Driving Acquisition Success: How BRANDED Leveraged CRM Automation for E-commerce Business Acquisitions

Background

BRANDED is an institutional acquirer of e-commerce businesses that primarily sell on Amazon. Their business model involves identifying promising businesses, acquiring them, and then developing and growing them further. To support their acquisition process, BRANDED needed a robust CRM system that could efficiently manage their acquisition pipelines.

Challenges

The main challenge for BRANDED was establishing an effective system to streamline their acquisition pipeline. As a buyer rather than a seller, they needed to gather leads from various sources, initiate outreach efforts, and semi-automate the pipeline to ensure maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

Solution

To address these challenges, we recommended implementing HubSpot as the CRM platform for BRANDED. The CRM system was designed to facilitate the acquisition pipeline and automate key processes. The solution included the following key components:

  1. Lead Gathering and Segmentation: Various lead sources were utilized to gather potential acquisition targets. Once leads were obtained, we implemented segmentation based on industry, estimated size, and location to create targeted lists for outreach.
  2. Multichannel Outreach Automation: A comprehensive multichannel approach was employed to engage with potential sellers. The system automatically triggered a sequence of actions, including sending initial emails, viewing their LinkedIn profiles, sending connection requests, following up with additional emails, and sending LinkedIn messages. This approach ensured a consistent and persistent outreach process to capture the attention of potential sellers.
  3. Automatic Response Handling: At any point during the outreach process, if a lead responded, the automation flow would be automatically stopped. This allowed BRANDED’s team to promptly engage with interested leads and avoid any delays or miscommunication.
  4. Pipeline Stage Automations: We further automated various other stages of the acquisition pipeline. Depending on the stage a lead was in, specific automations were triggered to ensure timely follow-ups, information sharing, and progress tracking. This helped to maintain a structured and efficient acquisition process.

Results

The implementation of the HubSpot CRM system with automated workflows delivered significant results for BRANDED:

  1. Increased Conversion Rate: The CRM automation system enabled BRANDED to convert 5.4% of all leads into successful acquisitions. This conversion rate was crucial for their business growth, as it allowed them to strategically expand their portfolio with promising e-commerce brands.
  2. Streamlined Pipeline Management: The automated processes and workflows streamlined the acquisition pipeline, reducing manual effort and improving overall efficiency. BRANDED’s team could focus their time and resources on engaging with interested leads and developing acquired businesses.

By leveraging the power of HubSpot CRM automation, BRANDED achieved notable success in driving e-commerce business acquisitions and growing their portfolio of promising brands.