The Magic Cafe Forums - Contact Data Base (CRM)

Hey Steve,

My recommendations are to follow, but first...

For CRMs, you really have TWO categories of choice:
A. A specialized CRM designed a specific industry (magicians, dentists, real estate, etc.)
B. A general CRM for ANY business of 1 - 10,000 employees.

FYI. I'll also suggest a hybrid of two at the end of this post.

The advantage with a Specialized CRM is that everything is done for you, the costs are low, and you don't have a huge learning curve. You can be up and running right away! The disadvantage is that it will only do 80% of whatever you hope it will do. They are run by small teams, with limited resources, and they may not ever add the features you want, or play well with your favorite business apps.

The advantage with a General CRM is that they have a HUGE staff with customer support, forums, a large user base, tons of integrations, and you can customize them however you want. The disadvantage is that it can take dozens (or even hundreds!!!) of hours to customize a general CRM for your specific business industry and process. The learning curve can be extremely high.

MAGICIAN-SPECIFIC CRM RECOMMENDATIONS:
https://mago.co/about/
https://www.getgiggio.com/

Both of these are designed for magicians / musicians. They are inexpensive, and have MOST of tools that a solo performer would want. They offer a free trial as well.

GENERAL CRM RECOMMENDATIONS:
If you already live in gmail, look into Copper: https://www.copper.com
If you live in Microsoft 365, look into Pipedrive: https://www.pipedrive.com
If you want an all-in-one solution with TONS of integrations: https://www.zoho.com/one/

FINALLY:
There's another CRM for public speakers called SpeakerFlow. They take the extremely powerful Zoho One, and customizes your install with their templates and workflows for the speaking industry. This is a hybrid of the two, as you get the custom workflows and templates, with the dependability and advantages of an industry-leading CRM. The disadvantage is that pricing is NOT cheap.

Frankly, if you do mostly corporate work, then the speaking industry workflows will be just fine (it's all about booking time on stage at a company or association event). If you do kid shows and private parties, this won't be a good fit at all.

SpeakerFlow is here: https://speakerflow.com/

There's tons of CRMs out there. And I personally know magicians who use all of the above mentioned CRMs.

Good luck,
Joe

Steve Vaught New user Indiana 4 Posts	Posted: Feb 13, 2024 11:47 pm 0 It seems this topic was discussed in the past. But it's been years. My question... What CRM do you use and would recommend. Thank you. Steve www.stevevaught.com
Joe S. Loyal user Los Angeles, CA 273 Posts	Posted: Mar 25, 2024 05:06 pm 1 Hey Steve, My recommendations are to follow, but first... For CRMs, you really have TWO categories of choice: A. A specialized CRM designed a specific industry (magicians, dentists, real estate, etc.) B. A general CRM for ANY business of 1 - 10,000 employees. FYI. I'll also suggest a hybrid of two at the end of this post. The advantage with a Specialized CRM is that everything is done for you, the costs are low, and you don't have a huge learning curve. You can be up and running right away! The disadvantage is that it will only do 80% of whatever you hope it will do. They are run by small teams, with limited resources, and they may not ever add the features you want, or play well with your favorite business apps. The advantage with a General CRM is that they have a HUGE staff with customer support, forums, a large user base, tons of integrations, and you can customize them however you want. The disadvantage is that it can take dozens (or even hundreds!!!) of hours to customize a general CRM for your specific business industry and process. The learning curve can be extremely high. MAGICIAN-SPECIFIC CRM RECOMMENDATIONS: https://mago.co/about/ https://www.getgiggio.com/ Both of these are designed for magicians / musicians. They are inexpensive, and have MOST of tools that a solo performer would want. They offer a free trial as well. GENERAL CRM RECOMMENDATIONS: If you already live in gmail, look into Copper: https://www.copper.com If you live in Microsoft 365, look into Pipedrive: https://www.pipedrive.com If you want an all-in-one solution with TONS of integrations: https://www.zoho.com/one/ FINALLY: There's another CRM for public speakers called SpeakerFlow. They take the extremely powerful Zoho One, and customizes your install with their templates and workflows for the speaking industry. This is a hybrid of the two, as you get the custom workflows and templates, with the dependability and advantages of an industry-leading CRM. The disadvantage is that pricing is NOT cheap. Frankly, if you do mostly corporate work, then the speaking industry workflows will be just fine (it's all about booking time on stage at a company or association event). If you do kid shows and private parties, this won't be a good fit at all. SpeakerFlow is here: https://speakerflow.com/ There's tons of CRMs out there. And I personally know magicians who use all of the above mentioned CRMs. Good luck, Joe
thomasR Inner circle 1193 Posts	Posted: Apr 25, 2024 12:25 am 0 I use HubSpot and I like it. I would definitely recommend looking into them and seeing if it's a good fit.
Joe S. Loyal user Los Angeles, CA 273 Posts	Posted: Apr 30, 2024 05:02 am 0 Yes! HubSpot is also very popular.