional.  It's the firm's nexus of institutional knowledge and essential to understanding where your most relevant deal flow is coming from.  Someone else in the thread mentioned that it needs firmwide buy-in which is the tough part, as everyone needs to have their interactions/touch-points logged so that I can be armed with a complete data set when chatting with a specific banker.  

 

What CRM do you use? I work in BD for M&A and fundraising and am trying to get a good CRM going. Currently using MadeMarket but very unhappy with it

 

Use salesforce religiously along with some email automation (Outreach/Salesloft type stuff). I can't imagine how you would keep everything organized otherwise, it's just too useful to have a full record of every interaction, every email you've sent, every call you've had, etc. all in one place. Our managing partner almost never uses it himself but it's used daily by the rest of my team. The last 3-4 deals I've closed/gotten to LOI on have all been proprietarily sourced through standard custom note to start the outreach + layering drip follow ups and cold calls.

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

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