CRM for B2B (HubSpot/Salesforce)

CRM should reflect the actual buying process, not make sales serve reporting. Before setting up the fields and automations, define the entities, the transition criteria between the stages, the mandatory minimum of data and the decisions that the team will make from the reports.

What to Know About B2B CRM

B2B CRM: Definition and Features

CRM for B2B is a system that helps manage corporate customer relationships, transactions and sales teams, and the main goal is to build a transparent process from lead qualification to closing, preserving communication and history of interactions.

Unlike B2C, B2B transactions are usually longer, involve more people on both sides, have a higher price tag, and the transaction cycle is more complex. For example, a company sells IT solutions to banks. Lawyers, techies, procurement, CEO are involved in the decision. CRM in B2B structures this process.

Example:

The IT company sells software to big companies, and CRM records the presale stages, all the touch points, all the approvals, all the decisions, all the final agreements for each transaction.

Key tools in HubSpot and Salesforce

Basic CRM modules for B2B

In modern systems, HubSpot and Salesforce basic tools are similar:

• Customer and transaction database management: custom fields, segmentation, filters.
• Workflow automation: reminders, task setting, checklists.
• Collection of applications from the site, integration with mail, aggregation of the entire history by client.
• Sales funnels and custom piplins: the ability to customize the structure of stages for your business.
• Reports and analytics: dynamics by managers, forecasts, bottlenecks in the funnel.

Example:

Salesforce has multiple funnels for different product lines, one for SaaS solutions, another for licensing and maintenance. HubSpot has the ability to pull applications from different landing pages into a common lead pool and automatically distribute them to managers.

Process settings: what is critical for productivity

Setup of Pipelines and Transaction Stages

The key is to adequately describe the stages of a transaction on the Pipeline: the mistake is to set a universal template (lead, qualification, offer, closing), without considering the nuances of the business. In a good CRM for B2B, the Pipeline details by customer types, products, stages of approval and legal stages.

Example:

Fintech sells APIs for banks, and for these transactions, add the “Bank Tests API” stage, then “Agree with Security”, only then – “Waiting for the Final Offer”.

Automation of processes

It is important to set up automatic notifications and triggers, such as reminders of the deadline for approval, autotasks for demos, which saves time and reduces the number of sags in long processes.

Example:

If after 7 days there is no update on the transaction in the status of “DUE DILIGENCE”, CRM sends a reminder to the manager and puts a flag to the head of the sales department.

Integration and customization

Integration with external systems

HubSpot and Salesforce enter the company’s ecosystem through APIs or connectors: data lifting from ERP, calendars, ERP or helpdesk. The most valuable case is combining CRM with BI and email marketing for a single vision for funnel and retargeting.

Example:

Data on invoices from 1C are automatically pulled up in Salesforce, with transactions for which there is no payment for more than 10 days, are made in a separate tile for analysis at a weekly rally.

Customization for processes

In B2B, it’s important to go beyond the box, to be able to build your own fields, to form new entities (competitors in a transaction, individual workflows) — must-have, so you can consider how many people influence the decision, which lawyer will negotiate the contract or which partner will influence the success of the transaction.

Mistakes in implementation and configuration

Lack of adaptation to processes

A common mistake is to set up a CRM “like everywhere else” without understanding the customer-side decision-making process. Example: there is no “Customer-to-Customer-Agreement” stage, although this is a mandatory step in corporate transactions.

Unaccounted for integrations

Another mistake is to run the system in isolation, without integrations with scripts, documents, e-signature platform, managers duplicate data manually, lose parts of the client’s history.

Example:

The company didn’t integrate with e-sign tools, and they got signatures by email, they manually uploaded files to CRM, and they lost documents, they broke the month’s closings.

How to choose and implement tools for your process

The B2B CRM configuration algorithm

1. First, describe the real process from lead to payment in your company
2. Set up piplins for this process, not vice versa
3. Work on automation: where will be reminders, auto tasks, integrations
4. Choose between HubSpot and Salesforce based on adaptability, budget, ecosystem

Example:

If you don’t have IT resources and you want a quick start, you often choose HubSpot. For large processes with large customization and complex reports, Salesforce.

It is important to remember what to look at in the metrics

For each CRM system in B2B, it is important to regularly monitor such indicators:

• Length of the transaction cycle
• Number of stages where transactions “hang”
• Average check and chance of cross-sell (up/cross-sell)
• Reasons for Losing Transactions at Different Stages
• Activity by contact and number of tasks

For benchmarks by industry, see the latest reports from HubSpot Research and Salesforce State of Sales.

Questions about B2B CRM

How is B2B CRM different from B2C? B2B has longer transactions, more stakeholders, more coordination steps and more detailed process setup.

Which is better: HubSpot or Salesforce? If you need a quick implementation – HubSpot; for a complex process with integrations, custom reports – Salesforce.

**What do you need to do in B2B CRM? Specific stages of the transaction for your process, automation of tasks and reminders, integration with calendar and documents.

How to measure the effectiveness of CRM? Look at the length of the trade cycle, the progression of conversions by phase, the activity by task, and take metrics from internal reports and industry benchmarks.

What is the critical error in the implementation? Run a CRM “on a template” without adapting to the real path of the client or without integrations.

Where to find the best practices to set up? See user guides from HubSpot and Salesforce, as well as reports from G2 Crowd.