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5 min read

SoftwareSupp Project Board explained

Learn more about the features and benefits of working with SoftwareSupp Freelancers: task progress, financial progress, communication, access sharing, document repository, meeting system and more.

Customers

6 min read

Creating an effective lead generation tool

The lead generation tool is built based on Pipedrive's integration with Woodpecker, where the leads created in Woodpecker are automatically sent and arranged in the Pipedrive. The designed tool increases the possibilities of reaching new and existing customers

As it turns out, a well-configured tool can help generate leads practically from the first moments of use. It is widely known that automatic tools improve work and performance quality, excluding the possibility of human error. But did you know that you can create your lead generation tool from scratch, ideally suited to the company and industry and at a low cost?

Project scope

  • Integration audit,
  • Bug fixes and integrated tools testing,
  • Setting up workflow automation in the Pipedrive
  • Woodpecker integration and testing

Project time: 6 hours

Effect: Creating a lead generation tool integrated with the website, which facilitates sending campaigns and email replies.

It was another project that I carried out using the Pipedrive system. I have been cooperating with SoftwareSupp for over a year, consulting and auditing customer solutions as well as implementing integrations and necessary improvements. Every day I deal with sales in Software House, where I specialize in business process automation solutions. Aleksander Dytko, SoftwareSupp Freelancer

Lead generation tool configuration to let the sales begin

The project aimed to smooth and continuous sales by using a lead generation tool. The whole process was to take place by automating manual and repetitive activities. The client needed ongoing assistance in configuring his application and integrating all the systems he currently uses. He has only recently used Pipedrive, so he was expecting a comprehensive check of the current configuration and integration with other useful tools.

The lead generation tool was built based on Pipedrive's integration with Woodpecker, where the leads created in Woodpecker are automatically sent and arranged in the Pipedrive.

Introduction of Pipedrive integration

Pipedrive is a very versatile tool that works well for companies from a wide variety of industries. Moreover, it is a CRM system that has extensive methods of integration with other instruments. It is customizable, thanks to which it is quite easy to adapt them to the requirements of individual organizations.

CRM as a system helps manage customer relations and make it easier to find oneself in planned tasks for given leads. This database serves as "one source of truth" about the customers, their organizations, and the sales opportunities we have worked on. - Aleksander Dytko, SoftwareSupp Freelancer

The CRM system can become even more powerful after integrating the applications that we use in the organization - so that we can manage our availability, schedule meetings, send emails and generate documents from one place.

Pipedrive integration at Woodpecker
Pipedrive integration

A recipe for a successful lead generation tool project

The recipe for a successful project is surely an experienced expert who offers a wide range of services. Before starting the collaboration, the client already had a Pipedrive account but was unable to configure all the necessary settings by himself. Only through skillful adjustment, we can use the maximum potential of this software. Customization allows for effective management relationships with future, current and potential clients. Pipedrive collects information on all contact details, organization, and history of meetings and projects.

Skills needed to implement the project:

  • Pipedrive - good practices, experience
  • Calendly
  • Email marketing systems - Woodpecker
  • CMS systems - LeadPages
  • Lead management - from generation to sale

It was my first cooperation with a client from the USA, which had its advantages - after my permanent work, I had time for meetings during the client's working hours. Thanks to this, there was no problem with arranging meetings.

I could use my knowledge from other projects to audit the client's solution and suggest new ways to solve problems. This project was a great combination because besides the software skills I had to use also my knowledge of marketing and sales to help the client generate leads - A. Dytko, SoftwareSupp Freelancer
Pipedrive details as lead generation tool useful feature
Contact history in Pipedrive

The process of creating a lead generation tool

The process of creating a refined tool consisted of many steps. Below is a list of tasks that were carried out in 6 working hours to complete the project scope. 

  • Kick-off meeting with setting the goals of the project
  • Pipedrive configuration audit
  • Integration audit with Zapier, Calendly, LeadPages
  • Audit Pipedrive forms settings
  • Integration with Woodpecker
  • Workflow automation setting

Pipedrive Woodpecker integration

The customer wanted to see all responses from Pipedrive's email campaigns to be able to take individual actions based on the responses. Hence the need to integrate these two tools arose. The process works as follows: integration automatically creates new contacts in Pipedrive when someone adds them to Woodpecker. Then, Woodpecker detects the type of response - bounced, lead interested, not interested, and records the responses in Pipedrive as new activities. Moreover, Woodpecker also records when an email has been sent and opened as an activity. 

Woodpecker campaign's results
Results of email campaigns

Based on the type of response, various types of workflow automation can be set to perform appropriate actions. Workflow automation, in this case, consisted of two sub-processes:

  1. Creating new leads from new contact person added to the database
  2. Designing a new sales opportunity when a prospect from an email campaign responds to cold mail
Pipedrive automations for lead generation tool purposes
Automation of creating leads from new contacts

Pipedrive Woodpecker integration steps

In the project, I used the Pipedrive and Woodpecker integration available in the Woodpecker marketplace. The integration of the two tools is quite simple:

  1. Enter the API key
  2. Map the fields between Woodpecker and Pipedrive so that the data is properly recorded
  3. Select the types of activities to be uploaded to Pipedrive

And Done!

The lead generation tool has been designed to improve the process of sending and managing email messages. The integration of two tools makes it possible to control campaigns from one place. Currently, the customer using the CRM system can send and receive emails. In addition, CRM has also been linked to the website, more specifically, to the form on the website. People who fill out the form who are potentially interested in services are also recorded and classified in the CRM system. Thanks to the integration with Calendly, a potential client can arrange a meeting with an employee of the company. At these times, the Woodpecker base has 500 contacts and is systematically growing. Each campaign consists of 6 messages.

Currently, the CRM system is used by two employees who serve clients and are responsible for regular customer service.

Considering the indicated figures, woodpecker sends 3,000 emails in total to all current contacts. Assuming that the manual creation and sending of one message takes about 3 minutes, we can find out that handling these campaigns would take 150 hours of work. It means that both employees would have to spend approximately two weeks of work for the manual sending process.

Woodpecker dashboard
Woodpecker dashboard with email campaigns
Customers

5 min read

Building Klaviyo Email automation to improve the quality of communication

There are many advantages of conducting refined and continuous communication with the client. The specialist explains where problems can arise in the email automation process and how to deal with them.

Are you wondering why your email marketing does not give the expected results? Maybe the automation has been conducted incorrectly. And this is what exactly happened to our client. Email automation issues lead to communication problems. As we can imagine, communication obstacles can create difficulties with conversion, which causes real losses in the company. Such a course of the situation would worry every entrepreneur.

Klaviyo email automation project details:

1. To get our Klaviyo integration firing on all tagged events

2. To get the events to fire on the web and apps (app store and google play)

3. Check on the MYDAWA API flow for the API-driven events into Klaviyo

Effect: Fixed Klaviyo email automation issue. Solving this problem is directly related to improving communication in the company-customer relationship and increasing conversion.

Automation is my hobby - it is something that fascinates me. I have been dealing with this for over seven years. Thanks to integrations and automation, I help clients improve their workflows. It affects their efficiency and job satisfaction. Through automation we eliminate tedious, everyday tasks, making work less repetitive. Mohammad Sadiek, SoftwareSupp Freelancer

Email automation issue as a reason for hiring a Klaviyo specialist

To better understand the problem, we describe the situations in detail. The customer employing the email automation specialist is MYDAWA. It is a company from the pharmaceutical industry. Daily, they sell cosmetic and medicinal products. The company is located in Kenya. They have a custom website and an integration with Klaviyo for email marketing.

Our Klaviyo is processing only <10% of the various events. It is failing our automation and flows.- MYDAWA, the Client

What problems can an underdeveloped process of sending automatic emails cause?
It would seem that sending an email does not take much time and that you could write it simply by hand. However, if we think about it more deeply and calculate the numbers, it will turn out that well-prepared email automation saves a lot of time.
Assuming that writing one message with a copy prepared in advance takes 3 minutes and you need to send 50 emails a day (to new and existing customers), it turns out that we waste 150 minutes on it, which is 2.5 hours a day. It means that it may take more than a quarter of a working day to complete this task manually.

The client currently has five mailing campaigns that contain welcome emails, etc. Incorrectly implemented email automation not only does not help in faster customer service but even disturbs. Why? Because the customer has to send a large part of the emails manually and has to verify which of his clients received the automatic message. These messages are information about transactions, orders, etc., in fact, the major information for the customer during the shopping process. Communication with the shopper while making purchases often contributes to a negative or positive assessment of the store. It means that the problem with email communication can have a significant impact on the decrease in conversion.

Klaviyo email automation
Email automation
We have 5 automated mailings. Example of welcome campaign: only around 10% of customers receive messages. It is an urgent issue stopping us from advancing our campaigns.- MYDAWA, the Client

How to fix email automation process to improve communication and increase conversion?

The integration was not working smoothly, so registrations and orders from the website did not go to the Klaviyo platform. The missed contacts cause the email marketing workflows not to function rightly.

Freelancer's tasks to improve email communication:

  • Checking code to detect the problem
  • Klaviyo API and website analysis
  • Zapier webhook
  • Missing contacts analysis

My job was to find out where the problem was. I started with checking the correct code, which pushes the registrations to the Klaviyo API. Then, I monitored the new users coming to Klaviyo. By requesting and looking at the error log, I was able to see which users were not going through.

To check if the error is with the code in the website or the Klaviyo API itself, I added a push to a webhook from Zapier.

In Zapier, I set up a Zap to add any new entries to Klaviyo after 5 minutes if the website didn't add them to Klaviyo. By comparing the entries in the error log after a few days with the history in Zapier, I was able to see the missing contacts did pass through with Zapier.

These results made it clear there was no issue with the Klaviyo API but with the code in the website pushing the new users to Klaviyo.

I had to make a few attempts to change the code to make it work correctly by checking the logs every time. Now that the code is working, the other actions (Add to Cart, Viewed Product, etc.) also use the Klaviyo API. There are still some issues with the abandoned cart workflow, which could have to do something with the new code to send the events to the Klaviyo API, but I am working on that.

Email automation flow
Email automation flow designed by Klaviyo specialist

According to research conducted by the Annuitas Group, those companies that have invested in marketing automation to contact potential customers see a 451% increase in the number of qualified leads. It is one of the reasons why the client was so anxious to receive efficient help from an experienced specialist. Marketing automation is one of the fields for e-commerce development. However, there is a whole lot of opportunities that are also worth investing in.

Client form Kenya found email automation specialist from Netherlands
Worldwide cooperation

A client from Kenya, after submitting the project, was connected with a freelancer from the Netherlands. SoftwareSupp made it possible to hire a Klaviyo specialist from halfway around the world. Thus, the person responsible for project implementation was perfectly matched to the specific requirements of the client.

Customers

7 min read

PoC process that helps make a right decision

How to be sure that the decision made will positively affect the company's operations? The client decided to use an experienced CRM consultant service who helped him make a well-thought decision and save time, by the way.

This guide is a part of the below ultimate guides:
How to Build a Perfect Sales Process With the Help of Your CRM?

Let's assume that independent research on the Internet to find the necessary and verified information takes from a few to dozen hours. Of course, it all depends on the industry and the extent of the topic. It takes so long because it is not easy to find a reliable source of answers to very specialistic questions. Within 6 hours, Aleksander not only answered all the client's questions and dispelled his doubts, but he also helped determine the needs related to the CRM system and implemented a preliminary version of the solution. The client saved his time resources and received services from a world-class certified specialist.

Project scope:

  • Workshop and collecting needs
  • PoC implementation

Project time: 6h

Effect: The knowledge of a certified CRM consultant enabled an efficient decision-making process to change the main CRM system and software development to meet the organization's requirements. Thanks to the reliability of the specialist, the client saved even several dozen hours. He also gained confidence that the chosen solution would fulfill its function.

Aleksander Dytko - Certified CRM Freelancer

CRM consultant's skills
CRM consultant hired for Pipedrive PoC
I work in the sales department at Software House daily, and our general CRM system is Pipedrive. Based on my sales experience, I am able to understand the client's situation and processes quickly, advise on the selection of solutions and process optimization. I also deal with system integrations through Zapier, which significantly improves the work of teams. With SoftwareSupp, I have already completed a few projects. One of them has been described here.

CRM consultant help make a decision about Customer Relationship management

The client hired a certified CRM consultant to obtain specialist advice and assistance in implementing the selected system. To better illustrate the situation, we introduce our client: Autonomia consulting. It is a Poznań consulting and training company that helps its clients achieve higher organization and working people effectiveness. Autonomia consulting has so far used ActiveCampaign to manage customer relations. But it did not meet all expectations and needs. The client admitted that the capabilities of this software were insufficient. He also paid attention to the daily operation of the system. The aim of the project was to quickly check whether Pipedrive as a CRM meets the organization's needs. A list of measures was defined as success criteria.

CRM success criteria:

  • Is it possible to integrate Pipedrive with other tools via Zapier?
  • Will the salesperson need an Asana to manage tasks at the customer's site?
  • Can I create tasks in Pipedrive?
  • Can I see which customers are at which stage of the funnel?
  • How can I analyze the sales funnel?
  • What does the integration with an email account look like?
  • Integration with Teams: How to use Pipedrive in Teams - plugin to use
  • Can I define email templates for faster sending in Pipedrive?
  • How to attach files to sales opportunities/people/organizations in CRM?
  • Is it possible to change the status of a sales opportunity (e.g. change a stage in a funnel) after completing the task?
  • Pipedrive's ability to create sales opportunities from email: Can I automatically create sales opportunities from emails?
  • Pipedrive integration with ActiveCampaign: How ActiveCampaign -> Pipedrive communication works - when something happens in one, it should also appear in the other. Is it possible? How does Pipedrive -> ActiveCampaign communication work?
  • Same fields in Pipedrive and ActiveCampaign: The need is to be able to export the CSV file from Pipedrive and import it into ActiveCampaign. The columns and data types must match.
  • Is it possible to create a form after which the data will be sent into the CRM, and a task will be created automatically?
  • Can this data also be sent to ActiveCampaign?
  • How does the import of companies and contacts work?
  • Is it possible to assign one person to many companies?

The client received answers to these and other questions. On this basis, a decision was made to implement the tool into the internal system.

Pipedrive is a CRM system for customer relationship management - it stores contacts to our business partners and customers, company data, and a history of sales opportunities. Pipedrive is a tool that is easy to integrate through webhook, native integrations, or Zapier, which is one of the most popular CRM systems in the world. - Aleksander, CRM consultant 

Certified CRM consultant’s project for the client from consulting industry

The project implemented by a CRM consultant was to test the tool's capabilities without spending time on research and figuring out how to use the software. After 6 hours of working with an expert, the client received answers to his questions about the possibilities and a short team training on selected CRM.

As a result, the client gained several dozen hours (1-2 weeks) that would be spent on looking for answers, learning how to use the software, and training other employees.

CRM consultant skills used for Pipedrive PoC project

  • Pipedrive knowledge and experience
  • Ability to configure Wordpress and its plugins
  • Acquaintance with Zapier
  • Knowledge of ActiveCampaign
I really enjoyed this project and the cooperation with the client in developing the best solution. For Pipedrive PoC, we jointly created a list of success criteria that I tested. An interesting fact to solve was assigning more than one organization to a sales opportunity. Also, the multitude of tools with which you had to integrate CRM made this project interesting. - Aleksander, CRM consultant 

Preparation of a Proof of concept as the principal CRM consultant's task

Proof of concept, commonly known as PoC, is an activity consisting in proving the rightness of using a given solution in a specific company. The purpose of PoC is to demonstrate the possibility of achieving the assumed business results. 

The goal is to help us decide if Pipedrive is the right solution for our consulting company - client at the initial stage of the project 

CRM consultant’s tasks

  1. Kick-off call with the preparation of the meeting's summary 
  2. Prepare the Pipedrive account
  3. Account activation
  4. Configuration of funnels based on a diagram from the customer
  5. Custom fields configuration based on the previous CRM
Pipedrive sell opportunity
Sell opportunity with custom fields with the ability to create a document based on a template
  1. Preparation of the import of contacts, organizations, and sales opportunities, based on the export of data from the previous CRM system
  2. Automation of transitions between stages - when a sales opportunity is closed in one funnel, a copy of it is created and the original sales opportunity is transferred to the next funnel in the sequence (e.g. sales -> customer service), based on Workflow automation
  3. Configuration of an email account and preparation of email templates
Pipedrive inbox confiurations
Pre-configured inbox, integrated with Outlook


  1. Integration with OneDrive and preparation of document templates
  2. Integration with Teams and setting notifications
  3. Preparing the Zapier instance to connect to the Contact Form 7
  4. Preparation of a Wordpress test instance with the Contact Form 7 plugin to present the integration options via Webhooks and Zapier to Pipedrive

Zapier workflow
Workflow in Zapier - configured with Contact Form 7 in WordPress. Zap catches a Hook from the form, creates or finds a person on Pipedrive from the email, creates an opportunity, and adds a note to it.
  1. Presentation of work results, training and Q&A
  2. Delegation of access
Pipedrive contact's details
Sell opportunity with an email history

The success of CRM Proof of Concept

The filar of project success was the joint building of criteria that were factors directly influencing the decision-making process. Meeting the client's requirements would not be possible without the knowledge of CRM. The fact of many years of experience in sales, which facilitated the efficient understanding of the needs and scope of the project, cannot be ignored as well. At the beginning of the cooperation, the client set the following requirements: Mapping the sales process in the organization in CRM and migration from the old solution. The client's company has 10-15 employees, thanks to the adaptation of the tool for managing relations with clients, each of them will become more effective. Automation of tasks and data transfer, combined with additional tools integrations, will eliminate repetitive and tedious work. It results in gaining additional time that has a positive impact on sales results and employee satisfaction.

What made Aleksander a suitable expert for the Autonomia consulting project?

CRM consultant's project details
Project and freelancer matched details

After submitting the project to SoftwareSupp, we knew what kind of person the client needed. Aleksander is a certified Pipedrive specialist but also has extensive experience in managing sales processes. These skills allowed the expert to complete the assigned tasks efficiently. The screenshot shown above indicates that only part of the project has been completed at this stage. The client decided which of the work submitted to the project board should be implemented immediately and which could wait. Some of the tasks are still waiting for implementation. The client has the option to manage his budget according to his individual needs. Probably funds will be used for additional integration, Pipedrive support, or the client will develop another part of the business, such as a website, in its time. However, the most important thing for us is that everyone has a sense of managing time and money following the planned development.

News

2 min read

SoftwareSupp pay-as-you-go billing explained

How to work with SoftwareSupp Freelancers through a pay-as-you-go billing, saving time and reducing internal costs.

With SoftwareSupport you pay every month for the delivered work.

SoftwareSupp offers a safe invoicing system, allowing our customers to pay only for the actual work delivery.

Customer is billed only based on the work delivered by the freelancer, meaning the hours of their approved work multiplied by their hourly rate.

As a result, customers pay only for the work completed and approved.

Billing Customers are billed monthly (or for selected customers every two weeks) by an amount equal to the work delivered to customer (hourly rate * hourly work).

News

2 min read

SoftwareSupp Freelancers' Ranking 2022

Top 10 performers in the SoftwareSupp network in 2022.

Top 10 performing freelancers in SoftwareSupp network in 2022.

* All the data is based on actual numbers, hours worked and cash payouts.