HubSpot CRM offers the essential features I expect from a customer relationship management system.
First, generous cloud storage allows me to store up to 1 million free contacts and companies in the CRM, with each record capturing important details such as contact information, website, social media profiles, industry, sales, and more. When you add a contact, HubSpot can also automatically fill in their important business information, saving time on data entry.
HubSpot CRM’s powerful filtering tools make it easy to segment contacts into lists based on any criteria. I can easily create dynamic lists that automatically update when contact properties change. For example, I created a company contact list of over 500 employees who visited my pricing page in the last month.
Deals and Tasks keep things organized as you manage leads through the sales pipeline. I can create deal stages that reflect my sales process, drag and drop deals from one stage to the next, and easily see the value and quantity of deals in each stage.
Tasks ensure that critical tasks are never lost. I can assign tasks to team members, link them to specific deals or contacts, and set due dates.
For those who rely heavily on inbound, HubSpot CRM’s built-in prospecting tool is useful for lead generation and identifying prospects who are interacting with your website for the first time. It shows me which companies have visited my website, even if they haven’t filled out a form yet, and provides important details about those organizations from HubSpot’s database. With just one click, I can review leads and add promising leads to the CRM.
The reporting features give me a clear picture of my sales pipeline and my team’s performance. The dashboard shows my deal forecasts, number of deals created and closed, productivity metrics, and more.
I can view the reports to see deals won and lost, sales ranks, and the performance of each employee. Reports can be easily filtered and customized.
Email tracking and templates help my team communicate effectively with prospects and customers. I can see who opened an email, clicked a link, or downloaded an attachment and then follow up accordingly.
Email templates save time on routine messages. The Gmail and Outlook integration allows me to store my emails in the CRM and access templates, tracking, and more without leaving my inbox.
Live chat is another channel for real-time conversations with website visitors. I can set up targeted messages for specific websites or audience segments.
AI chatbots help qualify leads and schedule meetings 24/7. All chat conversations are automatically saved in the CRM.
Finally, the mobile application gives me access to important CRM data and functions on the go. I can search for contacts, update offers, track emails, and more from my smartphone. This is invaluable when you are traveling or going to a meeting.
Beyond the basics, HubSpot CRM includes practical tools that improve productivity. The email integration with Gmail and Outlook is fantastic: I can track opened emails, save sent emails to contact records, and create new contacts directly from my inbox.
The meeting planner makes it easy for prospects to book time on my calendar, eliminating the usual back and forth. I also experience great value from task reminders and automated workflows that allow me to stay on top of follow-ups and outreach.
While the free HubSpot CRM software is generously packed with features, upgrading to one of the paid Sales Hub plans unlocks even more advanced features like sales automation, predictive lead scoring, smart alerts, custom reports, and more. But for many small businesses and sales teams, the free version provides the basic tools they need to organize customer data and efficiently manage transactions in a centralized system.
