What comes ready to use 

There is no shortage of customer relationship management (CRM) software available out there. A CRM’s out-of-the-box capabilities are often where you can begin to draw differences in determining which one best meets your business needs. Some are free and others of course are not.

In this post we are going to take a look at the out-the-box capabilities of a relatively popular and free CRM, HubSpot CRM along with the Infor CRM system. Previously we wrote about Comparing Infor CRM to HubSpot CRM + Sales Pro.  

Before having to worry about add-ons and upgrades, it’s important to not only know what you’re going to get from the start but also where you can get the most for your investment. It also helps you to determine what you don’t need because there’s no need to add unnecessary complexity.

#8 of our 18 requirements for business success with CRM states "First, Use as Much Out-of-Box Functionality as You Can"

Some say it’s not good to compare. But in the case of figuring out the best way to maximize your company’s sales productivity and business growth, a comparison is a must. In this post, we’re going to compare Infor CRM to HubSpot CRM + Sales and HubSpot Pro (an extension of the free HubSpot CRM & HubSpot Sales system).

Why compare an established full customer relationship management system to a sales person productivity-focused software?

Because the real point of discussion is what system puts you in the best position to grow your business.

The logical route when thinking about sales productivity is to invest in a sales software system like HubSpot CRM +Sales. After all, it will help you build and automate sales processes and sales related operations, manage your sales pipeline, log sales activities, and ultimately help you to close more deals with less work and time.

On the other hand, a CRM system like Infor CRM gives your business the ability to cultivate the kind of customer relationships that make the jobs of your sales force easier by supporting their sales activities, but also offers the capability to capture information and customer interactions across your entire company and external sources. 

Let's compare Infor CRM and HubSpot CRM + Sales  and then HubSpot Pro.  This comparison can help you determine what each offers and how it aligns with the needs of your business and best integrates with how you do business. Do you want to focus solely on sales activities or take a more holistic approach and leverage strong customer relationships and maximize sales productivity?

HubSpot CRM and Sales Productivity platform

HubSpot launched a CRM back in 2014.  The goal: Provide an easy way for sales teams to track and organize its interactions, and to manage its pipeline -- without breaking your budget.  Since its launch, HubSpot CRM has been adopted by tens of thousands of sales teams. Millions of deals have been created and closed.  HubSpot built two other 100% free tools that plug seamlessly into HubSpot CRM: a powerful sales productivity platform and a lead generation engine.  They have made huge strides around the biggest pain points of their partners (like us) and customers: a sleek new reporting dashboard, parent-child company relationships. company merging, and a whole lot more.

In doing so, HubSpot let one critical component of CRM collect dust far too long: task management.  If you or someone you know uses HubSpot CRM, you'll agree with us: Tasks in HubSpot have been adequate, but not exceptional.  They're like having 30% battery left on your iPhone. Or getting six hours of sleep. Or eating leafy lettuce.  Not the end of the world, but not mind-blowing awesome either.

Today, that changes.  Task management in HubSpot has a brand-new look, and a slew of new functionality to boot.  Staying on top of to-dos is pivotal to your sales team's success.  Every missed follow-up is a lost change at a connection with your prospects and customers.  With HubSpot's new Tasks interface, you'll never let a task slip through the cracks.

Advantages

• Get more done in fewer clicks

Time spent fumbling around to manage follow-ups is time spent away from selling.  In a world in which salespeople spend only 30% of their time actually selling, every second saved means more deals closed. Image a world in which you never had to leave your to-do list, in which you never had to manually schedule your next follow-up, in which you never had to click into a CRM record to figure what to do next. Your sales reps productivity using HubSpot CRM will increase exponentially, and their adoption will improve as well.  Tasks will ensure that the sales process you implement is engrained in their routine from day one.

• Ditch distractions. Don't get overwhelmed

From our experiences implementing CRM for businesses, one thing has been abundantly clear: focused sales reps are productive sales reps. With Task Queues, sales reps won't need to open dozens of tabs at the beginning of the day: they won't need to sort through pages of to-dos's at a time; they won't need to scroll a million ways to get to the next thing. Walk into work. Build your Task Queue. Press Play. Run through your tasks. Go home.  Rinse, wash, repeat.

• Always have your next steps in order

80% of sales require 5 follow-up phone call after the meeting, yet 44% of salespeople give up after one follow-up. As a best practice, every deal in your database should have a next step. No ifs, ands, or buts.  With HubSpot's new Task interface, you'll never let another follow-up slip through the cracks.

• Track new leads on same timeline

If a lead comes in off your website through HubSpot Marketing tools, all the sales tasks and activities are logged in the same timeline as the marketing engagements.  Everything is in one place, so your reps will never have a call without the right context again.  Plus, they can @-mention their colleagues on individual tasks, to start the dialogue around follow-up strategy.

To Save Time in Your Sales Process

It would be nice if you could make a single sale and have the revenue sustain your company forever. But in order to grow your organization, a steady stream of income is required.

When a company first starts out, there probably isn’t much of a sales process, or team, in place. The one or two sales hires target prospects, introduce them to your company, and close deals according to their own preferred methods.

However, as your business grows, sales leaders will need to implement a repeatable, scalable process to turn a trickle of income to a steady, predictable stream. With all salespeople using the same systems and playbooks and adhering to the same process, the sales organization becomes a well-oiled machine instead of a Frankenstein-esque contraption stuck together with duct tape.

What’s the secret to accelerating sales growth? While people and process usually precede systems, sales is somewhat of an exception. The right customer relationship management system (CRM) can actually help empower people and define process.

Learn how a CRM system can accelerate your business’ growth, bring in profitable, happy customers, and enable your sales team to sell better and faster. 

Make every seller your best seller

Sales acceleration is about making the most out of every point of contact and conversation.  It's about knowing the right information about the contact to carry on a valuable conversation for both parties.  This information would and should be found in your well-used CRM system.  Sales acceleration with CRM means unleashing the capabilities of CRM for your sales, marketing and operations to smartly grow revenue for the business.

Selling is deeply personal. Companies will leverage our "Success with CRM experience" to design a personalized experience for their team as they learn, sell and grow. - getting the best results from their CRM. A well-used CRM system helps small to medium sales teams grow their revenue by creating a human-friendly experience for sales reps and the people they are selling to. We can help create a truly unique experience - designed for your sellers.  Sales acceleration becomes the expressway to sales excellence.

CRM for the sales person, first....

HubSpot Sales is the all-in-one sales solution that helps small to medium sales teams grow their revenue by creating a human-friendly experience for sales reps and the people they are selling to.  It is built to work with the free HubSpot CRM and extend the platform. It includes sales acceleration and productivity features that seamlessly integrate with the rep's Inbox (Outlook/Gmail), and HubSpot marketing.

HubSpot Sales is focused on power of collaboration found in a sales team.  Teams make happier, stickier, and more successful customers. This system is focused on actual growth and value.  Tactics like email guessing, web scaping, and purchasing lists can fuel a fire -- but not one that's built to last.  HubSpot Sales is designed to strengthen relationships, build trust, and create genuine value for sales teams and the people they are selling to.  It is a People-First Customer Relationship and Sales System.

HubSpot Sales is all about bringing a human connection to an industry that's historically been seen as smarmy, untrustworthy, and generally disliked.  We can contest to the fact that HubSpot has been on a mission to create a delightful, convenient, and enjoyable experience for buyers and the sales teams that are selling to them. Success with CRM Consulting, Inc. selected the HubSpot Inbound marketing system over 9 years ago, and have witnessed the folks at HubSpot build an engaging platform for Marketing, Sales and CRM integrations.