“We prefer to work off of spreadsheets” is one of those great lies that sales organizations like to tell themselves.
Of course you don’t like to work off of spreadsheets. Nobody does. Spreadsheets might be easy to use, but they don’t actually do anything to help you close a sale. It’s hard to find important information quickly in a spreadsheet, and trying to communicate with your teammates on a spreadsheet is absolutely maddening. We’ve been over this, people.
Sales teams tend to cling onto free software like Google Docs because they think switching from spreadsheets to a CRM will be disruptive, or labor-intensive, or will require them to recreate their database from scratch in a new system. At the very least, they’re intimidated by the prospect of going from software anyone can use to software than needs to be learned.
We get it, change can be scary. Fortunately, Nutshell is built with Google users in mind. Our Google Workspace integration makes it incredibly simple to upgrade from Google Docs to Nutshell, and will help you sell more effectively without forcing you to leave the tools you’re most familiar with.
Here’s how Google Docs users can raise their games by upgrading to Nutshell…
1) Import your contacts in minutes.
Nutshell has a direct importer from G Suite into Nutshell, so it only takes a few clicks to get your contacts into your CRM. Follow these four steps to import your Google contacts directly into Nutshell, without having to mess with a CSV file.
In a few minutes, your import will finish up and your contacts will be in Nutshell. Then, Nutshell Intelligence will automatically enhance your Google contact records with information pulled from social channels and public databases, filling in job titles, locations, company details and more. (See, you’re already better off than you were before!)
2) Sync up your meetings and conversations.
By enabling Nutshell’s Gmail integration, you can automatically synchronize calendar events between Nutshell and Google so that everything is in one place. In other words, the events you schedule in Nutshell will automatically appear in your Google calendar, and your Google calendar events will automatically populate in Nutshell. This way, you’ll be able to keep track of your appointments and meetings no matter which platform you’re working in.
Of course, if you prefer to do your emailing from your Gmail inbox, we totally get it—and we can make you more efficient from there as well.
Install the Nutshell for Gmail Chrome extension to place a convenient sidebar in your inbox that shows you the contact info, communication timelines, and scheduled activities tied to anyone you’re corresponding with, giving you valuable context for any conversation. Plus, you can create contacts and tasks right from the sidebar, see which emails have been shared with your teammates, and a whole lot more. Give it a look!
4. Use our lead lists without having to learn anything.
Relying on Google Sheets and Excel to manage your customer contacts isn’t ideal, but we understand that people like the simplicity of spreadsheets, and forcing sales teams to use a totally unfamiliar system will ensure that they don’t use it. That’s why Nutshell presents your companies, people, and leads in a default List view that spreadsheet users will know how to use intuitively.
With rows, columns, filtering, and sorting right out of Excel, Nutshell’s lead lists are designed to make the transition from Google Docs to CRM as easy as possible, with no extensive training required.
5. Turn Google Maps into a selling tool.
One of the most popular features of Nutshell is Nutshell Maps, an interactive map that lets you visualize and filter your leads geographically. (Read about some of the amazing things you can do with Nutshell Maps right here.)
If you’re used to looking up directions to prospect meetings and customer visits with Google, you’re going to love this: When you view a group of your contacts in Nutshell Maps, you can click on any one to get driving directions. It’s just another way that our Google-friendly features keep you using the tools you’re familiar with, without having to jump from program to program.
6. Let us crunch the numbers for you.
In every office, there’s at least one person who is an absolute ninja with spreadsheets. While you’re struggling to add two cells together, they’re setting up pivot tables and creating complex formulas on the fly. Whatever info you need, they’re the person to ask.
And that’s fine, but what if you didn’t have to rely on that person for everything?
Nutshell’s intuitive, powerful reporting and performance tracking tools come out of the box ready to provide insights on your sales numbers, conversion rates through your funnel, the value of leads in your pipeline, the reasons for your lost deals, and much, much more.
Not only does Nutshell empower every member of your team to report on all the information they need without having to set up complicated charts and graphs in their spreadsheets, they’ll actually be able to drill into specific leads or contacts in their reports to see the full picture about an individual sale or loss. And that’s something not even a spreadsheet ninja can hack their way through.
Nutshell’s sales automation features help any sales team design a sales process from scratch. In a few short steps, you can establish the actions that your sales reps have to take on each lead, and automate tasks to shorten your sales cycle and ensure that valuable opportunities don’t slip away. Here are a few things that Nutshell can do automatically without you having to lift a finger:
Assign new leads to reps based on criteria like territory, product, or lead value
Move your leads from stage to stage when your defined goals are reached (no more manual updating of lead records!)
Provide guidance to your reps at each stage of your pipeline
Remind your reps to complete important tasks
Subscribe or unsubscribe leads to Mailchimp email lists depending on where they are in your pipeline
Plus, by creating consistency in how and when leads advance from stage to stage, Nutshell allows you to get a much better understanding of the health of your sales funnel and make targeted improvements.
