Are you tired of losing out on sales despite putting in your best efforts? Do you want to master the art of selling but don't know where to start?

Look no further! Introducing Pipedrive, the ultimate sales management tool that will take your business to new heights. But wait, there's more - conquer Pipedrive with the help of a Pipedrive consultant. In this blog, we will explore everything about Pipedrive and how a consultant can help you navigate its features and Pipedrive position in Your workflow.

From streamlining your sales activities to customizing workflows and enhancing customer engagement, we have got it all covered.

So gear up, grab your coffee and let's dive into the world of mastering sales with a Pipedrive consultant and what You should expect from expert consultant.

Use this article as a guide when combining questions for potential consultant or expert. Make sure You are ready!

Understanding the Role of a Pipedrive Consultant

Your can truly revolutionize your sales process with expert guidance from a Pipedrive consultant, optimizing your team's performance and maximizing CRM customization.

Collaborate with a consultant to bring great value to your business development efforts, streamlining and automating sales activities for efficiency and effectiveness.

Who is a Pipedrive Consultant?

A Pipedrive consultant is an expert in sales automation and customer relationship management. They offer tailored insights into sales pipeline management and can enhance your business's tech stack with Pipedrive automation tools. With their expertise, they streamline your sales process and transform your sales performance with customized automation solutions. They are all about resourcefulness and custom solution.

Why do businesses need a Pipedrive Consultant?

Businesses need a Pipedrive consultant for sales process optimization, sales data model, technical configuration, and team training.

These experts provide insights into the best sales automation tools and elevate your sales pipeline management. With their guidance, you can enhance business development efforts and drive growth and success for your sales team.

Understanding and knowing just Pipedrive is not enough to help businesses.

These 4 roles include 15th examples below where you need a true expert to see ROI of Pipedrive.

1. Pipedrive consultant will demonstrate sales expertise when tailoring Pipedrive to Your Business Needs and Unique Sales Model.

CRM consultant should be knowledgeable about different sales models. It doesn't matter if they are growing and evolving.

In fact most of our clients worked with the following models (and even mix of them):

1. SPIN Selling: SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff) is a question-based selling technique that guides sales professionals in uncovering and addressing customer needs.
2. NEAT Selling. The NEAT (Need, Economic impact, Access to authority, Timeline) selling method helps associates identify particular customer pain points on which to focus their attention throughout a sales process.
3. Command of the Sale: Command of the Sale emphasizes the salesperson's ability to take control and guide the sales process confidently, ensuring a smooth and effective transaction.
4. Conceptual Selling: Conceptual Selling focuses on selling ideas and concepts, aligning the product or service with the customer's vision and goals.
5. SNAP Selling: SNAP (Simple, iNvaluable, Aligned, Priority) selling emphasizes simplicity, emphasizing the value proposition, alignment with customer needs, and addressing priorities.
6. Inbound Selling: Inbound Selling involves attracting and engaging potential customers through content marketing and providing value, leveraging a customer-centric approach.
7. Challenger Sale: The Challenger Sale encourages salespeople to challenge customers' preconceived notions, fostering constructive debate and offering insights that lead to a more effective solution.
8. Sandler System: The Sandler Selling System is a systematic approach that focuses on uncovering customer pain points, establishing mutual commitments, and closing deals through a consultative and relationship-building process.
9. Solution Selling: Solution Selling emphasizes selling comprehensive solutions that address specific customer challenges, focusing on the overall value delivered.
10. Value-Based Selling: Value-Based Selling demonstrates the value of the product or service to the customer's specific needs, emphasizing the benefits and return on investment.
11. Social Selling: Social Selling leverages social media platforms to connect with potential customers, build relationships, and drive sales through online engagement. Today Linkedin platform provides a great access to leads and we help clients track them on Pipedrive.
12. Miller-Heiman Strategic Selling: A complex sales methodology that focuses on understanding customer needs, mapping stakeholders, and developing a strategic plan to win large deals.
13. BANT (Budget, Authority, Need, Timing): A qualification framework that assesses a lead's readiness to buy based on budget, decision-making authority, identified need, and purchase timing.
14. The MEDDIC Sales Methodology: Focuses on Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, and Champion to qualify and close deals more effectively.

It doesn't matter which sales methodology You choose or interested to explore, professional Pipedrive consultant should be able to based on the model (or mix of them):

• consult on adjustements
• adjust and implement sales data model
• suggest best analytics- reports and dashboards to track KPIs
• suggest additional enablement tools that would benefit the model
• suggest additional add-ons that would provide highest ROI
• suggest best pipeline structure
• implement the right tasks
• adjust Pipedrive training based on sales methodology.

So it's critical that You choose Pipedrive consultant who understands data model creation based on chosen methodology.

You need someone who is truly knowledgable in the world of selling and NOT just a tool.

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2. Pipedrive expert will implementing Your Sales Activities Automation.

You will leverage a Pipedrive consultant's expertise to streamline your sales pipeline management with automation tools. That will elevate your CRM platform and business development efforts.

Pipedrive is NOT just a visual pipeline board to drag your deals across stages.

Primary goal of Pipedrive is to automate - activities (task reminders) and emails.

Without consultant many business struggle to automate tasks as they don't consider the ROI.

Automating sales activities reminders can offer mant benefits, enhancing efficiency, productivity, and overall sales effectiveness.

Here are some key advantages that we witnessed in 7 years:

1. Improved Time Management: Automation ensures that sales representatives spend their time on high-value tasks rather than manually managing reminders, allowing them to focus on selling activities.
2. Consistent Follow-Up: This is Critical! Automated reminders ensure that follow-up activities are consistent and timely, preventing leads from falling through the cracks and maximizing the chances of closing deals.
3. Enhanced Productivity: Sales automation eliminates the need for manual tracking and reminder setting, freeing up time for sales teams to engage with prospects, build relationships, and close deals.
4. Reduced Human Error: Automation minimizes the risk of human error associated with manual data entry and reminder setting, ensuring accuracy in follow-up schedules and customer interactions.
5. Personalized Communication: Automation tools often allow for personalized and targeted communication, enabling sales teams to send tailored messages based on customer behaviors, preferences, and interactions.
6. Increased Accountability: Automated reminders create a structured system, fostering accountability among sales team members to adhere to follow-up schedules and meet sales targets.
7. Enhanced Customer Engagement: Nobody wants to be forgotten. Timely and relevant follow-ups, facilitated by automation, contribute to improved customer engagement, as sales representatives can stay connected with prospects throughout the sales cycle.
8. Optimized Sales Funnel: Automated reminders help move leads through the sales funnel more efficiently, ensuring that prospects are nurtured appropriately at each stage until they are ready to make a purchase decision.
9. Data Insights and Analytics: valuable data insights and analytics, allowing sales teams to track the effectiveness of follow-up strategies, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions. You can make decisions about your sales model when you know exaclty what activities are performed and when (and most importantly IF they are). Visibility is a powerful tool.
10. Streamlined Collaboration: Automation tools often come with collaboration features, allowing sales teams to share insights, coordinate follow-ups, and work more cohesively to achieve common sales goals.
11. Scalability: As the sales team grows and handles a larger volume of leads, automation ensures that follow-up processes remain scalable and manageable without a proportional increase in manual effort.
12. Customer Retention: Automated reminders can extend beyond the initial sale, helping sales teams stay engaged with customers post-purchase, fostering loyalty, and increasing the likelihood of repeat business. Many of our clients use Pipedrive for customer success pipeline where task automation helps increase retention!

3. Pipedrive consultant will work hard on Customizing Your Workflow (and it's not JUST pipeline or email!)

Pipedrive workflow consists of many elements:

• lead intake
• deal qualification
• deal stages
• meeting recording
• deal scoring (and assessment)
• tasks automation
• email and SMS automation
• internal notifications across channels (Slack, email, SMS)
• proposal configuration
• proposal sending
• follow-ups and closing strategies
• hand-off to operations/client success/project management

...and this is definitely not a final list.

Your workflow does not stop in Pipedrive, does it? You want to make sure that You get information out to customer success and project management.

That's why we are experts with other big platforms:

• Zendesk
• Monday.com
• Intercom
• ActiveCampaign

...that way You know we will help You to align workflows.

Data unity across the departments should be something that great Pipedrive consultant cares about.

Business consultant cannot think in silos and leave a big gap in data for the client.

It's critical You understand the 4th contribution and seek the best of the best.

4. Pipedrive Consultant will spend at least 30% of time Creating Sales Data Model.

Sales data model is a fancy term but it simply describes fields, their structure and levels (person, organisation or deal) on Pipedrive.

Be aware: If Pipedrive consultant is not expert in sales data model, they will simply ask You to provide the list of fields.

True Expert CRM consultant will give you a workshop, and consult on creating the most effective data model that would drive all required KPIs, and increase revenue.

Process Natives Youtube channel has 5 great videos about sales data model creation that can be used as a course for Sales Directors.

You can also access resources like templates.

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10 reasons why you should are about sales data model during CRM configuration (yes, even if You are micro business):

1. Informed Decision Making: Guides business choices with actionable insights from sales data.
2. Accurate Forecasting: Enables precise predictions, preventing inventory and resource imbalances.
3. Customer Segmentation: Identifies target markets, enhancing personalized marketing and improving customer engagement.
4. Optimized Pricing Strategies: Maximizes revenue by analyzing sales data impact on pricing decisions.
5. Efficient Inventory Management: Minimizes stock issues, streamlines supply chains, and reduces holding costs.
6. Trend Identification: Spotlights sales patterns, allowing businesses to capitalize on market trends.
7. Marketing ROI Measurement: Evaluates marketing effectiveness, aiding budget allocation for optimal returns.
8. Sales Team Performance: Assesses sales team effectiveness, informing training and performance improvement strategies.
9. Enhanced Customer Experience: Tailors products and services based on customer behavior, improving satisfaction and loyalty.
10. Compliance and Reporting: Facilitates adherence to regulations, ensuring accurate financial reporting and legal compliance.

5. Pipedrive consultant will focus on implementing lead and deal scoring solution (Pipedrive does not have it natively).

Lead and deal scoring automation is quite basic expectations in sales community. However Pipedrive does not have it yet.

Pipedrive consultant would help You find a workaround with another tool how to gain insight into scores based on Your unique models.

At Process Natives we have our secret hacks how deal scoring can become a reality in Your configuration. Deal scoring assigns values to various aspects of a potential sale, such as prospect engagement, demographics, and purchase history. This allows sales teams to focus their efforts on high-value prospects, resulting in more efficient use of resources.

Deal scoring is more important than ever today when productivity can win those deals. According to research by InsideSales.com, organizations implementing a dead scoring system experience a 77% increase in lead generation ROI. Salesforce reports that companies using predictive lead scoring achieve a 14.6% increase in sales productivity and a 12.2% reduction in marketing overhead.

In essence, deal scoring not only accelerates the sales cycle but also contributes significantly to improved overall business performance and profitability within the realm of sales automation.

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6. Pipedrive consultant will put emphasis on Integrating Pipedrive into Your Sales Techstack (not just Zapier!)

Calendly is of course used with Pipedrive and any consultant should be able to integrate this tool, but there are thousands other opportunities you don't want to miss.

One of the top reasons to hire Pipedrive Consultant is because You need someone who is well-versed in integrations and marketplace: thousands of apps and add-ons that take Pipedrive to the next level.

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They are not hidden secret, but do You have time to test and experiment with 1000 apps, even if You spend just 30 minutes on each?

That means: 500 hours of exploration.

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Benefits of Integrations

Seamlessly integrating Pipedrive with other apps enhances sales performance and streamlines project management, offering a holistic approach to sales optimization.

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7. Pipedrive consultant will sync Pipedrive with Linkedin (and teach social selling hacks).

Linkedin is the primary tool for B2B sellers. For a long time the only way to sync Pipedrive and Linkedin was....do it manually and lose all communication data.

Not anymore!

Once we saw at Process Natives that there is a new tool that promises to sync Linkedin communication to Pipedrive, we had to test it!

It is great and it's called Surfe. Great name, right?

Surfe is the best tool in the market that allows to add leads to Pipedrive from Linkedin and sync messages.

It also:

• finds email and phone number
• Creates tasks as reminders for specific CRM records. Manage your tasks (edit, complete, and delete) without going back to the CRM.
• Stores Your Linkedin template messages. If you want to increase your efficiency on LinkedIn, try using personalized message templates in both messages and InMails.

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Social selling is a great sales booster, so make sure that You maximise CRM configuration project time and explore:

• channels for social selling
• most effective techniques
• highest ROI tactics for social selling

Process Natives CEO Aukse Zilenaite is an active member on Linkedin. She hosts events, posts almost daily and comments.

Commenting has been a huge revenue driver for us.

That's why we hosted this event to provide detailed tactics. Must watch!

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8. Integrating and sync Linkedin to Whatsapp.

Slack is great and it has integration with Pipedrive.

But Whatsapp is here to stay and so many of our clients communicate with clients.

A study found that WhatsApp messages have a 98% open rate and a click-through rate of 45-60%,

making them much more effective than emails and SMS.

So what's the problem?

The data and follow ups gets lost if messages are not synced with CRM.

Acknowledging the variety of internal and external communication channels client uses, should be the priority of all Pipedrive consultants.

It requires hunt for tools, workarounds and solutions.

That's why we use Timelines.

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9. Pipedrive consultant will consult on the best sales enablement tools.

Sales enablement is NOT just providing a CRM for your sales reps.

Sales enablement issues come to surface when pipeline and process are being discusses, tactics brainstormed and expectations expressed

Sales enablement state is a mirror of your business:

• sales effectiveness and
• organizational alignment, reflecting the synergy between marketing strategies,
• training and skills initiatives,
• technology implementation,
• and overall support structures.

Sales enablement is not just for enterprise.

Sales enablement is a intricate business process that demands skillful coordination to alleviate the workload on sales professionals.

If You don't have sales enablement strategy, You will see high churn rate of sales reps. Confidence comes from knowledge and support, knowledge is training and support structures. You don't want to have lack of confidence in Your sales team, do You?

Sales enablement is first of all philosophy. A Mindset.

A productivity-centric philosophy of enablement centers on viewing the business as an interconnected ecosystem where each element must contribute value to shareholders.

This approach emphasizes the creation, delivery, and communication of value by various components within the company.

In the context of sales enablement, this philosophy is specifically geared towards effectively communicating value to the appropriate customers and prospects to align with the overall business strategy. The emphasis is on the customer. Within the framework of an enablement philosophy that prioritizes value communication, there is a recognition that customer-facing teams play a crucial role in co-creating the future with customers. This philosophy is often embraced by executives and leaders aiming for growth, particularly those focused on increasing bookings. To achieve this, there is a concerted effort to enhance customer-centricity and empathy, especially at higher levels within customer accounts, with the ultimate goal of augmenting deal sizes.

Customer and productivity centered sales reps have access to:

• sales supporting content (white papers, case studies, video, audio content)
• training
• market research tools
• fast sending proposal capabilities (as we discussed before)
• marketing and sales alignment
• educational consulting content like webinars.

We can help You organise and automate these support structures.

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10. Pipedrive consultant will help with sending and tracking proposals.

Pipedrive has integration with Google Drive. But will it meet Your expectations?

Only 3% of our clients were happy with the quality of Pipedrive SmartDocs.

What was our answer to this critical issue? We partnered with Pandadoc.

The tool we have been using ourselves for 5 years so we knew it meets all expectations.

Proposal sending and tracking is a critical moment in the pipeline. You can easily make mistakes.

According to the recent research covering 180,000 proposals, if you send a business proposal within 24 hours of making contact with a client, you’re likely to see a 25.9% conversion rate and it’s likely to take the client an average of 6 days to sign the proposal. On the other hand, if you send the proposal within the first 48 hours, the likelihood of your client signing it will increase by only 7.6%, and it will take them around 10 days to sign it.

We agree for most sales reps and teams 24 hours seems a very tight and stressful deadline.

Simply because they don't have tool that cuts proposal creation an sending time by 80%-90%.

You need to understand your limitations and opportunities for the best proposal sending solution, as it's critical to:

• act fast
• send professional design
• make sure You can track opens
• get signature
• and get payment on proposal

11.Consultant will make sure that Pipedrive CRM aligns with Your Marketing (not just Hubspot!).

You need a consultant who will answer the question - How will my marketing automation be synced to CRM?

The critical question is:

• will it be one way sync (if so what way?)
• or will I get 2 ways sync (if so what visibility will I get on Pipedrive?)

Process Natives CEO Aukse has made a video about this issue.

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Tools like Outfunnel will take care of this by providing 2 way sync.

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What does it exactly mean for Your Pipedrive setup and hows does it help?

On the left handside You see an Outfunnel Widget. It provides:

1. number of web site visits
2. emails opens
3. email clicks

You can use it to identify really hot leads. You don't need to ask Your marketing manager about your lead and if they engage.

Access that data on your screen while working on the CRM. That's what we call sales and marketing alignment.

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12. Pipedrive consultant will ensure You have the best analytics setup (not only Pipedrive Dashboard!)

Even though Pipedrive has insights feature with reports and dashboards capability, many businesses run into reporting issues.

One example is inability to run reports based on person custom fields. Such annoying barriers can feel intimidating and time wasting, and create unnecessary frustrations.

Unfortunately we have to face the fact that many business analytics needs are not met by Insights feature on Pipedrive.

At Process Natives we are on a constant hunt for the best in the market solutions with fast adoption and focus on user-friendliness.  

Currently one of the preferred options for many our clients is Conduit.  

You don't need a data scientist when You simply can ask questions about Your data and get answers.

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13. Pipedrive expert will clean Your workspace and optimise it.

If You want high ROI on Pipedrive, you can’t achieve it in a messy work environment.

There are 3 critical levels of workspace cleaning and optimisation on for sales productivity.

1. Pipedrive native views and fast accessibility.

Pipedrive has many features that can improve productivity of sales reps.

We have noticed that only 10% of those features are used if Pipedrive is setup by internal team member without experience.

You should put emphasis on productivity if You are paying for CRM.

Workspace optimisation and cleanliness is our priority.

We have seen it all! So you don’t have to be embarrassed.

Pipedrive consultant at Process Natives takes care of everything, while utilizing features:

• Deal filters
• Deal cards
• Pipeline stage names visibility
• Widgets
• Important and required fields
• Pipeline-specific fields
• Grouping of fields
• Deal rotting

2.Fast data access from other apps

What about if You also have Zendesk and other apps that You need to check when interacting with leads?

Workspace can’t be 30 tabs? or is it already?

Glances has fixed it for our clients.

Forget Tabs nightmare - think about the hub of all your apps.

Let's say You use Pipedrive, Intercom, Monday,com, Quickbooks and Stripe, You can't spend time juggling on tabs!

Glances has access to your lead, contact or client information across all those apps! Best part- you can take action in those apps too.

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3.Productivity hacks with AI.

Apart from data automations, visibility optimisation and Zapier, there are plenty new opportunities appearing.

One example is Hints. It updates Your fields automatically during the call.

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14. Consultant will provide training materials and workshops for both - users and admins.

Training is a critical moment for the team. It's when adoption starts.

It's important to make sure that material is not generic, but based on the exact setup and workflow.

Personal support and custom training is at the core of our project delivery.

Why is it important?

1. Tailored to Specific Needs: Custom training ensures that the team learns functionalities directly relevant to their workflows within the customized CRM.
2. Optimized Efficiency: Team members become proficient faster, boosting overall productivity in utilizing the CRM system.
3. Adaptation to Business Processes: Custom training aligns CRM usage with specific business processes, enhancing seamless integration into daily operations.
4. Maximized CRM Capabilities: Team members learn to leverage advanced features, maximizing the CRM's potential for improved business outcomes.
5. Consistent Workflows: Customized training establishes standardized processes, promoting consistency in data entry, reporting, and overall CRM usage.
6. Increased User Adoption: Tailoring training to the team's needs enhances user satisfaction, fostering higher adoption rates and enthusiasm for CRM utilization.
7. Faster Onboarding: Customized training expedites the onboarding process for new team members, ensuring a quick transition into using the CRM effectively.
8. Reduced Resistance to Change: Personalized training addresses specific concerns, minimizing resistance to adopting a new CRM system and promoting a positive attitude toward change.
9. Targeted Problem Solving: Customized training allows for focused troubleshooting, addressing specific challenges or questions the team may encounter during CRM use.
10. Continuous Improvement: Training can be adjusted and updated as the CRM evolves, ensuring the team remains proficient and up-to-date with system enhancements and changes.

We also also put emphasis on the sales coaching tools or so called Conversation Intelligence technology that can be integrated to Pipedrive.

No businesses wants to spend extra time for coaching. You want to see results fast.

Today AI gives great solutions for real-time coaching!

We have used Justcall.io for it's great quality of call enablement, but recently Justcall.io added Conversational Intelligence.

With Agent Assist feature You can:

• Maintain constant supervision during phone conversations.
• Supply real-time hints and direct your representatives throughout each communication.
• Share suggestions and reminders to address concerns promptly.

15. Expert will adjust Your Pipedrive setup based on occuring needs.

Business, teams, sales models and target markets change. You need someone You can rely on as a partner for life.

So How do You start?

Book consultation with Process Natives.

Embarking on Pipedrive consultation involves understanding the initial steps for implementation and the best ways to kickstart the journey. Pipedrive experts can revolutionize the sales process, addressing common queries and exploring the potential for growth within consulting firms. Overcoming adoption challenges is crucial for leveraging the CRM system's capabilities.

Do I need a Pipedrive Consultant?

We gave You 15 functions of Pipedrive expert consultant. If You have questions about them and see potential, the answer is yes.

A consultant can provide expert guidance in implementing and optimizing Pipedrive. Consider hiring a consultant if you want to make the most of Pipedrive's CRM capabilities and see highest ROI.

What does CRM consultant do?

A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) consultant specializes in helping businesses implement and optimize CRM. They assess a company's needs, recommend the right CRM, and implement. A consultant works with key stakeholders to understand their processes, configure the CRM system, and train employees on how to use it effectively.

Conclusion

Partnering with a Pipedrive consultant is a game-changer for your business.

These experts understand the ins and outs of Pipedrive and can guide you towards sales success. With their help, you'll navigate through the platform effortlessly and streamline your sales activities. From customizing your workflow to automating tasks, a Pipedrive consultant will tailor the platform to suit your business needs.

But it doesn't stop there. They'll show you how to personalize interactions and utilize real-time customer data for maximum impact. And when it comes to productivity and fast access, these consultants will make sure you're operating at peak efficiency.

Integrating Pipedrive into your sales process is key, and a consultant will highlight the benefits and share case studies of successful integration. They'll also address any  challenges you may have, ensuring a seamless transition.

So, if you're ready to take your sales game to the next level, consult with a Pipedrive expert today.

It's time to make the most of Pipedrive's CRM and watch your business thrive.