How to use ActiveCampaign's CRM

What is a CRM?

A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system is software that lets you manage the relationships with your customers. CRMs use databases to store information related to the history of your relationships, such as interactions, actions, and behaviors. CRMs are essential since they allow you to keep the information updated in real-time, and they make the job easier for you by maintaining the data organized. In addition, some CRM systems use machine learning to help you make predictions about the actions your customers will take. ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation software that has a CRM natively integrated. This article will show you how ActiveCampaign’s CRM work, how to use it and if it’s good enough to save you money on a dedicated CRM software.

How can a CRM help my business?

The main reason CRM systems exist is to increase conversions. Keeping track of your interactions with your customers will give you essential data to improve your strategy. You can use this information to improve your products and services. These are the benefits of using a CRM tool for your business:

Connecting the dots

Using a CRM will help you build an integrated marketing strategy connecting each process of your sales workflows with your contact databases. This way, you will know precisely their impact on your target audience.

Get Detailed Analytics

A CRM integrated into your marketing tool will give you detailed information about your marketing efforts. The insights will also include detailed data about your customers’ behavior. You won’t only know the results you’ve got but the reasons for them.

Improve your customer service

You’ll know what your customers like about your business and what they want to be different. The most information you get, the better you understand your customers. You’ll be able to use this information to deliver better customer service.

Keep your lists segmented

CRMs help you keep your databases well-organized by allowing you to segment your lists of contacts based on their characteristics and behavior. You can accomplish this in real-time by using an automation tool like ActiveCampaign.

Score your leads

You can score your contacts individually by implementing a scoring system into your CRM. Assign a higher value to contacts with greater chances of converting, or give special treatment to those who need nurturing.

Improve your team collaboration

Storing your customers’ information in a traditional file type such as an excel file is a headache for team collaboration. It makes it difficult to know what task to perform and if somebody has already worked the file. That’s why CRM systems let you assign tasks to your team members, and it’ll keep track of each update.

Are CRMs expensive?

There’s not a standard price for a CRM. The cost would depend on the type of CRM you’re trying to get and the size of your business. CRM providers tend to charge based on the length of the contacts lists, so if you’re a small-sized business, the CRM will be more affordable for you. There are many CRMs tools available for many industries. Consider using one with good prestige and with excellent customer support.

Does ActiveCampaign have a CRM?

Yes. Although ActiveCampaign is not a CRM software itself, it integrates CRM capabilities into its dashboard. Most importantly, you can import or connect your current CRM to keep your data intact. You can even add custom fields if your current database includes a unique attribute for your contacts. You can also use ActiveCampaign automations to perform actions to your CRM and keep your data updated.

How does ActiveCampaign Sales CRM work?

ActiveCampaign’s CRM uses a sales pipeline system that converges all sales process stages. It allows you to create a sales pipeline that includes the phases needed for leading a conversion. You can assign deals to that sales pipeline, which are nothing but contacts with sales potential. Then, you can assign tasks that you or your team members must complete.

How to use the ActiveCampaign’s CRM?

Using ActiveCampaign’s CRM is straightforward. Just follow the next steps to create your sales pipelines and follow up with your customers’ relationships:

How to use ActiveCampaign's sales crm

Add a pipeline

1.- Once you’ve signed in, look for the $ icon (Deals) and click on it.

2.- You will see an empty screen if you haven’t created a pipeline yet. You must create a pipeline first to be able to create and assign deals to it.

3.- To create a new pipeline, click on “Add a pipeline” at the upper right of your screen.

4.- Type in a name for your new pipeline. Use a name that you can remember, which is catchy enough for you and your team members to memorize.

5.- Select the groups that will have access to the pipeline. Remember that you can add different groups and users with different permissions and capabilities.

6.- Choose the default currency that your pipeline will use. It’s important since you’ll assign a monetary value for each new deal you add.

7.- Choose the assignment method for deals added to the pipeline:

Manually Assign: This will let you assign the owner of each new deal.

Round Robin: Will assign deals evenly. ActiveCampaign will select deals owners evenly from the list of users you chose in the previous step.

Round Robin Deal Value: Will assign deals evenly according to the deal’s monetary value. It will ensure those deal owners receive the same deal’s value over time. For example, if a user gets a deal of $200, the next user may get two deals of $100.

8.- Click “Add” to add the new pipeline.

Add and edit stages

9.- It will add a new pipeline with default stages ( To Contact, In Contact, and Follow Up). Click on the “Add a Stage” button to add new stages depending on the workflows of your sales pipeline. You can edit or remove those stages by clicking on the gear icon. You can also drag the boxes to arrange them correctly.

Add a deal

10.- Once you have edited and added the stages your pipeline requires, let’s add deals to them. As we mentioned before, deals are potential sales you can get from your contacts. To add a new deal, click on the “+ Add a deal” button, or you can also import them from a .csv file in case you already have deals on other software.

*Note: If you want to import your deals from a .csv file, follow the instructions to upload your file, as it needs to be formatted correctly to map the fields accurately.

11.- If you’re adding your deal manually, first assign a name for it. The deal should have a catchy title so your sales team can remember it.

12- Assign a monetary value to the deal. As you can see, the default currency you chose before is the one selected by default. Assign the value you consider is the most accurate to your deal.

13.- Verify that the name and stage of the pipeline are correct.

14.- If you chose to assign deal owners to your pipeline manually, you must set a deal owner. If you selected a different method, ActiveCampaign will do it automatically.

15.- Select the date when you think your sale should be closed.

16.- Describe your deal accurately by filling in the Deal description field.

17.- Choose the contact that belongs to the deal. The contact should be the person you or your team will be selling to.

18.- It may be that the contact is part of a business. If that’s the case, you can choose the account to which the contact belongs. If you select an account, you can also change its owner.

19.- Click “Add Deal” to add your new deal.

Add tasks to your deals

20.- Once the new deal is active, you can attach tasks to it. To do it, click on the newly created deal and look for the open tasks window. Then, click on “Add a task”.

21.- You can move your deals across the different stages of your pipeline according to their status.

21.- Once you have created all of the pipelines and deals your business needs, you can start automating the process. Creating automations will ensure the deals move across the different stages of your pipelines with no margin of error.

Need some Help?

Now you have created your first pipeline and deals on ActiveCampaign. Be sure to add as many deals and tasks as you need to your pipelines to make them succeed. Also, create the automations you consider pertinent to make your workflows more efficient. As you can see, ActiveCampaign makes managing your CRM easier and fully integrated into your marketing campaigns. If you need help with your CRM integration, at DigitalME, we can help you through our managed services. If you’re interested, click on the “Get In Touch” button, fill in our contact form, and we’ll reach out to you.

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