Nutshell for Android: Daily App Pick

Posted By Mark Kaelin in App Picks, Features, Lifestyle, Mobile, Tech

BreakingModern — Even with the widespread use of mobile smartphones that keep you connected in a myriad of ways, there’s one major aspect of business that has remained the same since business was invented. No matter what technology you throw at it, successfully managing relationships with your customers and clients is vitally important.

Technological tools for customer relationship management (CRM) abound, ranging from Fortune 500 enterprise solutions to single user standalone hacks like spreadsheets. But there may be a better CRM solution for small businesses. Nutshell combines the sophistication of enterprise software with the simplicity of a Rolodex.

In a Nutshell

Before we go any further, let’s get one thing straight: Nutshell is more than a mere Android app. It’s a complete CRM service providing the means for company employees to share information about customers and their all-important contact information.

Using the Nutshell service will cost you $15 per month, per person, and there are no continuation contracts. The billing is conducted on a monthly basis, but you can try it for free with a 14-day trail. The majority of the support is provided in the form of downloadable documents from the website. However, there’s also real-time chat available and phone support if you find it necessary.

Nutshell’s primary focus is on sales. If you have seen the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, then you have seen that sales can be a real cutthroat activity. Being able to manage sales leads with an integrated CRM is essential to a company’s overall success. Sure, the intensity depicted in the movie is over-the-top, but salesmanship is still serious business and effective tools can make all the difference.

Nutshell connects your entire sales force together using a non-complicated mobile app model. The key to the app’s usefulness is its tight integration with Google Apps for Business. Sent and received messages from your Gmail account are automatically integrated with the Nutshell app, and all appointments are automatically shared with Google Calendar and the rest of your sales force.

By coordinating all of the leads and contacts using the Nutshell service, you can manage your sales force and determine which leads go to which team members. And, as each salesperson acquires new contacts and new leads, that information can be shared with the rest of the company. This sharing and collaboration can reduce duplicate efforts and increase the overall efficiency of your sales efforts. A more efficient sales force is a more competitive sales force.

Bottom Line

Let’s be honest, sales is not an activity everyone can be good at. Selling anything takes a certain personality and a particular life perspective that not everyone has. I know I don’t have it. But if you’re a born salesperson, you need the proper tools to be effective.

In the past, those tools were crude and often counterproductive, but technology, especially mobile technology, has allowed developers to create very powerful CRM tools. If you own a small business with a limited amount of capital, using Nutshell on a month-by-month basis may just give you the advantage you need to beat the competition.

For BMod, I’m Mark Kaelin.

All screenshots: Mark Kaelin

Featured image credit: “Acorns or Ammo?” by Edd Prince via Flickr Creative Commons