Your own documentation
Online documentation is a wonderful thing, not least because it's free and easily accessible.
But it's no substitute for the documentation that you can keep for yourself and your team regarding your own way of doing things.
Here are a few signs you might benefit from a little more attention to your internal systems documentation:
You find yourself explaining the same workflow separately to multiple team members.
You or another team member knows roughly that "we've done this kind of thing before" but can't remember just how it's done - or can't understand why it's not working the same way this time as it did last time.
You need another call with your coach or training expert to walk you through it "one more time."
Sound familiar?
Developing a full-blown documentation system from the start can be a daunting task, though it's possible. There are some pretty cool wiki-like systems that you can install and host on your website and make them private to your team.
But it can also be as simple as starting right now, with a single Google doc. Share that with your team, and update it from time to time. You may start to see a structure emerging, at which point you can divide that into separate documents, organized into folders, however you like.
As your documentation grows, you'll need to put some more thought into how to organize it and keep it up to date.
But starting now with something simple will get you on your way.
Here's the thing:
Yes, you should read the online docs for your systems, and consult them as needed so you can master the features.
But those online guides are not streamlined for you.
They don't have a memory for how you've configured your system, or how you've decided to use its features.
Creating your own docs for your team -- even if that team is only yourself - is a valuable step in improving efficiency, effectiveness, user confidence, and consistency.
And isn’t that part of the reason you wanted a well organized CRM system in the first place?
All the best,
A.