itBrand’s Journey to a Customer-Centric CRM Software

From strategy and branding to website and app development, itBrand is a creative agency that offers everything a company needs to succeed in the marketplace. Their collaborative approach to working with clients puts them head and shoulders above many other agencies in their space, leading their team to adopt the label “creative brand collaborative”.

Based out of Long Beach, CA, CEO and Founding Partner Gabe Estrada focuses on developing long-lasting client relationships. For him and his team to be successful in building those relationships, he needed to find a way to organize his customer data, keep track of important meeting notes, and stay on top of follow up.

The hunt for a customer-centric CRM to keep itBrand organized

As an advertising industry veteran, Gabe knew from the start that his business would need a CRM software to stay organized if they wanted to grow their client base and scale their business. His team wanted a system that had a seamless integration with their existing G Suite tools and was easy to use. They also placed a great deal of importance on the CRM providers company values - true customer-centricity was a must.

After an initial search, Gabe landed on HubSpot. He quickly realized that the tool wasn’t providing the level of integration with their existing tools that his team needed, and therefore, it wasn’t being used. So, he decided to give Salesforce a try.

Not long after switching to Salesforce, he came to the conclusion it wasn’t the right fit either, given his team was still using pen and paper. Not only did he struggle to get his team to use both tools, but he felt as though they were pushing an agenda on his company. “It felt more like those services were trying to sell me something rather than fix my needs,” said Gabe.

He needed a system that was actually going to fill his number one need: a centralized tool for customer data that his team would actually use. Adoption was critical for driving productivity, collaboration, and visibility across his entire organization, so his search for the right CRM continued.

The G Suite CRM that solved his agency’s problems

When Gabe discovered Copper, he could tell that it was a different kind of CRM. Not only was it quick to implement and easy to use, but it integrated seamlessly with G Suite. “To have a place where all of my contacts are and to have it integrate with Gmail to keep track of who’s who and what’s what directly in my email is just fantastic.” It has empowered him and his team to proactively follow up with contacts they meet at trade shows, where they meet the majority of their clients, so nothing slips through the cracks.

He loves that he can customize Copper to fit into his workflow, so he doesn’t have to change his process or drive new behavior. The Gmail Chrome extension puts CRM directly in his inbox, so he’s not forced to switch back and forth between tabs all day. He also loves how easy it is to add all of a contact’s details into the system with one click. It makes staying organized, logging sales notes, and following up with prospects a breeze.

Copper has also proven to be a company that doesn’t push an agenda on him and consistently provides high-quality customer service. Gabe shared, “As a business owner, I’ve probably spent a couple thousand dollars trying different systems out. Copper has been the most customer-centric product that I’ve used. The Copper team runs their business the way we run our business - by putting customers first.”

We can’t wait to see what’s next for this awesome team. Learn more about itBrand.