Why are There So Many CRM's?
+ Community is the new "Brand."
The personal CRM is one of those startups that everyone talks about should exist, but for some reason the solution can’t quite seem to fit.
Whether that’s because the tech hasn’t been done right yet or whether it’s because there isn’t a “there-there” – I’m not sure.
Earlier this year I even set out to build my own tech for a Personal CRM called DavidBot. DavidBot pulled data from my Gmail and helped show me people who were in my network that were slipping away that I should get in touch with.
Like many CRM projects, this become costly and I stopped working on DB and it died.
So what’s up with the market/landscape for CRM’s today?
Community is the new “Brand.”
Get used to people talking this way.
Communities are the new moat the brands are seeking to establish. After all, the purpose of a Brand is often to gather people who aspire to the lifestyle you represent. Inherent in brand is the idea of a community, or at least an individual aspiration to be a part of the culture.
Because of this, methods for keeping track of, and interacting with, your community are becoming increasingly popular. Whether that’s Curating Talent Pools or establishing intimacy via high-end communities like Soul Cycle, it makes sense that keeping track of everyone in your orbit is extremely important.
Because attention today is what’s scarce, keeping track of those who are giving you this precious resource is becoming increasingly necessary. Opportunities emerge from communities and networks at a marginal cost, but only if you maintain them. Maintaining networks therefore is expensive (mentally/socially) and is why we look to technology to bring down that cost.
The CRM Problem – Scale <—> Personalzition
The problem, I suspect, is that it’s difficult to build a CRM which relates well to everyone we know. Lines are blurred; some people are friends and co-workers, or customers and friends, or internet-friends and potential customers… etc.
Putting a friend into a sales-focused CRM feels wrong and putting a customer into a friend-focused CRM feels wrong, too.
You can’t always keep a relationship by sending out email blasts or expecting people to follow your every move on social. Instead, relationship building continues to take personal, thoughtful interactions that are personalized.
It’s this personalization that’s behind the rise in CRM’s. But it’s also this personalization that makes building them difficult. Relationships are nuanced.
The problem they’re really trying to solve for is how do you:
Create personalized, relevant messages with those existing in your network (at some efficiency or scale).
Discover and surface opportunities within your existing network (at some efficiency or scale). This could be for sales, collaboration, work etc.
The jury is out on which CRM will work or not work for you. I’ve listed out a few CRM’s that caught my eye below.
CRMs – A Few Options
Apps:
Guides:
From Khe at Rad Reads – I couldn’t find a Personal CRM so I created my own…
For Brands…(I mean..uh…communities)
Scale and Personalization seem to be at odds. Finding the right balance is the impossible task of the CRM.
Friends, customers, co-workers, friend-customer-collaborator? The closer someone is to you in your network, the harder it is to put labels on them.
Keeping track of, and engaging with existing customers/members is cheaper than attracting new ones. CRM’s help you mine existing value in your network. But the problem of opportunity identification seems complex and still a bit serendipitous.
Optimize for scale over personalization.
For People…
Some system is better than no system. When in doubt, start with Google Sheets / Airtable.
Keeping a cadence based on time-horizons seems a smart way to organize your CRM. Meaning those you keep in touch with weekly, monthly, quarterly etc…
Optimize for personalization over scale.
Don’t over-think it.
About A$A: What’s up I’m David Sherry. Every day (ish) I point out something happening online that can teach you about building a brand.
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About Me:
Built Death to the Stock Photo (500k subs)
Produced 40+ email campaigns.
Created the Mystery USB (sold out in a day)
Crowdfunded a Road Trip around the U.S. (2x)
Also write Creative Caffeine