Structuring and Implementing a CRM

Introduction

Implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can be a transformative step for your business. A CRM helps you manage your interactions with potential and current customers, ensuring that leads are nurtured effectively and opportunities are turned into sales. Here are some things to think about as you get going.

There is a lean towards to HubSpot or Pipedrive as they've been most popular with our clients.

1. Define Your Funnel Stages

The first step in setting up your CRM is defining the stages of your sales funnel. A common framework consists of three main stages:

• Audience (Marketing): These are potential customers who have shown interest but are not yet qualified leads. They might visit your website or engage with your social media. Typical actions include subscribing to your newsletter or filling out a contact form.
• Leads (Business Development): Individuals from your audience who have taken a specific action that suggests potential interest in your product or service. Leads should be qualified to determine their suitability.
• Opportunities (Sales): Qualified leads that are likely to convert into customers. This stage includes negotiating and finalizing deals.

Ensure your CRM is configured to clearly track these stages. For example, Pipedrive or HubSpot both allow you to map out and customize these stages based on your sales process.

2. Capturing and Qualifying Leads

To make the most of your CRM, think about how leads enter your system and how they are qualified:

• Lead Capture: Leads can be captured through website forms, social media, newsletters, or events such as trade shows. Set up integrations with your CRM to automatically add these contacts. Make sure you have connected your CRM with LinkedIn (https://www.surfe.com - can be super useful here)
• Lead Qualification: Assign different statuses to leads (e.g., Cold, Warm, Hot) to help prioritize your follow-up actions. Cold leads are unqualified, Warm leads show interest, and Hot leads are nearly ready to move forward. Regularly check your lead inbox for qualification opportunities.

Tools like HubSpot and Pipedrive allow for automated workflows, ensuring that leads are categorized and assigned to your team members for follow-up. You can also use tools like Zapier to connect forms and automate lead capture.

3. Structuring Your Sales Pipeline

Your CRM should reflect your sales pipeline in a way that makes sense for your business. Consider the following stages for opportunities:

• Opportunity: Initial interest that suggests a deal may be possible.
• Prospect: The prospect is interested, and you’re nurturing them towards a proposal.