Every business owner should strive for a streamlined sales process because it will help win more deals, which in turn leads to bigger profits! This can be achieved quite easily using the right apps and software, alongside a review of business processes. Making the processes more efficient and integrating your tech stack will make the operation more reliable and robust – it’s going to make life so much easier for everyone.
Where does the CRM fit into the sales process?
A CRM (customer relationship management) app holds the key data for your customers. This includes details about the people, the company and the opportunities you have with them. An opportunity is sometimes called a ‘deal’, which is a qualified lead for a potential sale.
Using a CRM, you can organise your opportunities into a structured sales funnel where there are tasks or activities at certain stages.
These activities could include:
- Sending emails
- Arranging meetings
- Making calls
- Sending documents
How can I streamline my opportunities using a CRM?
If you can automate parts of the sales funnel then there is less chance that leads will be lost or forgotten. You will eliminate human error and create a consistent process. Automating manual tasks will save time for the parts of the funnel which need a human touch, such as making a phone call.
Using a CRM also means that you’re not reliant on a single team member for working on an opportunity. If the data is held in a central CRM, you will have full visibility of the sales process and there will be no cross-over or duplication of effort. If a staff member is off sick then someone else can easily pick up the reins, and you will have an audit trail of who has been involved in each sale.
How do I choose a CRM?
There are many CRMs on the market so it’s important that you choose one that fulfils your business requirements. Your options may be different depending whether you’ve got a B2B or B2C business, although many can be adapted to support either model.
Examples of popular CRMs include:
You can often try out a software application for a trial period, which is a good way of finding out if it will suit your needs. You can reach out on social media to see what others are using and which CRM they would recommend, although you should be mindful that they may have a different use case than you.
There are comparison sites that may help with the selection process, such as GetApp and Capterra.
We would also recommend using a CRM which can integrate with other software tools so that you can send data from one app to another. This will save time, reduce human error from copying data manually and make the sales process more efficient.
CRMs usually include some prebuilt integrations directly with other apps, but if not then if they integrate with Zapier then you’ll be able to connect with over 6,000 software applications.
What can I automate with my CRM?
Modern CRMs usually include the option to set up workflows to automate certain tasks, which will save time so that you can concentrate on other (more important) parts of the business.
You can send emails automatically, for example, to a contact when a sale has been made. Or you can create a new opportunity or deal when a webform on your website has been filled in by a sales prospect.
We still value the power of the human touch but recommend automating the manual tasks which can just as easily be done by a computer and saving valuable staff time for those which can’t.
Automating your leads using a CRM means that you’re not restricted by your business’s working hours; using automations means that you can respond to leads 24/7, using bots, or webforms that automatically feed data from one system to another. You can schedule meetings with potential clients too, without needing to be at your desk.
Where does Zapier fit in?
Since most CRMs have native, in-built integrations, you may wonder whether you need Zapier too. Zapier connects over 6,000 apps, and if you want to link your CRM to another app in your tech stack which doesn’t have a native integration then Zapier can help.
We would say that one of the boxes you need to tick with your CRM is that it can integrate with Zapier, as this opens the door to a whole world of opportunities for automation.
Things that you can do when you add Zapier into the mix include:
- Linking Facebook Lead Ads to your CRM to input the lead data, and also send your team a message via Slack or email to alert them.
- Send data from a webform such as Typeform or Gravity Forms into your CRM.
- Add new email contacts automatically in MailChimp, Active Campaign or MailerLite.
- Add tasks to a project management app such as Asana, Trello or Jira.
What’s more, if you visit the Zapier website and find your CRM app then Zapier will suggest automations for you. Here is an example for Pipedrive. It allows you to pick or search for an app, and below that is ‘Popular ways to use Pipedrive workflows’.
This is great as it means you can see how other businesses are using automation, and allows you to quickly try them out using templates. All you have to do is log into your CRM and connected apps, and you will set up a new automation within 5 minutes!
More about Pipedrive CRM
As Pipedrive CRM Certified Experts, we help businesses of all sizes streamline their processes using Pipedrive. We’ve also written several blogs about how to increase efficiency by automating processes in Pipedrive, and connecting it to other apps, such as ActiveCampaign, Gmail and Slack.
Here is some further reading if you’d like to find out more:
- How to automate your Pipedrive CRM sales processes
- Using Pipedrive automations for business processes
- How to automatically add contacts to ActiveCampaign from Pipedrive
- How to automate a 7 day sales cadence of activities in Pipedrive
Use this link for a 30-day free trial instead of 14 days.
Find out more
The possibilities are truly endless, and if you want to find out more, with examples of triggers for each app and action event then our founder, Kelly has written a book, Automate It with Zapier, which is available on Amazon.
It is perfect for guiding you through a range of automations and you can download her templates to get started really quickly. It’s available through the publisher Packt here, all major book retailers, and on Amazon, Here are links to Amazon (.co.uk) and Amazon (.com) to get yours now.
The book is perfect for new Zapier users as well as seasoned pros.
Solvaa: Strategy, Solutions, Support, Education
UK-based Solvaa® is a systems, process and automation consultancy specialising in improving business workflows. Solvaa® works with SMEs worldwide to implement digital tools, better processes, use business process automation and generative AI to boost productivity, enhance lead management, and remove unnecessary time, costs and hassles from stretched business owners’ days.
We help you simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient, and automate manual tasks. Our business process automation specialists have extensive experience using multiple cloud-based business tools, including Zapier, Pipedrive CRM, SmartSuite, Xero, Google Suite, ClickUp, Asana, Airtable, Hubspot, Active Campaign, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Quickbooks and many more. We are Zapier Certified Experts, SmartSuite Certified Partners, Pipedrive Certified Partners and Xero Certified Advisors. We also educate teams about using AI in their daily roles, mindset, governance and strategy in our Solvaa AI Academy.
Solvaa® was founded in 2016 by Kelly Goss, a no-code solutions architect, business process automation specialist and author of Automate It with Zapier (first edition) and Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI (second edition).
A thought leader on business process automation and digital adoption, Kelly attended an invite-only Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the UK government at No.10 Downing Street, providing insights and recommendations on how SMEs can benefit from productivity gains by using digital technologies, automation and AI. She has also been invited to speak at the House of Lords and at many other events.
Contact us today to find out how Solvaa can help your business make big savings on operational costs and time, and significantly increase productivity.
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