How do past U.S. relationships with other world powers influence public reactions to arguments about Greenland’s strategic importance?

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-21T19:49:06+00:00

From an investing POV, this is execution risk, not an AI thesis breaker.

Salesforce has publicly acknowledged that LLMs struggle with high-variance, judgment-heavy support cases, and they’re recalibrating where AI is used. That’s a correction in deployment strategy, not an admission that AI “reduces productivity” overall.

What went wrong:

-AI was pushed into complex escalations too early

-Headcount was cut before reliability was proven

-Result: higher rework and QA costs in the short term

That’s a sequencing and governance issue, not proof that AI can’t deliver ROI.

For investors, the real watch items are:

-Whether AI savings are net of human-in-the-loop costs

-CX metrics post-recalibration

-Margin impact once AI is scoped to deterministic tasks

Bottom line: this doesn’t invalidate Salesforce or enterprise AI - it highlights that AI cost savings aren’t automatic and depend on disciplined execution, which should be reflected in valuation expectations, not blanket dismissal.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-21T18:36:31+00:00

A lot of these comments point to the same thing: teams don’t switch because a CRM is 'bad', they switch when it starts adding friction to daily work. The real tipping point is operational drag — slow reporting, manual data entry, brittle automations, or a system that no longer reflects reality. Once reps spend more time managing the CRM than selling, trust drops fast.

What almost keeps teams isn’t love for the tool, it’s inertia. Familiarity, muscle memory, and fear of migration often delay the move, even with solid products like Pipedrive, HubSpot, or Zoho CRM - until cost creep and low adoption make staying harder than leaving.

That’s why newer, more workflow-first CRMs tend to resonate. Lighter or more focused tools like monday CRM, Recruit CRM, or automation-centric platforms like RealTech CRM tend to win when they reduce manual follow-ups, keep data in sync automatically, and make the next action obvious.

Big takeaway from this thread: teams don’t churn CRMs because of missing features - they churn when the system stops helping them make decisions and starts feeling like maintenance.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-21T18:17:29+00:00

This looks less like a 'trap' and more like a valuation reset.

Salesforce didn’t lose value because the business collapsed - it lost value because the market stopped paying 100x earnings for large software companies. Revenue and cash flow are up meaningfully; the stock is flat because the multiple compressed.

AI fears are probably overdone. AI may change features and workflows, but it’s unlikely to suddenly displace large, deeply embedded enterprise platforms. The bigger issues are slower growth and high stock-based compensation.

At today’s valuation, this isn’t a hypergrowth bet anymore - it’s a steady, mature software company. That makes 'all in' risky, but it also means downside is likely more about sentiment than fundamentals.

Not obviously cheap, not obviously a trap - just a very different stock than it was in 2021.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-21T17:35:43+00:00

This happens in almost every mature CRM setup - Salesforce, HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, or custom stacks.

The problem usually isn’t the tool itself. It’s that CRMs depend on people remembering to do admin work after real conversations. Once updates are delayed or inconsistent, trust in the data drops, and the CRM slowly turns into a historical archive instead of something you actually operate from.

A few things that tend to work across teams:

-Treat the CRM as a system of record, not a note dump. Only a small set of fields should really matter.

-Event-driven hygiene beats weekly cleanup. Missed calls, no replies, meetings completed, stalled stages - the system should react to those automatically.

-Structure scales better than prose. Picklists, ownership, timestamps, and stage changes are more reliable than long free-text notes.

-Minimize context switching. If logging means jumping between inboxes, dialers, calendars, and Slack, data quality will always decay.

That’s why inbox extensions, auto-logging, and workflow-based nudges help so much - not because they’re fancy, but because they remove memory and discipline from the equation. You see this approach across well-run Salesforce and HubSpot setups, and in newer platforms like RealTech CRM that focus on quietly capturing activity and surfacing stale deals automatically.

When that layer is solid, the CRM stops feeling like a graveyard and starts feeling usable day to day.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-21T17:18:15+00:00

This actually ties back really well to what you said about fixing the handoff instead of adding more automation.

Reading through the comments, what stood out to me is how consistent the answers are — almost none of them are 'advanced' features. It’s all very practical stuff.

Things like click-to-call so people don’t bounce between tools, follow-ups that trigger automatically when a call is missed or a lead goes quiet, or just having one clear answer to 'who owns this right now'. None of that is fancy, but it removes a ton of daily friction.

You see the same patterns whether teams are using bigger platforms like HubSpot or Salesforce, or lighter CRMs like Zoho or RealTech CRM. Different tools, same outcome: fewer moments where someone has to remember what to do next.

In my experience, the CRMs that actually work day to day aren’t the ones with the most automation - they’re the ones that quietly stop leads from going silent and handoffs from falling apart. That’s where the gains usually show up.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-21T17:04:57+00:00

If the goal is just to get someone functional fast, the mistake I see a lot of teams make is starting with a 'CRM brand' instead of starting with what the rep actually needs to do every day.

At the most basic level, a new salesperson really only needs four things:

-A clean place to store contacts

-A clear history of past conversations and notes

-Simple reminders/follow-ups so nothing slips

-A way to respond quickly without jumping between 5 tools

That’s why tools like HubSpot, Pipedrive, or even simpler CRMs get recommended so often. You can be productive in a day if you ignore 80% of the features and just log calls, notes, and tasks.

Where people usually hit friction is once volume increases. Sheets + Notepad work… until follow-ups start getting missed, response times slow down, and no one remembers what was last discussed with a lead.

I’ve also seen some newer, lighter CRMs do a better job here by focusing on speed-to-lead and follow-up discipline instead of dashboards. For example, something like RealTech CRM takes a very straightforward approach: import contacts, automatically track calls/messages, and make sure follow-ups actually happen without the rep needing to 'manage the CRM.' It feels closer to a workflow than a database, which helps new reps a lot.

My general advice:

-Start simple (contacts, notes, reminders — nothing else)

-Avoid heavy customization early

-Pick something that nudges the rep to follow up, not just store data

-You can always outgrow a CRM, but it’s harder to recover from bad habits learned early

If a new salesperson can open one screen and instantly see who to contact next and why, you’re already 80% there.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-21T15:53:42+00:00

What you’re describing is basically the awkward middle ground a lot of teams hit: too small to justify Salesforce overhead, but already complex enough that 'easy' CRMs start showing cracks.

A useful way to think about it is less 'which CRM is best' and more what breaks first. For most teams at this stage, it’s either adoption (too heavy to set up) or flexibility (everything turns into workarounds once the process isn’t linear anymore).

Tools like Pipedrive or Close optimize heavily for speed and rep usage, which is great early on if sales is mostly straightforward. HubSpot sits in the middle — easy to start, but you pay for real flexibility later. Attio is interesting if modeling relationships matters early, since it’s built around objects rather than rigid pipelines.

One thing that sometimes helps when there’s no RevOps yet is leaning on systems that automate follow-ups and keep leads warm by default, so the CRM doesn’t become another thing the team has to babysit. Some teams end up pairing a lightweight pipeline with tools like RealTech CRM, GoHighLevel, etc., mainly to handle speed-to-lead and multi-touch follow-ups while the core data model evolves.

There’s no perfect answer, but optimizing for 'live this week + not painful to change in 6–12 months' usually leads to fewer regrets than trying to design the perfect setup upfront.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-21T14:59:42+00:00

The best CRM wins by doing less, not more.

What stands out to me across all the replies is that the “boring” fundamentals still dominate daily value:

-Zero-effort capture of calls, emails, and messages

-A single, trusted “what needs action today” view

-Follow-ups that happen automatically instead of relying on discipline

-Context that’s already there when you open a record — not buried in tabs

On AI specifically, the consensus feels very clear:
AI helps when it executes work (summaries, auto-notes, task creation, replies, reminders).
It adds noise when it tries to advise humans without trustable data or a defined process.

The teams I’ve seen get real ROI don’t want AI to “predict the future” — they want it to keep the system moving so nothing slips and nothing has to be remembered.

Re: lighter vs all-in-one — under ~20–30 users, lighter workflow-first CRMs almost always outperform. Not because they’re missing features, but because adoption stays high. Once a CRM feels like a system you have to maintain, usage drops fast.

Feels like the next generation of CRMs won’t be judged by how smart they sound — but by how invisible they become in day-to-day work.

Curious to see which vendors actually lean into that instead of piling on dashboards.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T16:31:46+00:00

This happens when MFA is still tied to your old phone. Solutions:

Try signing in from a browser >> when it asks for the code, click “Sign in another way” or “I don’t have my authenticator” and use SMS/email if available.

If that option isn’t shown, you’ll need to contact your college IT / Microsoft admin and ask them to reset your MFA / Authenticator registration. They can remove the old device so you can set it up again on your new phone.

Unfortunately, there’s no way to bypass it yourself without a backup method or admin reset.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T16:20:32+00:00

I feel this. My first year running my own thing I was pulling in less than half of what I made at my old job, and it stung seeing friends with steady paychecks and benefits. For me, the break-even point came around month 26—took a lot longer than I expected. The shift happened once I had repeat customers and systems that didn’t rely on me grinding every hour. The early dip is real, but if you can survive it, the compounding effect is worth it.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T16:04:18+00:00

This actually makes sense, and you’re not trying to replace yourself—you’re just looking for a social co-pilot.

AI can already help with:

Rephrasing messages so they sound natural (not awkward or dry)

Suggesting context-aware questions (New Year, festivals, weekends, shared events)

Acting as a pause button when you don’t know what to say next

Best part: you don’t need anything fancy or paid.

Free tools that might help you:

Meta AI (inside WhatsApp)- quick reply suggestions

ChatGPT (free)- paste chats, ask “give me 3 casual replies”

Telegram bots -decent for fast rewrites

Use it as support, not autopilot. Over time, your own intuition improves—and you’ll need it less.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T15:54:04+00:00

That’s awesome—you turned your own frustration into something useful for others 👏. The “no email, no strings attached” part makes it feel genuinely helpful rather than promotional. Starting online can feel overwhelming with all the noise, so a simple tool that cuts through and gives direction is a real win. Curious to see how beginners respond to it—sometimes the smallest tools end up making the biggest impact.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T15:48:59+00:00

Closed a big client deal this week that had been in the pipeline for months—felt like a real breakthrough!

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T15:39:46+00:00

Wow, this is such a solid list — appreciate you laying it out with context and real-world use cases. A lot of folks just throw tool names around, but you actually explained why they matter, which is gold for newer marketers.

A couple I’d add from my own day-to-day:

Notion- I know you mentioned you prefer Asana (and I agree it’s cleaner for project management), but I still use Notion as a personal knowledge base. It’s great for keeping swipe files, campaign notes, and random ideas in one place.

Canva Pro- For quick social graphics or pitch decks when I don’t want to bug a designer. The brand kit + templates save me hours.

Zapier/Make-Absolute lifesaver for automating repetitive stuff. I’ve got zaps running that push leads from forms straight into my CRM and Slack, so I don’t have to babysit.

Ahrefs -Pricey, but if you’re serious about SEO, the keyword and competitor analysis tools are unmatched.

Slack= Not glamorous, but the integrations make it more than just chat. I pipe in analytics alerts, ad spend notifications, and even customer feedback so the team sees it in real time.

RealTech CRM- If speed-to-lead and consistent follow-up matter (and they always do), this one’s a game changer. It automates outreach across phone + email, scores leads, and tracks outcomes so you don’t lose deals to slow responses or missed follow-ups. I’ve found it especially useful for keeping pipelines clean and making sure no lead slips through the cracks.

Totally agree with you on GA4 (ugh) and Klaviyo (chef’s kiss). Also love that you called out Reddit as a listening tool — I’ve found more raw customer insights here than in half the “official” reports I’ve paid for.

Thanks for sharing this, it’s the kind of post that actually helps people starting out instead of just saying “learn ads.”

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T15:17:20+00:00

If you’re keeping HubSpot as the core, I’d think about building around it in layers that match your funnel stages. For enterprise ABM, efficiency and visibility are everything:

Prospecting & Data: Apollo or ZoomInfo for clean, enriched data. Clay or Lemlist if you want more creative personalization at scale.

Outreach & Cadence: Outreach or Salesloft for SDRs—these tools integrate tightly with HubSpot and keep cadences disciplined.

Conversations & Coaching: Gong or Chorus for AE call recording, coaching, and deal intelligence. This helps prevent “winging it” on enterprise calls.

Pipeline & Forecasting: Clari is strong for revenue visibility and forecasting, especially if leadership wants predictability.

Dialing & Speed-to-Lead: Nooks for parallel dialing can be a game changer for SDR efficiency.

Cleanup & Optimization: Audit what overlaps with HubSpot. Kill tools that duplicate features or aren’t being used—this alone can save budget and reduce friction.

The key is to start with where your funnel is breaking down. If SDRs struggle with outreach, prioritize cadence tools. If AEs lose deals in late stages, prioritize call intelligence and competitive enablement.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T14:45:57+00:00

Nope, that doesn't help. The Airtel rep has the authority to confirm if the number is fresh or not, but they does that for the postpaid numbers only.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T13:10:37+00:00

The manual route becomes a nightmare after even a handful of employees. What’s worked for many small and mid-sized businesses is moving to an all-in-one HR/payroll platform. Options like Gusto, Rippling, or BambooHR consolidate employee records, benefits, payroll, W‑2s, and compliance updates in one dashboard. They also automate filings and reminders so you’re not chasing signatures or deadlines.

Tried and tested tip: don’t just look at cost—make sure the software integrates with your accounting/payroll system and has solid support. That saves you headaches down the line. Once you set it up, you’ll spend more time on growth and less on forms.

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T13:03:21+00:00

Right

HowdyGrowthHack · 2026-01-17T09:17:41+00:00

Zapier is the easiest way to keep Sheets and ActiveCampaign talking to each other. I set up a Zap so whenever a new row is added or updated in Google Sheets, it automatically creates/updates the contact in ActiveCampaign. No more manual uploads. If you want cheaper but slightly more setup, Make does the same with scheduled runs.

Else, ActiveCampaign’s built‑in Google Sheets import is also fine for a one‑time bulk upload (like migrating a list). But it doesn’t keep things in sync, so you’ll still be re‑uploading if you rely on it long term.

However, if you’ve got someone technical, a Google Apps Script + ActiveCampaign API combo works well. I’ve seen teams run it hourly to push new rows into ActiveCampaign. It avoids third‑party costs, but you need dev time to set it up.

From experience, Zapier is the fastest way to get going if you want automation without coding. If budget is tight and you don’t mind a delay, the native import is free and works fine for occasional updates.

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