How To Use Trello As A CRM System

Trello is a popular project and work management platform that can be tailored to create a CRM system. A CRM system is a tool that helps you manage your customer relationships, from generating leads to closing deals. In this blog post, we will show you how to use Trello as a CRM system in seven steps.

Step 1: Create Your Trello CRM Board

The first step is to create a new board in Trello that will serve as your CRM system. You can name the board according to your business or industry, such as “Real Estate CRM” or “Software Sales CRM”. You can also choose a background color and visibility settings for your board.

Step 2: Establish Your Sales Process

The next step is to determine your sales process and the stages that your leads and customers go through. Your sales process may vary depending on your business model, product or service, and target market. However, some common stages are:

• Lead generation: This is where you create initial awareness or interest for your prospects to consider your products or services.
• Lead qualification: This is where you determine whether a prospect is a good fit for your products or services and worth pursuing further.
• Product demonstration/sales presentation: This is where you showcase your product’s features or service attributes in-depth and address questions from potential customers.
• Underwriting/quoting: This is where you review a potential customer’s needs and formulate price estimates.
• Negotiation/closing: This is where you finalize the terms and conditions of the deal and get the customer’s agreement.
• Delivery/fulfillment: This is where you deliver the product or service to the customer and ensure their satisfaction.
• Follow-up/retention: This is where you maintain contact with the customer and provide ongoing support and value.

Step 3: Add Pipeline Stages As Lists

The third step is to add your sales pipeline stages as lists on your Trello board. Lists are the columns that organize your cards on the board. Cards are the individual items that represent your leads, customers, tasks, or anything else you want to track. To add a list, click on the “+” button on the right side of the board and enter the name of the stage. For example, you can create lists for “New Leads”, “Qualified Leads”, “Demo Scheduled”, “Proposal Sent”, “Negotiation”, “Won”, and “Lost”.

Step 4: Add Lead And Customer Data As Cards

The fourth step is to add your lead and customer data as cards on your Trello board. Cards are the building blocks of your CRM system, where you can store all the relevant information about each contact. To add a card, click on the “+” button at the bottom of a list and enter the name of the contact. For example, you can use the contact’s name, company name, email address, or phone number as the card name.

Step 5: Customize And Organize Your Cards

The fifth step is to customize and organize your cards according to your needs. You can do this by using various features in Trello, such as:

• Card description: You can add more details about each contact in the card description field, such as their background, needs, pain points, goals, etc.
• Custom fields: You can add custom fields to your cards to gather specific information that is important for your business, such as lead source, status, lost reason, deal value, etc.
• Labels: You can add labels to your cards to categorize them by priority, type, industry, product, etc.
• Due dates: You can add due dates to your cards to set deadlines for each stage of the sales process or for specific tasks.
• Checklists: You can add checklists to your cards to break down complex tasks into smaller steps or to track progress.
• Attachments: You can add attachments to your cards to store files related to each contact, such as proposals, contracts, invoices, etc.
• Comments: You can add comments to your cards to communicate with your team members or to record notes about each contact.

Step 6: Manage Your Deals With Drag-And-Drop

The sixth step is to manage your deals with drag-and-drop on your Trello board. Drag-and-drop is one of the most powerful features in Trello that allows you to move cards from one list to another with ease. This way, you can update the status of each deal and track its progress through the sales pipeline. For example, you can drag a card from “New Leads” to “Qualified Leads” after verifying that the contact meets your criteria. Or you can drag a card from “Proposal Sent” to “Won” after getting the customer’s approval.

Step 7: Analyze Your Performance With Views

The seventh and final step is to analyze your performance with views on your Trello board. Views are different ways of displaying your data on the board that can help you gain insights and make better decisions. Some of the views that you can use are:

• Calendar view: This view shows you a daily, weekly, or monthly outlook of your due dates, meetings, presentations, etc.
• Table view: This view shows you a spreadsheet-like view of your cards and their fields, where you can sort, filter, and edit your data.
• Dashboard view: This view shows you a graphical view of your metrics, such as deal value, conversion rate, win rate, etc.

Step 8: Add A Trello Power-Up For Gmail Integration

If you are looking for a simple and effective way to integrate Trello with Gmail, you may want to try Crmble. Crmble is a Trello power-up that turns your Trello board into a CRM system with Gmail integration. With Crmble, you can:

• Send and receive emails from your Trello cards without leaving your board.
• Track and organize your email conversations by deal or contact.
• Use email templates to save time and boost your productivity.
• Get real-time performance insights of your board activity.

To use Crmble, you need to install the power-up from the Trello directory and connect it to your Gmail account. You can also customize your CRM board with adaptable pipelines and custom fields. Crmble offers a 21-day free trial and a flexible pricing plan. You can learn more about Crmble and its features from their website.

Teamopipe: An Alternative To Trello As A CRM System

While Trello is a great tool for managing projects and tasks, it may not be the best option for managing customer relationships. Trello is not a full-featured CRM software like Salesforce or HubSpot, and it may require some workarounds and integrations to make it work as a CRM system. If you are looking for a more streamlined and powerful CRM solution that is integrated with Gmail, you may want to check out Teamopipe.

Teamopipe is a Gmail-integrated CRM tool that helps you manage your pipeline within Gmail. It offers many features and benefits that make it a better choice than Trello as a CRM system, such as:

• Seamless Gmail integration: You can experience the ease of managing customer relationships without leaving your Gmail inbox. Teamopipe is built as a Gmail extension, making CRM tasks a breeze.
• Instant business intelligence: You don’t have to wait for reports or switch to another tool to get insights. Teamopipe’s live Google Sheets reporting delivers real-time insights, enabling swift and informed decision-making.
• Tailored to your needs: You don’t have to adapt to a rigid, one-size-fits-all system. Teamopipe offers high customization with adaptable pipelines and custom fields, making it as unique as your business.