How to Choose the Best CRM — and Actually Use It to Boost Your Business
Plan your expenses and deductions strategically each year
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Maintain accurate and organized financial records for easy reporting
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Personalized Marketing: AI helps in analyzing customer data to create personalized marketing campaigns
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How to Choose the Best CRM — and Actually Use It to Boost Your Business
From chaos to clarity: A step-by-step guide by Avanto & OrderBahn
Whether you're a dealer, rep group, manufacturer, or installer, one thing is true: your business lives and dies by relationships. But tracking quotes, managing orders, and following up on leads with sticky notes, inbox folders, or spreadsheets? That’s a recipe for lost revenue and preventable errors.
That’s where a CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) comes in. But not just any CRM.
The right CRM becomes your operations command center — boosting productivity, eliminating costly mistakes, and helping your team close more deals, faster.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through:
- How to choose the best CRM for your business
- What features actually matter (and what’s just noise)
- How to automate your work and eliminate manual data entry
- Tips to get your team using it consistently — and loving it
- Why the best CRM is the one your team will actually use — integrated with tools like OrderBahn
Step 1: Identify Your Pain Points
Before picking software, get crystal clear on what’s broken.
Ask your team:
- Are we losing track of quotes, orders, or follow-ups?
- Is it hard to see who owns what customer?
- Do we waste time manually updating spreadsheets?
- Are client conversations scattered across email, calls, and sticky notes?
Your answers become your CRM feature checklist. You’re not buying a tool — you’re solving a problem.
Example: If your reps forget to follow up on quotes, you need automated reminders and task tracking. If your ops team wastes time double-checking data, you need strong integrations with tools like OrderBahn or your ERP.
Step 2: Choose CRM Features That Actually Matter
A good CRM should be powerful, but simple enough to actually use.
Here’s what really matters for furniture professionals:
Must-Have CRM Features
Step 3: Automate the Boring Stuff
Manual data entry is the #1 CRM killer.
The best CRMs integrate directly with your quoting, ordering, and communication tools. That’s where tools like OrderBahn shine — imagine:
- A quote created in OrderBahn→ automatically logged in the CRM
- A status update from OrderBahn → triggers a task to notify the dealer
- A new lead fills a form on your website → auto-assign to rep + send intro email
No typing. No forgetting. Just workflow that works.
Pro Tip: Use automation tools like Zapier or native integrations to connect your CRM with Gmail, OrderBahn, Slack, and more.
Step 4: Get Buy-In From Your Team
You could have the best CRM on the planet — but if your team doesn’t use it, it’s worthless.
How to make it stick:
- Involve them early. Ask for input when choosing the system.
- Train smart. Use video walkthroughs, not just manuals.
- Make it useful. Show how it saves time, not adds work.
- Reward usage. Tie CRM usage to performance reviews or sales incentives.
Step 5: Track, Improve, Repeat
Once your CRM is live:
- Monitor logins and usage (most CRMs track this).
- Look for bottlenecks — are quotes stalling? Are deals going cold?
- Adjust automation rules as needed (e.g., adding Slack alerts when a deal closes).
- Keep evolving. Your CRM should grow with your team.
Tools We Recommend (Depending on Your Size)
Real Talk: What Makes a CRM Work?
It’s not just about features. The best CRM is:
- Easy to use
- Actually used
- Fully integrated with the rest of your ecosystem
That’s why OrderBahn is CRM’s best friend —it handles quoting, order processing, tracking, and communication. When synced with your CRM, you get a full 360° view of your business — from quote to install.
Final Word
Choosing the right CRM isn’t about picking the most popular tool. It’s about picking the one that solves your team’s real problems, connects to your existing tools, and grows with you.
And remember: you don’t have to choose between simplicity and power. With tools like OrderBahn, and a well-integrated CRM, you can have both.
Want Help Connecting Your CRM to OrderBahn?
We’re here to help. Whether you’re picking a CRM, setting up automation, or customizing your workflow, our team can guide you.
