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In today's fast-paced business world, managing customer relationships efficiently is essential for success. That's where [Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/introduction-to-crm) come into play, and one popular CRM solution that has gained significant recognition is Pipedrive. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the world of Pipedrive and provide you with the ultimate understanding of its features, benefits, and how it can empower your sales process.

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Pipedrive users have reported 28% average increase in close rate after using Pipedrive for one year. It has received 4.5 star rating for ‘ease of use’ by [Capterra](https://www.capterra.com/p/132666/Pipedrive/reviews/) and was the number 1 CRM in Software Reviews’ Data Quadrant 2018 and 2019.

There are a lot of CRM tools available in the market these days. [We have free CRM by HubSpot](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/hubspot-integrations), the Zoho CRM, Salesforce and so on. [What is it about Pipedrive](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/pipedrive-integrations) that differentiates it from its competitors?

![Statistics](/uploads/pipedrive_stats_1_19c3eb8662.png)

Well, as Pipedrive likes to call itself - it’s a CRM created by the salespeople for the salespeople.

Let’s dig deeper into this and try to understand what are the interesting features of Pipedrive that make it the CRM of choice for a lot of leading and budding businesses.

### What is Pipedrive?

Pipedrive is essentially a customer relationship management tool. It is a system that allows businesses to manage relationships with their customers. Amongst a majority of CRM systems available in the market these days, Pipedrive is a well-known name. It helps users visualize their sales processes and get more done in a short period of time. This is the USP of Pipedrive - that it is a CRM created by the salespeople for the salespeople.

In other words, Pipedrive is a CRM that promotes and helps with activity-based selling. Activity-based selling is a proven approach that’s all about scheduling, completing and tracking activities rather than attempting everything together and missing out on something important. Apart from that, another feature that helps Pipedrive stand apart is visual pipelines. 

Managing leads and deals using Pipedrive is as easy as putting Sticky Notes on a whiteboard to see where each of your deals stands, except that it is done with a lot of smart features as compared to Sticky Notes. Pipedrive’s goal is to make sales success not only possible but inevitable for teams everywhere. 

Now that we know what Pipedrive is let’s dig deeper into the features of Pipedrive and [understand how to use Pipedrive.](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/top-10-reasons-why-pipedrive-is-the-best-crm)

### How to Use Pipedrive and its features

Wondering what Pipedrive can help you achieve and how to use Pipedrive?

Let’s have a quick look at various features of Pipedrive and see what all can Pipedrive help you achieve.

#### Manage Leads and Deals

Managing leads and deals is extremely easy with Pipedrive. The board look with different lists makes it easy to manage and use.

![Manage Leads and Deals](/uploads/manage_leads_deals_b36547ac42.png)

You can easily drag a given deal from one stage to another to update the status. It resembles Trello somewhat in its broad view, and if you have prior experience with Trello, you’d find it easy to work with.

#### Track Communications

You can use Pipedrive to track calls, emails and contact history exactly as you need to and all of this while having complete visibility and control of your schedule.

![Track Communications](/uploads/track_communication_644dc2dc53.png)

Pipedrive stores your contacts in an extremely organized way and holds them as “people” and “organizations”. Once you have added a contact, you have the option to link it to deals as you go. And yes, not to forget that you can very easily import your existing contacts from spreadsheets and even your previous CRM. Further, you can synchronize your Google or Microsoft contacts and save a lot of extra work.

#### Automating Tasks With Pipedrive

Pipedrive helps you utilise your time properly by eliminating all the busywork. And, how does it do it?

Pipedrive lets you automate all the repetitive administrative tasks. Thus, you don’t have to worry about what computers can do and actually focus on what you need to pay the utmost attention to. Pipedrive comes with an AI-powered sales mentor that helps boost and improve your performance with personalised tips. Thus, now you don’t have to sit and worry about what to do next and rather do things right away because you have a sales assistant helping you. And you also receive automated, behaviour-based hints related to boosting your results so you’re regularly upgrading your sales skills without any time-consuming training.

#### Insights and Reports

With Pipedrive, you don’t have to use any boring spreadsheets anymore. Get rid of spreadsheets and play with all the data that you have in customisable reports and interactive dashboards.

![Insights and Reports](/uploads/insights_reports_f816cf7fc9.png)

Thus, using Pipedrive, it’s easy to filter, group and oversee results which makes it extremely easy to figure out what’s working for your business and what’s not. Plus, you also can draw exclusive insights on what the duration of the sales cycle is and how to make your sales processes more rewarding and efficient.

#### Privacy and Security

Pipedrive is extremely careful about your privacy and security. With Pipedrive, you don’t have to worry about how your business related data is being used or if it’s in safe hands or not.

![Privacy and Security](/uploads/pipedrive_security_be2662503e.png)

Pipedrive provides you with a security dashboard using which you can easily control the security of your business data from one place. You can directly monitor how, where, when and by whom your business data is being accessed. Furthermore, you can even tackle any suspected user and account for activities as they happen.

#### Mobile Apps and Integrations

Finally, Pipedrive can very easily be integrated with other apps and systems. The ease of integration is one of the most promising features of Pipedrive that makes it easy to use.

![Mobile Apps and Integrations ](/uploads/pipedrive_mobile_apps_integration_10d4c2b153.png)

You can access the Pipedrive CRM from your mobile device and integrate it with other SaaS products that your business uses.

Related use cases: [Vendemus](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/vendemus) | [TED IVS](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/ted-ivs) 

### Pipedrive Implementation

You've recognised the power of Pipedrive CRM and are ready to take your sales management to the next level. [Implementing Pipedrive](https://www.cloudify.biz/pipedrive) effectively can significantly impact your business growth, and enlisting the expertise of a seasoned partner ensures a seamless and successful integration process.

As an elite Pipedrive partner, Cloudify excels in implementing and integrating Pipedrive for businesses of all sizes. Our certified experts possess a deep understanding of Pipedrive's capabilities and can tailor its functionalities to align perfectly with your specific needs. From gaining a comprehensive overview of your business operations to migrating your valuable data, we ensure a smooth transition into Pipedrive, allowing you to focus on what matters most—closing deals and driving revenue.

The implementation journey begins with a thorough analysis of your sales processes and goals. Our experts work closely with you to understand your unique requirements and configure Pipedrive accordingly. We provide guidance on lead and deal management, customising pipelines, setting up automation workflows, and optimising your sales pipeline to maximise efficiency and drive results.

Transferring your existing data into Pipedrive can be a complex task, particularly if you're dealing with vast volumes of information. Our dedicated team at Cloudify takes care of the entire data migration process, ensuring that your valuable customer and sales data is seamlessly imported into Pipedrive. We prioritize data accuracy and integrity, allowing you to pick up where you left off without any disruptions.

But our support doesn't end there. Cloudify's Pipedrive specialists offer comprehensive training and onboarding sessions to ensure you and your team are equipped with the knowledge and skills to fully leverage Pipedrive's capabilities. We empower you to navigate the CRM confidently, utilise advanced features, and extract valuable insights from your sales data, enabling you to make informed decisions and drive revenue growth.  
[**Book a free consultation with us**](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/free-consultation)

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What is Pipedrive: The Ultimate Guide to Pipedrive CRM

Are you a business owner or an entrepreneur looking forward to getting the right CRM for your business?

[Finding the right CRM software](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/introduction-to-crm) or customer relationship management tool, can be difficult, especially given the fact that there are way too many options available these days.

The choice becomes even more difficult if you don’t have any proper experience with CRMs. What do you do in such cases?

  
![Top CRMs Introduction](/uploads/Top_CR_Ms_Introduction_1024x512_74ef51a257.png)

Discover with us the best CRM system (customer relationship management) software for managing your leads and marketing automation. Choosing the right CRM is very vital for your business in order to build customer relations and maximise sales. 

To help you with the same, here we have curated a list of the best CRMs in 2023.

This list should give you the advice you need to make an informed decision and have a quick sneak peek into some of the highest-rated CRMs by users and choose the best for your business.

Let’s get started.

###   
**The Sales CRM – Pipedrive**

[Pipedrive is the best overall CRM](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/pipedrive-top-10-reasons-why-pipedrive-is-the-best-crm) that manages your leads and sales. So, you can simply call it sales-focused. 

![Top CRMs Pipedrive](/uploads/Top_CR_Ms_Pipedrive_1024x349_9c66527ba7.png)

#### Key features:

*   Managing leads: You can track leads and sales from the forms or live chat bots. 
*   Visible sales pipeline: Create custom stages by team members.
*   Communication tracking: You can track all the contact activities like calls, emails, chats, and more. 
*   Mobile apps: You can Pipedrive from your mobile device and integrate your smartphone. 

#### **What you will like about Pipedrive:**

*   You can add deals, win probabilities and close dates. 
*   Create custom reports that can track revenue estimates.
*   Unlimited custom fields can be collected.
*   You can generate lead source data reports for performance tips. 

#### Dislikes:

*   You need more filter options for further deep diving.
*   Product updates
*   No native dark mode

![Top CRms Pipedrive 2](/uploads/Top_CR_Ms_Pipedrive_2_1024x512_baf2e0a917.png)

### **Best enterprise CRM software –** Salesforce

Salesforce is a cloud based CRM software that deals with all branches of business like marketing, analytics, service, sales, etc. 

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#### What you will like about Salesforce:

*   Customisable API
*   Multi-language support
*   Multi-currency support
*   Enterprise territory sales management
*   24/7 customer support
*   Personalised automation
*   Wide range of email templates
*   In-built Einstein lead scoring
*   Lead management with Salesforce tools
*   Compatible with Windows, Linux, Mac and Android.
*   Large number of third-party integrations 
*   Mass email options

#### Dislikes:

*   If you want on-premise deployment, this is not for you
*   Live chat support

### **CRM with Marketing tools –** HubSpot

[Hubspot CRM](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/hub-spot-vs-salesforce-which-crm-should-you-choose) is great for those who want their sales and marketing tasks to next level. It gives you the ability to track, capture, and grow new leads in database. 

![Top CRMs Hubspot CRM](/uploads/hubspot_eec36f4ecb.png)

#### Key features:

*   Lead nurturing: Send personalised emails to clients and build analytics reports.
*   Contact management: You can organise and sync your contacts at one place by syncing emails to the CRM system. 
*   Multiple app integrations: [HubSpot lets you connect with other SaaS apps](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/hubspot-integrations) as well as with your existing tech stack. 
*   Live chat: You can help your customers faster with online tickets with instant chat capabilities. 
*   Sales pipeline data: You can view the entire sales pipelines with sales activity insights and individual performance. 

#### What you will like about Hubspot:

*   Free plan that can be upgraded anytime
*   Ad management tools for tracking ROIs
*   Team email and conversation email
*   Free email marketing
*   Integration with sales and marketing suites
*   Great form builder to capture lead information

#### Dislikes:

There are a whole lot of features offered by HubSpot so it can be difficult to choose from. 

### **Best basic CRM -** Freshsales

Freshsales is an appropriate CRM solution for small to midsize businesses, offering a reliable entry-level option. Despite not having as many features as some other CRMs, it has recently improved by incorporating integrations with other business software. For instance, Freshsales now integrates with calendars, email marketing software and DocuSign tools.

![Top CRMs Freshsales](/uploads/freshsales_1_caba9c76c0.png)

#### Key features:

*   Freshsales helps improve customer engagement and drives leads to closures with AI.
*   The most interesting feature of Freshsales is the AI assistant Freddy that it brings along. Freddy helps you smartly analyze the sales pipeline and lets you focus more on deals that will actually drive revenue.

#### What you will like about Freshsales CRM:

*   Customisation options 
*   AI assistance
*   Multiple third party integrations

#### Dislikes:

*   Free plans do not offer any reports

### **Best customisation CRM -** Sugar CRM

Next on the list is Sugar CRM that helps empower your marketing, sales and services teams and fits into the realities of your business very nicely.

![Top CRMs Sugar CRM](/uploads/sugar_20d908e001.png)

#### Key features:

*   The Sugar CRM allows various teams to collaborate across the entire customer lifecycle and help deliver more meaningful, memorable experiences at every stage of the customer journey.
*   Use the Sugar CRM along with Sugar Market, Sugar Serve and Sugar Sell to take the business to the next level.
*   Sugar has different products for small businesses and enterprise clients so as to cater to both of them better.
*   Sugar Professional helps create customer relationships that last a lifetime with all that you require to stay organised in a single, powerful platform.

#### What you will like about Sugar CRM:

*   Easily integrable with your favourite SaaS applications
*   AI powered data analysis

#### Dislikes:

*   Expensive
*   Complex to learn

### **A startup CRM –** Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM provides a comprehensive solution for managing your sales pipeline and driving business growth. It caters to businesses of various sizes and enables customisation of processes, creation of sales workflows, and utilisation of robust reporting capabilities.

![Top CRMs Zoho CRM](/uploads/zoho_crm_ac42e80179.png)

#### Key features:

*   Zoho offers customised solutions based on industry type.
*   The CRM allows you to hold presentations and meetings from within your CRM. This is one of the features that people usually love.
*   You may organise webinars, convert attendees to leads, and get webinar reports, all without moving out of your CRM.

#### What you will like about Zoho CRM:

*   It has a streamlined user interface
*   No contracts are involved
*   It also offers a free plan

#### Dislikes:

*   Support available in Enterprise and Premium plans that are paid
*   Third party integrations not available in free plan

### **A sales engagement CRM –** Agile CRM

Agile CRM claims to allow you to sell and market like Fortune 500 companies.

Quite an impressive claim, right?

Well, the CRM allows sales enablement, marketing automation and customer service and is trusted by 15,000+ customers from around the world.

![Top CRMs Agile CRM](/uploads/agile_624442cd03.png)

#### Key features:

*   This all-in-one CRM is affordable and calls itself the next generation CRM.
*   Your sales team can use the CRM to easily manage leads, deals, appointments and a lot more.
*   The marketing team can use it for email marketing, tracking, creating landing pages, and even social media marketing.
*   You can easily integrate it with Twitter, Facebook, all the Google Applications, Twilio, RingCentral, and LinkedIn.

#### What you will like about Agile CRM:

*   Free upto 10 users
*   Free trials available

#### Dislikes:

*   You cannot view complete numbers of the contacts
*   The email template building tool is not that flexible

### Best integration - Zendesk CRM

Zendesk initially focused on developing help desk software but over time expanded its offerings to include customer relationship management (CRM) tools. Its integration with Zendesk for Service is particularly strong, and its feature set caters more towards help desks compared to other CRMs we assessed. However, it still provides a wide range of features that make it suitable as a general-purpose CRM for any type of organisation.

#### Key features:

*   By using Zendesk Support, you can streamline your client interactions and create a more productive workflow, as it gathers all of these interactions in a single place.
*   Getting started with Zendesk products is a breeze, and you'll find that many of the essential features you require will work straight out of the box.

#### What you will like about Zendesk CRM:

*   Help desk of Zendesk offers excellent integrations
*   Easy onboarding

#### Dislikes:

*   Not that affordable
*   Email template is very basic

### **For small businesses - Apptivo CRM**

Apptivo CRM is a platform that is cost-effective and can be personalised to suit your requirements. It aims to provide a comprehensive solution to meet all of your business software needs.

#### Key features:

Besides the necessary features of CRM, it offers additional functionalities for activities like bookkeeping, generating invoices, and managing projects. The user interface is straightforward, and it provides compatibility with Android and iOS mobile devices.

#### What you will like about Apptivo CRM:

*   Customisation is available
*   24 h support

#### Dislikes:

*   Extended APIs not there
*   Performance can be sluggish

  
 

### **For growth stage businesses - Insightly CRM**

The CRM software from Insightly provides excellent value for its price. Our evaluation found that it is one of the most user-friendly systems available, although it may not offer as many features as some other options. The process of importing data into Insightly is seamless.

#### Key features:

*   The reporting engine incorporated in Insightly is powered by AI technology and allows for easy exporting of data to Microsoft Power BI with just one button.
*   The user interface is simple to use, even though it may not be very attractive from a visual standpoint.

#### What you will like about Insightly CRM:

*   Smooth data input
*   Customisation option is available
*   Easy integration with other marketing apps as well as the Insightly helpdesk

#### Dislikes:

*   Expensive
*   Lacks advanced features

  
Thus, this was a list of top eleven CRMs in 2023 that you must check out.

  
However, here it is also important to know that a CRM is as useful as you make it to be. You may have the best CRM in the world, but if your sales team is not making the best use of it, then it won’t fetch you results.

It’s extremely crucial that you make sure that your team is educated on how to make the best use of your CRM. We suggest that you reach out to a professional CRM consultant for the same. Not only can they set up the CRM for you, but also train and teach your team as to how to use a particular CRM.

We hope this list comes in handy to select the best CRM for your business. However, if you still have any doubts, you can always book a free consultation session with a CRM expert. A CRM expert will analyse your business and processes and suggest as to which CRM will best fit in the realities of your business.

[Book a free consultation now](https://www.cloudify.biz/book-consultation)

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Top 10 CRMs in 2023: The Best for Your Business

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### What is Pipedrive?

Well, Pipedrive, in the most basic sense, is a CRM. It is a tool for customer relationship management. Pipedrive, like any other CRM, allows you to manage your contacts and your relationships with them. These contacts can be your email subscribers, advocates, employees, sales leads or customers. Thus, CRM is a tool that allows you to manage your customer relationships better and Pipedrive essentially is a CRM.

So, is that all? If that’s all that a CRM does, then why don’t you go get a simple contact management software, why the heck do you need Pipedrive or any other fancy CRM for that matter? That’s because a CRM has a lot more to offer than plain contact management. 

There are certain reasons why it is called customer relationship management tool and not a contact management system. CRMs like Pipedrive allow you to keep track of your business better. CRMs are a necessity for sales teams around the world. It’s not just about storing and organizing contacts and the information related to them, but also organising and tracking all the relevant information you need to boost your business. This may be anything right from the initial prospecting, nurturing leads, closing deals and retaining customers to building long-lasting, mutually beneficial customer relationships, increasing sales, creating more personalised customer service and, overall, making processes more efficient. Thus, you see that a CRM has a lot of features built-in and actually helps your business in a lot of ways, not just storing and organising contact information.

Pipedrive is a CRM built by the salespeople for the salespeople. It’s one of the best CRMs available in the market these days, thanks to its activity-based selling approach. Selecting the right CRM for your business is nothing short of a challenge. It can be overwhelming and confusing because of the number of CRMs available today. Depending on what your business requirements are, you must choose the CRM that fits in nicely with the realities of your business. 

Pipedrive acts as your central repository of business information. You keep track of leads, deals, contacts and performance of your sales team, for starters. That said, you also get fantastic chances to automate a lot of tasks. You can easily integrate Pipedrive with any other SaaS application that you want and get things done on autopilot. Further, Pipedrive CRM comes with a sales assistant to help you sell smartly. Get tips on what to automate and what not. You see which deals and leads need priority attention.

And, because you track communications using Pipedrive, you know who to follow up with. No more leads going cold and no more awkward follow-ups. Thus, Pipedrive is not just a tool to manage leads but it is a tool that acts as the central controlling point where you keep track of everything business.

### How Much Does Pipedrive Cost?

The “Essential” Pipedrive plan which also happens to be the most basic one costs US$12.50, billed annually - per month per user.

The other pricing options offered by Pipedrive are -

1.  The Essential plan - US$ 9.90 per month per user, billed annually
2.  The Advanced Plan - US$ 19.90 per month per user, billed annually
3.  The Professional Plan - US$ 39.90 per month per user, billed annually
4.  The Power Plan - US$ 49.90 per month per user, billed annually
5.  The Enterprise Plan - US$ 59.90 per month per user, billed annually

Depending on what your team size is and what your business requirements are, you can choose a Pipedrive plan. Once you are done picking the Pipedrive plan that you need, you can get in touch with an official Pipedrive partner to get the CRM implemented. It may be difficult for you to move data into Pipedrive on your own, especially if the volume is huge. 

[An official Pipedrive partner](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/pipedrive-integrations) will help you with safe data migration, setting up contacts, leads and deals. Plus, they will also help you with setting up all the necessary SaaS integrations. 

*   Want Pipedrive integrated with your email marketing tool? A Pipedrive expert consultant can help you with that.
*   Struggling with how to educate your team on making the most out of Pipedrive implementation? A Pipedrive consultant can help you.
*   An official Pipedrive partner like [Cloudify](https://www.cloudify.biz/) will begin with understanding your sales process and lead ownership. It’s beyond crucial to understand how the CRM will actually support or boost your business. This helps in creating deal stages, custom fields, lead ownership rights, and a lot more.
*   Followed by this, they’d help move the data into the CRM. No matter if you have been using Google Sheets or any other CRM, they would help securely transfer the data and organise it, making it ready for use.
*   Next, they’d help you make the most out of the Pipedrive CRM by helping you set up some absolutely necessary integrations.
*   This can include automation to route the leads the right way, building custom lead views, and reporting dashboards.
*   Finally, they would also provide you with the much needed follow up support and maintenance to be able to use the CRM the right way.

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### Top Reasons to Use Pipedrive CRM

There are a lot of CRMs available in the market. What are the reasons that you should choose Pipedrive out of all? The primary reason to pick Pipedrive is that it is a CRM by salespeople for the salespeople. Pipedrive makes life easy for sales teams. With Pipedrive, sales professionals do not have to think what next? They have their day planned in advance, and all they have to do is complete those activities. That is exactly how Pipedrive helps boost sales outcomes. The CRM can be used to manage leads and deals, track communications and a lot more. Plus, it comes with a smart sales assistant that lets you know what to do and how to do. No more leads going cold, no more missed follow-ups. Pipedrive helps you be on the top of everything sales.

In addition to that, Pipedrive is super cautious about who’s having access to your business data. You get real-time updates and notifications on who’s viewing what and who is accessing what. Plus, you get location updates about where your data or Pipedrive account is being logged into from.

### How to Use Pipedrive?

Using Pipedrive is extremely easy, thanks to its visual board-like structure.

Updating the status of leads and deals is not at all difficult. All you have to do is drag and drop them in the right list.

Pipedrive provides a lot of useful resources and information on how to use Pipedrive.

Thus, if you are confused as to how to use Pipedrive, the best way to learn is visit the Resources section on the Pipedrive website and explore.

![](/uploads/pipedrive_experts_9b14b4582d.jpg)

## How to Find a Pipedrive Expert?

Getting started with Pipedrive is not that difficult. It’s just that you should have the right resources.

And these resources can be anything. Tutorial videos, how-to guides or even a human being telling you how to use it.

Pipedrive partners with agencies around the world that help businesses use Pipedrive the right way.

Although Pipedrive’s customer support team is always there to walk you through as and when you face an issue, you can always find an expert in the Pipedrive community of partners.

These partners are certified experts ready to help you get the most out of Pipedrive.

![](/uploads/top_marketing_automations_integrations_b080e5e637.jpg)

## Is Pipedrive the Right CRM for Your Business?

Whether Pipedrive is the right CRM for your business or not depends on a lot of factors.

In fact, any CRM for that matter, if you talk about whether it is the right CRM for your business or not - it depends on a variety of factors.

Which are these factors?

Primarily, it depends on why you are investing in the CRM, what operational business challenges do you need to solve, what processes do you lack that you should implement, how many people from your team would use the CRM, and what budget do you have.

Thus, if you are considering Pipedrive as a potential option, you must see if it checks all the requirements you expect from the CRM.

*   Does it allow you to manage your contacts, leads, deals and other data the way you’d want to?
*   Does it allow you to manage your pipeline and forecast the sales you’d want to?
*   Does it have the options to create informative reports the way you’d want to?
*   Does it support all the desired integrations?

There are a lot of review websites such as G2 Crowd, SoftwareWorld, Capterra, PCMag, SaaSGenius and so on. These review websites let you make informed choices by giving a quick sneak peek into what it's like using a given SaaS product.

Thus, that was a quick overview of what is Pipedrive, top reasons to use Pipedrive, how to use Pipedrive, how to find a Pipedrive expert and if Pipedrive is the right pick for your business or not.

Have you been using Pipedrive? (If not, you can try it for free by clicking here) How has your experience been with Pipedrive? If you want to know more [book a free consultation](https://www.cloudify.biz/book-consultation) with our team.

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What is Pipedrive?

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A functional Sales CRM ([Customer Relationship Management](Choosing the right CRM for your e-commerce to Work Smarter, Not Harder)) tool should just be specific only about sales but should be able to serve to many parts of the business cycle, facilitating each department in the company to improve their efficiency.

When many teams are working together and using different tools, there is a scope that a lot of stuff can fall through the cracks while failing to translate important information from one system to the other.

Let's dig deeper into what we are talking about!

[When it comes to CRM](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/introduction-to-crm), it's a collective term for each type of structures and systems your company uses for guiding relationships and interactions with customers. It does not only involve the guidelines on direct communications but the systems as well for tracking and organising important information including proposals, meetings, sales and conversions etc. CRM pulls together and gives an overview of how well or poorly the relationships with customers are going, who's handling what and how it is affecting the business. A CRM system pulls together lots of data, showing your business how well (or poorly) the relationships with customers are being handled and how that's affecting your business.

The main purpose [why people use CRM](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/what-is-marketing-automation-and-why-do-you-need-it) is to automate certain aspects of sales and speed, accuracy and efficiency. This is the basic idea that people have when they [implement CRM](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/implementing-a-crm-system).

But in this article - we are just clearing up the tried and tested and adding on some more unusual ways to use a sales CRM, from strategic marketing, sales management to competitor tracking.

We will also throw some light on how to use a CRM for increasing profits effectively, let's roll with some surprising information that we have gathered to skyrocket your business.

### CRM Can Also be Used for Sales Management

Sales managers are the people and leaders who generally reap benefits from adopting CRM.

As they get better visibility of the team's activities and being able to do general tasks like Forecasting and reporting quickly and easily are the most obvious benefits. Now what was done by managers is now shared amongst all the team members. Let's look at these three jobs and how to use CRM to enhance efficiency:

![](/uploads/pipedrive_sales_prospecting_761e817f11.jpg)

#### Sales Prospecting

Quality leads are what a sales team needs and getting them is only possible if you have a good prospecting strategy. It involves numbers and predictions, and the need for a CRM automatically comes to the picture.

For prospecting at a scale, you will need to automate some critical areas of the process.

Whether you're using emails, phone calls or any other way - capturing prospect's data and organizing easily and effectively, meanwhile handling it over to your sales and marketing teams is of utmost importance.

[Pipedrive has plenty of prospecting features](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/pipedrive-integrations) like converting email addresses to contacts automatically, and then the marketing efforts could collaborate with integrations with a third party tool.

![](/uploads/pipedrive_sales_forcasting_9369e5270d.jpg)

#### Sales Forecasting

Become a better salesperson and close more deals with Forecasting. It is an excellent feature for both Sales managers and salespeople.

Pipedrive's forecasting feature is none less than a personal sales manager, the best thing about it is that - it won't fire you for not making targets.

It will help you in picking up the right deals and the activities to focus on - so that it won't get messy at the end of the month.

Pipedrive's Forecasting Feature

*   Allows highly effective Forecasting
*   Is useful for salespeople and managers alike
*   Is customisable to suit your needs

Sales forecasting is a critical element of any sales strategy, and this is where Pipedrive systems come on its own.

You can see ongoing deals arranged as per their closing date against the deals you have chosen to be compared with, and this will help you in figuring out what should be done before it gets too late, work on deals that are likely to close soon and find new deals for working on.

Keep everyone in your business on the same page with Pipedrive’s Insights Beta feature, which enables you to share the insight dashboards with clients, managers and colleagues even if they do not have a Pipedrive account. You can also showcase the numbers on your office screen or during presentations for encouraging competition and helping everyone track the progress towards goals.

Insights enable you to create custom, interactive reports and dashboards meanwhile providing you with deep insights about the data you need for completing the picture of your sales success. No more static screenshots of reports, share live insights in meetings and presentations. Assess every team’s dashboard in company meetings. If you’re a reseller, inform clients how their products are performing with your customers.

![](/uploads/invoice_automation_a4f5b92e55.jpg)

### Invoice Automation

Many people are in the wrong impression that CRM is only for tracking initial sales, but in reality, you can use it for building stronger relationships and upsell as well.

The job does not get done once you close a deal, churn is also the enemy of growth. You should use your CRM for managing the entire customer journey for helping you in increasing revenue.

And the major part that comes when you close a deal is sending in an invoice if done manually - it could hinder the productivity of your sales team. Whereas when it comes to [CRM - you can actually automate the whole invoicing process](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/why-you-should-consider-integrating-accounting-software-and-crm).

Simplify the invoicing process with Pipedrive and accounting software like Xero, [e-conomic](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/economic-integrations) or QuickBooks integrations. No matter wherever your leads come from whether Pipedrive, web forms, excel or e-commerce, cloudify's invoice automation works with multiple systems and can automate invoice creation process from within Pipedrive. No more copying and pasting data from one system to the other system, save time and improve efficiency.

### Bonus - Use Your CRM to Automate Almost Anything

We understand you need a simple, easy and visual CRM for managing your sales Pipeline, but it does not have to end there.

According to us any process, which requires a structured series of stages, actions or repetitive steps - can be easily automated and managed with a Pipeline CRM.

When you combine it with an activity-based approach to management, you can easily speed up almost any process in your business. A successful activity-based plan is built based on knowledge and the steps that you should take every day.

[BOOK A FREE CONSULTATION](https://www.cloudify.biz/book-consultation) with our CRM experts to know more.

Using Your Sales CRM for More Than Sales

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In this blog post, we will provide a comprehensive explanation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and its significance to your business. We will begin by examining the fundamental aspects of CRM and then delve into why your business requires it. Finally, we will explore the process of selecting the [most appropriate CRM](https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15963-benefits-of-crm.html) for your business.

### What is a CRM?

[A CRM](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/introduction-to-crm), in the most basic sense, helps you to manage your customer relationships. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. And, as the name suggests, a CRM helps you manage your relationships with your customers. It’s all about how you talk to them, keep track of them, follow-up on deals, send support messages and everything else.

Everything you do for developing customer relationships, retaining clients and acquiring new customers falls under customer relationship management and a CRM helps you do that. A CRM is a software that makes sure that all of your customer centric activities are carried out smoothly. The purpose of a CRM essentially is to minimise the friction and make sure that the processes are carried out smoothly. For instance, with a CRM you are reminded about pending follow-ups and leads that are going cold.

Related use cases: [Vendemus](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/vendemus) | [Helion B2B](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/helion)

![](/uploads/crm_lead_notification_2x_3_e1efa361aa.jpg)

You see that all the features of a CRM are built keeping in mind that they help achieve better customer relationships and thus increase sales, profitability and revenue. A feature-rich CRM makes it easier to find new customers, nurture relationships with them, win their trust, provide excellent, high-quality customer support and other necessary services throughout the relationship with a given customer.

A lot of people have this confusion that a CRM is to manage your relationships with existing customers only. However, contrary to the popular opinion, a CRM helps you manage your relationships with your potential customers also.

Whenever there is a new lead in the CRM, you see what stage they are in, when you need to follow-up, when you need to call them and so on. All of these activities are a part of nurturing your relationship with the potential customers.

Thus, you see that a CRM is not only for managing your relationships with customers that you have already won, but also for potential customers.

Yet another school of thought sees [CRM as a part of sales](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/using-your-sales-crm-for-more-than-sales) and marketing efforts only. However, we believe that a CRM is much more than that. It is a way of business! You may be in for a ride if you used to believe that a CRM is just for sales. A CRM is a system that helps increase the overall productivity of the business. It’s crucial that the CRM is embedded right in your business – be it HR or customer services or supply-chain management - a CRM has something for everyone and it must be treated like that.

### Why Does Your Business Need a CRM?

Now that we have a [fair overview of what a CRM is](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/making-the-right-use-of-your-crm) let’s see why a CRM is absolutely essential for businesses. A CRM lets you store all the important customer information in one place - that is probably the most widely known benefit of CRMs. It lets you store contacts and other necessary information in one place, for everyone to access. But, it not only records contacts and their information, it also records service issues, helps identify sales opportunities, helps manage marketing campaigns and a lot more.

A CRM is part of a strategy - your business strategy. Every business needs a strategy. Strategy is crucial for business. And strategy decides how your business fares in the long run. You may have set targets related to sales, you may have clearly defined your business objectives and profitability. But how do you know where you stand? How do you have an overview of what’s going on or if you are even on the right path or not?

To put it otherwise, it may be difficult to get up-to-date, reliable information related to your progress towards your goals. Businesses are complex, there are various teams, departments and sub-departments. How do you make sure that everyone is on the same page? Or, how do you translate the various streams of business data coming in from sales teams, marketing teams, customer service teams, social media management teams or any other team for that matter into trackable business information? This is where a CRM steps in. A CRM is the central repository of information. It is the central hub of information for you to be on top of your business.

A CRM system gives you a holistic overview of your customers. Using a CRM, you see everything in one place. You have a dashboard that is more or less your entire business. You know which leads are going cold, which new leads came in just now, which leads need immediate attention, what your sales team is doing, who’s attending to which lead and a lot more. Further, you may use CRMs to understand how your customers are behaving and what they’d like. And, finally, your marketing team can use the CRM to have a better understanding of the pipeline of sales or prospective work coming in. This will help them forecast and understand the trends better and direct the marketing activities in the right direction.

And yes, as we talked about it earlier as well, CRMs are not just for marketing and sales teams but customer support teams as well. CRMs considerably reduce the issues customer support teams face, For instance, they might receive a support request on social media and then may have to switch to email or phone to address it or help the customer understand. But, with an intelligent CRM in place, the customer support team can manage the enquiry across channels without losing track.

### What Would You Do Without a CRM?

A lot of business owners, especially those who have never used a CRM before, think that CRM is just a fancy tool that you may or may not use. But, contrary to this, a CRM is a business necessity.

A CRM takes a lot off your plate. You don’t have to perform a lot of administrative tasks. There is a flood of data - but you don’t have to organise it or figure out what to do with it. Because it is automatically being stored in your CRM. How? For instance, you integrate your CRM with your Facebook leads form - thus what happened next? As soon as someone signs up for your lead magnet, a lead gets created in the CRM. No administrative tasks, no manually updating leads and no worries about missing out on anything.

![](/uploads/facebook_lead_crm_full_7a3cc5c0ac.jpg)

With CRM, no leads go cold, no conversations get lost in a sea of emails and no contacts are lost. You are updated on everything - every moment. Be it Salesforce, Zoho CRM, [Pipedrive](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/pipedrive-integrations) or [HubSpot](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/hubspot-integrations), CRMs have a lot to offer. You not only categorise and manage leads better but also reduce operational costs and manage your human resources better.

It’s a no brainer that your business needs a CRM but what you might not know is that a CRM is even better with integrations. Integrate your CRM with all of your favourite SaaS products and draw additional advantages.

CRMs help improve customer service, increase sales, retain customers, understand analytics better, increase the efficiency of teams, provide better insights and knowledge on customer trends, and increase transparency on processes. CRM over the course of time has evolved from a tool into a system. It’s more basic to a business’s identity now. It’s how your sales teams achieve their goals and it’s how you keep track of everything. With CRMs such as Pipedrive, your business data is absolutely secure. You get real time notifications on who’s logging into your CRM and where are they from.

Depending on your team size, requirements and budget, you can select a CRM. Some of the leading names are Pipedrive, HubSpot, Salesforce, Zoho CRM and Freshsales.

![](/uploads/top_crms_3385fdfaa9.png)

If you have no idea about what CRM is the best pick for you, you should consider [getting in touch with a CRM consultant.](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/free-consultation) They will conduct a digital analysis of your business and help you understand what CRM will fit in the realities of your business the best. They will even help you implement the CRM and make the most out of it by educating you and your team on how to use it. For beginners, it is recommended that you contact a CRM consultant and take their help while signing up for a CRM.

How did you find this blog post? Leave your comments in the comments section below so that we can come up with interesting insights for you to consume.

[![cta-contact-us (2).png](/uploads/cta_contact_us_2_803e8e5770.png)](https://www.cloudify.biz/contact)

What is a CRM and Why Do You Need One?

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As a business, customers should be at the centre of everything. [Customer Relationship Management](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/what-is-a-crm-and-why-do-you-need-one) has evolved throughout the years for providing new and better opportunities for managing contacts and delivering better customer experience.

### How Businesses Are Not Leveraging The Benefits of CRM

#### Lack of Vision

One of the terrible mistakes companies make with their CRM project is not set up specific targets & goals. A CRM software is bound to be adaptable and flexible so that it can be used in industries with broad niche and cases. Without a clear vision of the needs that the CRM will be used to accomplish, it could be easy to lose focus during the planning and CRM implementation process. The more specific your plans are, the more likely it is to be a success.

![](/uploads/crm_not_leveraging_86f4544a4d.png)

### Thinking CRM is Just a Technology Solution

It's effortless for organizations to get carried away with the technology behind their CRM projects, but it's essential to realize that these software's sole purpose should always be enhancing customer relationships.

Technology alone can not improve the relationships with your customers, so the right workflows that are operated with well-trained staff can probably generate powerful results.

#### Unfocused Planning

Implementing CRM is obviously not an easy job. It involves multiple processes, refining generic workflows into specific ones, user testing, data migration, employee training and much more.

Also, your plan should be crystal clear so that there is no confusion and you know in which direction you're headed. Ensure that all elements of an implementation are taken into consideration.

![](/uploads/cloudify_crm_approach_c03070a0a4.jpg)

### Cloudify’s Approach to CRM Implementation

#### Analyse

A deep analysis of your business and its processes. How are your existing sales processes, does it fit your needs. Where the data and leads come from and which systems need to interact with the CRM, on the basis of this – we suggest how the sales process ideally should be and [how the CRM should be configured](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/introduction-to-crm) accordingly.

#### Data Wash & Migration

Gathering data from different sources, cleaning duplicate and unnecessary data and enriching data as per our customer’s needs.

#### Configuration

We start with the system specific configurations on the basis of analysis and the chosen CRM system. The configuration is done in such a way that it's ready to roll out for both individual and company level.

#### Implementation

After configuration, we implement effective solutions in the systems that are easy to use and not complex, define user roles and responsibilities for management and staff.

#### Change Management

Our job does not end at [implementation of solution]("Pillar- SaaS Implementation: Challenges, pitfalls and best practices  ") but we also make sure that you and your staff are trained for the wave of change, we don’t leave unless your systems are up and running.

### Implementing CRM Without a Sales Strategy

[Sales strategy](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/implementing-a-sales-strategy) is actually a tactical blueprint for how the business can increase revenue, sales and profits.

Your sales strategy decides who you will be selling to, what you exactly need to communicate to your customers that entices them to make a purchase and what you're expecting.

Developing a sales strategy will help you understand who are your ideal customers and how you can increase the sales with your target audience.

Pipedrive can be implemented without a Sales Strategy, Goals or Forecasting but in that case you will not be using CRM to its full potential rather just half of it, which will lead to unsuccessful CRM implementation in the long run.

It is because without a Sales Strategy, goals etc you’re putting your business at risk by not providing your team with the right guidance they need for proceeding further.

### Not Setting Measurable Objectives

How you're supposed to know if the well-designed CRM that you have implemented is failing? How would you detect it? Without the right metrics to measure success, there's no way to tell what's working and what's not working.

Your CRM project needs precise, clear and measurable objectives, which can be analyzed, tracked, analyzed and deeply evaluated. This will allow you to update and make timely changes in the CRM when it is needed.

### Not Thinking From the Customer's Perspective

The fundamental role of a CRM is to assemble customer's information efficiently in a centralized location and make it accessible to everyone when it is needed.

There are multiple ways for organizing the system and usually the data is organized in a way that makes it easier for the company rather than the customer.

For example, in cases like customer support - the company-centric approach won't serve you any good. If your CRM is failing, it is required for you to take a step back and observe how your customers interact with your CRM.

### Considering CRM Implementation as a One Time Thing

A CRM system should flow with your business and its objectives. A great CRM is obviously not the result of a single, perfectly executed implementation rather ongoing changes, refinements, revisions and expansions that lead to success.

CRM would never be perfect because business is dynamic, it's always changing. If your CRM is failing, the chances are that it needs an update.

At the same time, the [right CRM implementation](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/implementing-a-crm-system) partner will not abandon the project right after its up and running. Rather they will check in regularly with you if things are going fine and any update is required.

Relared use cases: [Glycospot](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/glycospot) | [CHSContainer](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/chs-container) | [HelionB2B](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/helion)

### Choosing the Wrong Software or Vendor

Choosing the right partner is very important for your success, but so is selecting the right CRM software that deems fit your business needs.

It can be very tempting to choose the cheapest or the most expensive software with maximum features, but either you will land up with a CRM system which has very few features, does not integrate with apps or a CRM whose features are just too much for your business.

It's better to seek consultation from experts who can guide you on which CRM to choose for your business. An experienced CRM consultant will always build a customized solution for you.

Looking for a FREE CRM Consultation? [Book A Meeting with Our CRM Experts](https://www.cloudify.biz/book-consultation)

### How Can CRM Help Accelerate Your Business?

Customer relationships are the key to your organization's growth, so you need to manage them as effectively and efficiently as you can. Here's how CRM systems can help you in improving your business performance and growing your company bigger.

#### Finding the Right Customers

Without a CRM system, 79% of all the marketing leads would never get converted into sales.

Meanwhile, you've spent resources and time in attracting and generating new leads but after that? Now what? Are those leads getting passed to your sales team and if so, do your representatives know about the opportunities that are the hottest?

Time is very important when you're small but growing faster day by day. Did you know? You can make the most of your marketing tools, whether email or social with marketing automation and connecting them to a CRM system.

Both marketing and sales will have a complete overview of the prospects and leads so that they can target engaging communications and turn prospects into customers.

#### Building More Sustainable Relationships

According to research by Salesforce, forty-six percent of sales leaders say that a deeper customer relationship is the key objective for sustaining success.

You can develop an understanding of a customer - starting right from their history with your organization, and you will surely build a very lasting relationship, which is founded on mutual success and trust. The right CRM can help a company:

**Explore their challenges:** It will help you in finding out what matters the most to your customers, their challenges, preferences and goals, at the end of each exchange make sure to follow up. Record them in your CRM, so next time you can pick up from where you left.

**Engage:** After you have understood the customer's challenges and goals - you can recommend them relevant products and promotions or other content, which is relevant to their business interests at the right time.

With CRM, you will also know - what they have shown interest in previously or what they have purchased and how they have been using the. You will be able to provide relevant information and content based on their needs.

#### Reduce Sales Costs

*   The probability of selling to any new prospect is between 5 to 20 percent and the probability to sell to an existing customer is between 60 to 70%.
*   According to multiple marketing metrics - new customers are the key ingredient of growth but getting them is not easy.
*   But you can surely gain some more revenue by pitching your new products or services to your existing customers.
*   Gain visibility to cross-sell and upsell or renewal opportunities, and you will see the chances of increasing repeatable sales with the trust that you have already earned.

#### Offer Better Customer Service Experience

Customers would pay more to a company where they get better customer experience.

This states the fact that you could have the best product in the world, but it should be as good as the service. Don't flood your customers with multiple marketing promotions that will scare them away. Drop generic marketing emails when you have acquired a prospect and converted him into a customer.

A CRM will centralise the data and interactions, while giving access to your team to a customer's complete history so that every team can provide personalized solutions with the right resources.

### How is Pipedrive the Master Of All Sales CRMs?

Did you know that Pipedrive is the first sales CRM which is focused on Sales and activity based sales. It is designed by salespeople for salespeople.

Pipedrive is the current leader of the CRM category and the winner of [Expert's Choice Award](https://reviews.financesonline.com/) for 2019.

Their team did all extensive tests on the CRM's which are available in the market and found Pipedrive to be the best performing CRM and sales pipeline management system. Some amazing features of Pipedrive that makes it stand out from the crowd:

#### Easy Sales Pipeline Management

Pipedrive comes with an interface, which helps in visualizing the sales process while making it significantly easy to manage and use. As with the tools, there's always a need to learn, but with pipedrive, it would definitely be easy.

#### Integrations to Boost Productivity

Pipedrive can be integrated with tonnes of applications including Zapier, Mailchimp and Trello. Marketing is one of the essential parts of generating leads, and you can automate your processes and tasks, including emails, social media, lead generation and more so that your team can focus on better tasks.

#### Lead Management Feature

With pipedrive, you get the ability to add web forms on websites, whether they are yours or someone else's. It will surely help you in generating more leads.

#### Activity-Based Selling Definition

It is one of its kind selling strategies, that shifts the focus away from just closing a deal to something bigger and better. It put the focus on the complete process or all the actions that lead to completing a sale.

#### Open API

Every business needs customization as per its requirements; Pipedrive gives you the ability to do that. Your developers can access its open API and make the required customisations.

Well, choosing the right CRM could be a hectic task but not with an experienced CRM consultation.

If you need any assistance you can book a meeting with us, we are official partners of Pipedrive and have helped many organisations with their CRM's. We highly recommend Pipedrive to everyone because it is a tool, which is designed by salespeople for salespeople, keeping every need in mind.

Making the Right Use of Your CRM

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If you haven't been living underground for the past few years, you have probably heard of artificial intelligence (AI). But how can we utilise AI in CRM and eCommerce systems and enhance their capabilities?

In this piece, we will outline innovative and practical ways that retail businesses are taking advantage of AI in the realm of online shopping. 

AI has taken the world by storm, and its impact is being felt across all industries, including [customer relationship management (CRM)](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/introduction-to-crm) and eCommerce. With the increasing competition in the market, businesses are continuously looking for ways to enhance their customer experience and drive sales. AI has become an essential tool in this quest. 

AI is gradually becoming a part of our everyday existence, from the increasing number of self-service cash machines to the sophisticated security checks utilised in airports; it seems that artificial intelligence is always present.  
Industry experts predict that AI will soon gain momentum, with industry giants such as Google and Microsoft already investing heavily in new AI ventures.

In this article, we will explore the role of AI in enhancing CRM and eCommerce.

### Marketing statistics at a glance

The eCommerce AI market is expected to reach [$45.72 billion](https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/12/23/2579161/0/en/Artificial-Intelligence-AI-in-Retail-Market-Size-to-Hit-Around-USD-45-74-BN-by-2032.html#:~:text=According%20to%20Precedence%20Research%2C%20the,18.45%25%20from%202023%20to%202032.) by 2032. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 18.45% from 2023-2032.

The retail market is expected to reach USD [49.09 billion](https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/11/10/2552720/0/en/Artificial-Intelligence-AI-In-Retail-Market-is-Projected-to-Reach-US-49-09-Billion-in-2028.html). The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 38.05% during 2022-28.

Around [35% of companies](https://techjury.net/blog/ai-statistics/#gref) are already using AI in their businesses. 42% of companies explored AI in 2022.

**![image.png](/uploads/image_467885d873.png)**

### Here’s the positive changes that happened because of use of AI in CRM and eCommerce

The implementation of artificial intelligence in e-commerce and CRM systems is empowering companies to predict, perceive, and automate. This technology not only enhances the user experience but also boosts brand reputation while assisting startups, manufacturers, and retailers to set new industry standards. The implications of AI are enormous, transforming how retailers sell their products and services and how consumers purchase them. AI can address real-world challenges that [e-commerce businesses](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/how-can-you-automate-your-ecommerce-business) encounter and can also integrate enjoyable features into applications, including automated product recommendations, personalized customer support, loyalty discounts, and more.

#### AI in Customer Relationship Management

![AI-crm.png](/uploads/AI_crm_ac980720a5.png)

[Customer relationship management is the backbone of any successful business](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/making-the-right-use-of-your-crm). It involves managing the interactions and relationships between a business and its customers. With the rise of AI, businesses are now able to automate and streamline their CRM processes. AI-powered chatbots can be used to handle customer queries, complaints, and support. Chatbots can provide personalised recommendations and offer solutions to customers in real-time. This not only saves time but also provides a seamless customer experience.

 AI can also be used to analyse customer data and behaviour. By analysing customer data, businesses can gain insights into customer behaviour, preferences, and purchasing patterns. This information can be used to create personalised marketing campaigns and offers that cater to the individual needs of customers. Personalisation is a key factor in customer satisfaction, and AI can help the eCommerce businesses achieve this.

#### Virtual Assistants and Voice Commerce

![AI-voice-assitance.png](/uploads/AI_voice_assitance_081cfba3d9.png)

Virtual assistants and voice commerce have become integral components of e-commerce, leveraging machine learning and language processing technologies to provide seamless support to customers. Widely popularised by the likes of Apple's Siri, Amazon's Alexa, and Google Assistant, virtual assistants offer 24/7 availability and handle simple customer inquiries with ease. They can assist with product research, inventory management and offer quick and easy access to information for customers.

Voice commerce, which allows users to make purchases and conduct searches using their voice, has seen significant growth in recent years. Its convenience and speed make it a preferred choice among customers who want to save time and avoid typing errors.

#### Personalised Product Recommendations

![AI-retarget-potential-customer.png](/uploads/AI_retarget_potential_customer_88850945d2.png)

AI algorithms can analyse the purchase and browsing history of customers to provide personalized product recommendations, enhancing the overall customer experience. This is the first and most important thing that an AI algorithm can do, as it helps users see things they are interested in.

#### Chatbots

![AI-chatbots.png](/uploads/AI_chatbots_2aed9acbc8.png)

 Chatbots are another AI-powered tool that can offer real-time assistance to customers, addressing their queries and concerns in a personalized manner. They can suggest products and help customers find what they are looking for quickly and efficiently.

#### Inventory Management

 AI also plays a vital role in inventory management, detecting product requirements and optimising inventory to meet demand. This ensures customers can get the products they need on time, while eCommerce businesses can manage their inventory more effectively.

#### Searchandising (Smart Search)

Searchandising is an innovative approach that combines traditional search methods with advanced features such as faceted search, recommended products, autocomplete, and recent searches. Leveraging customer behaviour [data from the CRM system](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/what-is-a-crm-and-why-do-you-need-one), eCommerce platforms can create personalised and profitable search experiences, improving the overall shopping experience for customers.

#### eCommerce Automation

![AI-ecommerce-automation.png](/uploads/AI_ecommerce_automation_976934634e.png)

 AI-powered automation can save time, energy, and operating capital for eCommerce businesses, allowing them to focus on more challenging tasks. Automation can execute repetitive tasks such as presenting new items on different channels, coordinating sales, implementing discounts for loyal customers, and recognising high-risk transactions.

### Retargeting Potential Customers

Retargeting or remarketing is a strategy that reminds users who have engaged with an eCommerce platform of the existence of the brand and its products. AI can help identify behavioural patterns and use this information to lure users back to the store. One effective retargeting strategy is the use of personalised push notifications that can be based on the behavioural data collected, providing cost-effective and targeted communication.

Incorporating AI into e-commerce platforms has tremendous potential for enhancing the customer experience, improving inventory management, and automating repetitive tasks, ultimately leading to increased profitability and brand loyalty.

**Wrapping up!**

[Cloudify is a leading provider of e-commerce automation](https://www.cloudify.biz/) solutions dedicated to helping companies achieve their digital transformation goals. With a focus on digital analysis, implementation of cloud-based systems, and automation and system integration, Cloudify is a trusted partner that optimises processes, streamlines operations and boosts marketing and sales efforts.

Overall, Cloudify is the ideal partner for companies looking to enhance their e-commerce automation capabilities. By providing end-to-end digital solutions that are tailored to each client's needs, Cloudify helps businesses achieve their digital transformation goals while optimising their processes and boosting their marketing and sales efforts. With Cloudify as a trusted partner, companies can confidently navigate the complex terrain of digital transformation and achieve their goals.

**Related content for you:**

*   [Integrate your HubSpot](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/packages/hubspot-shopify) account with [Shopify](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/shopify-integrations) 
*   [HubSpot](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/hubspot-integrations) and [WooCommerce](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/woocommerce-integrations) store integration
*   Integrating [Pipedrive](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/pipedrive-integrations) with [WooCommerce](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/woocommerce-integrations) 
*   Integrating [Pipedrive](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/pipedrive-integrations) with [Shopify](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/shopify-integrations)
*   Integrating [Pipedrive](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/pipedrive-integrations) with [Magent](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/products/magento-integrations)o

Try our [Pipedrive and Amazon seller central integration](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/cloudify-launches-amazon-integration-app-on-pipedrive-marketplace) 

Didn’t find your integrations here! Drop us a message with your requirements: [Contact us](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/contact-us)

**Related use cases:** [veo](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/veo) 

[![cta-the-role-of-AI-CRM.png](/uploads/cta_the_role_of_AI_CRM_e926f52e7f.png)](https://www.cloudify.biz/book-consultation)

The Role of AI in Enhancing CRM and eCommerce

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[Customer Relationship Management (CRM)](https://www.cloudify.biz/crm-implementation) lets you manage your business interaction with current customers as well as potential ones. Talking about the goal – It’s simple: Improve business relationships with new and existing customers and opportunities. You not only connect with your customers but also streamline your business processes, improve productivity, manage teams, manage sales, manage contacts, and improve profitability.

CRM can replace the multitude of spreadsheets that you use to manually enter your customer or company data into, and the multiple apps or systems you use to store data. They store all the data linked to sales, leads and customers – all in one place. 

![image-crm-history.png](/uploads/image_crm_history_7e5a22d770.png)

## **What does a good CRM tool do?**

The industry of CRM, which is one of the fastest-growing in the world, is projected to [experience a growth rate of 14% from 2021 to 2027](https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15963-benefits-of-crm.html). 

A CRM tool connects your teams and systems to provide actionable insights. Here you can find out some of the benefits of CRM listed below:

A customer relationship management software helps you track lead data so that the sales and marketing team get an overview of the lead stage and monitor these opportunities for better sales.

Get a real-time view of the sales data by linking it to your CRM solutions and get hold of any bottlenecks. 

Based on the CRM data, you can focus on what is important for your business. For example, identifying leads that are ready to be closed or needs a follow-up. 

Optimise workflows with CRM automation and eliminate repetitive and manual tasks. 

You can tap customer behaviour and manage customer data to better understand customer interactions and engagement across various touchpoints. 

The CRM platform being security rich, lets you gain an advantage through rapid customer responses, launch new campaigns, and much more.

## **Why your business needs a good CRM software?**

If you are finding it really difficult to manage your tasks linked to marketing, sales, finance, or customer relations you know that its time to upgrade to a Customer relationship management system. 

You can look into these warning signs:

**If you lack centralisation**: It becomes difficult for you to take decisions as all data are scattered and none are at one place. It takes a lot of time to collate all this data and make sense of it.

**Communication breakdown**: If your marketing and sales team lack communication, it might hurt the lead stages and affect the productivity of both teams.

**Lack backups**: When a sales team leaves the company and there is no centralised platform in place, customer relations are also lost and it takes an enormous amount of time and money to build the lost relationships. 

**Poor customer satisfaction**: Without a CRM system, it becomes difficult to find the customer patterns or behaviours as all data remains scattered. A good CRM ensures effective contact management that is supportive to your sales pipeline management and lead management.

**Low lead scoring**: Without a CRM app, lead scoring can be near to impossible for your sales and marketing team. 

| **If you are still using a spreadsheet** | **When you start using a CRM** |
| --- | --- |
| Every customer information is static | Cloud-based CRM and static information is present along with action taken, notes, comments, history, etc. |
| Need to update contact manually | CRM helps in automatic contact update |
| Contact can get duplicated | No duplication of error |
| Information stays in the sheet till you have imported it to another app. | Data flows smoothly from CRM to the sales and marketing team. |
| Difficult to score leads | Automated lead scoring |
| Manual task reminder | Automated task reminders |
| Data sorting is manual along with list creation for emailing. | Automatic contact segmentation based on customer behaviour. |
|   | Automated customer support |
|   | Makes the customer journey smooth |
|   | CRM can help meeting the needs of small businesses, along with medium and large size enterprises |
|   | All-in-one CRM platform for project management, lead management, increasing sales opportunities, etc. |

## **How to get started with CRM and choose the right CRM software?**

There are a number of points that needs to be taken into account before [choosing the right CRM software tools.](https://www.cloudify.biz/blogs/post/what-is-a-crm)

#### Types of CRM

**Cloud CRM**: Cloud CRM is maintained by the service provider. You can access the service over the internet where you can deploy it without any app installation.

**On-premise CRM**: It involves the installation of software on the device that needs to be updated, customised, and maintained by your IT team. 

| **Cloud CRM** | **On-premise CRM** |
| --- | --- |
| This needs no additional infrastructure to function. | These needs setting up servers on your business premises. |
| You can access all data from anywhere and from any device. | You can only access the data on your local network. |
| You get free trials in most of the cloud based apps. | Here, no trials available. |
| Customisation is available and it varies based on the customer needs along with quick deployment. | Here, the deployment period remains long. |
| Easy integration with third party apps through APIs. | Third party integration possible but with expert help. |
| Follows robust security measures. | It is the responsibility of the organisation for protection of the data. |

### How a Customer Relationship Management solution works?

The CRM app takes data from the integrated platforms and organises it. 

![page - 2-50 (2).png](/uploads/page_2_50_2_c1832c725f.png)

You get analytics reports and real-time insights that make the reports accessible and actionable. 

The company that has increased its investments in analytics are likely to use this data for its competitive advantage over the competitors.

## **Why cloud-based CRM system is becoming popular for small businesses?**

A CRM is a powerful management tool that can be used by businesses of all sizes to manage customer relationships and increase customer loyalty. It provides a comprehensive view of customers and their interactions with the company, allowing businesses to better understand customer needs and preferences.

With CRM, small business owners can better understand the different CRM functionalities and CRM capabilities that helps them easily track customer data, automate sales processes, create personalized marketing campaigns, and generate valuable insights into their customers. Additionally, it allows them to provide an improved level of service by quickly responding to inquiries or complaints and improving their customer management. CRM can also help them in their daily operations by ensuring that they are providing the best possible experience for their customers.

There are many free CRMs available that can be used by these businesses, like HubSpot CRM. If the business is sales focused, then Pipedrive sales CRM can be a great choice for them.

### **Your company always needs a plan to implement the CRM software for your business:**

*   Build your team
*   Define your business goals and prioritise it
*   Define your processes
*   Map the processes to know where CRM can be used
*   Define the mapping fields as per your needs
*   Train your team
*   Communicate with your users

#### **Future of CRM and CRM platforms:**

Artificial intelligence is expected to take the front row by increasing the efficiency of CRM platforms through incredible customer experience. In addition to this, mobile experience is going to improve. Not ending it here, big data will be a big part of this revolution where platforms will aggregate and organise their data. 

[Know how CRM system integration](https://www.cloudify.biz/case-studies/helion) is changing businesses and their efficiencies.

[![upgrade-ecommerce (1).png](/uploads/upgrade_ecommerce_1_44cee2b308.png)](https://www.cloudify.biz/marketplace/free-consultation)