5 ways to use CRM and project task management for small businesses

A customer relationship management (CRM) platform usually deals with external-facing tasks, like customer follow-ups or investor pitches. A CRM helps you collect, organize, and share customer data with your team as well as track all of the touch points you have with that customer. It’s a lifesaver that helps you nurture relationships at scale.

Project management apps (or PM), on the other hand, typically handle internal tasks that happen in the background. They organize all of the to-dos and task lists your team needs to accomplish to delight your customers. PM tools make your work faster, simpler and better because they clarify what you need to do, who’s responsible and the milestones for each deadline.

Plenty of organizations separate their CRM and project task management tools on different platforms. You’re free to do that, but is it really working for your business? Small businesses need smarter, more holistic solutions that make great customer service a sustainable part of your business.

Using a client and project management platform (like Copper) gives you access all of your customer data, to-dos, recurring tasks and more without switching between different solutions.

There’s no need to add another tool to your workflow. Just about any business can use the task management features of CRM and come out ahead. Check out these 5 use cases to see how.

1 - Creative agencies

Running a creative agency means juggling a million brilliant ideas and client expectations. While a CRM is fantastic for keeping tabs on each client's journey, the project management side is the secret sauce that brings your different teams together. Imagine seamlessly passing projects from marketing to design to development – all with real-time visibility thanks to task management and pipelines right inside your CRM.

2 - Consulting firms

You’re dealing with a lot of relationships as a consulting firm. From prospecting to managing current client accounts, your email inbox is probably pretty full. A CRM with task management makes it much easier to log customer interactions and internal tasks. There’s no need to do any data entry, either. You can even automate the handoffs between sales and account management — and the tasks for each person on the team — for seamless workflows that do more in less time.

3 - Real estate agents

A mobile-optimized CRM like Copper gives real estate agents the power to manage their calendar, MLS listings, client emails and more while you’re on the go. Assign yourself tasks for each active homebuyer in your CRM—you can even set bi-annual follow-ups with your past clients to keep the relationship going.

4 - Corporate development

B2B buyers have a longer and more complex buying process. But don’t worry: you can document the entire buying cycle in your CRM using a series of pipelines. See where your deals are in the CRM and assign tasks to your team based on where a lead is in the pipeline. This means you’ll be able to do outreach at the perfect moment for each lead, optimizing the customer experience while giving your employees a little breathing room.

5 - Technology

Tech is a fast-paced world; a CRM with task management features helps you stay on top of your growing business. If you need to secure funding, you can track investor relationships in your CRM and assign yourself tasks to nurture those relationships. From sending pitch decks to scheduling calls, the task management side of your CRM will help you keep the ball rolling.

We've built project and client management capabilities into Copper to help you better manage all your work processes. Some of these smart features like:

• Tasks you can actually tackle: You can whip up tasks and link them right to your client opportunities. This means you always know what's outstanding, giving you a crystal-clear view of your team's workload. Plus, you can set up tasks that happen once, repeat, or even keep some private — and easily assign them to specific team members so everyone knows who's doing what. Need to break down a bigger task?Copper lets you create subtasks, so you can manage every little detail and keep things super organized.
• Live in your Google Workspace?: You won't have to jump out of Gmail to get stuff done in Copper. See your tasks, work with teammates, and even access your Google Calendar for easy scheduling and Google Drive for seamless document sharing, all without leaving your inbox.
• See your work your way: We love visuals, so we've built Copper tasks with a Kanban-style view. You can see everything you've got going on (and what's done!) on your Task Board, or switch to the Overview for quick info on people, files, and notes. Copper also gives you project dashboards that show you how healthy your projects are, how productive your team is, and how engaged your clients are, all in real-time.
• Pipelines built just for you: Every client project is unique, right? That's why Copper lets you create custom pipelines. You can define specific stages, automate tasks, and track progress with incredible precision.
• Never miss a beat with activity logging and reporting: Copper automatically logs every interaction, completed task, and project milestone. This builds a complete history for each client and project, giving you valuable data to generate insightful reports on things like project profitability, how efficient your team is, and ultimately, how successful your clients are.

Who says that customer and employee needs have to be at odds? Start taking advantage of one project and client management platform's capabilities to give customers a better experience without overwhelming your hardworking team — and start saving time, clarifying your workflow, and running a better business. After all, when you enable your team to do amazing work, amazing work will happen.

Ready to maximize the customer experience and your team’s productivity? Start a free trial to try out Copper today.