CRM (customer relationship management) software rose from the dire need for sales departments to unify their communications and manage contacts effectively. Out of that, grew an entire software industry and numerous products, all aimed at creating a single best platform for interacting with customers and closing deals.
The best customer relationship management solutions give marketers and salespeople an all-encompassing array of tools, all aiming at streamlining team communication and enhancing your sales funnel. Meanwhile, the system itself must remain seas to use, because the last thing your sales reps want to do is going through the instruction manual on how to use software that was supposed to make their life easier. There aren’t that many products available on the market that can both provide an incredible functionality while being user-friendly at the same time. And as you’ve might guessed already from the title of this article, one of the CRM platforms that achieve both is Nimble.
What Makes Nimble CRM Attractive?
Nimble might not have an extensive infrastructure like Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, as the platform was originally built as a simpler and more straightforward answer for small business with a great focus on social selling. However, as the platform evolved, Nimble became a much more sophisticated solution that allows really proactive engagement with existing customer base and comprehensive analytics. This particular CRM platform is really scalable and can be effectively utilized in both SMB-type companies as well as Enterprise-level businesses.
Also, it is worth mentioning, that Nimble is a relatively inexpensive solution, with $25 per user per month fee and a 14-days free trial.
We’ve written extensively on the subject of key benefits of Nimble CRM, as well as some of the best practices of using the solution in the area of social selling. Today we will focus more on useful tools and integrations for Nimble Social CRM that can take your existing business engagement model and take it to the next level.
5 Nimble CRM Integrations to Accelerate Your Business Growth
But despite how good the CRM software, the out-of-box solution will almost never be sufficient enough. Each business is unique and just a couple of differences in the approach to workflows here and there and suddenly you need a completely different IT infrastructure to sustain your growth. Customization of the CRM system is a critical factor. Many businesses would try and reconstruct their workflow to utilize certain software, which is similar to reconstructing the engine of a car, just so it can fit your new bumper.
Nimble is a highly customizable and flexible platform that can be adjusted and integrated with your existing IT assets. The CRM solution can be integrated with thousands of different products, and although the number of applications is nowhere as near as for Salesforce, there is still a great variety of choice.
Zapier integrations
Zapier is one of your must-have Nimble CRM apps, and possibly, even a central platform to your entire business IT environment. Zapier is a SaaS automation tool that connects various applications, without writing a single line of code to build the integration. Not only Zapier provides simple connectivity between applications, but it also can automate repetitive data entry and transfer tasks by syncing apps together.
Nimble-Zapier Integration gives you the ability to connect contacts and trigger tasks between CRM and other tools. With Zapier you can create thousands of different automated workflows, moving contacts from one environment into your CRM and vice versa. The flexibility of this integration alone can make Nimble Social CRM into a powerhouse on par with advanced systems. Zapier is available in three subscription plans:
- The free version, which lets you create simple two-step integrations. This is not a professional version and is suited for personal use only.
- For work plan. This comes at a $20/month and you receive access to all 1,000+ applications, ability to create conditional logic and automation.
- For teams plan. For $250/month you receive a platform with unlimited members, premium features and unlimited sharing.
Although there are other worthy alternatives to Zapier, like piesync or itDuzzit, which allow integrations between Nimble CRM and other apps, we’ll focus on Zapier, since it’s our personal favorite.
We’ll take a look at a few very useful Zaps (yes, this is a term).
Connect your ecommerce store
In a matter of just a few clicks, Zapier allows you to connect Nimble CRM with:
- WooCommerce;
- Shopify;
- Mageneto;
- BigCommerce.
Integrations through Zapier allow you to automatically add new contacts and update existing ones into CRM, whenever a customer makes a purchase on your webstore.
Accounting
If you are using Xero or QuickBooks for your accounting, then you can use systems like Zapier and piesync to connect your accounting software with the CRM. You can use your existing contact information in Nimble to create and share new customer invoice, receipt, or check. The two-way synchronization means that data entered into either Nimble CRM or QuickBooks automatically fills related fields, so you’ll have no need to type in same data twice.
Which is particularly useful, when you take into account, how complex and massive can accounting databases be. In most cases, the sales team will never want to search for client data in the Xero or QuickBooks software and will be much happier browsing easy-to-use and familiar CRM environment.
All in all, if you are utilizing Nimble, getting a tool such as Zapier or Piesync (depending on your existing selection of apps) is a great way to up your game and do more with your CRM apps.
Marketing Automation
In order to compete in the market in today’s business environment, you need to carve yourself a place under the sun and keep your brand right at the top of consumers’ minds. However, your rivals will want the exact same thing. So, naturally, in order to rise to the top, you will need a flawless marketing strategy.
With the right marketing automation software, your business can generate more quality leads, streamline lead nurturing, reduce acquisition costs, avoid human errors and accelerate growth. At the same time, you would want to fuse your marketing with sales so that your sales team could benefit from marketing automation software as well.
Luckily, you can use the following apps with Nimble Social CRM to establish an effective marketing automation strategy.
366 Degrees
366 Degrees brings enterprise-level Omni-channel marketing capabilities to SMB-type companies. With this Nimble application, you can create dynamic content and branching nurture campaigns, creating a personalized customer journey. The result – you get a greater number of qualified leads at a lower cost when compared to non-targeted static campaigns.
If you need to run email campaigns, newsletters, promotions and more then there is no easier way than 366 Degrees. And with Nimble CRM relationship management features sales reps and marketers can spend less time performing data-entry activities. Any business process automation tool is designed to save time, optimize and streamline core processes within your corporate workflow, and 366 Degrees was built just for that.
MailChimp
By importing your MailChimp lists into Nimble, you can utilize CRM’s smart segmentation feature, which sorts contacts in accordance with social business insights that you’ve gathered. Statistically, bulk email campaign will not see a great open rate. However, with the proper personalization, you can double the rate.
Nimble contact management capabilities let you prioritize contacts based on company data, geography or general interests. Allowing you to find golden leads in an otherwise generic email database, sorting from thousands of contacts and identifying those, who are most likely to convert.
By integrating MailChimp and Nimble, you can start creating personalized email campaigns, targeting high-priority prospects and elevate your relationships to the next level.
Nimble + Google Apps
No sales rep is limited to just CRM. They respond to emails using Gmail, engage with people on LinkedIn, create documents and spreadsheets in Google docs and share them with team members, as well as schedule most activities in Google Calendar.
G Suite is one of those “does it all, better than everyone else” packages, and it is simple. So, it really should not come as a surprise that Nimble CRM can be completely integrated with your favorite Google apps.
Google Chrome extension. Nimble plugin lets you browse the internet as usual, but it adds one very cool feature. When you find a name or a company name on the webpage, the Nimble app will either bring up immediately your existing contact, or it will create a new one without you ever leaving Google Chrome. Additionally, you can also create and update deals and pull out contact info on the fly, as long as you remember first name, last name, and company domain.
Gmail. Same Chrome plugin lets you enhance your Gmail experience. Gmail widget will automatically appear on the screen, when you open your email, letting you now adding or editing contact information from people’s signatures. No manual data entry, no need for even opening a second window. Everything you need, you have in your browser now.
The same awesome extension can be used for Google calendars, docs and spreadsheets, making your work so much easier by bringing all the essential information to you and automatically performing import\export contacts tasks.
Some Useful Nimble CRM Hacks & Tips
Now that we’ve talked about extending your Nimble CRM integrations, we can focus a little bit on actually using all of these apps.
Follow your customers
First and foremost, you need to focus your strengths on the channels, where customers interact with you. Do they reach you via Twitter or LinkedIn, or some other means of communication? Even if you don’t spend too much time on Twitter, if a prospect mentions you, it’s usually a good idea to reply.
Nimble is especially good at social selling and social media interactions and it allows you to be very adaptable to any changes and embracing new channels. Being flexible can be a great boon for your business.
Personalization & timing
Pre-scripted responses and generic messaging are no longer viable. Repetitiveness is your enemy. Customers, nowadays, expect to see personalized messages and acknowledgment that their issues are being heard and they expect you to reply in a timely fashion.
It’s always a good idea to set up social media notifications and monitor clients activities in order to make sure that urgent matters receive immediate attention.
Always stays in touch
The main reason why you’d want to integrate all these apps with Nimble CRM is to make sure that no matter what happens you always stay in touch with your clients. Monitoring key interactions, as well as key influencers, as well as keeping tabs on existing clients will ultimately help you in creating better and lasting relationships.
Nimble Integration & Consulting Services by OMI
Setting up your digital environment is the first step towards the successful implementation of any CRM solution. If your business requires some assistance with implementing CRM platforms and integrating them into your existing IT infrastructure, you can always rely on our team here at Outsource Management Inc. (OMI). OMI is the go-to resource for emerging mid-size companies that are aiming at the complete digital transformation. As a trusted SaaS expert with over two decades of experience, OMI is your go-to vendor for CRM implementation services.