Employers often write "CRM experience" in sales adverts, and some name specific tools. You do not need paid software to gain that experience. Free CRM plans let you practise the same daily habits that sales teams use. This lesson walks through them using general steps that apply to most CRMs. HubSpot's free CRM and Zoho Bigin are named only as examples; the habits transfer to whichever CRM an employer uses.
Getting started
- Sign up for a free plan with an email address. Most work in a browser on any device, and many have a phone app.
- Look for the main areas: Contacts, Companies, Deals (sometimes called opportunities or a pipeline) and Tasks or Activities.
- Find the pipeline settings and rename the stages to match your sales process, for example New lead, Contacted, Qualified, Offer sent, Negotiation, Won, Lost.
Use invented practice data, not real customers' details, until you are working for an employer with permission to store them.
Daily CRM habits
Add contacts properly. Full name, organisation, role, phone, email, location and source. Use the same format every time, such as phone numbers starting with 0 or with +233, not a mix.
Create a deal for each sales opportunity. Give it a clear name ("Savelugu Clinic, stock app"), a value in cedis, a stage and an expected close date. Link it to the contact and company.