Pipeliner CRM Review

Pipeliner CRM is changing the world of CRM, where people have consistently confused it with the single functionality of where it first began: SFA or Sales Force Automation.

In the last few years, there were debates on how there was more to SFA than to CRM. It meant that people who were already embracing the idea of CRM tried to improve the way they did Sales Force Automation, or at least they tried to change the role of the application. From the beginning, the application was meant to act as a reporting tool for sales Managers, and not some technology to assist salespeople.

There’s an interesting approach that Pipeliner Sales has taken to fix Sales Force Automation. They call it Pipeliner CRM, an application that can only be summarized as a marketing and sales methodology tracking system. When it’s being implemented for the first time, users need to highlight the steps they take to sell their products. These details usually involve information request to closing the deal.

According to the company, most solutions for CRM try fitting all marketers into one methodology of sales in their sales force automation application. That’s the reason why they are not well-received by sales people.

Every company is unique in how they sell

Don’t be cheated, every company is unique in how they sell products and services to customers. So it beats logic if all companies implemented the same methodology of sales by SFA, that was created several years ago.

The secret is to simply the process by making it easy for the sales team to create and manage their own methodology. That’s the reason why Pipeliner CRM is gaining foot over the rest.

Features of Pipeliner CRM

The first time you approach this application, you’ll feel like it’s an ordinary Sales Force Automation application. However, you’ll soon realize that it’s versatile in features. For example, there are different stages and ways in which users can categorize the current status of each one of them–basically the percentage you assign to determine whether the sales process is about to close or not.

This is the reason why the existing SFA is a little bit clumsy. Most people in the sales profession tend to guess the percentage that corresponds to every stage. This means that the final report will be biased and not accurate.

But as far as CRM is concerned, the application offers a deeper model in which things can be done. In the event that the company did a good job in entering the steps involved and assigning the percentage for completion of every step, the sales person would avoid guesswork.

This application also learns from itself. After you’ve used it for a long time, you’ll realize that the percentages and estimated close dates are automatically calculated in relation to past performances.

Even though this does not solve the problem of accurate forecasting or reality-based reporting, it offers the best platform in which sales people can use to track their current deals. That’s the reason why sales people should adopt it more than the traditional SFA.

It’s a visually interactive model

This application is more engaging and fun to use. The fact that it leverages advanced data visualization techniques ensures that sales people can view and even manipulate records in new ways to enhance productivity.

All the opportunities in the sales process are laid out clearly for you to see. Records are also updated in real time. A quick glance at your records reveals more than what a standard CRM would give for your sales forecast in any given minute.

You can control the workflow with Pipeliner CRM

With this application, it’s easy to update opportunities and manage sales using the drag-and-drop feature of your mouse. The reason why Pipeliner CRM works is because it lets users track their activities for better accountability.

Going visual is better when it comes to pipeline management

When you embrace advanced data visualization, it empowers you to look at your business in a new way. You can view sales opportunities directly from the interface, and this empowers you to track closing dates with an interactive map whose aim is to portray you prospects and influencers in 3 dimension.

Pipeliner CRM supports multiple sales channels

Every business unit comes with different sales scenarios, product line or alternative sales channels that need a differentiated sales approach. With this application, it’s possible to manage multiple sales pipelines which ensure that sales strategies are executed according to plan.

In short, users can improve pipeline visibility, get useful insights to expand their world of opportunities, improve accountability and empower sales individuals to act independently.

Slight drawbacks

In as much as this application has done a great job in revolutionizing how sales is done, it comes with a few pieces missing. The good thing is that Pipeliner Sales pointed it out. For instance, there’s no integration with CRM solutions that was used in the past (we learned that data could be imported or exported when there was need). The reason for this is to keep track of all activities, leads and contacts.

Even though this application has the ability to do the above, one has to adopt it as a solution, or transfer information back and forth when there’s need.

We also noticed that it lacked collaborative features, something that were very important especially now that sales is slowly shifting to an in-house business as opposed to outside enterprise sales.

Despite all this, there might have been some places where this application achieved success, even though developers are still updating and including the missing pieces.

But the focus was to create an application that would act as a common methodology to allow everyone follow up on a lead. Furthermore, this application is suitable for people who want to stick to the same methodology. These are sales people who want to follow the same steps and advance in a decent pace.

Pipeliner CRM solves the problems that SFA has faced for a long time.