Customer Stories
HIFK - Pipedrive implementation
Zimple tailored Pipedrive to meet HIFK’s needs
IFK Helsinki has successfully improved sales productivity and enhanced communication by implementing Pipedrive with the assistance of Zimple during the spring of 2023. The new system has been well received by staff in the first few months.
In addition to being a top tier hockey team, HIFK organizes hockey activities and events for its fans and customers. HIFK was looking for an agile and customizable CRM system that could serve as a sales tool for both partnership and match sales. With the help of Zimple, Pipedrive was tailored to meet HIFK’s specific requirements. The benefits of the new system have become evident after just a short time. Sales productivity has improved, and communication with the team and customers has been enhanced. HIFK is satisfied with the support and training provided by Zimple and has plans to expand the use of Pipedrive to its subsidiary in the future.
Replacing the stiff CRM system
HIFK began exploring alternative CRM systems to support its sales when they realized that the previous system was too rigid for the company’s changing needs. The extensive CRM system previously used was overly complex for a small, start-up-like organization. Additionally, the sales tools were limited, and the company wanted more versatile capabilities. HIFK sought a more agile, easily scalable, and diverse solution that could grow with the organization and meet changing needs in future.
Zimple molded Pipedrive to fit HIFK’s needs
Initially, Pipedrive was not even considered by HIFK. Representatives of HIFK believed that Pipedrive would not be flexible enough as a CRM system to serve both partnership sales and inventory management. However, the company was advised to consult with Zimple about Pipedrive and subsequently Zimple offered to build a customized solution for HIFK’s sales.
Zimple’s experts thoroughly understood HIFK’s challenges and needs and created an efficient tool using Pipedrive that addressed their requirements. Zimple created the sales and inventory management processes within Pipedrive and built additional features as needed. As a result, HIFK’s sales team can use one system for all their sales and inventory management needs.
Raakel Koittola, Director of Marketing and Sustainability at HIFK, praises Zimple’s service orientation and their experts’ intrinsic motivation to solve the company’s challenges. “Without Zimple, we wouldn’t have embarked on this journey from scratch to one hundred percent,” Raakel explains. “We have been able to build the whole system very clearly and in a way that suits us.”
User-friendly CRM enhances sales processes and engages users in a new way
The implementation of Pipedrive has benefited HIFK in many ways. Their sales team now has access to powerful and user-friendly tools to manage sales processes. The sales team already noticed improvements in time management within a few weeks of using Pipedrive. Pipedrive offers a clear visual interface to track sales processes and manage customer communication. Ilkka Kortesluoma, CCO at HIFK, describes Pipedrive as smooth, easy, and transparent, enabling seamless communication between customers and team members. Reporting and sales monitoring in Pipedrive have been made user-friendly. “Now we can actually see in real-time and easily where we stand in terms of sales,” Ilkka said.
The user-friendliness of Pipedrive allows HIFK to independently customize the system if any changes are needed. The system’s ease of use has also allowed all users to adopt the system.
“Users are more committed to Pipedrive than the previous CRM system. They feel ownership over the CRM system because they now have the opportunity to influence it themselves,” says Raakel.
An evolving CRM system that keeps up with growth
The collaboration with Zimple has been a success for HIFK. There are plans to expand the use of Pipedrive to HIFK’s subsidiary Red Events, which would lead to more Pipedrive users in the future.
“We can have multiple entities under the same group. Pipedrive is customizable, and individuals always get the right amount of information they need. A single salesperson can see only a part of Pipedrive, while the group director can see all the data,” said Raakel regarding the system’s personalized and customizable features.
HIFK is satisfied with the support and training provided by Zimple. Zimple’s experts have guided them in using Pipedrive and helped solve any potential issues. Zimple’s fast and professional support has been valuable to HIFK, ensuring a smooth implementation and efficient utilization of the system. Ilkka describes the collaboration with Zimple as successful:
“I would definitely recommend Zimple. I think the whole process of implementing Pipedrive has gone really well. We started building the system during the season. I am surprised at how quickly this has become a fairly complete package. I have a very positive feeling about it. It’s not finished yet, but now we know that we can also develop it.”