What worked surprisingly well, and what completely fell apart?

Most sales coaching tools seem built for calls and video meetings. That leaves field teams with fewer ways to review real customer conversations. I am interested to know what has worked for teams in the real world. How do you track performance and give useful feedback after face to face meetings?

I’m researching how businesses handle client acquisition and I’m curious what everyone’s real workflow looks like.

What’s the single most time-consuming part of getting new clients?

Finding leads?

Cold emails?

Following up?

Managing conversations?

Something else?

I’d love to hear how you currently do it and what frustrates you the most. The more detailed, the better. I’m especially interested in workflows that actually break down in practice.

This morning, I watched a business owner do something we've all accepted as normal.

Open the CRM.

Open WhatsApp.

Open Gmail.

Open Calendar.

Open Analytics.

Open Facebook Ads.

Open Slack.

Open Notes.

Open Excel.

Then spend the next hour figuring out what actually needs attention.

None of those tools generated revenue.

They simply helped manage the work.

That got me thinking...

We've optimized software for features.

Not for decisions.

Business owners don't wake up wondering,

"Which dashboard should I open first?"

They wake up wondering,

Who needs my attention today?

We integrated a CRM into a local business's workflow. and their results improved noticeably. However, they still feel like the investment wasn't worth it. Have you ever seen clients struggle to recognize the value of CRM?

ive been running a small b2b sales outfit in melbourne for the last 3 years and client leads have doubled so i need a solid crm to track deals follow ups and pipeline without everything feeling scattered. hiring 2 new reps at the same time has been a nightmare with endless resumes and interviews taking over my week.

i started using a software to handle screening scheduling and candidate tracking which cut the chaos in half and now im looking for a crm that can pull in that data smoothly so the new hires hit the ground running with all the client info ready.

anyone found a crm setup that works well with talent tools for small teams like this? what actually delivered for you without extra manual work?

thanks heaps for any real tips i appreciate it.

Hey guys, I actually tried posting this on the cleaning sub but it didn't manage to go through so I thought I'd have more success here. Some options I'm looked at was Jobber, but it didn't seem appropriate for a 2-man only service. Other options I found on this sub was ZenMaid and Tofu, which looked appropriate as lightweight options but I want to weigh out my options.

Sorry if this question gets asked around a lot, but thanks guys!

We only message customers a handful of times a quarter, so paying for a full marketing suite never made sense. Tried Twilio first but it needs dev time we don't have. Ended up on Textedly because the entry plan is cheap, you can pause between campaigns, and 10DLC registration was handled inside the dashboard. SimpleTexting was the runner-up — slightly nicer inbox but pricier at our volume. If you're doing occasional blasts rather than weekly campaigns, the monthly price matters more than per-message rates. Happy to answer questions on deliverability, that part was the learning curve.

This is a weekly post for you to let out about something which happened this week for you in CRM that mattered: features, client requests that were either great or awful this week, and just generally chat CRM / CRM consulting chatter.

No self promo, just a place to share tales from the front-line of CRM!

hey there sales people, I'm researching about how sales teams use crm.

I'm curious about what is the most frustrating/annoying part of using the mobile app?

• following up with leads?

• creating activities

• notifications?

• working offline?

• updating records after customer visits or calls?

• anything that I missed ?

Tell me your insights on the comment.

I have seen a lot of sales managers struggle with the promises that their reps made to the customers or clients, then forget later in the process and when the issue resurfaces, the deal's already lost or cold.

How do you deal with these issues? Have you tried any tools or implemented any sort of system that worked for you?

Lately i have been seeing posts regarding smes having issues with adopting crms. Just curious about what issues they are facing and what solution have they adopted for that, if any?

Also if you are building something that happens to solve this, feel free to comment here or you can dm.

If you could add one feature to your CRM today, what would it be? Curious to know what's frustrating people the most.

Hello, I work at The Home Depot and I’d like to keep track of my accounts and their jobs respectively. For example, I will give you a scenario. I have a customer doing the framing for 123 Main Ave, I know I sold him $15,000 for framing last week, but this week I gotta follow up on him and see if I can start selling him drywall materials. Once he’s done, I want a system that lets me add all these details and I can keep track of all the spending along with other jobs that will arise. I want everything organized in a way that I can go on my phone and be like “Gotta call John today because he told me he’d get his permits soon” the. John tells me he’s got another job lined up next month and while I’m working with him on the current one, I already have a reminder to check with him in a month for the other job. Remember, I’m a single user, this is for me to justify my following up and not forgetting anything so I don’t miss out on sales. Thanks.

hey there sales people, I'm researching about how sales teams use crm.

I'm curious about what is the most frustrating/annoying part of using the mobile app?

• following up with leads?

• creating activities

• notifications?

• working offline?

• updating records after customer visits or calls?

• anything that I missed ?

Tell me your insights on the comment.

Do sales reps and their managers actually have issues with using and integrating ai in their crms or is it just that they don't know how to properly use it or is it that ai is not that accurate and advanced yet.

If there are some issues I would love to know about them and how have you approached those issues?

This is a monthly megathread where you can all clamour for CRM attention without being banned for spamming this forum. Share your CRM, or consultancy service to your hearts content, (just keep your dignity!) The idea here is to keep the rest of r_crm less spammy, so don't be surprised if your regurgitated chatGPT output and link don't ever get approved elsewhere on this sub.

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When replying, please use the following format:

Put [ASK] at the start of your comment if you're asking/looking for something.

... we'll assume the rest are people recommending without being asked :D

As always, please disclose your relation to what you're posting.

Over the past year, I noticed a pattern with small businesses.

They use:

• A CRM for leads
• WhatsApp for communication
• Calendly for bookings
• Google Sheets for tracking
• Mailchimp for campaigns
• AI tools for content
• Zapier/n8n for automation
• Separate dashboards for reports

Nothing actually works together.

So instead of building another generic CRM, I'm experimenting with a modular AI operating system where businesses only install the features they need.

Some of the modules I'm working on:

• 📍 Google Maps Lead Scraper
• 🤖 AI Workforce
• 💬 WhatsApp AI Agent (Official Cloud API)
• 👥 CRM
• 📅 Smart Appointments
• 💳 Sales & Billing
• 📦 Inventory
• 🎥 Teleconsultation
• 🎙️ AI Voice Calling
• 📈 Analytics
• 🌐 Website/Landing Page Builder
• ...and custom modules businesses can add later.

The idea is that a dental clinic, travel agency, gym, real estate company, or law firm shouldn't all be forced to use the same CRM. They should start with a base platform and enable only the modules relevant to them.

The biggest challenge isn't building features—it's making AI reliable enough to perform real business actions while keeping everything auditable, recoverable, and easy for non-technical teams.

Here's the current module selection screen from the prototype.

I'm looking for honest feedback.

If you run a business:

• What's the one module you'd install first?
• What's one feature you think every CRM still gets wrong?

Hey everyone,

​I’m looking to get into CRM systems, but I’m starting completely from scratch with zero prior experience. My goal is to build new skills for my career but the sheer number of platforms and learning paths is a bit overwhelming.

​For those who have been in my shoes or work with CRMs daily, I’d love to get your advice on a few things:

​Where should I start? Which platform offers the best learning curve for a beginner (e.g., HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho)?

​Theory vs. Practice: Is it better to learn general sales/CRM processes first, or just jump straight into hands-on tools like HubSpot Academy or Salesforce Trailhead?

​Practice Projects: What kind of small "sandbox" or mock projects can a beginner build to get actual practical experience without real company data?

​Certifications: Are there any free certificates that actually hold value on a resume or LinkedIn?

​Looking back: If you had to start learning CRMs all over again today, what would you do differently?

​Any recommendations for courses, YouTube channels, or general tips would be hugely appreciated!

Recommend a CRM to me for a 1-2 person business that operates vending machines. Needs to be designed for tracking 1-3 month sales pipeline not focused on reporting to management that doesn’t exist in this business.

Needs to track:
-Cold Calls (in-person)
-Cold Calls (phone)
-Website generated inbound leads
-Manage contract/agreements
-Manage Customer Support requests

Other needs:
-Affordable for a 1-2 person business
-User Friendly for inexperienced salesman
-Scalable up to a 20 person business.