One of the founding principles of Crelate was to build software that could be inclusive of as much a recruiter's daily operations as possible. Why use multiple apps when you can accomplish all you need in one centralized location? Part of that philosophy was built on the principle of building an ATS with a completely established CRM. If you still need more information about what a CRM should offer in the first place, give a quick check on our content here: What is a CRM?
The intent of Crelate's CRM was to design a tool that would allow firms to track their business development from a lead, active and closed pipeline. As a recruiter, how do you generate your leads? Scouring HR/VPs on LinkedIn? Looking at job boards to see which companies are actively growing? However you do it, Crelate was designed to allow you to track and build upon your relationships with each opportunity that's presented to you.
Crelate believes that each engagement on the business development side presents an "opportunity." Hence you'll see that term scattered throughout the product and have the ability to create your own unique opportunities. The ultimate goals of tracking your business development prospects center around organization and forecasting.
Organization: Naturally, you want to control what you can and arrange an organized pipeline around where your time and efforts are going. Who are you targeting to engage in your next round of outbound reach out? Who are you getting close to reaching an agreement or formalizing a contract with? Who fell through the pipeline 6 months ago but now needs re-engagement? Your Sales Workflow in Crelate should be able to answer all of these questions!
Forecasting: Of course, equally important, you need to know where your business is headed. Is it time to grow internally as your pipeline swells? What are your YOY (year over year) trends? As leads, and the potential for revenue, flow into your pipeline, your likely keen to know what that means for the coming months and quarters ahead.
Crelate's CRM will give you the ability to manage your lead pipeline, track and measure communication, and stay engaged with clients. Crelate was designed to allow you to track as you engage with new leads that hopefully become open opportunities. However, business development doesn't stop when lead transitions into a signed contract or even an open job. Similarly, it's likely not to stop even once a job is closed. Why? There is always the continuous need to track and stay engaged with prospective and active clients. Just because something is won today, doesn't mean there won't be additional opportunities in the future.
What's Next?
Now that you have a sense of the basics, let's get started on configuring your pipeline and creating a lead to navigate through your workflow!