Ever feel like your customer info is scattered everywhere? Like trying to herd cats? You’re not alone. Many businesses struggle with this. Enter monday.com. It’s a Work OS that promises to organize things. But, is monday.com really a CRM?
A traditional CRM helps manage customer relationships. It tracks interactions, manages leads, and more. This article explores monday.com’s CRM features. We’ll compare it to typical CRM systems. You can then decide if it’s right for you.
What is a CRM and What are its Core Features?
Let’s get clear on what a CRM actually is. (Is Monday com a CRM?). That way, we can see how monday.com stacks up.
Defining Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is all about managing customer data. It focuses on interactions throughout their journey. The goal? Better relationships and boosted sales. It’s a way to see everything about a client in one place.
Essential CRM Features and Functionalities
Typical CRMs have key features. These help businesses grow and maintain relationships. Here’s what you usually find:
- Contact Management: Store and organize customer contact info.
- Lead Management: Track potential customers through the sales funnel.
- Sales Pipeline Management: Visualize the sales process.
- Reporting and Analytics: Get insights into sales performance.
- Automation Capabilities: Automate tasks, like follow-up emails.
- Integration with other tools: Connect with email, marketing, and other apps.
These features help drive sales. They also improve customer relationships. A good CRM makes life easier.
Overview of Monday.com
A brief history of Monday.com (yes, it is super relevant!)
Only a couple of years ago, Monday.com was a single product company. The company was called Monday.com, the product was called Monday.com and their domain name was Monday.com. (This was the start of a long history of a lot of confusion over Monday’s products unfortunately. If only they had not named the product Monday.com!).
At that time, Monday.com (the product – stay with me here!) was essentially a no code platform that you could use to create a CRM or a Project Management system or whatever you wanted really. Yes, they did have templates and some of those templates were CRM templates but they were still pretty rudimentary compared to most CRMs on the market.
Sure, you COULD build a pretty good CRM with Monday.com and one that was totally customised to suit your business or use case, but Monday.com back then WASN’T A CRM.
Then, a couple of years ago the people at Monday announced the release of Monday Sales CRM (as it was known at that time). At this point they rebranded the original product/platform from Monday.com to Monday Work Management. (Yes, that’s right – despite how commonly the term “Monday.com” is used to refer to one or several/all Monday Core Products, it is no longer actually the correct name for any product, it is only the company name and domain name offically these days. But everybody still uses it. Queue more confusion…).
Initially, Monday CRM didn’t offer a whole lot of unique features, it was pretty much the same as Monday Work Management feature-wise. However, it did come with a basic CRM setup “baked in” so that users could sign up and get up and running more or less out of the box. But the CRM set up was still super basic and generic and most users would need and want to customise it A LOT before trying to run their business with it.
Fast Forward to Now
In the years following the launch of Monday Sales CRM, Monday rebranded the product to Monday CRM and rapidly added a large number of unique features to the product. It’s default CRM setup is still pretty much as basic and generic as when it was first launched but the feature set has improved dramatically.
At this point, there are a large number of unique features that users only get on Monday CRM and don’t get on Monday Work Management. In fact, to my knowledge there is only one feature that is unique to Work Management that CRM users don’t get – and that is an Enterprise only feature.
So, for most users I recommend that they sign up for Monday CRM and forget about Work Management unless they are looking at the Enterprise plan (and even then, only if Project Management is a huge focus for them).
The question ISN’T is Monday com a CRM
Now that we have cleared up (hopefully) the confusion around Monday.com, Monday Work Management and Monday CRM, I am going to re-phrase the question.
Instead of asking Is Monday,com a CRM, we should really be asking Is Monday CRM a good CRM?
I will now do my best to answer that question honestly and accurately…
Exploring monday.com’s Capabilities as a Work OS
Now, let’s look at monday.com. See how it can work for customer management.
An Overview of monday.com’s Core Functionalities
monday.com is a Work OS. This means it’s super flexible. It focuses on project management and workflows. Think visual boards, customizable setups, and team collaboration. It’s designed to make work flow.
Manage any process or Workflow
This, in my opinion is Monday CRM’s Number One Super Power. Because Boards are so customisable in Monday CRM, you can use them to manage pretty much any process or workflow you can imagine.  (I even manage my cashflow and my content marketing in Monday).
Running a pet store and need to manage pet supplies and pets (amongst other things)? Monday CRM can do it! Running a manufacturing business? Monday CRM can handle it!
Connect anything to anything
This is Monday CRM’s Number Two Super Power in my opinion. You can connect Boards in Monday and this allows you to build relationships between related Items. This not only makes it super easy to find/view/edit related information, it also makes it possible to easily summarise all the connected Items.
For example, say you have a Deals Board that manages all your inquiries/Sales Pipeline. And, let’s say that each Deal/inquiry is connected to a contact. You could set up a Mirror Column in your Deals Board that shows you the total value of all Deals associated with the Contact. Eg you have a Deal called “Big Acme Deal” that is connected to a contact called “Patrick Fallon”. You could see right there in the Deals Board (via a Mirror Column) that the total value of all Deals associated with Patrick Fallon are $1,000,000. You could also open and even edit any of those Deals associated with Patrick Fallon right there in the Deals Board right from the original Acme Deal – without needing to navigate anywhere else in Monday.
You could also set up a cross-board Automation so that if the status of the Contact changed to “Disqualified” that all leads associated with that Contact were marked as Lost with the Lost reason set to “Disqualified lead”.
Task Management
One of the standout features of Monday.com CRM is its robust task management system. Users can easily create and assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor progress in real time. This transparency helps teams stay on track and meet their goals efficiently. For instance, a marketing team can centralize their campaigns and deadlines, ensuring everyone is aligned.
However, it is important to point out that it is highly likely that you will need to customise how Monday manages tasks to better suit your workflows. For example, there is no built-in recurring task functionality in Monday and, while you can build this functionality into Monday CRM it takes a bit of know-how (and time to do so). If you want to have sub-tasks in your recurring tasks it becomes even more challenging!
Communication Tools
Effective communication is the lifeblood of any project, and Monday.com excels here too. With built-in communication tools, team members can:
- Leave comments on tasks
- Share updates and feedback instantly
- Notify team members of important changes
- Share personal email accounts and collaborate on emails
- See a timeline of all emails and activities with a given contact/organisation
- Collaborate on files (complete with a file version history)
Integration Capabilities
Lastly, Monday.com offers a wide range of native integration with your favourite tools—think Slack, Google Drive, and Dropbox. This means you can centralize your work without juggling multiple platforms, enhancing productivity and collaboration. Imagine managing your entire workflow from one app, making your life a little bit easier! 🎉
How monday.com Can Be Used for CRM-Related Activities
You can set up monday.com for CRM tasks. Here’s how:
- Use boards to manage contacts and leads.
- Automate follow-ups. Assign tasks automatically.
- Integrate with email and other communication tools.
- Create dashboards to track sales performance.
It can be a powerful tool with the right setup.
monday.com as a CRM: Strengths and Weaknesses
Let’s weigh the good and bad. How does monday.com compare to a dedicated CRM?
Advantages of Using monday.com as a CRM
There are some definite pluses.
- Flexibility and Customization: Tailor it to your specific needs.
- Visual Interface: Easy-to-use boards make managing data simple.
- Project Management Integration: Connect sales with project work.
- Collaboration: Better team communication.
These can be really helpful for certain teams.
Limitations of Using monday.com as a CRM
But there are also drawbacks to think about.
- Feature limitations Compared to Dedicated CRMs: It might lack advanced features. Think complex sales forecasting.
- Setup Complexity: It takes work to set up as a CRM.
- Learning Curve: New users need time to learn the platform.
- Integration Challenges: Integrations might not be seamless.
Consider these limits carefully.
Who is monday.com a Good Fit For?
Who would benefit most from using monday.com for CRM?
Ideal Scenarios for Using monday.com as a CRM
monday.com works well for:
- Small businesses with simple CRM needs.
- Teams already using monday.com for project management.
- Companies that value flexibility.
Think about these specific use cases:
- Managing leads for a small sales team.
- Tracking customer interactions for project-based work.
- Automating marketing follow-ups.
When to Consider a Dedicated CRM Solution
Sometimes, a more robust CRM is best. This is true if you have:
- Don’t have the time or budget to set up customised workflows in Monday CRM
- Large sales teams with complex processes.
- A need for in-depth sales analytics.
- A need for integration with other enterprise systems.
Knowing when to upgrade is key.
Setting Up monday.com as a CRM: Practical Tips
Here’s how to get started.
Structuring Your Boards for Effective CRM
- Create boards for leads, contacts, and deals.
- Design columns for important customer data.
- Implement workflows for each stage of the customer journey.
Automating Tasks and Communication
- Set up automated follow-up reminders.
- Integrate with email tools.
- Use automation to streamline sales tasks.
Conclusion
So, is monday.com a CRM? Not exactly. It offers CRM-like features, yet it’s not a dedicated CRM. Its usefulness depends on your needs. It’s flexible but has limits compared to specialized CRMs.
Assess your CRM needs. Consider trying monday.com to see if it fits. Does it align with your requirements? Leave comments or questions below! We want to know what you think.
If you are seriously considering Monday CRM for your business, I would recommend reaching out to other Monday users with a similar use case to get their feedback. You are welcome to post your questions on our free MondayWiki Community, our community-members are usually pretty good at giving honest, helpful opinions that cover the good AND the bad.
Source: www.rosemet.com