Clarus Results is a leadership and communication practice based in Illinois. It’s a one-man business, and it’s run and managed by Dean Heffta.
Dean provides leadership coaching for small and mid-sized companies across construction, agriculture, and manufacturing. To do this, he tailors the training to each client and delivers it over multiple sessions, spread across a couple of months.
But more often than not, Dean’s work doesn’t stop after these training sessions come to an end. It’s quite common for someone he trained before—sometimes even two years ago—to get in touch and ask for more.
To be ready for those moments, Dean needed a simple way to stay in touch with past clients and pick conversations back up where they left off.
Searching for how to track work
Like many solo business owners, Dean started with spreadsheets. But it soon became obvious that he needed a better way to keep track of everything.
I wanted a centralized place where I can put notes and track emails associated with that contact.
Dean HefftaLeadership CoachThat’s why he signed up for HubSpot. Upon trying it out, he realized it didn’t really fit into his daily routine. He moved on to Pipedrive, and still, he faced the same problem.
I used that really badly, and really never connected it. It felt like it just didn’t fit how I was doing work.
Dean knew he didn’t need a big system. He needed a simple place to log notes and emails, so that when a client came back years later, he’d know exactly where they left off.
I don’t need Salesforce, I don’t need a hyper-complicated tool. I just want to be able to open up something and do very simple tracking and logging.
And that’s when Dean heard about OnePageCRM. Someone at one of the National Speakers Association (NSA) events had been getting good results with it, so he decided to give it a try.
Managing email communication
Getting up and running was quite simple. Dean moved his existing data—from both Pipedrive and HubSpot—into OnePageCRM. And with the interface being as intuitive as it is, the CRM was easy for him to start using.
It’s like, click that orange button, and here’s your contact.
Dean’s main use for his new CRM is a weekly email on a leadership topic, sent to a group of contacts at once. He tags the contacts, sends the email from OnePageCRM, and keeps an eye on the email opens.
Some of these emails, he builds from saved templates. And yet, they don’t come off as copy-paste. That’s because, on top of letting Dean tweak each one before it goes out, OnePageCRM also adds each recipient’s name to the email they get.
I like having those templates. That really makes it simple and straightforward.
Staying on top of mind with prospects
Dean’s business mostly runs on referrals. So, the sales process typically begins when warm prospects reach out, after which they finalize the proposal, and the training begins. It’s pretty straightforward.
But some opportunities aren’t so simple. Depending on the nature of their business, they might require several touchpoints and months of waiting. Dean puts such prospects into his Pipeline, so none of them get forgotten.
With prospects like these, Dean doesn’t want to be the guy who keeps disturbing. So, instead of pushing follow-ups on them, he invites them to subscribe to his weekly leadership newsletter. The emails are sent from inside OnePageCRM, and the opens let him know who’s still interested.
I can see they are still engaging with my content on their terms. So I’m keeping my name present.
Simple is often enough
Dean runs a straightforward business, and he wanted software that would match it. Just a simple tool that fits into his workflow with the least effort and friction.
The objective isn’t to have a CRM. The objective is to have an effective system that tracks your contacts, and your business opportunities.
Not every business needs a comprehensive CRM system. Sometimes the main goal is to keep track of contacts, follow up on commitments, and stay on top of opportunities.
That’s exactly what OnePageCRM is built for.