How to Choose the Right CRM for Your Business

There is no denying the strategic value a world-class customer relationship management (CRM) system can bring to your business or organization in today’s B2B landscape. Technological advancements and innovations have made maintaining open channels of communication with clients easier than ever while also expediting sales pipelines and creating more daily business prospects. Finding a CRM that can meet increasing demands for efficiency and expertly interpret customer data remains an essential business growth measure for you and your team.

This article provides guidance to B2B organizations on the lookout for a premier CRM system. Here, we establish helpful selection criteria that address common B2B needs and use cases — and promote proven CRM opportunities for sustainable growth.

CRM and its Functions in the B2B Marketplace

Cultivating positive customer relationships is essential for any business sector, but the practice holds special importance for B2B enterprises. A well-organized CRM strategy keeps channels of communication open among the several key decision makers and stakeholders involved in each client’s operations, so everyone remains well-informed about which services are being implemented.

A quality CRM platform ensures a client-focused approach for a smooth customer experience. The added ability to manage client intel and insights is inextricably linked to closing more deals more quickly. Finally, housing client data with a CRM helps your organization make smart decisions about its own marketing strategies and future efforts to attract and retain clients.

Tips for Choosing the Right CRM Platform

It’s clear that a quality CRM platform is essential, but there are so many options available today that it’s equally important to understand the defining factors of a quality platform. Here are five of the most telling characteristics to look out for:

1. Integration is key: One of Doug Wendt's key takeaways from his long tenure as Chief Growth Officer and Co-founder of Wendt Partners is the overwhelming importance of software integration abilities to a successful B2B customer experience. By investing in a CRM that supports integration, you can both offer and take advantage of the tools every B2B business needs in one place. These include accounting software, digital marketing tools, industry-leading website builders, quoting tools, and even features that adjust the look and layout of the CRM to each individual client process.
2. Implement automation: Whenever possible, a quality CRM will offer opportunities to automate tasks in order to save sales and marketing teams valuable time and allow them to deliver the most consistent communication possible.
3. Match your partner network: CRM is used across a variety of industries and business structures. Even within B2B as a whole, some CRM platforms are more adept for certain use cases than others. Be sure to do research to ensure that the software you select has the capabilities needed for your industrial applications.
4. Seek quality onboarding: Any new software implementation requires some getting used to, but with a high-quality CRM, your team won’t be left with unanswered questions. Good platforms include everything a new user needs to be successful, including detailed, personalized training modules.
5. Intuitive user experience: Finally, a smooth and simple user experience should complement the onboarding procedures provided by your CRM.

HubSpot: the Industry Standard for CRM Technology

Of the CRM platform options available today, HubSpot offers the most value to its B2B users — no matter their needs and challenges.

“To best align business practices between sales and marketing teams, you need a versatile, adept CRM platform that can service every need — and HubSpot provides on all accounts,” says Doug Wendt. His decision to gear the growth solutions firm towards HubSpot implementation is based on his firm belief in the platform’s proven capabilities.

As an Elite HubSpot Solutions Partner, Wendt Partners deeply understands the platform to know how its components can assist clients from a range of B2B initiatives. Only after the intentions of the CRM implementation are understood does Wendt advise clients of the best approaches to their HubSpot journey. The next step is to use HubSpot’s integration and automation features to develop a customized solution.

Wendt Partners’ HubSpot CRM clients can choose among three onboarding tier options and between two implementation options. By the time these are completed, users have all the tools required to manage their own HubSpot account. Implementation options are also available and contain a scope of work-driven engagements with specific objectives to execute completing goals on a client's behalf.

The overwhelmingly positive feedback that Wendt receives from its newly-introduced HubSpot users is a testament to the platform’s capabilities. One client was able to use HubSpot’s advanced organization features to track large amounts of lead data more effectively for all of their marketing efforts. Having this information readily available and categorized based on key differentiators like input origin helped the organization to create campaigns that catered to many demographics. This is just one example of countless success stories Wendt Partners has cultivated by implementing the HubSpot platform.

Implement Innovation with HubSpot CRM

As an Elite HubSpot Partner, Wendt Partners occupies a prestigious position among distributors, educators, and thought leaders in all things HubSpot. We’ve put in the work to get there — in just over ten years of working with the platform, we’ve assisted over 125 visionary industrial, technical, and professional services clients to streamline their processes and create lasting growth. Let our team evaluate your organization’s growth goals and create a strategy that combines your industry expertise with the powerful capabilities of the HubSpot CRM system.

Contact Wendt Partners through our website or over the phone to request a demo and see if HubSpot is right for your organization. Keep an eye out for the next article in our series on the world-class benefits of HubSpot CRM, where we’ll explore how to put the #1 recommended CRM for B2B businesses to work for you.

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