Recent technological innovations have multiplied the benefits of a CRM for manufacturing industry professionals.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a customer relationship management or “CRM” platform is software designed to organize data and provide valuable business insights.
But these days, advanced CRMs like HubSpot are capable of much more. Using HubSpot as an example, we’ll introduce you to some of the many benefits of a CRM for manufacturers.
Benefits of a CRM for manufacturing industry companies
Streamlined Customer Management
Sick of setting out on frantic scavenger hunts for lost business cards or contact numbers scribbled on napkins? A manufacturing CRM can help ensure you never face another accidental game of contact info hide and seek.
When you sign up for a free HubSpot account, you’ll enjoy access to powerful manufacturing CRM software tools. Just log into your dashboard to access your contacts from a company-wide business communications base.
Another perk of using HubSpot’s CRM for manufacturing is its unique Insights feature. This handy smart tool will automatically enrich every new contact with real-time information from over 20 million businesses.
Improved Sales and Lead Management
The beauty of HubSpot’s free CRM for manufacturing industry professionals is that it offers tools that can help your sales team make the most of every lead. Use the easy-to-navigate dashboard to visualize and track your sales pipeline in real time. Or streamline your sales process with features that allow you to:
- Assign tasks, create reminders, and track deals
- Track the performance of individual team members
- Discover marketing automation for manufacturing with tools such as lead scoring
- Visualize each lead’s progress through the buyer’s journey
- Generate meeting scheduling links that sync with your calendar
- Utilize Hubspot email templates to nurture leads at different stages
Enhanced Customer Service
Grand View Research recently revealed that the customer service industry enjoyed a massive 23.7% growth in 2022, largely due to “the growing importance of understanding customer behavior and their preferences.” This is another area in which HubSpot stands out as a great CRM for manufacturing companies.
Your customer service team can enjoy free tools like ticketing, live chat, and a universal customer inbox. Best of all, each interaction is automatically tracked on a neat timeline to ensure that no client’s outreach efforts fall through the cracks.
Measure your efforts with actionable reports that include insights like average customer wait times. Your team will also save plenty of time on their end with reusable email templates that answer commonly asked questions with a click.
Data-Driven Decision-Making
While B2B marketing for manufacturers can be tricky, look no further than a list of marketing's manufacturer value stats to find out why it's so important. Luckily, HubSpot also offers CRM software features for manufacturing industry marketers.
Access free ad management tools, form builders, landing page generators, and more. You’ll also find several useful tools that can help you steer clear of common manufacturing marketing mistakes to avoid.
Your entire team will enjoy access to an easy-to-use reporting dashboard that offers marketing, sales, and service insights. Customize your metrics to ensure each team has the data needed to make informed, evidence-based decisions.
Increased Efficiency in Manufacturing Operations
A recent report revealed that over half of CSCOs expected digital supply chain transformation to give their company a winning edge over the competition in the coming years. Almost three-fourths went on to say that hybrid cloud integration would be a key element in making it happen.
The right manufacturing CRM software can help your company take advantage of all the latest industry innovations, all in one place. HubSpot offers over 1,500 integrations with popular manufacturing programs like NetSuite, ZoHo Inventory, Zapier, Pipeline, and many more.
Scalability and Adaptability
A small business tends to have very different needs than a well-established enterprise. That’s why it’s important to choose a manufacturing CRM that’s designed to grow along with your company.
One of the major perks of HubSpot is that it allows you to start with a free account, with no need to even enter your credit card. Should you decide that you want to remove some of the free account limitations, you can also take a paid subscription for a free 14-day test drive.
Every HubSpot account tier offers plenty of customization options to help each business prioritize its own needs. You can reconfigure your settings at any time to adapt to changes in anything from your customer base to product lines.
Data Security and Compliance
No matter which manufacturing CRM you choose, make sure it doesn’t play around when it comes to data security. A solid CRM should offer a top-of-the-line security program designed to safeguard sensitive business and customer information.
Not only does HubSpot fit the bill, but it also has access controls that allow you to easily restrict anything from web pages to team permissions. Whether you want to set certain reports to private or require a password for users to access certain web pages, the HubSpot CRM makes it easy to keep your data secure.
Cost-Effectiveness
Now for the million-dollar question – does investing in a manufacturing CRM make sense for your company financially? The truth is, it depends. While some small businesses may enjoy all the solutions they need with HubSpot’s free CRM, others may want to upgrade to a paid subscription.
Much like a gym membership, the value you get out of a paid CMS will largely depend on how much you use it. That said, a well-utilized CRM can offer an impressive ROI and long-term savings.
Here are some practical tips for choosing a revenue-generating CRM for manufacturing:
- Go with a cloud-based CRM to cut the need for servers or other infrastructure
- Only opt for the features or add-ons that you know you'll use
- Choose a CRM that offers all the integrations your team needs
Future Trends and Innovations
While the free version of HubSpot includes tools like Predictive Lead Scoring Software, Sales and Service Hub subscribers may soon have access to an innovative new forecasting tool. Currently in its beta stage, HubSpot’s new AI Projections tool uses artificial intelligence to predict future sales trends.
By factoring in historical data, it can provide a demand forecast your entire team can use for planning. Though it’s only available to select accounts at the moment, we’re excited to see what the future has in store for the potentially game-changing resource.
Conclusion
As you can see, the right CRM for manufacturers can offer plenty of business-boosting benefits. If you’re considering adding a CRM to your operations, then head over to HubSpot and take some of their many free tools for a test drive.