Managing contacts and sales pipelines efficiently is one of the biggest challenges for small businesses, freelancers, and growing teams. A powerful CRM system can save countless hours while improving lead conversion and customer retention.
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) isn’t just an email marketing tool—it also provides a fully functional CRM, allowing businesses to manage contacts, track deals, and automate workflows in one platform. After testing Brevo extensively across multiple client projects and personal ventures, I’ve seen firsthand how its CRM can streamline sales and contact management, even on a free plan.
In this guide, I’ll cover everything you need to know to use Brevo CRM effectively, including contact management, sales pipelines, practical examples, tips, and real-world best practices.
Why Use Brevo CRM?
Brevo CRM is designed for businesses that want simplicity without sacrificing functionality. Unlike traditional CRMs that are complex and expensive, Brevo CRM offers:
- Integrated contact management
- Customizable sales pipelines
- Automation integration with email and SMS
- Affordable pricing, including a free plan
Experience insight: For small businesses and startups, Brevo CRM can handle up to hundreds of leads efficiently without requiring additional software.
Step 1: Accessing Brevo CRM
- Log in to your Brevo account.
- Click CRM in the main dashboard.
- You’ll see three main sections:
- Contacts
- Deals
- Tasks & Notes
These sections allow you to manage everything from lead capture to sales conversion.
Step 2: Adding and Managing Contacts
Contacts are the foundation of your CRM. Brevo allows you to manage individuals and companies, and track every interaction.
How to Add Contacts
- Manual Entry: Add a single contact with fields like name, email, phone, company, and notes.
- Import CSV: Bulk import your contacts from Excel, Google Sheets, or another CRM.
- Integration: Connect Brevo with your website, landing pages, or forms to automatically add new leads.
Best Practice: Always categorize contacts with tags or custom fields. For example:
- Lead source: Organic / Referral / Paid Ads
- Customer type: B2B / B2C
- Engagement level: Hot / Warm / Cold
Managing Contacts Efficiently
- Use filters to segment contacts by activity, engagement, or tag.
- Add notes for each contact to track conversations or interactions.
- Assign owners to contacts if you have a team managing leads.
Pro Tip: Track every touchpoint — emails, calls, meetings — in Brevo to maintain a clear view of your relationship history.
Step 3: Setting Up Sales Pipelines
Sales pipelines allow you to visualize the journey of a lead from prospect to customer. Brevo’s CRM supports customizable pipelines.
How to Create a Pipeline
- Go to Deals → Pipelines → Create Pipeline.
- Name your pipeline (e.g., “Sales Pipeline – SaaS Leads”).
- Add stages to match your sales process:
- New Lead
- Contacted
- Proposal Sent
- Negotiation
- Closed Won / Closed Lost
Experience Insight
Start with 3–5 stages to avoid overcomplicating the process. You can always add more as your sales process matures.
Adding Deals to Pipelines
- Click New Deal.
- Assign the deal to a contact.
- Select pipeline stage.
- Set deal value and expected close date.
Pro Tip: Assign deals to team members and add notes for follow-ups. This ensures accountability and avoids dropped leads.
Step 4: Tracking Deals and Performance
Brevo provides visual pipeline boards with drag-and-drop functionality:
- Move deals between stages as leads progress.
- View total pipeline value.
- Track individual or team performance.
Key Metrics to Monitor
- Conversion rate per stage
- Average deal value
- Time spent in each stage
- Lead sources generating revenue
Experience tip: Review these metrics weekly. This helps identify bottlenecks and improve the sales process.
Step 5: Automating CRM Workflows
One of Brevo’s biggest advantages is CRM integration with automation.
Common Automation Examples
- Lead Nurturing
- Trigger: New lead added
- Action: Send a welcome email, add tag “new lead”, assign to sales rep
- Deal Stage Update
- Trigger: Deal moved to “Proposal Sent”
- Action: Send reminder email to follow up in 3 days
- Re-engagement
- Trigger: Deal inactive for 14 days
- Action: Send automated follow-up email or SMS
Pro Tip: Start with simple automations and expand as you gain experience. Automation reduces repetitive tasks and increases efficiency.
Step 6: Notes, Tasks, and Team Collaboration
Brevo allows you to add tasks and notes linked to contacts and deals. This helps track follow-ups and maintain context for each lead.
- Tasks: Set reminders for calls, emails, or meetings.
- Notes: Document every interaction for reference.
- Assignments: Assign deals or tasks to team members to improve accountability.
Experience insight: Teams using task tracking see higher follow-up rates and fewer lost opportunities.
Step 7: Integrating Email Marketing with CRM
Brevo’s native integration between CRM and email marketing is a game-changer.
Examples
- Automatically add new leads from landing pages to email sequences.
- Trigger drip campaigns based on deal stage or contact tag.
- Segment email campaigns by engagement or sales stage.
Real-world impact: In one client project, integrating CRM and email automation increased engagement by 35% and reduced manual follow-ups by 60%.
Step 8: Customizing Contact Fields
For more advanced tracking:
- Add custom fields (e.g., subscription type, industry, location)
- Use dropdowns or checkboxes to standardize data
- Track lead sources, purchase history, or product interest
Pro Tip: Standardized data makes segmentation, reporting, and automation more effective.
Step 9: Reporting and Analytics
Brevo CRM includes reporting features to measure:
| Metric | What it Shows |
|---|---|
| Deals per stage | Visual pipeline overview |
| Conversion rate | Percentage of leads closing per stage |
| Team performance | Deal ownership and follow-ups |
| Revenue forecast | Expected revenue based on deal values |
| Contact activity | Engagement, email opens, clicks |
Experience tip: Use weekly and monthly reports to refine your sales strategy.
Step 10: Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Ignoring contact segmentation → leads get irrelevant emails
- Overcomplicating pipelines → too many stages reduce clarity
- Not tracking notes and tasks → follow-ups are missed
- Skipping automation → repetitive work wastes time
- Failing to review analytics → no data-driven improvements
Step 11: Best Practices for Using Brevo CRM
- Keep your pipeline simple initially
- Track every lead interaction for context
- Use automation for repetitive tasks
- Combine CRM with email campaigns for engagement
- Review metrics regularly to identify bottlenecks
- Standardize data with tags and custom fields
Pro Tip: Even small teams can manage hundreds of leads efficiently with a well-organized CRM workflow.
Step 12: Who Should Use Brevo CRM
Brevo CRM is ideal for:
- Small businesses and startups
- Freelancers and consultants
- Bloggers and content creators selling products
- Service-based agencies
- Teams who want email marketing + CRM in one tool
It’s less ideal for large enterprises needing extremely complex CRM functionality or advanced reporting, but it scales well for growing businesses.
Conclusion
Brevo CRM is a powerful, beginner-friendly tool that combines contact management, sales pipelines, and automation in a single platform. With proper setup and strategic use, you can:
- Capture and organize leads
- Track deals effectively
- Automate repetitive follow-ups
- Integrate email campaigns for higher engagement
- Make data-driven decisions to improve sales
After years of hands-on experience, I can confidently say that Brevo CRM is one of the best tools for small teams looking to scale sales and manage contacts efficiently without expensive software.
Common Questions:
1. What is Brevo CRM and how does it help with contact management?
Brevo CRM is a cloud-based tool that helps businesses organize, track, and manage contacts efficiently. It allows you to store detailed contact information, segment leads, assign tasks, and track all interactions in one place for better relationship management.
2. How do I create and manage sales pipelines in Brevo CRM?
To create a sales pipeline, go to Deals → Pipelines → Create Pipeline, define your stages (e.g., New Lead, Proposal, Negotiation, Closed), and add deals. You can move deals between stages, assign them to team members, and track progress with visual boards.
3. Can I automate tasks and follow-ups in Brevo CRM?
Yes. Brevo CRM integrates with automation workflows, allowing you to send automated emails, assign tasks, update contact properties, or trigger reminders based on deal stages, contact behavior, or CRM changes.
4. How can I use Brevo CRM to improve sales team performance?
Brevo CRM provides reporting and analytics for deal stages, conversion rates, and team activity. By monitoring these metrics, assigning deals, and tracking follow-ups, sales teams can improve efficiency, identify bottlenecks, and increase conversions.
5. Is Brevo CRM suitable for small businesses and beginners?
Absolutely. Brevo CRM is beginner-friendly with an intuitive interface, pre-built pipelines, contact management features, and email integration. It is ideal for small businesses, freelancers, and growing teams who want a simple yet effective CRM without high costs.