Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for Small Businesses Course

Lesson 1 • What CRM Means for Small Businesses

Defines CRM as a strategy, process, and technology set. Establishes the foundation for all subsequent chapters by clarifying scope and purpose.

Lesson 2 • Core CRM Concepts and Terminology

Introduces essential vocabulary used throughout the course. Ensures students can read, discuss, and apply CRM concepts without confusion.

Lesson 3 • The Business Case for CRM Adoption

Examines how CRM directly impacts revenue, retention, and efficiency. Connects investment rationale to measurable small business outcomes.

Lesson 1 • Evaluating Features and Integrations

Teaches a feature-by-feature evaluation method tied to business requirements. Connects platform capabilities to the workflows identified in the needs analysis.

Lesson 2 • Making and Documenting the Final Decision

Provides a scoring matrix and decision documentation process. Ensures the selection is defensible, revisable, and aligned with business goals.

Lesson 3 • Total Cost and Vendor Assessment

Breaks down the full cost of CRM ownership beyond subscription fees. Equips students to negotiate with vendors and avoid hidden expenses.

Lesson 4 • Assessing Your Business Requirements

Guides students through a needs analysis before evaluating any tool. Prevents costly mismatches between platform capabilities and actual workflows.

Lesson 1 • Importing and Migrating Existing Data

Covers safe transfer of existing customer records into the new CRM. Prevents data loss, duplication, and formatting errors during migration.

Lesson 2 • Connecting Email, Calendar, and Key Tools

Integrates the CRM with communication and productivity tools already in use. Eliminates manual data entry and ensures activity logging is automatic.

Lesson 3 • Customizing Fields and Data Models

Adapts the CRM's default data structure to match real business terminology. Ensures records capture the information that actually drives decisions.

Lesson 4 • Building Sales Pipelines and Stages

Translates the business's sales process into a visual pipeline structure. Creates a shared language for tracking deal progress across the team.

Lesson 1 • Creating and Structuring Contact Records

Establishes standards for how contacts are entered and organized in the CRM. Consistent record structure enables reliable search, segmentation, and reporting.

Lesson 2 • Segmenting Your Customer Database

Teaches dynamic and static segmentation techniques using CRM data. Segmentation enables targeted communication and personalized service delivery.

Lesson 3 • Maintaining Data Quality Over Time

Introduces ongoing data hygiene practices to prevent record decay. Clean data is the prerequisite for accurate reporting and effective automation.

Lesson 4 • Data Privacy and Compliance Basics

Covers the functional obligations of handling customer data responsibly. Protects the business from reputational and regulatory risk.

Lesson 1 • Pipeline Metrics and Health Indicators

Introduces the key metrics that reveal pipeline strength and risk. Metrics connect individual deal activity to overall business performance.

Lesson 2 • Closing Deals and Post-Sale Handoff

Covers the CRM actions required at deal close and the transition to customer success. A clean handoff prevents service gaps and sets retention in motion.

Lesson 3 • Revenue Forecasting with CRM Data

Builds a forecasting model using pipeline data and historical win rates. Accurate forecasts support staffing, inventory, and cash flow decisions.

Lesson 4 • Moving Deals Through the Pipeline

Teaches active deal management using CRM tasks, notes, and stage updates. Consistent pipeline hygiene keeps forecasts accurate and deals moving.

Lesson 1 • Designing a Communication Strategy

Establishes a structured approach to customer outreach based on lifecycle stage. Strategy prevents ad hoc communication and ensures consistent brand experience.

Lesson 2 • Personalization at Scale

Teaches how to use CRM data fields to personalize outreach without manual effort. Personalization increases response rates and customer satisfaction.

Lesson 3 • Email Communication Using CRM Tools

Covers CRM-native email features for individual and bulk outreach. Connects email activity to contact records for full interaction history.

Lesson 4 • Measuring Communication Effectiveness

Introduces metrics that evaluate whether communication efforts drive engagement. Data-driven adjustments improve outreach quality over time.

Lesson 1 • Testing, Monitoring, and Optimizing Workflows

Covers the process of validating automations before launch and improving them over time. Untested automations create customer-facing errors and data problems.

Lesson 2 • Customer Lifecycle Automation

Designs automations that respond to customer milestones across the full lifecycle. Lifecycle automation drives retention and upsell without added headcount.

Lesson 3 • Task and Notification Automation

Automates internal task creation and team alerts based on CRM events. Ensures no follow-up falls through the cracks due to human oversight.

Lesson 4 • Automation Fundamentals and Logic

Explains trigger-condition-action logic as the foundation of all CRM automation. Understanding this model prevents poorly designed workflows from causing errors.

Lesson 1 • Building a CRM Review and Improvement Cycle

Establishes a recurring process for evaluating CRM performance and making improvements. A structured review cycle ensures the CRM evolves with the business.

Lesson 2 • Sales and Revenue Reports

Generates reports that track sales performance against targets over time. Revenue reports connect pipeline activity to actual business outcomes.

Lesson 3 • Customer Retention and Lifetime Value Analysis

Measures how well the business retains customers and maximizes their value. Retention analytics identify at-risk segments before churn occurs.

Lesson 4 • Building Dashboards for Daily Operations

Creates role-specific dashboards that surface the most critical metrics at a glance. Operational dashboards reduce time spent searching for information.