The Client
The client is a company pioneering technology for large-scale green hydrogen production. They are driven by the goal of making green hydrogen economically viable and making green energy as financially viable as fossil fuels. With over a decade of research and development, the client holds 100 patents and operates a state-of-the-art facility alongside their R&D and pilot plants.
Naturally, the company is growing fast. As they continued to grow, managing their sales process using spreadsheets became increasingly stressful and inefficient for their team. Each salesperson had their own methods for logging and tracking deals, leading to inconsistencies and making it difficult to determine processes or generate accurate reports. Recognizing the need for a more unified and scalable solution, they sought the expertise of ClearPivot to implement HubSpot and design their sales operations.
The Problem
As a rapidly growing company, the client was managing its sales data and processes using basic tools like Excel spreadsheets. This approach created several challenges: individual salespeople were following different processes, leading to inconsistencies in data logging, deal tracking, and reporting. The lack of a unified system made it difficult to train new team members effectively and hindered the company's ability to scale its operations. Additionally, the sales cycle, which can extend over a year due to the complexity and scale of their projects, required a more robust solution to handle the long-term tracking and reporting needs.
To support their ambitious growth plans and improve their efficiency, they needed to transition from their existing ad-hoc methods to a more structured, reliable system that could handle the nuances of their industry and the scale of their projects.
The Solution
ClearPivot stepped in to address the client’s needs by implementing HubSpot, a comprehensive CRM platform that could unify their sales processes and provide advanced reporting capabilities. The first step was to understand exactly what the client needed to migrate from their spreadsheets into HubSpot. ClearPivot worked closely with them to identify key data points and ensure that the new system would align with their established sales process map.
The team began by organizing and restructuring the client’s spreadsheets to facilitate a smooth import into HubSpot. The team created custom properties within HubSpot to accommodate specific needs, such as tracking the size of electrolyzers in megawatts and categorizing projects based on their scale (small, medium, large, extra large). These custom properties were then linked to automated workflows that would streamline the management of deals and companies, ensuring that critical information was always captured and categorized correctly.
Additionally, the client’s deal stages were configured to reflect the long sales cycles typical in their industry. ClearPivot also recreated essential reports that had been managed manually in Excel, such as tracking deals by megawatt capacity, active accounts by stage, weighted revenue, and opportunities created. This allowed them to have a clearer view of their pipeline and make more informed decisions.
The Results
Following the implementation, the sales team underwent training sessions to familiarize themselves with HubSpot’s tools and capabilities. These sessions were crucial in helping the team transition smoothly to the new system and start taking full advantage of its features. With ClearPivot's implementation of HubSpot in place, the client now has a unified sales process that is both scalable and efficient. The sales team can easily track deals and manage customer interactions, all while maintaining consistent and accurate data across the board. The automated workflows and custom properties have reduced the manual workload, allowing the team to focus more on strategic tasks rather than administrative ones.
Moreover, the advanced reporting capabilities that ClearPivot built out have given the client greater insight into their sales performance, enabling them to make data-driven decisions that support their growth. The team is also exploring additional functionality as well, such as generating proposals and quotes, which will further enhance their operational efficiency.
Overall, ClearPivot's implementation of HubSpot for this client has transformed the their sales operations, providing them with the tools and insights needed to continue their trajectory as a leader in the green hydrogen industry.
