Pipedrive: The CRM That Makes Salespeople Unstoppable
According to Gartner, the CRM market is valued over $40 billion dollars, so it’s not surprising that there are many companies out there striving for a piece of that pie. While Salesforce is one of the most dominant players in the industry, there are many startups rising up to the occasion and giving the big players a run for their money. Recently, I posted an article called “Salesforce Alternatives in the CRM Software Market” in which I gave a brief overview of five competitors to Salesforce CRM.
Founded in 2010, co-headquartered in Estonia and New York, Pipedrive provides sales management tools to salespeople in order for them to help better close the deal. Designed by real salespeople in order to address the need for more simplified and customizable solutions, it’s definitely one to look more closely at. With more than 75,000 customers in 170 countries, and across 100+ industries, I reached out to Pipedrive’s Martin Henk Co-Founder and VP of Product, to get his insight into the company.
For our readers that aren’t familiar with Pipedrive, could you tell all little about your company and who your customers are?
"Pipedrive is a tool for people that are selling something that takes a long time to close, particularly designed with SMBs in mind but suited for everyone from the one-person-band up. We built it around salespeople from the ground up, using the concept of activity-based selling and an intuitive design to help salespeople spend more time doing what they do best - selling!"
With so many CRM's out there why did you see the need to create your own and what makes your software stand out above the rest?
"CRM is a very broad term and can mean managing any type of relationship. Pipedrive is specifically built for salespeople. It approaches the problems that Salespeople face and is designed to keep things moving, stop tasks falling through the cracks, and kill the tedium of admin. This leaves the salesperson a confident closer and their manager a confident coach, each more empowered to focus on their task. We want to help people stay on top of their sales pipeline and get confidence from making progress and hitting targets. It’s proven that Pipedrive really helps people in sales whilst remaining simple enough to be their “daily driver” of choice."
What would you say has been some of the contributions that have landed Pipedrive where it is today?
"I look at three things when trying to explain why we’re able to come this far and continue to grow. Firstly, the founders are pretty determined and resilient - there have been many moments big enough for anyone of us to quit, especially early on. We have also found amazing people to join the company along the way - without them, I don’t think we would have ever been able to scale to this point. Secondly, we have been lucky, at least in a sense in that our actions and efforts have put us in positions where some luck could come our way. Last but not least - I think we all have put tremendous value on focusing and getting the right things done at the right time."
Your company is still fairly new, where do you see your company’s growth/focus in the next 3-5 years?
"Our main goal will largely remain the same that is to keep innovating and growing to make more and more sales people’s lives easier and make their lives and jobs increasingly easier and more rewarding. We have a bunch of great ideas for how we’re going to achieve that, including some really exciting ideas built around machine learning and AI, but for more specifics, you’ll have to watch this space in the years to come!"
Some of Pipedrive's CRM Features
Pipedrive CRM platform focuses on visual sales pipeline management and is aimed at helping the sales team to focus on the actions that matter most. Some of the keys include boosted sales and conversion rates, increased team collaboration, data accuracy, and sales productivity, along with more customized customer experience, customer service and communication.
Here are just a few of the features that Pipedrive provides:
Pipeline Management - They built our software around a proven sales pipeline management methodology. The primary view is the pipeline, a clear visual interface that prompts you to take action, remain organized and stay in control of a complex sales process. This is why sales pros and deal makers love it (their words, not ours).
Email integration - Offering two easy and time-saving ways to track email conversations. In addition, we'll connect your emails automatically to your contacts and deals, so you'll have a full overview of everything that's happening with a prospect in one place. You’ll save time and improve sales productivity.
Activity Management - If your Pipeline view is your main event, or the big show, activities are what happen backstage: the lights, the rehearsals and the direction. The success of your show lies in giving attention to the details of who is actively doing what behind the scenes.
API - With Pipedrive’s powerful API, much of the dirty work is taken care of for you. As you sell, our documentation and support will help you along the way, ensuring no deal or point of contact slips through the cracks.
Data Import & Export - They've made it very easy to import your existing data to Pipedrive, or export it into another software. Our system checks for duplicates or incomplete entries and allows you to delete or correct these on the fly. Combined import flow for all data objects means you need just one import session to get all your data into your Pipedrive account.
Sales Reporting - Understand the reasoning behind your data and results. Why is one team member about to break a sales record while another can’t get a deal past the second stage of the pipeline? Are you on course to hit your yearly target, or do you need to make a drastic correction to your sales process? Our reporting reveals it all.
Sales Forecasting - Our Forecasting tool is akin to having a personal sales manager, except it can’t fire you if you don’t make your targets. It helps you to pick the right deals and activities to focus on, so you won’t experience nasty surprises at the end of the month.
Mobile Apps - Take your sales pipeline with you so you never miss important activities or deal opportunities. Quickly access your to-do list and contacts on-the-go with a simple search of the name or organization. Be confident in knowing the full history of a deal before you step foot into an important meeting.
Introducing Pipedrive's New Platinum Plan
Pipedrive is a SaaS product that recently launched their new Platinum Plan which will support fast-scaling sales teams. Its features include workflow automation, team management, reporting, and security - all optimized for making sales teams more effective. The Platinum Plan will allow companies to set goals and track performance. The solution is engineered towards automation allowing teams to automate mundane tasks and optimize their sales processes and enable salespeople to focus more on the task at hand.
Timo Rein, Co-Founder and CEO comments“We’ve grown up in sales and want to serve the ones who have the hardest challenges in sales. That’s why we help salespeople stay on top of their sales pipeline and perform with confidence. That’s also why we help sales managers hit their targets and grow, and we’re now able to serve them better than ever before.”
“We believe that Pipedrive is the best thing to happen to sales managers. First, we build a product that their team loves to use. Ultimately, every manager is judged by their ability to achieve targets, though. What’s required for that is constant monitoring and adjusting of key performance, and coaching individuals to their maximum potential”.
Pipedrive Welcomes New Investors
Earlier this year Pipedrive managed to pick up $50 million from investors, and this month recently just landed another $10M with new investor DTCP (Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners). Pipedrive now has completed its Series C round with a total of $60 million, including funding from new investor Insight Venture Partners, and existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico, and Rembrandt Venture Partners. This round brings Pipedrive's total venture capital funding to date to $90 million. This will help grow their product offerings, develop its business globally and potentially make other acquisitions in the CRM space.
"We value our new partnership with DTCP on many levels and we feel privileged to have them on board.” said Rein “This funding will be used to help every Sales Person who believes there is a better way to manage sales and who believes there is a product to help them deal with their pressure and with their need to stay focused. This belief has helped us build the Pipedrive product and grow the company, and it has inspired investors to further invest in our growth. Adding a strong Europe-based investor such as DTCP to our existing circle of investors also better reflects our global customer base and ambition.” he added.
Ending Notes
The CRM industry is definitely getting shaken up with all these newcomers. If Pipedrive continues its momentum, this company will be nipping at Salesforces in no time. Pipedrive's philosophy of putting the salespeople in the driver’s seat is really coming to fruition for them and I can't wait to see the next steps that this company takes in grabbing a bigger slice of the CRM pie!
Natalie Evans
Natalie Evans has over 16-years in the tech industry and currently works as the event coordinator and tech reporter for CMS-Connected, keeping up-to-date on what's happening in and around the Content Management industry.