Can Pipedrive be a good fit for a sports club? SoftwareSupp expert CRM implementation at Lech Poznań
CRM systems can be useful for many types of organizations. It’s not reserved only for companies that manufacture products, sell software, or offer services. Sports clubs can also benefit from optimizing their funnels in Pipedrive.
Lech Poznań is a professional soccer club from Poland. The club was founded in 1922, and since then the team has been playing in domestic and international tournaments. Currently, the team is playing in Ekstraklasa, Polish highest division. Lech Poznań has a team of sales representatives who take care of sponsorships and VIP ticket sales.
The Pipedrive implementation at Lech Poznań was completed by Patryk Płaczek who is a SoftwareSupp consultant. He’s a Pipedrive Partner with extensive experience in sales (e-commerce, mobile startups, online payments). He used to work with Pipedrive as a sales representative. This hands-on experience allows him to understand his clients’ business needs better.
Let’s take a look at the club’s Pipedrive setup and discover which features are the most important for this type of organization.
Before Pipedrive
Without the CRM system, all the data about clients and partners were stored in different places. Some of them were in Excel sheets. some details were saved in the team members’ own notes or mailboxes. It was hard to manage the contact details and deals.
Patryk was responsible for implementing the CRM solution at the club. It was Patryk’s initiative to choose Pipedrive as their CRM system. He observed the way the team worked and was convinced that Pipedrive’s features could simplify the team’s daily work. The software is highly customizable and can be adjusted to the specific context of a sports club.
When Patryk showed Pipedrive to the team manager, he was convinced within seconds. The ease of use was the main factor that convinced him to go with the tool.
Setting up Pipedrive
Within 2 months, Patryk implemented Pipedrive at Lech Poznań. The goal was to check how the CRM system could benefit the team. During this time, Patryk and the team worked together to make improvements in the setup, so that it would mirror the team’s workflow. Patryk kept identifying where changes were needed and stayed in touch with the team daily.
The main challenge was to adjust the Pipedrive products to the specific context of a sports club. The products required a more advanced setup as they weren’t standard goods or services. The team works with multiple types of deals, including VIP tickets, ad time on the LED banners, or various sponsorships for the team.
Patryk needed to make sure that the reporting is correct and that the club can see the actual results of their sales process in Pipedrive.
After three months of working with Pipedrive, the team could see tangible benefits in their organization. They decided to switch to Pipedrive permanently and manage all their sales activities in the system. Thanks to Pipedrive’s flexibility and customization options, the implementation was successful for such a unique business scenario.
All the details in one place
For the Lech Poznań team, the main advantage of using Pipedrive is that they can instantly access all the information in one system.
Before implementing Pipedrive, the team stored those details in many different ways: Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, personal notes, multiple mailboxes, or even physical business cards. With Pipedrive, every user can access all the information about current and potential clients.
With all the sales data structured in one place, the team was able to measure their performance. They also started planning the next steps thanks to Pipedrive’s built-in analytics and reporting features.
Having one place to store all the details was the most important reason why the team wanted to start using a CRM solution.
Notifications for sales manager
Staying on top of the sales process was also important for the Lech Poznań team. Pipedrive has many notification options that could be enabled when a specific action occurs.
At Lech Poznań, when a sales representative changes the deal stage or creates a new deal, the sales manager gets an email notification. With automated reporting, the team saves time on updating the manager about their progress.
Efficient invoicing
One of the goals of the implementation was to improve communication between sales and accounting. At Lech Poznań, Patryk created an additional funnel for the accounting team.
When the client is ready to buy, the sales representative moves the deal to the “accounting funnel”. The funnel has three stages. Each stage is assigned to the accountant that is responsible for the deal.
Once the deal is moved to this funnel, the accountant gets a custom email notification with an invoice request. Once the invoice is ready, the accountant moves the deal back to the sales funnel.
Planning sales objectives
Having a CRM system in place allows the sales teams to monitor their progress and adjust their actions to reach ambitious goals.
With Pipedrive, the Lech Poznań team can set up time-specific sales goals. Then, they can adjust their monthly targets and make sure they are always on track. Team managers can easily access the results in the reporting section.
Pipedrive’s “goals” feature lets the team track their sales objectives and the progress on their fulfillment. Goals can be set for a team or for individual users. The sales team can plan multiple activities and easily measure their performance.
Mailing in Pipedrive
The team connected their mailboxes to Pipedrive. Thanks to that, they can write emails directly from the system. Additionally, all emails sent from their own mailboxes are also saved in Pipedrive.
Setting up mailing in Pipedrive allows the team to create templates that can be reused for different types of leads. The communication becomes more contextual as all the details about the customer can be easily found in the system.
Another feature that is useful for anyone sending emails from Pipedrive is email tracking. The salesperson can see if the potential client has opened the email or clicked the links that were included in the email. The tracking feature helps the team to create more appropriate follow-up messages or qualify leads more precisely.
Pipedrive on the go
The sales team at Lech Poznań is often on the go. They travel to meet with partners, and Pipedrive’s mobile app is an important tool for them. They can create a note right after a meeting, check their daily schedules and deal stages, or verify their to-do lists. The team also uses the app to gather ideas for future partnerships and save contact details.
Exporting contacts for marketing campaigns
The team uses Pipedrive to identify the leads that are likely to become clients in the future. Patryk created a custom field in Pipedrive that is used for leads that are interested but not ready to buy yet. Thanks to that, the team can create a database that is easy to export. They use this list in SALESmenago, their email marketing tool, to create a targeted campaign for these groups.
Pipedrive helps Lech Poznań not only with the sales process but also with their marketing efforts. This kind of lead segmentation lets the team adjust their communication in the future.
Pipedrive for a sports club
To manage relationships with clients, partners, and sponsors, sports clubs need an efficient tool. Pipedrive is a great choice for such unusual scenarios because the setup can be fully customized.
Pipedrive helped the Lech Poznań team structure their client information and improve their sales funnel. Automating the communication with the accounting team saves time on both ends. Everyone is always up-to-date about the deal stage. With Pipedrive, the team has a clear overview of all their sales activities and future opportunities. They can start making more data-driven decisions to optimize their sales process.
Pipedrive’s mobile app can be helpful for all sales representatives that meet with potential clients outside the office. With the CRM system in your pocket, you can write down the most important information right after the meeting. You don’t have to wait until you get a chance to open your computer. That means you might capture some crucial details that could be forgotten otherwise.
Pipedrive is a flexible tool that can be adjusted to match many types of organizations. With the help of a SoftwareSupp consultant, you can be sure that the implementation will be effective and the setup will always match your specific business model.
