CRM & lead care · March · Lake Zurich · Linth
No enquiry gets lost anymore
The enquiry arrives by email, the phone rings, someone fills in the form. Then a busy week happens — and nobody follows up. In most SMEs it’s not the marketing that loses customers. It’s the path from enquiry to order.
The most expensive leak in SME marketing
You pay for visibility — via Google Ads, SEO or simply your reputation. Every enquiry that then dies in an inbox makes that spend more expensive. The typical pattern: the quote goes out, the customer goes quiet, and because nobody follows up systematically, chance decides which orders happen. Yet following up an open quote is the cheapest revenue there is — the person already asked.
What a CRM must do for an SME
Four things — no more:
- One central customer list instead of addresses scattered across inbox, Excel and accounting.
- A quote status: what’s open, what’s been followed up, what’s decided — at a glance.
- Reminders that come by themselves: follow-up must not depend on the owner’s memory.
- Integration with what’s already there: website forms, email — and where an ERP system runs, the CRM belongs connected to it, not next to it.
Which CRM system suits an SME?
The software is the smallest question — and the one most people start with. The market ranges from simple CRM tools for a few francs a month to Swiss solutions like Proffix or Myfactory that combine CRM and ERP. What decides isn’t the biggest system but the one your team actually uses: one that maps the quote pipeline, works on the phone, and forces nobody to enter things twice. I select it with you — independently, I don’t sell software.
A CRM nobody maintains is an expensive address list.
The most common mistake is starting with the software instead of the process. Only when it’s clear who takes an enquiry, who follows up when, and what happens after the quote, is the tool question worth asking. That’s why I introduce the process first — and then the system that carries it.
What I take over
- Mapping the current state: where do enquiries arrive today, and where do they get lost?
- Defining the follow-up process: who, when, how — on one page, discussed with the team.
- CRM selection based on business, team and existing software (ERP, accounting).
- Introduction with the team: short, practical, on a real case — not a training day.
- The link to marketing: enquiries from website and campaigns land in the system, the customer list feeds the newsletter.
- Monthly numbers in plain language: this many enquiries, this many quotes, this many orders — and where it sticks.
Who this is for
- Businesses where the owner keeps all quotes in their head — until there are too many: Small Business Support.
- Businesses with a sales team where everyone maintains “their own” system: Medium Business Support.
- If you invest in advertising without knowing what happens to the enquiries — then first the media budget & agency check, then the leak in the follow-up.
Frequently asked questions
Which CRM systems suit SMEs?
For most regional businesses a lean CRM tool that cleanly maps contacts, quote pipeline and reminders is enough. If an ERP already runs in the company — in Switzerland often Proffix, Myfactory or similar — the integration matters more than any extra feature, so customer data isn’t maintained twice. The honest answer: the right system is the one that fits your process and that your team still uses after three months.
What does a CRM actually deliver — what are the goals?
Four goals, very practically: no enquiry gets lost, every quote gets followed up, the customer history is visible to everyone instead of living in one person’s head, and for the first time you see reliable numbers — how many enquiries become quotes and how many quotes become orders. Systematically following up open quotes alone usually pays back the introduction several times over.
Do we really need a CRM — or is Excel enough?
Excel is enough exactly as long as one person knows every enquiry and has time to maintain the list. It ends where reminders, team access and the connection to email and website become necessary — which is usually the moment enquiries start getting lost. The switch is small once the process stands: the list you keep today is the starting stock.
How do I get my team to use the CRM?
By making the system take work away instead of adding it: no double entry, usable on the phone from the site, and visible benefit — the reminder that saves an order convinces more than any instruction. That’s why I introduce CRM systems on real cases, with the people who work with them daily, and keep the mandatory part deliberately small.
Let’s talk for 20 minutes.
A short conversation first: I want to understand how you work, what you sell and to whom. Then I’ll tell you honestly whether and where I can help. No pitch, no sales pressure.
Rather look for yourself first? The free tools need no form.