B2B CRM Software: Best Tips for Maximizing Sales Growth in 2023

Insights from Our Interview with Salesflare Co-Founder Jeroen Corthout

Closing deals is the lifeblood of any B2B sales team. However, an outdated CRM system can slow your sales cycle with repetitive data entry and switching between apps.

To sell more in today's digital marketplace, your small B2B business needs a CRM to streamline your process so you can do more with less.

That's where Salesflare's integration automation comes in.

I recently spoke with CRM expert Jeroen Corthout, Co-Founder of Salesflare, to discuss how his B2B CRM software helps small and medium-sized businesses automate sales in 2023. 

Below are key insights from our conversation on how Salesflare's relationship management approach can help your team sell smarter.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

Salesflare Syncs Your Address Book So You Can Focus on Selling 

Jeroen explained that Salesflare was born from the shortcomings of traditional B2B CRMs that are cumbersome to use. Reps avoid them because entering data manually feels like extra work unrelated to selling.

According to WebFX, 74% of businesses say CRM software improved customer data access, and 73% say how much process efficiency can increase by using mobile CRM software. Additionally, 60% of businesses say their productivity improved by using a CRM platform.

As a result, management never gets the pipeline visibility they hoped for. Salesflare is one of the best B2B CRM Software solutions on the market. The software solves this problem by automatically syncing your address book from email and calendars. As Jeroen said:

“We thought, what if we could make it super easy to get that information? All of the stuff you need to track on a day-to-day basis into the CRM without you having to do it.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Instead of manually exporting and importing CSV files, Salesflare integrates all customer data into one system. This saves sales reps hours of tedious data entry so they can focus on selling.

Jeroen demonstrated how Salesflare pulls in emails, meetings, calls, website visits, and more to create a complete timeline of your interactions with prospects. No copying and pasting across apps is required.

This automation ensures your small business retains all touchpoints with customers as you scale. With less time spent on data entry, your team can spend more time moving deals through the sales funnel.

Salesflare Suggests Next Steps to Keep Your Sales Funnel Full

Another common bottleneck Jeroen mentioned is tracking follow-ups. Most B2B CRM Software solutions don’t actually help you remember to engage prospects at the right time.

Salesflare solves this through automated “suggested tasks” based on factors like past prospect activity and your preferred outreach cadence.

For example, if someone downloads an ebook, Salesflare may recommend sending a follow-up email to gauge their interest. This helps small teams nurture leads without dropping the ball.

Related Article: CRM Software: The Ultimate Guide For Businesses Of All Sizes

Jeroen explained:

“This keeps your pipeline full by ensuring no leads slip through the cracks. No more wondering, ‘How long has it been since I emailed these folks?' The system tells you who to contact and when for an optimal outreach cadence.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Automated prompts ensure your small sales staff follows up at the right times, even as your pipeline grows. No more guessing when someone is ready for your next call or email.

Salesflare Integrates With Your Current Tools to Unify Sales

Switching between apps all day kills productivity. Salesflare integrates directly with Gmail, Google Calendar, LinkedIn, and other platforms you already use.

This lets you access contacts and opportunities without ever leaving your email or LinkedIn. Jeroen emphasized:

“That basically you don't have to switch tabs when you're talking to customers, whether you're in Gmail or LinkedIn. Salesflare is always there with you.” 

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

No more cutting and pasting data between sales apps. Customer details follow you wherever work takes you online.

This seamless integration gives small teams the B2B CRM Software access they need, when and where they need it. No more productivity lost when switching apps.

Unifying data into tools you already use speeds up your sales cycle. Sales reps stay focused on nurturing relationships instead of hassling with constant app switching. According to WebFX, 74% of businesses say CRM software improved customer data access.

Salesflare Helps You Forecast More Accurately Based on Likely Close Dates 

Many managers invest in a B2B CRM Software solution to forecast revenue but lack pipeline visibility. Most systems only show what stage a deal is in, not when it's likely to close.

Salesflare solves this by detecting expected close dates from customer emails and meetings. As Jeroen explained:

“By pulling in dates from email threads and meetings, Salesflare can forecast revenue based on when deals will likely close. This gives managers an accurate picture of the sales funnel instead of vague stage information.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

With B2B CRM Software data unified across email and calendars, Salesflare can accurately predict revenue based on when deals will close rather than which stage they are in. Our article entitled 10 Powerful CRM Software Features discusses the key features businesses should look for when choosing the best CRM software for B2B.

This gives small business managers real visibility into the pipeline to make informed decisions. No more flying blind and guessing at future revenue.

My Take: Salesflare Streamlines Sales By Removing Friction 

As you can see from the points above, Salesflare aims to eliminate anything slowing down the sales process.

They achieve this by automating repetitive tasks like data entry and follow-ups. Customer data automatically flows into the B2B CRM Software so reps can focus on selling.

Prompts ensure you remember to engage leads at the right time. Integration with existing tools eliminates workflow interruptions from app switching.

This frictionless approach helps small teams convert more prospects by keeping reps in their workflow. Removing distractions lets them nurture leads effectively even as responsibilities grow. 

In my experience, smoothing out points of friction is key for small business sales teams to scale. Salesflare achieves this through automation that streamlines the process so you can sell smarter.

Our article entitled 6 Big Benefits Of Using CRM Software covers the key advantages of using CRM software for businesses.

How to Get Your Sales Team to Adopt CRM

Getting salespeople to use CRM consistently is a challenge in many organizations. Despite the benefits, reps often see it as a hassle unrelated to closing deals.

To uncover tips for driving adoption, I asked Jeroen Corthout what is the best way to get sales teams to embrace CRM.

Here are Jeroen’s top pieces of advice for getting your salesforce to use CRM actively:

Make Data Entry Super Simple

Many CRMs involve tedious manual entry of records, contacts, and data from various sources. Salespeople don’t want to waste time copying info between systems.

Jeroen explained that Salesflare addresses this by integrating and automating:

“We thought, what if we could make it super easy to get that information? All of the stuff you need to track on a day-to-day basis into the CRM without you having to do that.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Salesflare pulls data from emails, calendars, and websites so reps don’t have to. Jeroen showed me how it auto-populates timelines and relationships.

The key is minimizing the manual work needed to get the info into CRM. The less it feels like a data entry chore, the more adoption you’ll see.

Proactively Prompt Next Steps

Even with data in CRM, salespeople often forget to follow up on leads. Jeroen said most systems don't actively help with follow-up.

Salesflare solves this by automatically prompting next steps based on lead activity. For example, if someone downloads a whitepaper, it reminds you to follow up promptly.

Jeroen emphasized this prevents dropped balls:

“This keeps your pipeline full by ensuring no leads slip through the cracks. No more wondering ‘How long has it been?' The system tells you who to contact and when.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

By proactively reminding reps to follow up, the system provides value that drives adoption.

Embed CRM Data Into Existing Tools

Constant app switching hurts productivity and CRM usage. Salesflare tackles this by integrating CRM data into platforms sales reps already use like email and LinkedIn.

As Jeroen explained, this prevents losing momentum:

“You don't have to switch tabs when you're talking to customers, whether you're in Gmail or LinkedIn, Salesflare is always there with you.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

By embedding CRM into tools reps rely on, it stays top of mind and provides value where they work.

Make It Mobile

Old CRMs relied on desktop access and call center support. Today’s sales teams are mobile and self-sufficient.

Jeroen emphasized that Salesflare is built for the way modern sales reps work:

“We ourselves are based in the center of Europe. So we take GDPR very seriously…Then there's also a big aspect, which is data security.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Mobile optimization, security, and privacy drive adoption among sales teams working on the go with autonomy.

Simplify UX

Overly complex CRMs are a turnoff for sales reps. Jeroen believes ease of use is critical for driving adoption:

“We layer the software a little so that, you know, you, you don't get overwhelmed.”

While Salesflare has deep functionality, the interface is streamlined. This prevents sales teams from getting discouraged by initial complexity.

Enable Customization

No two sales teams work precisely alike. Customization options let you tailor the CRM to your unique preferences.

Jeroen highlighted that Salesflare allows pipeline stages, data fields, and metrics to be configured:

“Of course you can customize the stages. You can also create multiple pipelines and all that… The more you can adapt the CRM to your team’s needs, the better the adoption.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Foster Competition

A little healthy competition can increase CRM usage across your sales team. Salesflare enables teams to compare performance with leaderboards and contests.

As Jeroen noted, this turns adoption into a game:

“The very simple things I think is a matter of days. But if you look at the really getting set up, I think a month is realistic… Leverage salespeople’s competitive nature to make CRM proficiency rewarding.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Lead By Example

Managers can’t just mandate CRM adoption. They must lead by example and make it part of their daily habits.

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Jeroen emphasized management buy-in drives teamwide usage:

“It's good to invite your team members and then create a few companies in the software, some accounts and see whether it helps you follow up.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

When sales leadership fully embraces CRM, team members will follow.

Make Adoption Incentivized & Required

Carrots are more effective than sticks. But sometimes sticks are still required once carrots have been exhausted.

Jeroen noted that Salesflare proactively motivates usage during onboarding:

“You get extra days on the trial. Standard Salesflare starts with seven days, but that's just to motivate you to take more setup steps because as you set up Salesflare, we know that you will be more successful.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

To drive adoption, incentivize usage. But make it mandatory once teams have been given ample time and support.

Key Takeaway: Simplicity and Integration Drive Adoption

Jeroen made it clear that adoption ultimately comes down to simplicity and integration.

Overly complex and disconnected CRMs will languish no matter how much you push them.

Instead, simplify data entry through automation and prompts. Embed CRM into existing tools to prevent switching apps. Make the interface clean and mobile.

Do this, and your sales teams will embrace CRM as a selling tool rather than an administrative chore.

See for yourself how frictionless data syncing, sales productivity features, and UI simplicity can drive adoption throughout your sales organization.

How to Transition to a New CRM Successfully

Switching CRMs brings extensive business benefits. However, the transition process itself can be bumpy if not managed carefully.

To get advice on smoothly changing systems, I asked Jeroen how to transition to a new CRM successfully.

Here are Jeroen’s top recommendations for importing data, training teams, and launching your new CRM:

Clean Up Data Before Importing

When moving CRMs, sales teams often just export dirty data and import as-is. This results in duplicate records, incorrect info, and delays during launch.

Jeroen advised taking the time upfront to clean up data:

“Export it into a CSV. There's good videos on how to do it best without making a lot of mistakes. You put it into Salesflare. Salesflare will immediately enrich all of the available information.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Your new CRM starts off clean by de-duplicating, verifying, and organizing data before importing.

Map Fields Between Old and New System

Simply exporting all fields from your legacy CRM and importing to the new platform leads to mismatches.

As Jeroen explained, intelligently map data between systems:

“Salesflare will immediately enrich all of the available information. So the information about the companies, about the contacts, it will also then as you add contacts to accounts, which can also happen in the import, it will make timelines with all the emails you ever exchanged in your inbox and the meetings you had in your calendar and all that.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Pay close attention to how new fields relate to old ones during mapping to prevent critical data loss.

Take Advantage of Import Automation Tools

Don’t just rely on spreadsheets and CSVs. Use the import wizards and automation tools your new CRM provides to ease transition.

Jeroen highlighted how Salesflare streamlines imports:

“And it's all like immediately there. But I'll show that in real life also a bit later. So I'll just accept the suggestion here. Then Salesflare pulls in the full timeline with calls, website visits, maybe if you install the website script, meetings from the calendar, calls, emails and then you can create an opportunity.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Leverage built-in tools to automate mapping, cleansing, and importing for a smooth transition.

Develop a Collaborative Sales Process

Too often, management dictates how the new CRM sales process will work. Sales teams resent rigid requirements that don’t fit their workflow.

Jeroen advised taking a collaborative approach:

“I think it's mostly about, I think, discussing as a team how you're gonna use it. So what does a sales process look like, setting up the pipeline. How are we going to follow up? Are we going to use tasks? Are we going to use some sort of filter views?”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Involve sales reps in designing processes for greater buy-in during transition.

Phase Rollout to Power Users First

Big bang launches with entire teams, leading to chaos. Jeroen suggested phasing rollout:

“The very simple things I think is a matter of days. But if you look at the really getting set up, I think a month is realistic… Start with technical staff or power users who can vet workflows. Expand in waves to smooth adoption.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Get Leadership Using the System First

Driving teamwide usage starts from the top. Jeroen emphasized managers should be trained early:

“It's good to invite your team members and then create a few companies in the software, some accounts and see whether it helps you follow up.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

When sales leadership role models usage, adoption cascades through the entire organization.

Incentivize Usage and Learning

Don’t just mandate new CRM usage. Jeroen proposed incentivizing engagement:

“You get extra days on the trial. Standard Salesflare starts with seven days, but that's just to motivate you to take more setup steps because as you set up Salesflare, we know that you will be more successful.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Gamify activities, offer perks for skill building and reward power users to motivate transition.

Closely Monitor Adoption & Feedback

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Jeroen advised tracking adoption:

“And then it's mostly about, I think, discussing as a team how you're gonna use it. So what does a sales process look like, setting up the pipeline. How are we going to follow up? Are we going to use tasks? Are we going to use some sort of filter views? Because we have a lot of available filters like last email date, last meeting date, last date change date, last interaction date.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Solicit ongoing user feedback through surveys and interviews. Adapt processes based on insights.

Key Takeaway: Collaboration and Change Management Are Crucial

Jeroen made it clear that efficient CRM transitions require collaboration and gradual change management.

Work with sales teams on processes. Incentivize engagement. Start with a select group of users and expand steadily.

Clean up data before importing—Automate where possible. Continuously monitor adoption and feedback.

Follow these guidelines for a smooth transition that maximizes sales productivity gains from your new CRM.

Import your data, customize workflows, and simulate your change management plan in a low-risk environment.

Experience transition best practices firsthand to build skills and confidence for launching your new CRM successfully.

How to Choose the Right CRM for Your Sales Team

With countless CRM platforms on the market, selecting the right one is challenging. To identify must-have features, I asked Jeroen how sales teams can choose a CRM for maximum value.

Below are Jeroen’s top tips for evaluating CRM solutions using criteria like productivity, integration, adoption, and ease of use:

Ensure the CRM Provides Value to Users

Many CRMs are adopted to satisfy management, not help reps sell. Jeroen advised focusing on user value:

“We started SalesFlair…because we were a bit frustrated with the current solutions in the sense that we felt that CRMs would always require a lot of work…You cannot require salespeople to fill out that much information to then get a little bit of value out of a CRM.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Choose a platform that saves salespeople time through automation and integration to drive adoption.

Minimize Manual Data Entry

Copying and pasting data is a turnoff for sales reps. Jeroen recommended platforms that automatically capture interactions:

“Salesflare essentially plugs into your mailbox. It plugs into your calendar, it plugs into your phone, get some data from different databases about people, also for MIMO signatures, about companies. It has integrated tracking and basically every single data point is tracked for you.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Syncing emails, calendars, and websites populate CRM without repetitive manual entry.

Look for Relationship Intelligence

Basic CRMs track accounts and contacts. Jeroen suggested selecting tools with relationship intelligence:

“It detects it in your emails, who you're emailing with, and it detects it in your calendar, who you're having meetings with. Then Salesflare auto creates contacts, immediately suggesting them on accounts.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Features like auto-linking contacts to accounts provide valuable connectivity.

Seek Proactive Activity Capture

Outdated CRMs rely on manual activity logging. Jeroen advised looking for systems that automatically capture interactions:

“It also then as you add contacts to accounts, which can also happen in the import, it will make timelines with all the emails you ever exchanged in your inbox and the meetings you had in your calendar and all that.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Automatic timelines eliminate activity logging and provide insight.

Require Integration with Existing Tools

Constant app switching hurts productivity. Jeroen recommended platforms that embed into current systems:

“We have a sidebar next to our extra emails. So if you open up an email, it will show you all the information next to it that we have in Salesforce. And then you can add the company in one click.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Optimize workflows by integrating natively with email, calendar, and communication platforms.

Look for Relationship Analytics

Basic reporting doesn’t provide value. Jeroen suggested advanced analytics on relationships:

“It also then, as you add contacts to accounts, which can also happen in the import, it will make timelines with all the emails you ever exchanged in your inbox and the meetings you had in your calendar and all that.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Choose systems with reporting on relationship health, communications, activities, and workflow effectiveness.

Require Ease of Customization

Off-the-shelf CRM won’t fit sales teams exactly. Jeroen emphasized choosing customizable systems:

“Of course, you can customize the stages. You can also create multiple pipelines and all that. The magic of Salesflare is not in the pipeline itself. It's what happens behind it, all the tracking.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Tailor platforms to your sales process stages, workflows, fields, and reporting needs.

Validate Mobile Optimization

Sales teams are mobile today. Jeroen highlighted evaluating CRM mobility:

“We ourselves are based in the center of Europe. So we take GDPR very seriously…Then there's also a big aspect, which is data security.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Ensure CRM access and features on mobile devices to empower field teams.

Assess Ease of Use

Overly complex CRMs hamper productivity. Jeroen suggested selecting user-friendly systems:

“This first walkthrough is just to show you the very basic aspects of Salesflare in a quick way. It's not real data, but I'll show you real data in a second based on our mailbox.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Intuitive interfaces remove friction so reps can focus on selling rather than learning new software.

Try Before You Buy

Don’t decide on claims alone. Jeroen emphasized taking systems for a test drive:

“The easiest way to understand how Salesflare can help your team convert more prospects is to experience it yourself.”

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Hands-on trials ensure you vet CRM against your actual needs before purchasing.

Key Takeaway: Prioritize Automation, Integration & Ease of Use

Jeroen made it clear that automation, seamless integration, analytics, and ease of use differentiate winning CRM solutions.

Platforms should sync data automatically from systems sales reps already use daily like email and calendars. This captures interactions frictionlessly while embedding CRM into natural workflows.

Choose solutions that help sales teams sell smarter through relationship intelligence, not just store contact records. And ensure customizability so the platform can adapt perfectly to your sales process needs.

Follow this criteria to select CRM that supercharges sales productivity by integrating into workflows rather than disrupting them.

Want to experience next-generation CRM firsthand? Start a free Salesflare trial today at the link at the bottom of this article to see these differentiators in action before you buy.

Conclusion: Let Salesflare B2B CRM Software Handle Busywork So Your Team Can Sell

As Jeroen said during our discussion:

“I believe in a future where salespeople will just be in conversations, and all the other things will happen for them.” 

Jeroen Corthout, Salesflare Co Founder

Salesflare delivers on this vision today through automation that handles repetitive tasks for you.

Syncing data, prompting follow-ups, and integrating tools eliminate grunt work distracting from selling. 

Let Salesflare leverage technology to automate the busy work so your small team can focus on customer conversations that drive growth.

Experience frictionless sales that help small and medium businesses sell smarter. Your team talks to prospects. Salesflare handles the rest.

See for yourself by starting a FREE 14-day trial of Salesflare's B2B CRM Software. It will automatically pull in your address book and help you nurture leads with less effort.

Listen to our Software Spotlight podcast episode featuring Salesflare: Jeroen Corthout, co-founder of Salesflare CRM, explains how the platform integrates email, calendar, and other tools to automatically capture sales interactions and enrich data. This creates detailed timelines to help users effortlessly track leads without manual data entry, enabling sales teams to focus on selling rather than administrative tasks.