How to know if your CRM is helping or hurting your DM funnel
You bought a filing cabinet when you needed a conveyor belt
Your accountant practically shoved the folder at you.
“Everything is in here. All your receipts from January through September. You just need to organize them.”
That was 6 months ago.
You bought the fancy accordion file folder.
Color-coded tabs. Monthly dividers. Even labeled everything with your label maker.
It sits on your shelf. Still empty.
Receipts are stuffed in a shoebox under your desk.
Not because you’re lazy, but because the accordion folder doesn’t open your mail.
Doesn’t scan receipts. Doesn’t file anything.
It just holds things… if you put them there.
You know that satisfying fantasy of buying the perfect organization tool? The one where you set it up, and suddenly everything just... flows?
That’s the same fantasy you had three weeks ago when you bought the CRM.
Pipelines. Color-coded tags. Custom fields.
It was supposed to fix the chaos in your DM inbox.
→ The story replies piling up.
→ The “is this still available?” messages buried under meme responses.
→ The referral from a colleague you still haven’t answered, 4 days now.
But here you are. CRM collecting dust. Inbox still a mess.
Because here’s what you didn’t see when you bought it… the CRM,
→ It doesn’t answer your DMs while you’re coaching a client.
→ It doesn’t send the follow-up message at 7am before you’ve had coffee.
→ It doesn’t respond to “what’s included?” within 4 minutes instead of 4 hours.
It just organizes the leads you’re ALREADY losing.
Today, I’m sharing the 3 truths that reveal whether your DM problem is actually organization, response speed, or conversation strategy… because each one requires a completely different fix. Including:
→ Why “better organization” is usually the wrong diagnosis for DM chaos
→ The difference between systems that STORE conversations and systems that MOVE them
→ How to figure out what’s actually breaking before you buy another tool
Let’s fix your misdiagnosis...
3 Truths That Reveal What Your Dusty CRM Is Actually Telling You
Every coach with an unused CRM shares the same origin story.
→ DMs started slipping through cracks.
→ Someone ghosted because they forgot to follow up.
→ A hot lead went cold.
So they Googled “best CRM for coaches” and bought something.
Here’s what they missed:
Truth #1: You Diagnosed “Disorganization” When Your Problem Was Response Speed
Thursday afternoon. You’re mid-session with a client.
Phone buzzes. DM notification.
“Hey, I saw your post about the certification program. Is there still space?”
You can’t respond. You’re coaching.
Another buzz. Story reply.
Two hours later, you finally check.
17 notifications.
That certification inquiry? Buried.
You scroll, find it, start typing a response.
But here’s what happened in those two hours:
That same person DMed two other programs with similar offerings.
One responded in 6 minutes with a voice note. Asked a question. Started a conversation.
By the time you respond, they’re already mid-conversation with your competitor.
You think: “I need a CRM to track these better.”
Wrong diagnosis.
You didn’t lose that lead because you were disorganized. You lost them because you were too slow.
❌ Before: “I keep losing track of DM conversations. I need better organization.”
✅ After: “I can’t respond fast enough while I’m coaching. I need automation that engages leads while I’m busy.”
Here’s how to spot this pattern:
Volume test: Count the DM inquiries that came in yesterday between sessions.
If that number is higher than you can realistically respond to during bathroom breaks, your problem isn’t organization, it’s response capacity.
Recovery test: When you finally respond hours later, what percentage reply back?
If more than half have gone cold, you don’t need better tracking. You need faster initial response, which means automation.
Competitor test: How fast are similar programs in your space responding?
If they’re using automated first-touch messages and you’re manually checking DMs between clients, you’re bringing a filing cabinet to a conveyor belt fight.
A CRM tracks conversations you’re having.
Automation has conversations while you’re unavailable.
Truth #2: Your CRM Stores Leads. It Doesn’t Move Them Forward.
9:14pm. You pour a glass of wine and open your laptop.
Time to “work the pipeline.”
Your CRM shows 32 leads in “Needs Follow-Up.”
You start writing messages.
By the 8th one, you’re copying and pasting.
Changing names. Skipping their original message to save time.
By 10:30pm, you’ve contacted maybe 12 people.
Exhausted.
The other 20? They’ll wait until next week.
Meanwhile, your competitor’s system sent a helpful resource to every new inquiry within 4 minutes of first contact.
Then a check-in message 18 hours later.
Then a question that moved the conversation forward.
No human involved in those first 3 touches.
By the time they’re personally responding, they’re only talking to people who’ve already engaged three times.
Pre-warmed. Pre-qualified.
You’re still in your CRM, manually typing “Hey! Thanks for reaching out...” to 32 cold contacts.
❌ Before: “I’ll schedule time every week to work my CRM pipeline and follow up with leads.”
✅ After: “I need automated DM sequences that nurture leads between my manual touch-points.”
Here’s how to test your system type:
72-hour test: If you got the flu and couldn’t touch your phone for three days, would any leads hear from you?
If no, you have a storage system, not a flow system. You need automation.
Effort test: Does “working your leads” require you to sit down, log in, and manually do something?
That’s a CRM. Automation runs without you initiating each action.
Sequence test: Do leads receive a consistent series of value-building messages, or does follow-up depend entirely on when you remember?
Inconsistent follow-up is a systems problem, not a discipline problem.
CRMs are dashboards. Automation is the engine.
Truth #3: Sometimes the Dusty CRM Is Hiding a Conversation Strategy Problem
Open your DM inbox right now.
Notice which conversations you’re avoiding.
→ That person who asked about pricing 3 days ago, you still haven’t responded because you don’t know how to handle price questions in DMs without killing the conversation.
→ That lead who seemed perfect, but went silent after you sent the booking link… you’re scared to follow up because you don’t know what to say that won’t seem desperate.
→ That referral who reached out last week, you’re avoiding them because you’re embarrassed how long it’s been and don’t know how to recover.
You’re avoiding them because you don’t have a framework for what to say next.
❌ Before: “Once I get organized with a CRM and set up automation, I’ll handle follow-up better.”
✅ After: “I’m avoiding certain DM conversations because I don’t have conversation frameworks for objections, pricing, re-engagement, or next steps.”
Here’s how to diagnose this:
Avoidance test: Sort your leads by “last contact date.”
The ones at the bottom, why haven’t you touched them?
If the honest answer is “I don’t know what to say,” neither a CRM nor automation will fix that.
You need DM conversation strategy.
Ghost test: When leads go silent, do you have a specific re-engagement sequence?
Or do you just... hope they come back?
If you’re guessing at recovery messages, that’s a strategy gap.
Confidence test: When a lead asks about price, do you have a clear framework for redirecting to value and booking a call? Or do you wing it every time?
Automation can only automate what you know how to do.
If you don’t have conversation frameworks, you’ll just automate bad conversations faster.
That’s it.
Here’s what you learned today:
→ Most “organization” problems are actually response speed problems, you need automation, not a better CRM
→ CRMs track conversations you’re having; automation has conversations while you’re unavailable
→ Dusty CRMs sometimes mask conversation strategy gaps, if you don’t know what to say, no tool will fix that
Open your DM inbox and find the 3 leads you’ve been avoiding longest.
Write down exactly WHY you haven’t messaged them.
→ If the reason is “I forgot” → You need better organization (CRM)
→ If the reason is “I was too busy” → You need faster response (Automation)
→ If the reason is “I don’t know what to say” → You need conversation frameworks
That answer tells you what to fix first.
Ready to diagnose your actual bottleneck without buying another tool?
You’re not disorganized, but you might be solving the wrong problem.
When every DM feels urgent but nothing moves forward, the issue usually isn’t discipline.
It’s diagnosis.
Today’s paid member mega-prompt helps you pinpoint whether your real issue is organization, response speed, or conversation quality—before you throw money at the wrong solution.
Paid members get:
✔ A 5-question diagnostic that identifies your specific bottleneck
→ Organization vs. Automation vs. Strategy scoring
→ Custom recommendations based on your actual symptoms
✔ Response templates for each diagnosis type
✔ A decision matrix: which tools actually solve which problems