Katrina Oko-Odoi
Sr. Content Marketing Manager
No matter the size of your biz, you have a tech stack that does a lot of the heavy lifting for you. But let’s be honest: nobody wants to manage a huge list of apps and platforms to get their work done. The fewer platforms you use, the easier it is to find information, collaborate with your teammates, and save a few brain cells in the process.
Instead of parsing out your to-do lists and customer relationships, marry everything together in the same platform. Any modern CRM worth its salt also offers smart task management tools that make relationship nurturing and daily to-dos a breeze. Learn how CRM project task management tools work, why you need them and 5 creative ways to use these tools in your own business.
What is CRM project task management?
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.
CRM and project task management software enables you to access all of your customer data, to-dos, recurring tasks and more without switching between different solutions.
How to use CRM and project task management for small business
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
It takes a lot of talent to keep a creative agency running. A CRM is great for tracking your progress with each client, but the project management side is essential for bringing all of your different teams together. You can easily pass projects between teams for real-time visibility using task management and/or pipelines inside your CRM system. Get marketing, graphic design and development on the same page with templated to-dos that clarify your work processes.
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.
CRM task management in Copper
We've built task management capabilities into Copper to help you better manage all your work processes. Some of these smart features like:
- Tasks: Create tasks and associate them with opportunity records. You can see which tasks are outstanding at any time, which gives you a high-level view of what your team needs to accomplish. You can also set up one-time, recurring tasks or private tasks.
- Google Workspace integration: You don’t need to leave your Gmail account to access Copper or your to-dos. See your tasks and collaborate with other teammates directly from Gmail.
- View options: We designed Copper tasks with Kanban-style visuals. Use the Task Board view to see which tasks you have going on as well as completed tasks, or choose The Overview option to get quick information on people, files and notes.
Start using CRM and task management
Who says that customer and employee needs have to be at odds? Start taking advantage of CRM task management 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.
