Customer relationship management is not a new concept in business and brand development. Before the implementation of software and tools for this purpose, sales teams kept all the information in their documents for enhanced communication. In this modern era, any technology-driven business requires a strong customer relationship management (CRM) system to interact with its customers and grow its business. The CRM software adopted for effective management helps nurture leads, retain customers, and decide about the success of the business. In this blog post about the Best CRM for StartUps – Pipedrive, we will highlight the key benefits and uses of Pipedrive, an in-demand and effective CRM for start-ups.
Understanding CRM and Why It’s Essential
Before we dive into the applications and features of Pipedrive, let us define CRM and how it is crucial for businesses.
What Is CRM?
A CRM is a strategic action plan for managing customer relationships and interactions, which includes the core activities of customer service, lead generation, setting appointments and staying in touch with them to ensure more sales. A CRM primarily helps companies streamline processes and improve sales.
The Start-Up Perspective
Choosing the best CRM tool can be a catalyst for start-ups. This is because CRM is not just associated with staying in touch and making more sales; it is also about creating processes for scaling up growth. It can increase team collaboration, provide valuable insights and automate tiring & repetitive tasks.
Pipedrive: An Introduction
Pipedrive is a simple yet comprehensive platform offering various tools for managing different segments of a newly thriving business. It is designed to simplify business sales, providing diverse customisation options.
A Unique Approach
What sets Pipedrive apart is its focus on the pipeline and it’s not much expensive. It’s not just a sales CRM; it’s a pipeline CRM. This means it’s built for the workflow of a salesperson, ensuring they remain organised and on track at all times.
The pivotal point about Pipedrive is its unique approach towards pipelines. It is not simple sales CRM software, but it is pipeline software that helps develop a workflow, ensuring the alignment of multiple business segments operating together. It has a user-friendly interface which enables users to focus on their agenda rather than just focusing on the arrangements of their contacts or customer information.
Pipedrive’s Core Features
Pipedrive is an amazing solution for the start-up because it offers a set of functionalities which are all available on one platform, such as:
- Deal management: It enables users to organise and track deals in multiple stages, which makes every deal clear for analysis and knowing the progress from start to end.
- Visualisation: Through its pipeline visualisation tool, professionals can overview their overall sales process to prioritise tasks for better performance.
- Activity tracking: This CRM tool facilitates the setting of activities and goals and helps tracking through the progress by providing insights and highlighting key areas for improvements
- Email integration: The workflow can be further streamlined by setting up an email communication channel within Pipedrive. It allows you to send, receive and track emails all from one platform.
- Analytics: Pipedrive helps sales teams through its analysis feature. It provides valuable data about sales performance for identifying trends, forecasting sales, or making informed decisions.
- Automation: There are many automation features which help reduce the stress of repetitive tasks for sales teams.
Comparing Pipedrive Against the Competition
Pipedrive is cut above other CRMs available online. Here is a brief overview of the comparison with the most prominent tools available for sales and CRM.
Pipedrive vs. Salesforce:
We all have a clue that Salesforce is a titan for enterprises with complex requirements, but it can be overwhelming for the teams who are beginning their journey of using CRM software for their newly launched business. The most attractive point about implementing Pipedrive is its straightforward interface and usage. On the other hand, SalesforceSalesforce offers more in-depth coverage of CRM functions that are ideal for larger groups.
Pipedrive vs. HubSpot CRM
Due to the free provision of Hubspot CRM, most start-ups focus on using it because it suits their growing budget. However, it might not be a good option for beginners as its space marketing and sales suites offer tools that are not immediately required. In comparison, Pipedrive is a full-stack and affordable solution featuring all the necessary tools for scaling up growth.
Pipedrive vs. Zoho CRM
When compared to Zoho CRM, Pipedrive takes the edge for offering a focused approach according to the required sales pipeline. Zoho CRM is versatile, but for a start-up, Pipedrive can be more suitable due to its extensive capacity for handling actions from lead generation to conversions.
Pipedrive’s Automation Capabilities
With the advent of AI, everyone wants to automate repetitive tasks so that most of their precious time can be utilised for value-added tasks. Where Pipedrive is a basic CRM platform for start-ups, the same way it offers automation to the next level.
Workflow Automation
Pipedrive offers to create custom workflows for automating repetitive actions such as sending or replying to emails, scheduling, and assigning. Users can set reminders and create tasks for team members to effectively collaborate using its automation features. Its AI-powered sales assistant gives useful suggestions on every stage of the deal.
Email Campaigns
Running email campaigns and tracking them effectively is simplified with Pipedrive’s built-in email automation. Users can manage personalised follow-ups and schedule campaigns through this platform. These actions help maintain a consistent connection with the customers, ensuring a visible change in the growth graph of the start-up.
Common Pipedrive Misconceptions
Nothing is perfect, and thus, there might develop some misconceptions in your mind about the uses and applications of Pipedrive i.e.,
Not Just For Sales Teams
Despite being suitable for sales and customer support teams, Pipedrive is an all-purpose pipeline and workflow CRM automation tool that can fit the requirements of other professionals, e.g., it provides the best CRM tools for marketing teams.
Scalability
When discussing Pipedrive, we have repeatedly mentioned its use case for start-ups, but it must be added here that Pipedrive can be tailored to meet the requirements of any team. It is simple to use, but its automation and workflow customisation options make it ideal for larger organisations. So, it’s certain that no team will outgrow this platform as their setup expands.
Conclusion
Picking up the correct CRM software is crucial for start-ups as it can affect the seeding and growth of the company to a large extent. Pipedrive is a preferred option for most businesses due to its speciality in sales and customer interaction. It offers a simple interface that is less challenging for new teams. Further, it offers a wide range of customisable CRM options and automation tools that are important for the success of start-ups. Thus, try using this CRM platform or contact us to get personalised suggestions on what to choose for your business.