CRM Project Management: A Complete Guide

Project management is all about planning and organizing everything so that a project finishes on time, doesn't go over budget, and turns out just right. When done well, project management makes sure that team members always know what they need to do, tracks ‌all the tasks, and makes sure everyone is working well together.

A customer relationship management (CRM) project management solution has never been more important. And the most agile companies that can innovate, consolidate, and adapt will be the ones that gain the advantage.

We’ll review how CRM project management works, and the benefits, and share some tips on the right solution for your business.

What we’ll cover:

• What is CRM?
• How does CRM project management work?
• What are the benefits of a CRM project management solution?
• 8 features of a good CRM project management solution?
• How can Salesforce help with CRM project management?
• Increase productivity with CRM project management

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a strategic approach that businesses use to manage and analyze customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle. The goal of CRM is to improve business relationships with customers, assist in customer retention, and drive sales growth.

CRM systems compile data for every team, including sales, service, marketing, commerce, and IT. This data ranges from different communication channels, including a business’s website, phone, email, live chat, and social media. They help you learn more about your target audiences and how to best cater to their needs.

A solid CRM strategy lays out numerous short- and long-term goals for your team. Each of those goals is a project on its own, with stakeholders, due dates, questions to be answered and numbers to be analyzed. You’ll need some strong project management practices to knock these out of the park, and that’s where a CRM project management solution (CRM PM) comes in.

No matter if you’re a small or medium-sized business (SMB) or growing fast, this tool centralizes all client information and project details in one system, enabling seamless communication, task management, and resource allocation. This depth of information allows teams to better track project progress, manage deadlines, and ensure deliverables are aligned with client expectations.

By providing a comprehensive view of client interactions and project status, CRM project management helps businesses deliver more personalized service and manage projects more effectively, ultimately leading to improved customer satisfaction and increased efficiency.

Combining CRM software and project management onto one platform can have a multitude of benefits. Here are just a few.

Managing a relationship starts by understanding it, and that’s what a CRM provides. A CRM project management solution enriches customer experiences by ensuring consistent, personalized interactions across all touchpoints, and by addressing customer needs through streamlined processes and team coordination. This leads to faster response times and more tailored service, significantly boosting customer satisfaction.

Consolidating processes cuts the clutter and increases productivity. When teams have CRM and project management in the same place, less time is wasted training teams on multiple systems and switching back and forth between them. A CRM project management solution consolidates business processes — including sales tracking, customer communication, task management, and performance analytics — into a single platform.

A CRM PM should also incorporate advanced artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. With AI, CRMs can predict customer behaviors, personalize interactions based on accumulated customer data, and provide actionable insights that make managing projects easier. You can also incorporate AI agents into your CRM, which can autonomously take action to provide responses to employee questions about your projects. AI tools within CRM systems can significantly improve the effectiveness of customer engagement and overall business strategies.

Once a sale closes, your clients often move from the sales team to service and other relevant teams within your organization. A project management system built on a CRM platform allows teams to easily understand tasks and projects that relate to cultivating the customer relationship post-sale. Workflows for customer service can be established and the client can be nurtured and given the care they deserve.

It’s much easier to align multiple teams around a customer’s needs if they have a clear picture of what those needs are. CRM project management systems enhance cross-department collaboration, providing a unified platform where sales, marketing, and customer service teams can access and share customer data and insights. This type of tool coordinated efforts, ensuring a consistent and informed approach to customer interactions and service delivery.

A CRM PM enables informed decision-making and strategy optimization based on AI-powered analytics and customer data. The system keeps track of all the tasks and stages of a project, helping everyone stay on the same page. And, by analyzing trends, customer behavior, and feedback, businesses can tailor their offerings to better meet market demands and anticipate future needs, gaining a competitive edge and driving business growth.

Many features contribute to making a good CRM PM. Ultimately, you’ll want a solution that’s customizable, scalable, and easy to use. Here’s a more in-depth look at what you should consider.

Your business has unique needs. Finding a customizable CRM project management solution is key. At times, a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work for your particular organization. From implementation to ease of use, you need a solution that can be customized around your unique organizational structure. Users should be able to customize the interface with dashboards that highlight key metrics and data relevant to their roles. It should also offer custom fields to capture specific information unique to your operations or industry.

One major consideration is scalability, meaning your CRM PM can grow alongside your business, adapting to increasing demands without losing performance. As you expand, whether by adding more customers, increasing service offerings, or scaling up operations, the CRM PM should accommodate this growth through the addition of more user licenses, expanded storage capacities, and enhanced features.

Automation is crucial in CRM project management, primarily to streamline repetitive tasks and duties. This includes automating customer communications, sales reporting, and follow-up reminders. These features help in maintaining efficiency and consistency in managing customer relationships and ensuring timely execution of necessary tasks.

The project management features should be designed with ease of use in mind, ensuring that they are accessible and manageable for users at all technical skill levels. The user interface is typically intuitive, featuring a clean layout and straightforward navigation paths that make it easy for users to quickly find the information they need. And, a good CRM PM should include training resources, such as tutorials and customer support, to help new users become proficient with the system.

A key collaboration feature of a CRM project management solution is its shared workspace, which allows teams to communicate in real time, share documents, and update project statuses. This feature ensures that everyone involved in a project is on the same page, enhancing teamwork and expediting project completion.

A powerful project management solution will have the ability to create and share documents. A CRM PM should have the ability to centralize and organize all customer-related documents within a single platform, making it easy to access and manage them efficiently. This integration allows for the storage, tracking, and sharing of documents such as contracts, proposals, and correspondence directly within the CRM, linking them to specific customer profiles.

A CRM project management solution isn’t very useful if teams and employees aren’t notified when a relevant task requires their attention. Find a solution that clearly notifies all related parties when they have outstanding tasks. Keeping everyone in the loop is important so that nothing falls through the cracks.

Integration features in a CRM project management solution are crucial for enhancing productivity and ensuring a seamless flow of information across various business tools and platforms. A well-integrated CRM system can connect with email clients, social media platforms, accounting software, and other enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. This connectivity allows for the automatic syncing of data, such as contact details, sales figures, and customer interactions, eliminating the need for manual data entry.

Salesforce does much more than just customer relationship management. Salesforce's CRM platform can be tailored to your business, whether it’s building apps, incorporating AI, checking analytics, or managing projects, Salesforce supports it. How does Salesforce make this possible?

The first way to build a powerful project management solution with Salesforce is to take advantage of the customization options on the platform. To fully unlock all the amazing features of the platform, getting a Salesforce consultant on your side is beneficial to guide you through the process of building a project management solution that fits.

Salesforce AppExchange is a quick and easy way to extend the capabilities of your Salesforce Platform. It offers third-party solutions that have already been built to fill specific use cases. There are a number of options when it comes to project management. There are several other affordable and easy-to-use options available if you simply take some time to browse AppExchange.

For project management, there are numerous apps available that can add specific functionalities to your existing Salesforce system. For example:

• TaskRay: This app offers project management and task tracking capabilities within Salesforce. It's ideal for managing complex customer onboarding projects and ensuring that all team members are aligned on the project's progress and deadlines.
• Milestones PM+: A native Salesforce project management app that provides features for managing large and complex projects. It includes tools for planning, tracking, and collaboration, making it easier to manage multiple tasks and resources efficiently.
• Inspire Planner: This project management tool is designed for Salesforce and offers features like Gantt charts, project templates, and resource allocation. It's particularly useful for visualizing project timelines and managing dependencies between tasks.

Finding the best CRM project management tool doesn’t have to be difficult. Take some time to evaluate your current CRM and project management solutions.

If you want a seamless customer experience, a CRM project management solution is what will make a positive impact. Discovering what Salesforce can do for your customers and internal teams may just reveal some untapped opportunities to boost productivity and growth.

Caylin White is an Editorial Lead and Growth Manager for Small Business at Salesforce. She has written content for over 15 years for many SaaS industries, like WordPress and BuzzSumo. She specializes in SEO but is sure to add a human-centric angle to every piece.