We built our CRM system – which we call our eCRMine – using our own software-engineering savvy and our own sales-management savvy.  We did that because experience showed us off-the-shelf tools did not allow us to inject creativity…a necessary ingredient of a successful CRM system.

 

To summarize, we think a CRM system is successful when it has the following attributes:

When we talked about creating eCRMine we knew about Wikipedia and The Internet Movie Database.

 

www.wikipedia.com
www.imdb.com

 

We knew about those information systems and we knew people embraced them…they were user-friendly and they were comprehensive, containing huge amounts of cross-referenced information.

 

That’s what we wanted in our CRM system. We wanted to capture names and facts. We wanted cross-referencing like that contained in Wikipedia and IMDb. I used to say - we want it Wikipedia-ish and IMDb-ish.

 

Using IMDb as a metaphor – we didn’t just want to know everything about Sylvestor Stallone…when he was born, what movies he was in, when those movies were made, etc. We wanted to be able to quickly find out who else was in those movies. We wanted to know the people who know Sylvester Stallone: the movie  producers, the movie directors, the fellow actors, etc.

 

Thinking about what Malcolm Gladwell [www.gladwell.com] had written in The Tipping Point, about Kevin Bacon and Rod Steiger [the best-connected actor of all time], we wanted to capture relationships on multiple levels.

 

The good news: it is not difficult to build a powerful CRM system…and we would be pleased to share the results of our work with you.

 

If you would like to learn more about our eCRMine then let us know.

 

***

 

There are simple ways to ensure profitable business.

 

One way is Leading With Revenue, which I have talked about in my last 3 blogs.

 

In the last blog, we looked at a couple of examples of how a Leading With Revenue approach can help businesses succeed. I am going to provide another example and some comments about the hands-on application of the philosophy I call Leading With Revenue.

 

Angel investors have an interesting relationship with Leading With Revenue.

 

This is important when new products/services are invented and the entrepreneurial process is under way. In a similar way it should also be important when a company wishes to obtain funding, say an equity injection, to cover an expansion into new products, new services, or new territories.

 

Angel investors, and equity investors in general, ought to contribute to Leading With Revenue rather than replace the need for Leading With Revenue.

 

 

I view strategic planning as the elite business function. The drive to business growth can follow several routes. One avenue is Leading With Revenue. It is not the only avenue. However, it is an avenue that will get us to the destination – financial success. Business people can drive alone or they can drive with partners. If they choose to have equity partners then they and their equity partners should be in synch…working from the same map, using the same compass, etc. Including a discussion of Leading With Revenue at the strategic planning stage is a good way to prepare to start your engines. Leading With Revenue is a strategic philosophy and a strategic-thinking tool.

 

 

When we drive at selling, from time to time, we encounter rough weather and troubling road conditions. If we have no guidelines – no maps, no road signs, no shoulders, no medians, no bumper blocks, no danger signs – then sooner or later we find ourselves off the road and in the ditch, or worse. The step-by-step process of Leading With Revenue  provides a solution. Leading With Revenue is a tactical tool, for testing everything from product development to sales efforts.

 

Leading With Revenue
[link to the summary of Leading With Revenue]

 

I hope Leading With Revenue provides to you the comfortable feeling it has provided to me.

 

This is the last blog in this Leading With Revenue series.