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Warning: That $800 CRM I bought for my landscaping business was a total waste
I run a small landscaping crew in Phoenix and last spring I dropped $800 on a fancy customer management tool. The sales guy told me it would automate all my follow ups and scheduling. But after 3 months I realized it was just too complicated for my guys in the field. They'd forget to log jobs or miss updates because the app was clunky on their phones. I ended up losing two big contracts because clients got mixed up messages from the system. I finally went back to using a simple shared spreadsheet and a group text chain. Now I'm down $800 and feeling dumb for not testing it first with my team before buying in. Has anyone else gotten burned by a CRM that was supposed to make things easier but just made more work?
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simon3785mo ago
That $800 lesson about testing with your team first is rough. Before you ditch the spreadsheet, try using a free version of a CRM like HubSpot for a month with just one crew member to see if it actually works in the field.
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ruby2905mo ago
Start small like @simon378 said, I learned that the hard way after my crew spent a whole afternoon fighting with a CRM I swore was perfect. Now I just test with one guy and a six pack of beer.
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