How to Use HubSpot CRM

Using Hubspot CRM can significantly streamline your interactions with customers and potential leads by automatically creating a database of customer information from certain channels, including emails, website visits, or social media interactions.

This guide will run you through the inner workings of Hubspot CRM, from the services it offers to the benefits of using it.

What is Hubspot CRM?

Hubspot CRM is a customer relationship management platform that allows users to gather customer information. By compiling all this relevant data in one place, you’re better able to analyze the online behaviors of your audience so you can meet their exact needs and develop better relationships.

Using Hubspot CRM, you can monitor your leads much more easily, especially those who have opted into receiving your communications. With the information gleaned from the CRM database, which can include everything from product needs to purchasing history, you can customize things like email messages and marketing campaigns so they’re both more engaging and have a higher chance of converting.

There are six types of CRM services that Hubspot offers:

1. CRM for sales leaders
2. CRM for sales people
3. CRM for marketers
4. CRM for customer service teams
5. CRM for operations managers
6. CRM for business owners

When in place, any relevant information associated with a customer’s email profile is automatically saved in the CRM database. You can either automate the collection of customer information based on available data, such as from social media or website visits, or you can manually enter the data yourself. Types of information you can gather by using the automated features of Hubspot CRM include:

• Complete name
• Email address
• Social media activities/updates
• Job designation or business
• Company profile
• Telephone number
• Address
• Transactions with your company

The CRM system automatically compiles this information into a database, organizing it so that it can be easily retrieved and analyzed. This is made possible by its seamless integration with Gmail and Outlook; if you’ve installed Hubspot CRM for sales in your email account, the latest information about a customer or lead will be displayed on the right sidebar of your email dashboard.

Hubspot CRM’s number one benefit is in facilitating better communication with your audience. When you’re writing to a customer or potential lead, for example, you’ll be able to see all the relevant information about that contact, allowing you to customize your message to best fit that person’s profile. It also allows you to track whether the email you sent was opened (or not), allowing you to refine areas of your email marketing campaigns, such as the subject lines.

Because Hubspot CRM is a freemium cloud-based SaaS, the basic plan is free – but you’ll need to pay for upgraded plans if you want to add more tools and features. As a cloud-based SaaS, you can access it online and won’t need to save the data onto your computer. This also makes online collaborative work easy and convenient.

Why Use Hubspot CRM?

Using Hubspot CRM has several benefits for your business. As you expand, your customer base will grow. Communication is key in converting your leads and maintaining relationships with your current customers, so you’ll need a way of staying on top of this as more and more people purchase or take interest in your business. Hubspot CRM not only allows you to keep in touch with your customers, it also helps to grow your sales. Here are some benefit highlights of the platform:

1. Free to use

Signing up for an account with Hubspot CRM is free…or, at least, its basic features are. You’ll need to pay a subscription fee if you want to upgrade to a specific plan. Among the Hubspot free tools and features you can use are CRM, marketing, sales, and service tools.

2. It’s a collaborative platform

Hubspot is a SaaS platform that saves its data in the cloud. This means that various members of different teams in your business can access it via a common database. At the same time, there’s also the possibility of assigning security clearance for specific roles, such as managerial positions. All of this facilitates better work collaboration among employees and also frees up more storage space on your computers.

3. Functional automation made easy

In most cases, all you need from a customer or lead is their email address. When you have that, all available related data is automatically saved in your CRM database. You can also enter additional data provided by your customers.

4. Smart filters

If you want to find specific information about an individual or company that’s in your contact list, you can use the smart filters that come with Hubspot CRM. For instance, if you want to track sales invoices for a particular company, you can narrow-down your search to chronological dates. Even if the data sets are varied and spread to other categories, they can still be easily retrieved – so no need to search through messy spreadsheets and folders!

5 Tips for Using Hubspot CRM

You can maximize the usefulness of your Hubspot CRM if you know how and when to use the specific tools. Various tasks such as digital marketing and customer follow ups can be automated and made more relevant to your customers.

Here are out five tips for using Hubspot CRM:

1. Master the free tools: Hubspot CRM has truckloads of free tools and features that can be used for various purposes. Master these before upgrading your plan so you get more bang for your buck.
2. Collaborate with your team members and other teams: Proper coordination will help your business operations run more smoothly, and you’ll make the most of the platform, too. Work duplications or redundancies can also be avoided with the help of the platform.
3. Gather detailed information: Although most publicly available information can be easily accessed and recorded by Hubspot CRM systems, it’s crucial that you also do some in-depth research, especially for B2B transactions. You can then manually input the new data into the system.
4. Automate some tasks: If you want to accomplish your daily tasks faster, you can automate some of the tasks – but make sure that your data is up-to-date. The automated tasks, such as email autoresponders, must still have a personalized touch.
5. Use filters: You can always narrow down your search by categories of information. Use a filter or a combination of filters to find the information that you need.

Want to find out how to use CRM to take your business to the next level? Let’s talk.