These modules form the foundation of how teams will manage customer relationships directly inside Jira. Each one is designed to support a specific part of the customer lifecycle, with a clear structure, connected data, and a familiar Jira-native experience.

This is not the complete product. What we’re showing is just a preview of what’s already built. There are more features, modules, and logic in progress, and we’ll continue to share updates as development moves forward.

We’re sharing this now because we believe it’s important to show how Mria CRM is taking shape, not just in concept, but in a real, working structure. The product is already solving core CRM needs in a way that fits how Jira teams work every day.

Here’s how it looks so far.

Leads Module

The Leads module helps teams collect new opportunities, track early interactions, and move qualified Leads into the pipeline. The table view is ideal for reviewing incoming Leads at scale. The full view brings together all related data for a single Lead, including linked Contacts, Companies, and activities functionality, along with the next steps.

Deals Module

The Deals module is where the pipeline comes to life. The Kanban board offers a clear view of stage progress, while the table view supports filters, bulk updates, and reporting. The full view lets users manage everything related to a Deal in one place: participants, linked records, notes, and activities.

Contacts Module

The Contacts module is where you manage the real individuals involved in your sales process. These are the buyers, decision-makers, and key stakeholders connected to Leads, Deals, and Companies.
Use the table view to quickly find and organize Contacts. Open the full view to see who they are, their role in the Deal, and how they’re connected across your CRM.

Companies Module

The Companies module gives teams account-level visibility. The table view supports structured review and segmentation. The full view brings together everything happening across that organization: associated Contacts, active and past Deals, historical interactions, etc.

How Mria CRM Core Modules Work Together

Each module in Mria CRM is designed to support a seamless, connected workflow inside Jira. Together, they form a complete system that helps teams manage relationships and pipelines without losing context or switching tools.

• Leads can be converted into Deals in one click, with all related data transferred automatically. Notes, meetings, tasks, attachments, and linked Jira issues move with the Lead to maintain full context.
• Contacts and Companies can exist independently or be linked. When linked, you get a complete account view that includes the Company, its Contacts, their roles, and all associated Deals and Leads.
• Each Deal record includes the full relationship context. It shows the associated Company along with only the Contacts directly involved in that specific Deal.
• Activities such as meetings, tasks, notes, and Jira issues are visible across both Leads and Deals, so your team can stay informed and aligned without leaving the system.

This structure gives sales and account teams the visibility they need, while keeping everything consistent with how Jira already works. There are no complicated syncs to manage and no learning curve. You get a single system that connects the entire customer journey, from first Contact to closed Deal, in a way that feels natural to Jira users.

If you’re still wondering why a CRM should live inside Jira in the first place, we’ve outlined our perspective here:
10 Reasons You Need a CRM Inside Jira

To learn more about the product, visit the Mria CRM product page.

What’s Coming Next in Mria CRM for Jira

The four core modules of Mria CRM are just the beginning. We’re actively working on additional components and functionality to support more advanced workflows, stronger collaboration, and complete visibility across the customer lifecycle.

Here’s what’s coming next:

• Activities to track meetings, tasks, notes, and other customer interactions across modules
• Reports to analyze pipeline performance, sales outcomes, and team activity
• Jira issue integration to link CRM records directly to related Jira work, providing full context across sales, support, and delivery
• Products module for managing your catalog of services or offerings and linking them to Deals
• Main dashboard with high-level metrics and a real-time overview of CRM activity
• Notifications to keep team members informed of updates, assignments, and deadlines
• Settings for customizing Deal stages, Lead statuses, currencies, and system structure
• Permissions to define access by role and protect sensitive CRM data

This is just a preview. It’s not the full picture of what Mria CRM will offer, but we felt it was the right time to share what we’ve built so far. The feedback and interest we’ve received have been incredibly motivating, and we’re just getting started.

We’ll be sharing more in the coming months as the product evolves. Thank you for being part of the journey.

Have feedback or questions? We’d love to hear from you: Contact us here.

What Does B2B Sales Mean?

B2B stands for “business to business.” In B2B sales, the buyer is a company rather than an individual. This changes everything: from how decisions are made to how products are evaluated and purchased.

The B2B sales meaning includes more than just who buys. It reflects a different sales environment where value is measured in long-term benefits, and decisions are based on budgets, operations, and stakeholder alignment.

Behind every successful B2B deal is a structured system of relationship-building, lead tracking, and process management. That’s why understanding the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) process is foundational for any business aiming to scale B2B sales effectively.

What Makes B2B Sales Different from Other Sales Models?

The key difference in B2B sales lies in its complexity. Buying decisions are made by groups, not individuals. The product or service often impacts workflows, budgets, and other systems. Additionally, relationships and long-term value carry more weight than immediate gratification.

Here are some distinctive features:

• Longer Sales Cycles: Deals can take weeks or months due to multiple decision-makers.
• Higher Stakes: Contracts are typically worth thousands or millions of dollars.
• Collaborative Buying: Involves stakeholders from finance, operations, IT, and leadership.
• Technical Depth: Products may require demos, integrations, and pilot phases.
• Emphasis on ROI: Buyers expect measurable business value and scalability.

B2B vs B2C Sales: Understanding the Key Differences

While B2B and B2C both involve selling, they operate under entirely different dynamics.

B2B sales require deep product knowledge, industry expertise, and an ability to speak the language of business results. In contrast, B2C sales is driven by volume, branding, and immediate satisfaction.

Quick B2B Sales Examples

To bring it into perspective, here are a few short examples:

• SaaS Deal: A fast-growing agency signs up for project management software after comparing three tools and involving both their operations and security teams.
• Consulting Services: A fintech startup hires a growth consultant after the CFO, CEO, and head of product evaluate proposals.
• Supply Agreement: A beverage brand contracts a new packaging vendor after site visits and sustainability audits.

Each case involves multiple steps, internal approval, and a clear alignment between product value and business goals.

B2B Sales Process: Key Stages and Tactics

A well-executed B2B sales process aligns with the buyer’s journey, not just the seller’s goals. It typically includes the following stages:

1. Lead Generation and Qualification

B2B lead generation focuses on identifying companies with a need for your product or service. Channels include inbound content, outbound prospecting, referrals, partnerships, and events. Once leads are gathered, qualification follows, often using criteria like budget, authority, need, and timing (BANT).

2. Discovery and Needs Analysis

Once a lead is qualified, the discovery process begins. Sales professionals explore the company’s challenges, existing tools, and desired outcomes. This step shapes how the solution will be presented and ensures alignment with the client’s goals.

3. Solution Presentation and Customization

The solution is presented in a way that reflects the buyer’s specific needs. This often involves product demonstrations, technical consultations, and tailored proposals. Flexibility is key, especially when pricing, compliance, or integrations must be addressed.

4. Objection Handling and Stakeholder Alignment

B2B buyers ask tough questions. Sales teams must anticipate objections related to cost, implementation time, switching risks, and support. Gaining consensus among decision-makers often requires internal champions, third-party validation, and clear ROI evidence.

5. Negotiation and Closing

Once the buyer is convinced, the deal moves to negotiation. This may include finalizing payment terms, contract length, legal compliance, and procurement processes. Closing requires persistence, clarity, and the ability to navigate corporate decision frameworks.

6. Onboarding and Relationship Management

Unlike B2C, where the sale often ends at purchase, B2B sales continues well beyond the deal. Onboarding, customer support, training, and regular check-ins are vital. These ensure retention, expansion opportunities, and strong referrals.

B2B Sales Funnel: Visualizing the Path to Purchase

The B2B sales funnel helps visualize the journey from initial contact to closed deal. It also guides forecasting, pipeline planning, and sales team alignment.

Top of Funnel: Awareness and Initial Engagement

At this stage, the prospect is just becoming aware of a problem or opportunity. Marketing activities like SEO, blogs, webinars, and social media are used to attract relevant companies and guide them into the funnel.

Middle of Funnel: Evaluation and Education

Leads are qualified and nurtured through email campaigns, case studies, discovery calls, and personalized outreach. The goal is to establish trust and position your offering as the best fit.

Bottom of Funnel: Decision and Purchase

Prospects now compare vendors, evaluate proposals, and seek executive signoff. Sales reps work closely with champions to reinforce urgency, reduce risk, and move the deal to close.

B2B Sales Strategy: How to Sell with Precision

A successful B2B sales strategy is built on clarity, consistency, and adaptability. Here are the building blocks:

Define Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Identify industries, company sizes, tech stacks, and pain points that match your solution. Understand the buyer’s journey for each segment.

Align Marketing and Sales

Misalignment leads to poor lead quality and pipeline friction. Jointly define lead qualification criteria, content needs, and hand-off triggers.

Personalize Outreach at Scale

Avoid generic messages. Use intent data, buyer behavior, and company triggers to create relevant, timely outreach sequences.

Empower Sales Teams with Playbooks

Document objection handling, competitive positioning, and sales tactics. Train your team regularly and refine playbooks based on feedback and data.

Use Metrics to Drive Strategy

Track deal velocity, close rates, average deal size, and loss reasons. Use these insights to refine your messaging, targeting, and pricing.

Essential B2B Sales Tools

Effective use of B2B sales tools allows teams to scale outreach, streamline operations, and gain insights. Here’s a breakdown of must-have tool categories:

CRM Software

Your CRM is the backbone of B2B sales. It tracks leads, contacts, accounts, activities, and deal stages. Leading options include Salesforce, HubSpot, and Jira-based CRM systems like Mria CRM.
To understand why CRM software is essential for sales teams, explore Why Use a CRM?

Sales Engagement Platforms

These tools support email sequencing, call tracking, task automation, and multi-channel engagement. They help reps stay on schedule and consistent.

Lead Intelligence Tools

Tools like ZoomInfo or LinkedIn Sales Navigator provide deep insights into prospects, including company data, buyer intent, and recent activity.

Proposal and Document Management Tools

Create, send, and track proposals, quotes, and contracts. These tools speed up the buying process and reduce errors.

Forecasting and Analytics Platforms

Forecasting tools help leaders track pipeline health, predict outcomes, and manage revenue risk.

Enablement Content Libraries

Give your team instant access to the latest case studies, product decks, pricing calculators, and battle cards. These tools improve response speed and deal quality.

The right combination of B2B sales tools creates a high-functioning, data-driven team that closes more deals with less friction.

Key Challenges in B2B Sales and How to Overcome Them

Even top-performing teams encounter obstacles. Here are common challenges and solutions:

Long Sales Cycles

Solution: Set clear next steps at every stage. Use mutual action plans and regular check-ins to maintain momentum.

Lack of Stakeholder Buy-In

Solution: Identify internal champions and equip them with data, case studies, and support to build consensus.

Information Overload

Solution: Keep demos focused, simplify proposals, and guide buyers with clear next steps.

Sales-Marketing Misalignment

Solution: Hold shared pipeline reviews and feedback sessions to calibrate efforts.

Tool Overlap and Integration Gaps

Solution: Review your stack quarterly. Prioritize tools that integrate with your CRM and support cross-functional workflows.

The Future of B2B Sales: Trends to Watch

The B2B landscape is evolving rapidly, shaped by buyer preferences, digital habits, and economic shifts.

• Self-Serve Sales Experiences: Buyers want more control and access to demos, pricing, and onboarding without sales involvement.
• Hybrid Sales Teams: Remote and in-person selling are now blended. Tools and processes must support both.
• AI-Powered Insights: Predictive analytics, intent data, and AI assistants are transforming how deals are qualified and managed.
• Revenue Teams Over Sales Teams: Sales is now part of a broader revenue engine including marketing, success, and operations.
• Buyer Enablement: Helping the buyer buy is now as important as selling. Simplifying the path to a decision is a core priority.

Conclusion

Understanding what B2B sales is provides the foundation for building a competitive and scalable revenue engine. It is not a transactional process, but a strategic discipline that connects product value to business needs.

By mastering the B2B sales process, using the right sales tools, learning from B2B sales examples, and aligning teams under a clear strategy, companies can build long-term growth with high-value clients.

This guide provides a comprehensive look at essential CRM system components, from foundational to advanced, along with a universal evaluation checklist to help you assess what your business really needs.

What Are the Core Components of a CRM System?

These are the foundational CRM components required for almost any business to function effectively. They serve as the structural base of all customer relationship management processes.

1. Contact Management

This is the core of any CRM system. Contact management centralizes customer data, including names, emails, phone numbers, social profiles, preferences, communication history, and behavioral insights.

Advanced CRM support:

• Relationship links between contacts, deals, and companies
• Enrichment from external sources (e.g., LinkedIn or Clearbit)
• Field-level access control for compliance
• Tagging, segmentation, and scoring

2. Deal and Opportunity Management

This component handles the tracking and progression of sales opportunities through customizable pipelines. It enables forecasting, win/loss analysis, and visual management.

Key features include:

• Stage-based pipelines with progression rules
• Forecast fields and probability weighting
• Historical tracking of deal movement
• Multi-contact and company associations

For more on how to structure and optimize pipelines, see this guide on what a sales pipeline is and how to use it effectively.

3. Activity and Task Tracking

All meetings, emails, calls, and internal notes must be logged for team alignment. This module supports accountability and transparency.

Capabilities:

• Logging and syncing communication automatically or manually
• Shared timelines for contacts and deals
• Assignable tasks with due dates and reminders

To explore why unifying CRM and task management matters for cross-functional teams, read this article on CRM and task management integration.

4. Permissions and Access Control

Security and compliance require granular access management. This is critical for growing teams and regulated industries.

Look for:

• Role-based permissions
• Field-level and record-level restrictions
• Audit logs and access trails

If you’re at the stage of selecting a CRM solution, you may also find this guide to choosing a CRM system helpful. It includes a decision framework and checklist that complement the component breakdown in this article.

What Are the Advanced CRM Components?

Advanced CRM software components extend the functionality of core modules and support sales velocity, personalization, automation, and revenue operations.

1. Lead Management

Leads are early-stage contacts not yet qualified. This component captures, scores, and routes them to the right pipeline.

Advanced CRMs offer:

• Customizable lead statuses and conversion workflows
• Automated routing and lead assignment
• Integration with forms, events, and ad platforms

2. Account (Company) Management

In B2B, one contact rarely equals one customer. You need a layer to group multiple stakeholders under one company.

Advanced features include:

• Company hierarchies (parent/subsidiary)
• Roll-up deal and activity tracking
• Health scores and segmentation by account tier

3. Communication and Channel Integration

Beyond logging interactions, advanced CRMs act as communication orchestration platforms, enabling real-time messaging, personalization, and channel coordination.

Key features include:

• Two-way email and SMS integration, with template personalization and tracking
• Click-to-call and VoIP plugins, including call logging, recording, and outcome tracking
• Conversation threading, connecting messages across time and channel under one contact record

This ensures omnichannel continuity and supports high-touch engagement strategies at scale.

4. Analytics and Reporting

CRMs must translate activity and data into actionable insight. Dashboards and reporting allow teams to measure what matters.

Look for:

• Pipeline reports and forecast dashboards
• Conversion and win/loss analysis
• Team performance tracking and goal monitoring

5. Marketing Automation

This module automates marketing workflows, improves lead nurturing, and delivers targeted communications based on behavior.

Key functions:

• Email sequences and campaign automation
• Lead scoring and segmentation rules
• Trigger-based marketing actions

6. Customer Support Modules

CRM systems often integrate with customer service functions to provide a unified view of customer interactions and issues.

Features include:

• Ticketing systems and help desk workflows
• Shared inbox for service teams
• SLA tracking and case history visibility

7. Mobile CRM

Mobile CRM capabilities ensure users can access key information and perform tasks while away from their desk.

Benefits:

• Mobile apps for iOS and Android
• Offline access and syncing
• Mobile-friendly activity logging and notifications

8. AI and Predictive Insights

Modern CRM platforms use machine learning to assist with prioritization, forecasting, and personalized recommendations.

AI-powered tools support:

• Predictive lead and deal scoring
• Sales outcome forecasting
• Next-best-action recommendations

9. Partner Management Module

For businesses that rely on partner or channel sales, this module helps manage partner relationships and performance.

Common features:

• Partner account and contact tracking
• Deal registration and attribution
• Commission structures and enablement tools

For a feature-level view that builds on these component categories, check out the CRM features to look for guide. It breaks down CRM functionality by practical use cases.

Revenue-Focused CRM Components

These components of the CRM process are critical in product-based or service-based businesses that require quoting, product tracking, or billing.

1. Product Catalog Management

Track what you’re selling. The product catalog component stores all product or service information that can be associated with deals.

Useful for:

• SKUs, price lists, and localization
• Associating products with pipeline stages
• Forecasting based on product line

2. CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote)

This module supports accurate quoting and deal structuring. Ideal for complex B2B sales.

Includes:

• Product configuration logic
• Dynamic pricing and discounting
• Approval workflows and quote generation

3. Billing and Invoicing Integration

Connect CRM to your financial operations. Billing integration ensures smooth handoffs from sales to accounting.

Functions:

• Invoice generation from closed deals
• Subscription or recurring billing setup
• Payment tracking and invoice status visibility

CRM Components Evaluation Checklist

Use this checklist to evaluate which CRM system components are essential, which become valuable as you scale, and which are only needed in specific operational models.

Core Components (Universally Required)

Strategic Components (Important in Most Teams)

Situational Components (Specific to Business Models)

If you’re mapping out your entire CRM implementation, it’s important to understand how these components align with the full customer relationship management process.

Final Thoughts

The CRM market is full of feature-heavy platforms, but real impact comes from the right architecture, not the biggest checklist. The components outlined in this guide are not just technical capabilities; they define how well your team can manage relationships, drive revenue, and scale sustainably.

If you’re just starting out, focus on the core components of CRM. If you’re scaling, layering in strategic and revenue-focused modules will provide the structure and automation needed to grow without chaos.

Whether you’re building for a lean startup or a global enterprise, the best CRM is the one that matches your process, not the one with the longest feature list.

For teams working in Jira, Mria CRM offers a practical implementation of the CRM system components discussed in this guide. Built natively on Atlassian Forge, it provides contact management, pipeline tracking, communication tools, and advanced modules like lead management, product catalogs directly inside Jira, where your team already works.

What Is Atlassian Forge?

Forge is Atlassian’s serverless cloud app development platform designed for building secure, scalable, and reliable apps across the entire Atlassian ecosystem, including Jira, Confluence, Compass, and Bitbucket. It enables developers to build fully functional apps quickly, without managing hosting, authentication, or scaling. With Forge, everything runs within Atlassian’s infrastructure using a managed runtime, strict permission controls, and built-in security. You define your app modules using a manifest file and write backend logic in Node.js or TypeScript. Forge handles deployment, execution, and isolation, allowing teams to focus on delivering features rather than infrastructure. Apps can be custom-built for internal use or distributed through the Atlassian Marketplace, which provides a centralized location for publishing, licensing, and managing Forge-based cloud apps, and developers can start building in just a few hours with multiple development environments available out of the box.

Atlassian introduced Forge in 2021 and has continually added features. Unlike legacy cloud app frameworks that require external infrastructure and token flows, Forge provides a fully managed execution environment. For a complete overview, you can visit the Atlassian Forge documentation.

How does the Atlassian Forge platform work?

The Atlassian Forge platform provides an end-to-end environment for cloud app development within the Atlassian ecosystem, covering everything from creation to deployment and monitoring. It is designed to remove infrastructure overhead by offering a serverless architecture, built-in authentication, automatic scaling, and deep product integration out of the box. Whether you’re building an internal integration or a Marketplace app, Forge handles the heavy lifting so you can focus on business logic and user experience.

It includes everything needed to develop, test, deploy, and monitor apps across the Atlassian ecosystem, including Jira, Confluence, Compass, and Bitbucket. It starts with the Forge CLI tools including forge login, forge create, forge tunnel, forge deploy, and forge install. The manifest.yml file defines your app modules, such as UI Kit, Custom UI, REST API endpoints, event listeners, or scheduled jobs.

When you deploy, Atlassian builds a secure container, provisions storage, permissions, and runtime. Your app automatically scales with user demand. You can test updates live using forge tunnel which allows instant logs and viewable updates inside Jira, Confluence, or any other supported Atlassian product. All of this runs inside Atlassian’s infrastructure, so deployment and maintenance overhead are minimal.

What is the difference between Atlassian Forge UI Kit and Custom UI?

The Atlassian Forge UI system supports two different frontend development models:

1. UI Kit: A set of prebuilt React-like components such as <Text>, <Form>, <Button> that are rendered natively. UI Kit apps load quickly and require minimal asset bundling. They are ideal for configuration screens or simple dialogs across any supported Atlassian product that supports UI modules.
2. Custom UI: A full React application bundled using Webpack. You can include CSS, advanced interactive components, and third-party libraries to deliver rich experiences such as dashboards or custom panels. The @forge/bridge library enables communication between your frontend code and secure backend logic.

Both options use the same runtime environment but offer different trade-offs in development complexity and flexibility.

UI Kit provides a streamlined experience by limiting developers to a set of predefined components and hooks. This makes it faster and easier to build simple interfaces, but it also restricts what’s possible; you cannot use custom styling or external libraries.

Custom UI, by contrast, gives developers full creative freedom. You can use any frontend framework, apply your own styles, and include external libraries to create rich, interactive UIs. However, this flexibility comes with added responsibility: you need to manage your own static assets, handle bundling and optimization, and ensure integration with Forge backend services. While it takes more effort to set up, it enables more advanced and customized interfaces tailored to specific needs.

You can find summaries and supported components in the UI Kit documentation and the Custom UI overview.

What is Atlassian Forge Storage?

Atlassian Forge Storage is a secure, built-in key-value storage system provided by the Forge platform. It allows your app to store small pieces of structured data—like configuration settings, feature flags, user preferences, or operational state—without needing an external database or infrastructure.

Each Forge app has access to its own isolated storage namespace. You can scope the data at three levels:

• Installation-level (data shared across all users of a single app installation)
• User-level (data specific to an individual user)
• Global-level (data accessible to all installations of the app)

The storage system is managed entirely by Atlassian, meaning it is automatically encrypted, sandboxed per app, and compliant with Atlassian’s platform security standards. This makes Forge Storage a great fit for lightweight and secure data persistence use cases.

For more advanced scenarios requiring complex queries or relational structure, you can combine Forge Storage with Atlassian Forge SQL. For a complete guide, visit the Atlassian Forge storage documentation.

What is Atlassian Forge SQL?

Atlassian Forge SQL is a built-in, fully managed relational database service designed specifically for Forge apps. It lets developers store, organize, and query structured data using standard ANSI SQL without needing to set up or maintain external infrastructure.

Each app installation is provisioned with its own isolated database instance hosted on Atlassian’s infrastructure. This ensures strong data separation, improved security, and compliance with multi-tenant cloud architecture best practices.

Forge SQL is optimized for apps that require structured, relational data such as reporting dashboards, configurable business logic, or internal tools that go beyond simple key-value storage. Because it integrates natively with the Forge runtime, developers can manage schema creation, updates, and migrations using built-in tools and triggers.

Key advantages include:

• Native support for SQL queries and joins
• Per-installation database isolation
• Schema versioning and controlled migration
• Tight integration with other Forge services and APIs

Forge SQL helps simplify data persistence for complex use cases while maintaining high performance and security. It complements simpler options like Forge Storage, giving developers flexibility in how they model app data.

To learn more, explore the Atlassian Forge SQL documentation.

What is the Atlassian Forge API?

The Atlassian Forge API provides a comprehensive set of tools and libraries that allow developers to interact with Atlassian cloud products securely and efficiently. Rather than requiring manual authentication tokens or external infrastructure, the Forge API enables your app to make authenticated calls directly from the Forge runtime environment.

Using the Forge API, developers can:

• Access Jira or Confluence data through built-in methods like requestJira or requestConfluence.
• Perform secure API calls to Atlassian’s REST endpoints from backend functions.
• Handle platform events (like issue creation or page updates) via Forge triggers.
• Enable communication between frontend UI and backend logic using the @forge/bridge module in Custom UI apps.

All of these operations are executed within Forge’s managed infrastructure, adhering to strict permission scopes and platform-level security. This eliminates the complexity of managing tokens or maintaining OAuth flows, and ensures safe, context-aware access to Atlassian product data.

How to get started with Atlassian Forge?

Getting started with Forge is straightforward. Here’s a high-level overview:

1. Install the Forge CLI: Start by installing the Forge command line interface. Follow the CLI installation guide.
2. Set up your development environment: Use the CLI to register, log in, and create your first app using a pre-configured template.
3. Build your app: Choose your frontend approach (UI Kit or Custom UI), define functions, permissions, and modules.
4. Deploy and test: Push your app to different environments (development, staging, production), and test it directly in your Atlassian instance.
5. Distribute or install: Deploy your app internally or publish it to the Atlassian Marketplace.

Follow the Forge getting started tutorial for full step-by-step instructions.

What is Atlassian Forge pricing?

Forge remains free through December 31, 2025. Starting January 1, 2026, Atlassian will introduce a consumption-based pricing model with a generous free tier. Developers will be charged monthly in arrears once they exceed free usage thresholds.

The pricing will apply to specific Forge capabilities that incur operational costs. These include:

• Function execution time (GB-seconds)
• Key-value storage: data read, written, and stored
• Logs: data written

Indicative pricing includes:

• 100,000 GB-seconds of function execution free, then ~$0.000024 per GB-second
• 0.1 GB of data read and written free, then ~$0.10 per GB read and ~$2.10 per GB written
• 5 GB of storage free, then ~$0.42 per GB

Tools to track usage and forecast costs will be made available. Only apps that exceed the free tier will be eligible for enhanced support and financially-backed SLAs.

You can find details in the Forge pricing preview.

How to Build Rovo Agents Using Atlassian Forge?

Rovo Agents are Atlassian’s AI-powered assistants that help users interact with tools and data using natural language. With Forge, developers can extend these agents to make them context-aware, secure, and deeply integrated into their team’s environment.

Forge provides two modules for building and extending Rovo Agents:

• The rovo:agent module defines how an agent responds to prompts, integrating AI into your app’s interface.
• The action module allows the agent to execute specific tasks like calling APIs, querying databases, or triggering workflows.

This setup allows you to:

• Connect agents to private or internal datasets securely
• Delegate complex or strict logic to backend functions
• Clarify data context to improve AI understanding
• Combine AI output with UI elements or workflows

Agents built with Forge can be shared privately or publicly via the Atlassian Marketplace. Atlassian enforces safety screening and acceptable use policies for all agents using Rovo APIs.

Learn more in the Forge Rovo documentation.

Is Forge suitable for enterprise-level apps?

Yes, Atlassian Forge is increasingly suitable for enterprise-grade apps. It supports features like higher memory and CPU allocations, making it viable for complex use cases such as background processing, reporting, and document conversion.

Forge apps benefit from enterprise-level platform security, including SOC2 compliance, strict permission scopes, and sandboxed execution environments. Atlassian manages hosting, scaling, and availability—ensuring high reliability and reducing operational overhead for app developers.

For organizations with compliance needs, Forge also supports data residency, allowing apps to store data in specific geographic regions based on customer or regulatory requirements.

Together, these capabilities make Forge a strong foundation for building scalable, secure, and compliant apps tailored for large teams and enterprise environments.

Can I migrate an existing Connect app to Forge?

Yes, you can migrate an existing Connect app to Forge, but it often requires a partial or phased approach. Forge is a fundamentally different platform: serverless, managed, and manifest-driven, so a direct one-to-one conversion is rarely possible. Developers typically rebuild parts of their app in Forge while retaining legacy components in Connect until a full transition is feasible.

Atlassian also supports hybrid Connect + Forge apps, where certain modules, such as UI Kit pages or backend logic, are implemented in Forge and embedded in a Connect app. This allows teams to gradually adopt Forge without losing functionality or forcing a rewrite. However, limitations exist, including differences in authentication, UI rendering (iframe vs native), and event handling. Planning the migration carefully with Atlassian’s Connect to Forge migration guide is strongly recommended.

How does Atlassian Connect vs Forge compare?

Atlassian Connect and Forge are both frameworks for building cloud apps, but they differ significantly in architecture, security, and developer experience.

Connect apps run on external infrastructure controlled by the app vendor. This gives developers full flexibility but also requires them to manage hosting, security, scaling, and compliance. Connect apps communicate with Atlassian products via REST APIs and iframes, which can introduce complexity and latency.

Forge apps, by contrast, run entirely within Atlassian’s infrastructure. Forge provides a serverless environment with built-in authentication, permission scopes, data storage, and UI components. This simplifies development, improves security, and enables tighter integration with Atlassian products.

Here is how Atlassian Connect vs Forge platforms compare:

While Connect has been widely used, Atlassian has announced that support will end in 2026, making Forge the strategic direction for all new app development.

What are the limitations of Atlassian Forge?

Forge is a powerful platform, but it has several technical constraints to be aware of:

• Execution limits: Synchronous functions have a ~25-second timeout; asynchronous ones can run up to 15 minutes.
• Cold starts: Initial requests may take longer to execute, especially in low-traffic apps.
• Quota-based scaling: Resource limits (compute time, storage) are based on active user seats.
• Node.js restrictions: Only a subset of Node.js APIs is available—no file system access or native modules.
• Rate limiting: Forge is still subject to Atlassian product API limits.
• Data residency: Non-US hosting regions are limited but improving.
• Storage limits: Forge Storage and Logs have defined quotas per app or seat.
• Long-running jobs: Complex tasks must be split into smaller units using Async Events or scheduled triggers.

Despite these constraints, Forge is evolving rapidly and continues to expand its enterprise and performance capabilities.

What are common mistakes to avoid when building Forge apps?

1. Over-requesting permissions: Declaring unnecessary scopes in manifest.yml can trigger approval delays and security reviews. Always request the minimum required.
2. Misusing storage: Using key-value Forge Storage for relational data instead of Forge SQL can lead to performance and structure issues. Choose storage types appropriately.
3. Ignoring cold starts: For Custom UI apps, large frontend bundles lead to slower load times. Use code splitting and asset optimization.
4. Poor caching: Not caching API responses or UI components can increase app latency and inflate usage costs.
5. Missing context: Forge functions run in specific user or app contexts. Ensure your logic respects scopes and user roles.

Best practices include writing modular logic, testing frequently with forge tunnel, using Custom UI only when needed, and optimizing SQL schema early.

What are some successful apps built with Forge?

Several popular and fast-growing apps on the Atlassian Marketplace are built using Forge:

• Smart Checklist for Jira (Pro) by TitanApps uses Forge modules to add lightweight task lists to issues.
• Issue Templates Pro by Narva Software speeds up issue creation by letting users apply reusable templates for issue summaries and descriptions.
• Epic Sum Up by APTIS simplifies planning, budget tracking, and bulk issue editing. It provides performance improvements and enhanced data visibility with native UI integration.
• Mria CRM is built entirely on Forge to provide Jira-native customer relationship management without any external servers.

You can browse featured Forge-built apps in the Atlassian Marketplace to see how others are using the platform effectively.

What is the Atlassian Forge roadmap?

Atlassian continues to invest heavily in Forge, with a roadmap focused on expanding platform capabilities and improving support for complex use cases. Key areas of ongoing development include performance enhancements, expanded data residency options, Forge SQL improvements, and AI-related features such as Rovo integration.

While exact timelines are not always published, Atlassian regularly updates Forge documentation and developer tools to reflect what’s coming. Developers are encouraged to monitor Forge public roadmap and stay connected through community channels for announcements.

Why Mria CRM uses Atlassian Forge?

At Mria CRM we chose Forge because it allows us to build a fully integrated CRM inside Jira without any external infrastructure. We use Forge SQL for data storage, UI Kit and Custom UI to deliver friendly interfaces, event triggers for automation, and the platform APIs to interact with Jira issues in real time. Since Forge runs entirely in Atlassian’s cloud, our app scales seamlessly and remains secure. Forge has become the foundation of our Jira-native CRM.

This article offers deep strategic guidance on how to choose the right CRM software. It moves beyond surface-level advice and focuses on aligning your CRM choice with your business model, user behavior, integrations, vendor stability, and growth plans. Whether you are a small business or part of a larger B2B organization, this framework will help you make a well-informed, future-proof decision.

Understand Your Business and Customer Needs

Before diving into the technical details of CRM software, it’s crucial to take a step back and thoroughly understand your business’s unique context. Every company operates differently, from how it generates revenue to the way it interacts with customers at various stages. Knowing your business model and customer journey inside out forms the foundation for selecting a CRM that truly fits your needs.

This initial clarity helps you avoid common mistakes, such as choosing a CRM packed with features irrelevant to your workflows or one that complicates processes instead of simplifying them. By grounding your CRM choice in your business realities, you set yourself up for better adoption, smoother implementation, and ultimately, more impactful results.

If you’re still questioning whether your business truly needs a CRM, check out our article Why Use a CRM? Straight Answers to Common Questions.

Define Your Business Model and Customer Journey

Before considering which CRM to choose, clarify your business model and the customer journey your CRM must support.

1. Customer type and complexity: B2B companies often require managing multiple contacts per account, tracking complex sales cycles, and managing numerous deal stages. In contrast, B2C or small businesses may need simpler pipelines and faster lead-to-sale processes.
2. Sales process length and stages: Understand the typical length of your sales cycle and the stages leads go through before closing. CRMs differ in their ability to model complex pipelines or handle simple funnels efficiently.
3. Customer journey touchpoints: Map the entire customer journey from first contact through sales, onboarding, support, and renewal. A CRM that supports multiple departments and touchpoints provides a unified customer view and better relationship management.
4. Subscription-based models: If your business operates on recurring revenue or SaaS subscriptions, your CRM needs to support tracking subscription lifecycles, renewal dates, and churn indicators alongside traditional sales stages.

Having a clear, documented understanding of your business model and customer interactions helps you prioritize CRM features and workflows that align precisely with your needs.

For a deeper breakdown of how customer journeys align with CRM workflows, read our complete guide to the Customer Relationship Management process.

Consider Your Company Culture and Sales Approach

Your CRM should complement your company’s culture and the way your sales and service teams work.

1. Sales style: Does your team prioritize relationship-building and consultative selling, or focus on high-volume outbound activities? Some CRMs are optimized for detailed activity tracking and notes, others for automation and volume.
2. Team structure: Centralized sales teams need different permissions and collaboration features compared to distributed or field teams.
3. User autonomy: Determine how much control individual users should have over customizing views, reports, and processes.
4. Business model: Different business models—whether product-focused, service-oriented, or subscription-based—require CRMs that support the unique workflows, customer engagement strategies, and collaboration styles relevant to their approach.

Aligning CRM capabilities with your company’s culture, business model and workflows improves adoption and effectiveness.

Key CRM Features and Capabilities to Consider

When deciding how to choose the best CRM software, understanding the features that impact your business is essential. Features are not just “nice-to-haves”; they determine how well your CRM supports your sales processes, team collaboration, and customer experience. Below is a detailed look at essential and advanced features and guidance on prioritizing them based on your needs.

Essential CRM Features for Every Business

1. Contact and Lead Management
   At its core, a CRM is a centralized database that stores customer and prospect information. This includes contact details, interaction history, segmentation, and lead qualification status. Effective lead management enables your team to prioritize prospects and personalize outreach.
2. Companies/Accounts Management
   Managing customer organizations (companies or accounts) alongside individual contacts is crucial for B2B businesses. This feature allows you to track relationships between multiple contacts, deals, and activities linked to the same company, providing a holistic view of your business customers.
3. Sales Pipeline and Deal Tracking
   Visualizing your sales pipeline with defined stages allows you to track deals through each phase, forecast revenue, and identify bottlenecks. A good CRM provides flexible pipeline management to match your unique sales process. Read our guide on what a sales pipeline is, with definitions, examples, and benefits.
4. Activity Management and Task Automation
   Scheduling follow-ups, reminders, and automating routine tasks like email sequencing or data entry saves time and ensures no lead or customer falls through the cracks. Automation increases productivity and standardizes workflows.
5. Reporting and Analytics
   Customizable dashboards and detailed reports help you measure KPIs such as conversion rates, deal velocity, and sales team performance. Insightful analytics empower data-driven decisions and continuous improvement.
6. Security and Compliance Tools
   Depending on your industry, data privacy is crucial. Features like encryption, granular access controls, audit logs, and compliance certifications (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) protect sensitive customer information and maintain trust.

Want to explore CRM features in more depth? Check out our article on CRM features explained – from basic tools to industry-specific solutions.

Advanced Features for Complex Needs

1. Customization and Workflow Automation
   Beyond basic fields and processes, advanced CRMs let you create custom data fields, automate multi-step workflows, trigger alerts based on behavior, and set role-based permissions. This level of flexibility allows your CRM to truly mirror your business operations.
2. Multi-Channel Communication Tracking
   Modern CRMs integrate with email, phone systems, social media, and live chat tools, providing a unified timeline of all customer interactions. This holistic view improves communication quality and coordination across teams.
3. Integration Ecosystem
   A CRM is more powerful when it seamlessly connects to your marketing automation, ERP, accounting, support platforms, and other critical systems. Open APIs or native integrations prevent data silos and duplication.
4. Subscription and recurring revenue tracking
   For product companies, the ability to monitor subscription statuses, renewal schedules, and billing integrations is critical for sales and customer success alignment.
5. Customer success and product engagement integration
   Some CRMs integrate with support ticketing, usage analytics, and customer feedback tools to provide a comprehensive view of customer health and product adoption, enabling proactive retention and upselling.
6. Mobile Access and Offline Functionality
   Field sales and remote teams require reliable mobile apps with offline capabilities to update customer data anytime, anywhere, ensuring continuity and accuracy.
7. AI and Predictive Analytics
   Leading CRMs now offer AI-driven capabilities such as lead scoring, deal prioritization, churn prediction, and personalized recommendations. These features enable proactive selling and smarter resource allocation.

How to Prioritize Features Based on Your Business

• Small businesses and startups often need core features that are easy to use and affordable. Focus on contact management, simple pipelines, basic automation, and straightforward reporting. Overly complex systems can slow adoption.
• B2B companies with long, multi-stage sales cycles require robust customization, detailed pipeline management, and integrations with ERP or marketing automation to align all teams and processes.
• Customer service and support-focused businesses should emphasize multi-channel communication tracking, ticketing, SLA management, and knowledge base integration to enhance customer satisfaction.

Look Beyond Features When Choosing a CRM

While features are important, choosing a CRM is about more than just ticking off a list of functionalities. The true value of a CRM lies in how well it integrates with your existing systems and supports the flow of data across your organization. Seamless data flow and solid integration reduce manual work, improve data accuracy, and help teams collaborate more effectively.

Consider Integration and Workflow Unity

A CRM rarely operates in isolation. Think of it as a hub in your broader technology ecosystem.

• Integration with existing tools: Ensure the CRM can connect with your email, marketing automation, ERP, accounting, and project management systems. Strong native integrations or APIs reduce duplicate data entry and errors.
• Native ecosystem alignment: For teams already using Jira, choosing a CRM like Mria CRM, built natively inside Jira, means your sales, service, and project teams work in a unified environment. This eliminates the need for complicated data syncing and reduces context switching, boosting efficiency and data accuracy.
• Data synchronization and governance: Evaluate how data flows between systems. Real-time, two-way sync keeps customer information accurate and accessible across platforms.
• Security and compliance: Understand how the CRM protects your data and supports industry regulations like GDPR or HIPAA.
• Billing and product analytics integration: Product companies benefit from CRMs that connect seamlessly with subscription billing platforms and product usage analytics. This integrated data flow supports proactive account management and reduces churn.

Prioritizing integration capabilities ensures your CRM supports smooth, efficient operations across your business.

Balance Customization and Usability

While customization allows tailoring the CRM to your workflows, it can introduce complexity.

• Meaningful customization: Choose CRMs that let you add custom fields, workflows, and automations without requiring extensive developer resources.
• User-friendly design: A clean, intuitive interface helps users adopt the system quickly and reduces training costs.
• Configurability over complexity: Favor CRMs that allow configuration through simple settings or drag-and-drop tools rather than coding.

Striking the right balance reduces frustration and maximizes the CRM’s positive impact.

How to Choose the Right CRM Software for Adoption and Growth

When selecting a CRM, prioritize solutions that foster seamless adoption and support long-term growth through unified, simple systems. Consider these critical factors:

• Intuitive User Interface: Choose CRM software with a clean, user-friendly design that aligns with how your team naturally works. A straightforward interface reduces training time and drives consistent use.
• Configurable Workflows Without Complexity: Look for platforms that allow you to tailor processes easily without requiring technical expertise or heavy customization. Flexibility should enhance, not complicate, user experience.
• Unified Systems and Native Integrations: Favor CRMs that integrate deeply and natively with your existing tools and workflows, minimizing manual syncing, duplication, and technical overhead. Unified platforms streamline collaboration and data accuracy.
• Comprehensive Mobile Access: Ensure the CRM supports full functionality on mobile devices to accommodate remote and field teams, maintaining productivity anytime, anywhere.
• Strong Onboarding and Support: Select vendors with extensive training resources and responsive support to guide your team through adoption phases effectively.
• Performance and Scalability: Verify that the CRM maintains speed and reliability as your user base and data grow, ensuring smooth operations without disruption.
• Built-In Change Management Features: Features such as role-based permissions, in-app guidance, and configurable user access help manage adoption and encourage proper usage.

By focusing on unified, user-friendly CRM solutions with seamless integrations, you improve the chances of broad user adoption and create a platform that scales smoothly with your business.

How to Evaluate CRM Vendors

Evaluating CRM vendors is a critical step in your selection process. The stability and vision of the vendor impact not only your initial implementation but also the long-term success of your CRM investment.

This section covers key factors to assess, including the vendor’s financial health, reputation, and product roadmap to ensure they can support your evolving business needs.

Check Vendor Stability and Product Roadmap

Your CRM vendor is a strategic partner.

• Company reputation: Research the vendor’s history, financial health, and customer retention.
• Product development: Ensure their roadmap aligns with your business needs and technology trends like AI or automation.
• Customer support: Evaluate responsiveness, support channels, and availability of resources like documentation and training.

Partnering with a stable, innovative vendor reduces risks and helps future-proof your CRM.

Consider Vendor Ecosystem and Support

A vibrant vendor ecosystem enhances your CRM’s value.

• Community and training: Active user communities, training materials, and user groups facilitate knowledge sharing.
• Consulting and implementation partners: Certified experts can support smooth deployment and customization.
• Active user community: Engaged user groups and forums provide valuable peer support, shared best practices, and insights that can improve your CRM experience.

This ecosystem often makes the difference between CRM success and struggle.

How to Choose a CRM System Step-by-Step

To make an informed CRM decision, it helps to approach the selection systematically. Comparing options using a structured method ensures you evaluate all important factors objectively rather than relying on impressions or sales pitches.

Use a Scoring System to Compare Options

Develop a weighted checklist including:

• Fit with business processes and customer types
• Feature completeness and usability
• Integration capability
• Vendor reputation and support quality
• Cost and scalability

Score each CRM objectively to guide your decision.

Plan Your Budget Beyond Licensing Fees

Consider the total cost of ownership:

• Implementation and data migration
• Training and onboarding
• Customization and consulting
• Ongoing maintenance and support
• Productivity impact during transition

A realistic budget aligned with expected ROI avoids surprises.

Run Pilot Tests Before Full Deployment

Test your shortlisted CRMs with real users and data:

• Validate key workflows and integrations
• Gather user feedback on experience and ease of use
• Measure impact on efficiency and data quality

Pilot testing minimizes risks and improves chances of success.

How to Choose a CRM: Practical Checklist

Choosing the right CRM can feel overwhelming given all the factors involved. To simplify this process, the following checklist breaks down the critical elements you need to evaluate. Use it as a hands-on guide to systematically compare options, identify your priorities, and make a confident, well-informed decision.

Use this checklist to guide your evaluation and decision-making process when choosing a CRM system:

1. Business Alignment

• Have you documented your business model and sales process complexity?
• Does the CRM support your customer journey end to end (lead, sale, service)?
• Does it fit your company culture and sales approach?

2. Core Features and Usability

• Does the CRM offer robust contact, company and lead management?
• Are pipeline and deal tracking features customizable to your needs?
• Is the user interface intuitive and easy to learn?
• Can users customize views and workflows without technical help?

3. Integration and Workflow Unity

• Does the CRM provide a unified system with native integration to minimize the need for multiple third-party add-ons?
• Does it streamline workflows across your core business platforms without complex custom integrations?
• Does the CRM help avoid extra costs and complexity associated with multiple integrations?

4. Vendor Stability and Support

• Is the vendor financially stable with a strong market presence?
• Does their product roadmap align with your future needs?
• What support channels and resources do they offer (training, helpdesk, community)?
• Is there a healthy ecosystem of certified partners?

5. User Adoption

• Have you involved end-users in the evaluation process?
• Does the CRM support mobile and remote work?
• Is there a clear training and onboarding plan?

6. Scalability and Flexibility

• Can the CRM scale with your user count and data growth?
• Is it flexible enough to adapt to changing business models?
• Does it offer open APIs or data export options to avoid lock-in?
• Does the CRM offer a unified platform experience that simplifies expansion and reduces complexity as your business scales?

7. Budget and Total Cost

• Have you accounted for licensing, setup, migration, and training costs?
• Do you have a realistic estimate of ROI and payback period?
• Are subscription models (per-user, tiered, enterprise) clearly understood?

8. Pilot Testing

• Have you planned a pilot test with real users and data?
• Will you measure efficiency, data accuracy, and user satisfaction during the pilot?
• Do you have a plan for addressing pilot feedback before full rollout?

Conclusion

Choosing the right CRM is a strategic decision that goes beyond features and price. It requires a deep understanding of your business model, customer journeys, and team workflows. The best CRM is one that not only meets your current needs but also adapts as your business grows, supports seamless collaboration, and integrates naturally with your core systems.

By focusing on essential capabilities, unified data management, user-friendly design, and vendor reliability, you can select a CRM that drives adoption, enhances productivity, and delivers long-term value.

Approach your CRM selection thoughtfully, use a structured evaluation process, and rely on practical tools like checklists to guide your decision. With the right CRM in place, your business will be better equipped to build stronger customer relationships and achieve sustainable growth.

For businesses using Jira or looking for a deeply integrated, scalable, and user-friendly CRM designed with B2B in mind, Mria CRM offers a native solution that fits naturally into existing workflows.

This guide outlines the essential, advanced, and industry-specific CRM features that matter most. If you’re evaluating systems, use this as a checklist. If you’re already using one, consider whether you’re getting the most from it.

Basic CRM Features Every Business Needs

These core CRM features are the foundation of any reliable system. They cover basic functions and features and are relevant across nearly every use case and industry.

1. Contact and Company Management

At the heart of every CRM is a database of people and organizations. You should be able to store detailed records, including:

• Names and roles
• Email, phone, and social profiles
• Company affiliations
• Custom fields

Relationship history should be attached to each record for full context.

2. Deal and Pipeline Tracking

This is a core CRM feature for sales teams. Deals can be tracked through defined stages (e.g., prospect → qualified → closed). Sales managers can view pipelines, forecast revenue, and identify bottlenecks.

3. Task and Activity Management

CRM users should be able to schedule follow-ups, assign tasks, and log calls, emails, and meetings. A timeline view helps teams see the full customer journey.

4. Notes and File Attachments

Store notes, upload files, and share documents directly inside deal records. This ensures all stakeholders have access to relevant materials.

5. Calendar and Reminders

Sync calendars, set reminders, and stay on top of meetings or deadlines. Many CRMs integrate with Google or Outlook calendars.

6. Reporting and Dashboards

Visual reports track performance over time. Common dashboards include:

• Sales by rep
• Pipeline value by stage
• Customer acquisition costs
• Campaign performance

7. Permissions and User Roles

Set access levels to control who sees and edits data. This is essential for security, compliance, and collaboration.

These basic CRM features are expected in any modern solution, whether you’re a small team or a large enterprise.

Advanced CRM Features That Add Real Value

As your CRM needs grow, advanced CRM features become essential for automation, customization, and integration.

1. Workflow Automation

Automate repetitive actions like:

• Assigning leads based on conditions
• Sending follow-up emails after form submissions
• Notifying account managers when deals reach a certain stage

Automation saves time and reduces errors.

2. Lead Scoring and Qualification

Rank leads based on predefined criteria such as engagement level, deal size, or fit. Sales teams can focus on the highest-value opportunities.

3. Custom Fields and Layouts

Tailor record layouts to fit your business model. For example, a real estate CRM might include property preferences, while a healthcare CRM tracks patient status.

4. Multi-Channel Communication

Advanced CRMs support calls, live chat, and even social messaging integrations, making it easier to reach customers where they are.

5. Integrations with Third-Party Tools

Connect your CRM to tools like:

• Email marketing platforms (Mailchimp)
• Project management (Jira, Trello)
• Accounting (QuickBooks, Xero)
• Customer support (Zendesk, JSM)

6. Mobile CRM Access

Mobile apps let your team access and update data in real time, whether they’re in the field or at a client meeting.

7. Data Cleanup Tools

De-duplicate contacts, validate emails, and maintain clean data automatically.

These advanced CRM software features are especially useful for scaling businesses or teams that rely on automation and analytics to stay efficient.

CRM Features by Business Function

Different teams use CRMs differently. Below is a breakdown of features by department.

CRM Features for Sales Teams

Sales needs more than storage; they need a workflow.

• Sales pipelines and stages
• Deal forecasting
• Activity tracking and reminders
• Quotas and performance dashboards
• Email templates and sequences
• Call logging and meeting notes

These features help sales teams stay organized, focused, and accountable.

CRM Features for Marketing

Good marketing CRMs go beyond just sending campaigns. They tie real outcomes to contacts and behavior.

• Campaign tracking and attribution
• Email and SMS integration
• Contact segmentation and tagging
• Custom lead fields and funnel tracking
• ROI reporting for marketing efforts

Marketing-focused CRMs often overlap with marketing automation platforms, but CRM-driven marketing centers on using contact data for targeting and messaging.

CRM Features for Customer Service

A CRM built for support must give teams the full picture.

• Support ticket management
• SLA tracking and escalations
• Activity history across channels
• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) and NPS tracking
• Service workflows and routing rules

Support teams benefit from having customer context available without switching tools. CRM features that track service interactions reduce friction and resolution time.

CRM Features by Industry

Different industries have specialized needs. Here are some of the most common vertical use cases and the CRM features that support them.

SaaS and Tech CRM Features

Tech companies and SaaS platforms rely on CRMs not just for sales—but for ongoing account health, product engagement, and retention.

• Subscription status and renewal tracking
• Customer success workflows and QBRs
• Product usage data integration (e.g., feature adoption, logins)
• Churn prediction and health scoring
• Support ticket visibility and success handoffs
• In-app messaging and onboarding sequence management

These CRM features help SaaS teams shift from reactive support to proactive account management.

Manufacturing CRM Features

Manufacturers often manage long sales cycles, channel partners, and post-sale support. A well-configured CRM can support both direct and distributor-based workflows.

• Account and contact hierarchy (buyers, influencers, operators)
• Quote and order tracking tied to deals
• Distributor and reseller relationship management
• Service case and warranty tracking
• ERP integration for parts availability and pricing
• Activity timelines tied to product interest or repeat orders

In manufacturing, CRM features support both commercial and operational excellence.

Legal Services CRM Features

For law firms and legal departments, a CRM is less about selling and more about managing relationships, timelines, and sensitive case communication.

• Contact and case file association
• Matter-level task tracking and deadlines
• Document storage with tagging and versioning
• Referral source tracking
• Role-based access for confidentiality
• Lifecycle views of client or case activity

Legal CRMs focus on precision, compliance, and deep visibility without compromising security.

Education CRM Features

Educational institutions use CRMs to manage engagement across the student lifecycle—from prospective applicants to alumni.

• Inquiry and application pipeline management
• Email workflows for nurturing prospects
• Admissions task automation
• Integration with student information systems
• Event and open house coordination
• Donor and alumni record management

Whether for admissions, retention, or development, CRM features help education teams personalize communication at scale.

Real Estate CRM Features

• Property and listing management
• Client property preferences
• Appointment scheduling and follow-ups
• Document management (contracts, disclosures)
• Buyer-seller matching tools

Healthcare CRM Features

• Patient profile management
• Appointment scheduling
• HIPAA-compliant data handling
• Referral tracking
• Automated reminders for check-ups or follow-ups

Insurance CRM Features

• Policy tracking and renewal workflows
• Claims status updates
• Lead source and broker tracking
• Document storage for claims and policies
• Compliance alerts

Banking CRM Features

• Customer financial profiling
• Loan and product tracking
• Secure communication logs
• Risk scoring and alerts
• Regulatory compliance workflows

Telecom CRM Features

• Service plan tracking and bundling
• Churn prediction and retention tools
• Usage data integration
• Multi-department customer support workflows
• Territory or location-based customer management

Industry-specific CRM software features allow teams to work in context, automate regulatory tasks, and provide more relevant experiences.

Which CRM Features Matter at Different Growth Stages

A startup and an enterprise need very different CRM capabilities. One common mistake is adopting tools that are either too simple to scale or too complex to use early on. Matching CRM features to your stage of growth is critical.

For Small Teams:

• Contact and deal tracking
• Task reminders and notes
• Shared timelines
• Basic reporting
• Email integrations

Here, usability matters more than feature count. Choose tools that speed you up, not slow you down.

For Scaling Teams:

• Pipeline automation
• Custom fields and roles
• Team-based dashboards
• Workflow templates
• Mobile access

This is where advanced CRM features help enforce consistency and reduce manual steps.

For Mature Organizations:

• Multi-pipeline support
• Hierarchical permissions
• AI scoring and intent signals
• Industry-specific compliance features
• Deep integrations with ERP, billing, and support tools

The bigger the team, the more important collaboration, security, and system-wide data flow become.

CRM Feature Mistakes to Avoid

It’s easy to get distracted by impressive product demos or long feature checklists. But many teams fall into the same traps when evaluating CRM features.

Mistake 1: Choosing Based on Quantity, Not Fit

Just because a CRM has 200 features doesn’t mean you’ll use them. Focus on the 5–10 features that actually support your daily workflow.

Mistake 2: Prioritizing Reports Before Data Hygiene

Reports are only as good as the data behind them. If your CRM lacks validation, duplicate detection, or custom field logic, your insights will be flawed.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Internal Handoff Features

Your CRM should help with cross-functional visibility. If marketing can’t see sales activity, or service can’t see deal history, you’re missing the point.

Mistake 4: Relying Too Much on Automation

Automation helps, but it can’t fix broken processes. Start with clear manual workflows, then automate. Not the other way around.

CRM systems work best when they reflect how your team operates, not when they try to force new behaviors that don’t stick.

Emerging CRM Features: What’s Coming Next

CRM platforms are no longer just catch-up tools; they’re becoming strategic engines. As technology evolves, CRM software features are shifting from reactive data collection to proactive business intelligence.

Newer systems are beginning to introduce:

• Predictive analytics to forecast deal success, churn risk, or customer lifetime value
• AI-powered lead scoring that adapts based on behavior, engagement, and past outcomes
• Automated conversation insights that analyze call notes and emails for intent or sentiment
• Deeper vertical customization for industries like SaaS, manufacturing, or legal services
• Built-in customer success modules with account health tracking, playbooks, and renewal workflows
• Open data models that treat the CRM as a centralized source of truth for every department

These emerging CRM features are especially valuable for growing teams that need scalable insights and decision support. As platforms mature, we’ll see fewer general-purpose features and more role-specific, intent-driven functionality that helps teams act—not just observe.

Choosing the Right CRM Features for Your Business

With so many CRM features available, it’s tempting to go for the platform with the longest list. But that often leads to confusion and poor adoption. Not every team needs every feature. Choose CRM features that match how you actually work.

• Start with the basics: contacts, deals, and tasks
• Identify bottlenecks: handoffs, missed follow-ups, poor visibility
• Match features to specific roles: sales, marketing, service
• Consider scalability: does it grow with you or get in your way?
• Prioritize usability: your team won’t use what they can’t navigate

The best CRM isn’t the one with the longest feature list. It’s the one that fits your team today and supports where you’re going.

CRM Features Should Match Your Goals

The CRM you choose should reflect how your business builds relationships, executes work, and communicates across teams. From core features like contact tracking to advanced functions like automation and lead scoring, the right system makes your team faster, clearer, and more accountable.

If you work in a specialized industry, don’t compromise with a generic tool. Prioritize industry-fit features like real estate CRM features, insurance CRM features, or banking CRM features that match your workflows and compliance needs.

CRM features aren’t just technical details. They define how your company interacts with customers and how your team gets work done.

As expectations evolve, so do the tools. Teams are actively searching for platforms that combine CRM functionality with task and project management. These aren’t just feature requests. They represent a shift in how organizations define productivity, accountability, and visibility.

The Shift Toward Unified CRM and Task Management Tools

Historically, CRM systems were built to store and manage customer data such as names, emails, deals, and notes. Task management tools, on the other hand, were designed to track actions and timelines. Each served a specific role. But today’s teams need more than data or deadlines. They need alignment.

The modern workflow doesn’t stop at knowing who your customer is. It extends into what needs to be done, who’s doing it, and when it’s due. Follow-ups, handovers, internal approvals, and customer updates require coordination that lives somewhere between the CRM and the project board.

Many teams already use Jira to manage execution-heavy work like delivery, implementation, or technical support. Jira excels at issue tracking and project workflows but lacks the structured relationship layer: contacts, companies, and deals. This leads to a fragmented experience where customer context lives in one system and the work lives in another.

Bridging that gap is now a priority for teams that value continuity, speed, and visibility.

What Users Are Looking for in CRM with Task Management

It’s no longer speculative. Users are actively voicing the need for integrated systems. Reddit threads, Quora discussions, and support forums are filled with the same core request: a CRM that allows for task management, project tracking, internal scheduling, and even client visibility.

People search for:

• CRM with recurring tasks and reminders
• CRM that shows internal and client-facing tasks
• CRM that supports task scheduling and follow-up workflows
• Project tracking inside the CRM environment

What’s especially common is frustration with juggling multiple disconnected tools. When CRMs don’t support task tracking, users often resort to spreadsheets, personal calendars, or other tools. The result is duplicated work, miscommunication, and missed deadlines.

For teams that already use Jira to handle projects or tickets, this pain is amplified. They end up switching between Jira and an external CRM just to coordinate actions around a single client. Recognizing this, tools like Mria CRM have emerged as native Jira solutions, built to embed CRM functionality directly into Jira so teams can manage deals, contacts, and tasks where they already work.

Popular CRM and Task Management Software

Several platforms have responded to this need by merging CRM and task or project features.

• HubSpot offers marketing and CRM capabilities with task tracking, but it lacks deeper project flow functionality.
• Zoho CRM includes task assignment, though it requires extra modules.
• ClickUp is primarily a task management tool with added CRM features, catering more to project-first workflows.
• Monday.com offers both task management and a dedicated CRM solution. It’s highly flexible, though its CRM features are still evolving compared to more mature platforms.
• Jira is widely used for task and project management. With Mria CRM, it becomes a complete CRM and task management solution in one workspace.

Must-Have Features in a CRM and Task Management Solution

When teams evaluate CRM platforms with built-in task management, they’re not just looking for a feature checklist. They’re looking for a tool that reflects how they actually operate.

Essential capabilities include:

• The ability to assign tasks that are tied to specific deals, contacts, or accounts
• Support for recurring tasks, reminders, and deadlines
• Activity timelines that show progress, ownership, and upcoming actions
• Integration with email and calendar systems for seamless scheduling
• A log of every interaction, including notes, calls, and status updates
• Role-based access to filter visibility and avoid clutter

How Teams Use CRM-Linked Tasks Day to Day

Unified CRM and task management isn’t just a high-level concept. It changes how teams work on a daily basis. When tasks live alongside customer data, everyone involved gains real-time context and clarity. Here’s how that plays out across different roles:

• Sales reps can attach tasks to leads or deals to ensure timely follow-ups, proposal preparation, and check-ins tied to deal stages.
• Customer success managers can assign onboarding milestones to accounts, track progress, and ensure post-sale promises are fulfilled without needing a separate project tracker.
• Support teams can connect issues and follow-ups to the specific contact and account, ensuring any ticket escalation includes relationship context.
• Marketing or account-based teams can coordinate multi-touch outreach and track who’s doing what internally, without switching tools.
• Team leads and managers can review task completion, activity logs, and pipeline movement all in one place, offering a complete picture of both effort and outcomes.

This kind of visibility isn’t possible when CRM and task management are disconnected. Tasks become more than to-do items; they become part of a structured, accountable process aligned with customer relationships.

The Risks of Keeping CRM and Task Management Separate

For teams operating across sales, customer success, and delivery, separating CRM and task management into different tools creates silent inefficiencies. These gaps aren’t always obvious in daily operations, but over time, they compound into significant operational drag.

One of the most common issues is data duplication. Sales reps may log activities in the CRM, while project managers track the same milestones in a task board. Without clear ownership or sync between systems, information becomes fragmented, and no single tool reflects the full picture.

Disjointed systems also create visibility gaps. A customer success manager might see tasks but not the full history of client interactions. A sales leader may have pipeline visibility but miss signs of friction happening during onboarding.

These problems often manifest as missed follow-ups, incomplete handoffs, and confusion around accountability. When multiple teams rely on different platforms to manage parts of the same customer journey, customers notice the disconnect, even if your team doesn’t always catch it.

Inconsistent systems also limit your ability to report accurately. If task completion lives in one system and customer data in another, your analytics are incomplete by default. There’s no way to track how internal execution aligns with customer outcomes.

Keeping CRM and task management separate isn’t just inconvenient. It’s risky. It creates blind spots that reduce speed, effectiveness, and customer trust.

5 Signs You Need CRM and Task Management Software in One Tool

Still managing CRM and tasks in separate systems? These are common indicators that your team may be outgrowing that setup:

1. Tasks are duplicated across systems just to keep stakeholders updated.
2. Follow-ups are delayed or missed because reminders aren’t tied to CRM records.
3. Project or support teams don’t know who the customer is or what has been agreed.
4. Sales and service teams work in silos, causing delays or confusion.
5. Your CRM is just a contact database, while your actual work lives somewhere else.

These issues create hidden costs and ultimately reduce customer satisfaction.

How to Transition to a Unified CRM and Task Management Workflow

Adopting a unified CRM and task management system doesn’t have to be disruptive. The key is to approach the transition as an evolution of existing workflows rather than a complete overhaul. Here’s how to do it effectively:

1. Audit Your Current Tools
   Start by identifying where CRM data and task tracking currently live. Note how different departments interact with these systems and where overlaps or disconnects happen.
2. Map Shared Workflows
   Focus on handoffs, dependencies, and communication gaps between sales, marketing, delivery, and support. These are usually the areas that suffer the most when systems are fragmented.
3. Prioritize Integration with Your Primary System
   If your team already uses Jira for issue tracking or project delivery, consider CRM tools that work natively within it. Tools like Mria CRM offer the advantage of structured customer records without leaving the Jira environment.
4. Start with Core Data
   Begin by moving key CRM records like contacts, companies, and deals into the new system. Once established, gradually integrate task management features linked to those records.
5. Educate Around Workflow, Not Features
   Adoption happens when users see value in context. Show teams how tasks, reminders, and visibility tie directly to their existing goals, like hitting quota or delivering projects faster.
6. Monitor, Adjust, and Scale
   Unified systems will reveal gaps that weren’t previously visible. Use those insights to optimize both your processes and your platform setup over time.

Final Thoughts

As teams become more collaborative and customer journeys more complex, CRM systems must evolve. It’s no longer enough to store information. Teams need platforms that support action, track responsibility, and adapt to real-world workflows.

Whether you manage tasks in Jira, ClickUp, Monday.com, or another project-oriented tool, the demand for CRM functionality within the same environment is growing.

CRM and task management software don’t belong in separate silos. They belong together, because the work your team does and the people they do it for are already deeply connected.

This is the purpose of a sales pipeline. It transforms unpredictable interactions into a structured, repeatable system. When designed well, it becomes more than a visual tool—it becomes the operational core of revenue performance.

In this article, you’ll learn what a sales pipeline is, what a sales pipeline stage represents, how pipelines differ from funnels, how to build a pipeline for B2B sales, and how CRM systems support pipeline visibility, accuracy, and execution.

What Is a Sales Pipeline?

A sales pipeline is a visual and operational model that tracks how sales opportunities move through the stages of your sales process. It shows which deals are active, where they stand, and what actions are needed to move them forward.

Each opportunity in the pipeline represents a potential sale. Every stage reflects a real-world milestone, such as a discovery call completed or a proposal reviewed. Together, the pipeline provides:

• A structured view of sales team activity
• A shared language across reps and managers
• A foundation for coaching, forecasting, and performance tracking

Sales pipelines are used daily by individual reps to manage their workload, weekly by managers to run pipeline reviews, and monthly by leadership to forecast revenue and assess sales strategy.

What Is a Sales Pipeline Stage?

A sales pipeline stage is a defined checkpoint in the sales process. It represents a shift in deal maturity and is used to track progress based on buyer actions, not just seller activity.

To be useful, pipeline stages must be:

• Aligned with buyer behavior: Not just internal steps, but real customer engagement
• Based on observable signals: Such as a confirmed meeting, demo attended, or contract sent
• Consistent across the team: So that every rep uses stages in the same way
• Used for decision-making: Managers should coach differently depending on stage

A well-structured pipeline typically includes six to eight stages, starting from qualification and ending at closed won or lost. The clarity and integrity of these stages determine the accuracy of forecasts and the effectiveness of sales execution.

Sales Pipeline vs Sales Funnel

While the terms are often used interchangeably, sales pipeline and sales funnel represent different models.

The sales funnel focuses on lead volume and conversion. It shows how many leads enter the system and how many make it to each phase. It’s useful for marketing teams and revenue operations to analyze lead generation and conversion rates.

The sales pipeline focuses on the progression of individual deals. It tracks which opportunities are active, what stage they are in, and what actions are being taken to close them. Sales teams use it to manage activity, prioritize work, and forecast revenue.

Understanding sales funnel vs pipeline helps companies optimize both acquisition and conversion workflows.

What Are the Types of Sales Pipelines?

Not every business uses the same pipeline. Many companies use multiple pipelines to reflect different sales motions, products, or customer segments.

Common Types of Sales Pipelines

• Industry-specific pipelines: Tailored to sectors like real estate, SaaS, or consulting.
• Inbound vs outbound pipelines: Separate processes for marketing-sourced vs rep-sourced leads.
• Multi-pipeline setups: One for new business, another for renewals or upsells.
• Team-based pipelines: Different pipelines for SDRs, AEs, and Account Managers.

While the core principles are the same, adapting your pipeline to your team’s roles and customer journey will improve usability and results.

Why Sales Pipelines Matter in B2B Sales?

In B2B, where sales cycles are long, buyers are complex, and touchpoints are scattered, pipelines are essential.

Without a sales pipeline, it’s nearly impossible to:

• Forecast future revenue with any accuracy
• Spot stalled deals before they become dead
• Align effort with impact across teams
• Identify coaching opportunities for reps

A sales pipeline also supports territory management, quota planning, and cross-functional handoffs between sales, marketing, legal, and delivery. In short, it is the structure that enables execution at scale.

What Does a B2B Sales Pipeline Look Like?

In B2B, pipelines are more detailed than in transactional sales. The buyer’s journey is longer, more complex, and less linear. Pipeline stages must account for multiple stakeholders, legal processes, and often technical evaluations.

Example of a B2B Sales Pipeline

This structure supports clean handoffs and consistent reporting, even when timelines stretch across months.

Sales Pipeline Example: SaaS Scenario

Let’s say you sell compliance software to financial institutions.

• Prospecting: Your SDR team identifies IT security leads at mid-size banks
• Qualified: You schedule a discovery call to assess use case and urgency
• Demo Conducted: The AE walks through key features with the head of risk
• Proposal Sent: You provide a custom plan, including SOC 2 audit support
• Procurement Review: The legal team sends back redlines
• Closed Won: Contract is finalized, kickoff scheduled

This is a classic sales pipeline example in B2B SaaS – multiple roles, long timeline, strategic value.

How to Build a Sales Pipeline

A pipeline isn’t a template, it’s a system tailored to your process, your buyers, and your team’s motion.

Steps to Build a Sales Pipeline

1. Audit your real sales cycle
   Interview reps, analyze win/loss data, map the true buyer journey.
2. Define stages based on intent shifts
   Focus less on internal actions and more on buyer signals.
3. Set criteria for each stage
   Define what has to happen for a deal to move forward (e.g., “Demo attended by technical lead”).
4. Configure your CRM accordingly
   Set up automation, reminders, stage logic, and validation rules.
5. Train the team and reinforce
   Pipeline discipline requires shared understanding, not just system access.
6. Review and iterate monthly
   Measure slippage, time in stage, and velocity. Your pipeline should evolve as your business does.

Knowing how to build a sales pipeline well can mean the difference between random effort and repeatable success.

What Are Sales Pipeline Metrics?

You can’t manage what you can’t measure. That’s why sales pipeline metrics are essential for visibility, coaching, and forecasting.

Key Sales Pipeline Metrics to Track

• Stage-to-stage conversion rate: Where deals fall off
• Average deal size: How much each deal is worth
• Sales velocity: How fast deals close from entry to win
• Pipeline coverage ratio: Pipeline value vs quota
• Win rate: Closed won deals as a % of total
• Time in stage: Where deals are stalling

How CRM Software Supports the Sales Pipeline

Without technology, even the best-designed pipeline fails. A CRM turns structure into action by creating a shared, trackable workspace where deals move, progress is logged, and visibility is always current.

What CRM Software Brings to Pipeline Management

• Pipeline dashboards with live stage data
• Deal-specific timelines and communication history
• Automated activity logging and alerts
• Sales forecasting tools
• Integrated collaboration across teams

Mria CRM: A Pipeline Built for Jira

For teams that already use Jira for delivery, Mria CRM integrates pipeline management directly into that workflow. This means no switching tools, no duplicate data entry, and complete alignment between sales, support, and product.

Mria CRM helps teams manage the entire sales pipeline, from first contact to project kickoff, without leaving Jira.

Final Thoughts

A sales pipeline isn’t just a visual tool. It’s the foundation of your sales system, your forecasting engine, and your management framework.

When it’s aligned with how your customers buy, how your team sells, and how your business delivers, it becomes your most valuable asset.

If your sales process feels inconsistent, unpredictable, or hard to coach, start with the pipeline. Improve how deals are tracked. Improve how stages are defined. Improve how success is measured.

Everything else follows.

To remain competitive, companies need to understand not only what is changing but also why it matters. This article unpacks the most critical CRM trends in 2025, focusing on the technologies, market shifts, and organizational behaviors that will shape how businesses connect with their customers in the years ahead.

1. Current CRM Trends: How CRM Systems Are Changing in 2025

Modern CRM platforms are expanding their roles beyond traditional sales functions. They are becoming central to revenue operations, customer success, and cross-functional collaboration.

Unified Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

Customer data remains the most valuable asset in CRM. Yet data fragmentation across departments remains a challenge. In 2025, leading CRM platforms are solving this through integrated Customer Data Platforms (CDPs).

Salesforce’s Data Cloud and Adobe’s Real-Time CDP are clear examples. They provide persistent IDs, real-time data ingestion, and unified customer profiles that support marketing, sales, and service simultaneously. These CDPs allow CRM users to personalize at scale, manage consent, and measure full-funnel performance with accuracy.

Without unified data, segmentation becomes unreliable and automation breaks down. CDP-backed CRMs offer clarity, accuracy, and a single source of truth that empowers better decisions.

From Pipeline Tracking to Revenue Enablement

CRM has shifted from sales-only to full revenue operations. Tools like Salesforce Revenue Cloud, Clari, and HubSpot Operations Hub help businesses track every stage of the customer lifecycle, from lead generation to retention.

By supporting forecasting, attribution, upselling, and renewal management, these CRMs enable marketing, sales, and customer success teams to collaborate on shared revenue goals. The ability to identify leakage points and optimize lifecycle metrics is now a core requirement.

CRM is no longer just a tool for closing deals. It is a platform for managing long-term revenue performance.

Workflow Automation and Suggested Actions

CRMs are becoming smarter and more proactive. Instead of relying on manual reminders or dashboards, they now surface intelligent suggestions and guide user behavior.

Platforms like Zoho CRM and Pipedrive use machine learning to recommend follow-ups, highlight high-value leads, and identify at-risk opportunities. Microsoft Dynamics 365 with Copilot AI is embedding this intelligence across the user experience.

These features reduce human error, standardize best practices, and accelerate deal velocity. In 2025, proactive CRM is not a bonus—it is an expectation.

2. CRM Technology Trends: New Technologies and Capabilities

CRM systems are rapidly evolving beyond their traditional scope. Driven by advances in artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and user experience design, the next generation of CRMs is more intelligent, intuitive, and customizable than ever before.

AI for Insight and Personalization

In 2025, artificial intelligence is no longer an enhancement but a foundational element of CRM platforms. AI is integrated across workflows to help users prioritize opportunities, tailor engagement strategies, and act with greater speed and precision.

Platforms such as Salesforce Einstein GPT and Microsoft Copilot empower users to generate context-aware follow-up emails, summarize sales calls, and forecast revenue with high confidence. These tools analyze vast amounts of behavioral and engagement data to detect buying signals, churn risk, or upsell potential in real time.

For example, a sales rep using HubSpot might receive a suggestion to re-engage a lead who has returned to the website after a long period of inactivity. The platform could generate a personalized email draft, enriched with recent activity insights, and recommend the best time to send it. This approach not only increases relevance but also frees up time for higher-value tasks.

Voice and Conversational CRM Interfaces

Conversational CRM is gaining traction as natural language processing tools become more powerful and user expectations evolve. CRM users can now interact with their systems by asking questions or giving commands, significantly lowering the barrier to data access.

With Freshworks’ Freddy AI or HubSpot’s ChatSpot, users can type or speak queries like, “What is my forecast for Q3?” or “Show me all deals at risk in the enterprise segment.” The platform responds with real-time answers, charts, or recommended actions, directly in the user interface.

This level of accessibility enables more frequent use of CRM insights by executives, field reps, and non-technical users who previously relied on dashboards built by operations teams. It also enhances mobile CRM usability, supporting on-the-go decision-making.

Real-Time Dashboards and No-Code CRM Interfaces

Traditional CRM reporting was often static, slow to update, and difficult to configure. In 2025, CRMs offer live, interactive dashboards built through drag-and-drop interfaces and visual logic builders.

Platforms like Zoho Analytics and InsightSquared allow users to filter data, pivot on metrics, and collaborate in real time. Reports can include sales activity heatmaps, lead source breakdowns, or forecast deviation alerts, all updated continuously from the CRM database.

No-code builders also allow users to create customized dashboards for specific roles or departments, from marketing to support. Instead of waiting for an admin or IT resource, team leads can generate the views they need to monitor KPIs and take immediate action.

These tools promote data literacy, transparency, and agility across the organization, making CRM data more useful and widely adopted.

3. CRM Marketing Trends: Smarter Data, Smarter Campaigns

CRM is no longer just a sales tool; it has become the foundation for modern marketing execution. In 2025, organizations are designing and delivering campaigns directly through CRM systems, using real-time data, automation, and segmentation to drive engagement across the entire customer journey.

CRM and Marketing Automation Alignment

One of the most important developments is the seamless alignment between CRM and marketing automation platforms. Previously, marketing systems and CRMs operated independently, often resulting in poor data sync and fragmented reporting. In 2025, leading platforms like HubSpot, Salesforce, and ActiveCampaign offer tightly integrated CRM and marketing tools that share data, workflows, and performance metrics.

For example, a marketing team can trigger nurture campaigns based on deal stage or service tickets, and sales can see campaign engagement history within contact records. This alignment enables personalized campaigns at scale and ensures that leads receive consistent experiences throughout the funnel.

More importantly, this integration supports closed-loop attribution. Businesses can now track campaign influence on pipeline value, win rates, and retention—all within the CRM. This transforms marketing from a cost center to a growth driver with provable ROI.

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Within CRM

ABM has evolved into a CRM-native strategy. Rather than using separate platforms, many companies now execute ABM directly within their CRM system. Modern CRMs allow users to:

• Track engagement across multiple stakeholders at a single company
• Score accounts based on buying intent
• Create account-specific views, messaging, and dashboards

Platforms like Salesforce ABM, Demandbase, and Outreach support multi-threaded engagement strategies. Integration with LinkedIn, display ads, and email automation tools helps teams run coordinated campaigns across multiple channels.

ABM is no longer a niche strategy for enterprise sales. It is becoming a standard approach for any company with high-value, multi-person deals, and CRM is the platform where ABM strategy, execution, and measurement converge.

First-Party Data and Consent-Driven Personalization

The end of third-party cookies and increased privacy regulations are shifting the focus toward first-party data. In response, CRM systems are evolving into compliance-ready data engines that enable secure personalization.

Key CRM features supporting this include:

• Real-time behavioral tracking on websites, apps, and emails
• Consent and preference management modules
• Dynamic audience building based on customer actions

Platforms like Adobe Experience Cloud, HubSpot, and Zoho CRM are embedding GDPR and CCPA compliance features natively. These capabilities allow marketers to collect and use data transparently, with customer trust and legal safety in mind.

This trend is also encouraging companies to build more meaningful and voluntary data exchanges. Forms, preference centers, and loyalty programs are being optimized to capture richer first-party data that can power personalization, segmentation, and lifecycle marketing directly from within the CRM.

CRM is now the core of marketing execution. Organizations are centralizing campaign logic, personalization, and performance tracking in their CRM systems.

4. The Future of CRM: Strategic and Structural Shifts Ahead

The CRM landscape in 2025 is not just shaped by new features but by foundational changes in how these platforms are built, adopted, and expanded across industries and departments. Structural innovations are redefining the scope, scale, and specialization of CRM systems.

Verticalization and Industry-Specific CRMs

Organizations are increasingly adopting CRM systems designed for their specific industries. Vertical CRMs come preconfigured with the terminology, processes, and compliance frameworks needed by sectors such as legal, finance, construction, and healthcare.

For example, Clio supports law firms with integrated case management and billing workflows. Veeva Systems provides CRMs tailored for life sciences with built-in regulatory compliance and content management. Construction firms rely on platforms like Buildertrend or JobNimbus, which offer project-based views, quote management, and mobile field access.

These solutions reduce the need for custom development and shorten time-to-value. Instead of building from a blank slate, teams adopt platforms that understand their domain. This is particularly valuable for regulated or operationally complex sectors, where general-purpose CRMs often fall short.

Making CRM Part of a Larger Tech Stack

Modern businesses depend on a diverse stack of SaaS applications. In response, CRM platforms are evolving into integration-first systems that serve as data hubs.

CRM tools like Salesforce, Zoho, and HubSpot offer mature marketplaces with hundreds of native integrations. Common integrations include:

• Email and calendar systems (Google Workspace, Microsoft Outlook)
• Marketing automation (Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign)
• Customer support platforms (Zendesk, Intercom)
• Finance and billing (Stripe, QuickBooks)
• Product analytics (Mixpanel, Segment)

This shift reflects a new reality: CRM is no longer an isolated tool for one team. It is the shared foundation for collaboration across the organization.

Expansion Beyond Sales and Marketing

The value of CRM data extends far beyond traditional go-to-market teams. In 2025, CRM systems are increasingly used by product, support, finance, and operations roles to drive efficiency and insight.

• Product managers use CRM to track feature feedback and beta program engagement
• Support teams reference CRM to gain context on customer history and prioritize escalations
• Finance teams use CRM data to validate bookings and sync invoicing with revenue milestones

To enable this, CRM platforms are improving permission controls, customizable views, and role-specific dashboards. This allows companies to maintain data integrity while giving every stakeholder access to the information they need.

As CRM becomes more flexible and collaborative, it transforms into a system of engagement for the entire customer-facing organization, not just a sales pipeline tool.: What Buyers Are Prioritizing

5. CRM Software Trends: What Buyers Are Prioritizing

As CRM platforms mature, buyer expectations have become more sophisticated. In 2025, businesses are looking for solutions that are flexible, scalable, and user-centric. Purchasing decisions are being driven by usability, customization, and total cost of ownership.

User Experience and Onboarding Simplicity

A modern CRM must provide a seamless and intuitive user experience. Teams expect fast onboarding, clear navigation, and contextual help that eliminates the need for extensive training. Inline editing, responsive design, keyboard shortcuts, and customizable layouts are now standard expectations.

For example, Freshsales and Monday CRM feature simplified interfaces with guided tutorials and minimal configuration required for first-time users. Tools like Copper CRM offer native integration with Gmail, allowing users to manage contacts, pipelines, and tasks without switching tabs.

Why it matters: Adoption directly affects data quality and workflow consistency. CRMs that users enjoy working with increase productivity and reduce the risk of shadow IT solutions.

Low-Code Configuration and Flexibility

Organizations want CRMs that adapt to their processes, not the other way around. Low-code and no-code features allow teams to modify workflows, design forms, and build automations without developer support.

Salesforce Lightning Flow, Zoho Creator, and HubSpot’s Workflow Builder empower operations teams to implement changes quickly and safely. These platforms offer visual rule builders, reusable components, and branching logic for advanced automation.

Fast-moving businesses need agile systems. CRMs that support continuous iteration help companies evolve their customer engagement strategies without costly development cycles.

Flexible and Transparent Pricing Models

Pricing transparency is now a top concern for CRM buyers. Businesses are demanding predictable costs, clear feature breakdowns, and flexible plans that grow with them.

Leading CRMs now offer modular pricing by feature set, usage level, or user role. For example, Pipedrive’s pricing tiers allow small teams to start affordably while offering add-ons for email automation, reporting, or forecasting as needed.

In enterprise settings, pricing models increasingly include usage-based billing or volume discounts based on number of records, API calls, or interactions.

Businesses want to avoid vendor lock-in and overpaying for unused features. Flexible pricing ensures companies can scale their CRM investment alongside their growth.

6. What’s Driving CRM Innovation in 2025

The rapid transformation of CRM systems is driven by a combination of organizational needs, customer expectations, and emerging technologies. In 2025, three primary forces are influencing CRM development at the product and platform level.

Turning CRM Data into Actionable Insights

Data abundance is no longer the problem; actionability is. Businesses have access to more customer data than ever before, but too often it remains siloed, underutilized, or misinterpreted.

CRM platforms are now embedding analytics directly into workflows. This includes:

• Predictive lead scoring using historical performance and engagement data
• AI-generated opportunity summaries highlighting risks and deal momentum
• Automated pipeline insights that recommend follow-ups based on time decay or competitor mentions

Salesforce’s Einstein Opportunity Insights and Zoho’s Zia Assistant are good examples. These tools convert raw data into prioritized to-dos, allowing teams to focus on what will move the needle.

Intelligence embedded directly into the interface helps teams act faster and with more confidence, even without dedicated analysts.

Maintaining Identity Across Channels

With customer journeys spanning email, chat, support, product usage, and social media, it is critical for CRM platforms to unify identity across touchpoints.

Modern CRMs are integrating CDP-level identity resolution engines. Platforms like Segment Personas, Salesforce Data Cloud, and Adobe Real-Time CDP reconcile identifiers across devices, sessions, and sources to form unified customer profiles.

These profiles can include behavioral events, consent preferences, purchase history, and lifecycle stage—all updated in real time.

Accurate identity resolution underpins every other function in the CRM, from reporting to personalization. It also helps eliminate duplicate records, streamline communications, and support cross-departmental collaboration.

Personalization Without Losing Authenticity

Scalable personalization is no longer just about using a customer’s name in an email. In 2025, businesses are expected to communicate in ways that feel timely, relevant, and human—at scale.

CRMs are addressing this by blending automation with manual checkpoints. For instance:

• HubSpot’s AI Content Assistant generates drafts but encourages human review before sending
• ActiveCampaign’s journey builder supports branching paths based on behavior, allowing teams to send targeted messages while maintaining control
• Totango enables customer success teams to deliver lifecycle-based engagement without relying solely on pre-scheduled emails

The best CRM platforms support flexible, hybrid workflows that preserve the human element while scaling operational efficiency.

These innovation drivers reflect a larger shift toward systems that not only store and segment customer data but actively guide meaningful interaction throughout the customer lifecycle.

7. Business Implications: How CRM Trends Affect Different Businesses

The CRM trends reshaping 2025 are more than just technology upgrades. They signal a shift in how businesses of all sizes structure their operations, engage with customers, and plan for growth. Whether you are part of a small team, an enterprise, or a product-led startup, the practical implications of these developments vary, and understanding them is key to selecting and deploying the right CRM.

CRM for Small and Midsize Teams

Smaller teams typically need CRMs that are fast to implement, simple to maintain, and affordable to scale. In 2025, lightweight CRM platforms like Copper, Capsule, and Mria CRM for Jira are designed specifically for these users. They offer core functionality, contact management, pipeline visibility, and basic automation without the complexity or overhead of enterprise tools.

These platforms often integrate natively with productivity suites like Google Workspace or Atlassian, reducing tool fragmentation. Features like drag-and-drop pipeline views, email tracking, and mobile access enable high adoption with minimal training.

Small teams often operate without a dedicated RevOps or admin resource. Choosing a CRM that works out of the box reduces time-to-value and drives consistent customer management from day one.

CRM for Enterprises and Global Teams

Larger organizations face a different set of challenges. With distributed teams, complex permission requirements, and diverse customer segments, they need highly customizable, secure, and integrable CRMs.

Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and SAP Sales Cloud are preferred options in this space. These platforms support internationalization, data residency compliance, multi-team segmentation, and advanced forecasting.

Enterprises are also focused on systems integration. CRMs must connect with ERP, CPQ, support, and analytics platforms, as well as enable role-based access and rigorous audit controls.

At scale, CRM becomes a governance issue as much as a workflow tool. Systems that offer control, extensibility, and reliability will outperform those that focus only on front-end user experience.

CRM for SaaS Startups and Product-Led Companies

Product-led growth (PLG) companies depend on usage data to inform sales and success motions. These companies require CRMs that ingest product behavior signals and surface intent-based triggers.

Tools like Vitally, Endgame, and Pocus integrate directly with event data to help GTM teams identify high-intent users, prioritize outreach, and align onboarding with in-app engagement. Segment and RudderStack often power the data pipelines behind these systems.

In PLG environments, timing and relevance are everything. CRMs that bridge the gap between product analytics and revenue workflows enable faster, more personalized engagement with minimal manual effort.

Understanding your organizational structure, technical resources, and customer lifecycle complexity is essential to applying these CRM trends successfully. The best CRM for your team will be the one that matches your current needs, while being ready for where you’re headed next.

Conclusion

CRM in 2025 has moved far beyond its original purpose. It is no longer a system of record limited to contact management and pipeline tracking. It has become the backbone of modern customer operations—uniting data, intelligence, and workflows across sales, marketing, product, and support.

As this article has shown, CRM platforms are now expected to support real-time collaboration, actionable insights, omnichannel personalization, and secure, scalable growth. Whether you are looking to improve lead conversion, deepen account relationships, or align teams around a shared revenue strategy, your CRM will either be your greatest asset or your biggest limitation.

To gain a strategic advantage, organizations must invest in CRM systems that:

• Integrate seamlessly with the tools your teams already use
• Adapt to your workflows, not the other way around
• Deliver intelligence where decisions are made
• Empower every department to deliver a better customer experience

The future of CRM is not about features, it is about how well it aligns with the way you work and grow. Choose a system that reflects your vision, supports your agility, and enables your people. In doing so, you will position CRM not as software, but as a long-term engine for customer-driven success.

This separation introduces unnecessary complexity. It slows down collaboration, reduces visibility, and creates inefficiencies that impact customer experience and revenue.

Adopting a CRM inside Jira, one that is native to the platform, is not just a convenience upgrade. It is a structural decision that increases operational clarity and enables full-cycle alignment from first contact to long-term success.

Here are 10 deeply practical, technical, and strategic reasons why CRM in Jira is the next logical step for high-performance teams using Jira.

1. Eliminate Productivity Loss from Context Switching

Most users, particularly those on delivery, technical, and support teams, spend the majority of their working hours in Jira. Forcing them to toggle between Jira and an external CRM disrupts flow and creates friction every time context needs to be transferred manually.

Key challenges:

• Switching tools introduces delays and cognitive fatigue
• Sales data often fails to reach operations in time
• Tasks fall through due to lack of shared visibility

Context switching is a significant productivity drain. Research by Qatalog and Cornell University’s Idea Lab found that it takes an average of 9.5 minutes to regain focus after switching between digital apps. Additionally, professionals reported spending 36 minutes a day toggling between applications. This constant shifting not only consumes time but also leads to mental fatigue and reduced efficiency. Embedding CRM functionalities within Jira minimizes these disruptions, allowing teams to maintain focus and streamline workflows.

CRM in Jira:

• Keeps users in the same environment from lead generation to delivery
• Connects customer records to issues and tasks in real time
• Supports continuous workflow without platform hopping

2. Strengthen Lead Management With Workflow Integration

Managing leads outside Jira breaks the lifecycle between opportunity creation and delivery. When a lead is qualified, but the handoff into delivery happens manually, errors and slowdowns are inevitable.

Key challenges:

• Qualified leads are not operationalized through structured workflows
• Internal handoffs rely on Slack, email, or spreadsheets
• Sales progress is invisible to delivery teams until too late

Teams that execute onboarding or delivery before formal contract closure often require close coordination between sales and service. Traditional CRMs do not support this hybrid reality. Using Jira as a CRM solves this by embedding structured lead and deal objects within the workflows already used to manage execution.

CRM in Jira:

• Supports lead creation, qualification, and conversion as part of project workflows
• Allows automated transitions from lead to task or epic
• Aligns sales and operations from the start

3. Align Business and Technical Teams With Shared Architecture

Sales and business teams typically prefer CRMs. Developers and project teams prefer Jira. Each side resists the other’s tools. This tool divide creates communication and accountability breakdowns.

Key challenges:

• No single source of truth for customer-related activity
• Sales teams lack awareness of operational constraints
• Technical teams lack access to customer intent and history

This split in systems often leads to what RevOps teams call “horizontal misalignment” across the customer journey. When each team is optimizing in its own silo, the organization as a whole cannot deliver consistent value. CRM for Jira changes this dynamic by unifying sales, delivery, and support under one platform and data model.

CRM in Jira:

• Gives business teams access to project timelines and blockers
• Let’s technical teams see deal size, urgency, and sales commitments
• Creates a shared context for better collaboration and prioritization

4. Improve Post-Sale Execution and Customer Experience

Customer value is not fully realized at the point of sale. It is achieved through onboarding, delivery, support, and retention. If those stages are disconnected from CRM records, customers will feel the consequences.

Key challenges:

• Delivery teams have no access to deal terms or expectations
• Support agents operate without visibility into relationship history
• Customers experience disconnected, impersonal service

Post-sale experience is a critical part of modern CRM, but most traditional CRMs do not serve operational teams effectively. A CRM inside Jira ensures that every support ticket, delivery issue, and success milestone is tied to the deal and the customer record that preceded it.

CRM in Jira:

• Links tickets and issues to customer and deal context
• Enables service teams to act with full visibility and speed
• Improves NPS, CSAT, and renewal likelihood

5. Ensure Broad Adoption Across Teams

CRM data is only valuable if it is updated and used. Most CRMs struggle to achieve adoption beyond the sales team. When technical and support users do not engage with the CRM, cross-functional visibility breaks down.

Key challenges:

• CRM feels like a sales-only tool, irrelevant to others
• Valuable updates and activities are never logged
• Fragmented insight leads to inconsistent decision-making

CRM adoption is ultimately a function of relevance and convenience. If a CRM is embedded in Jira, it becomes a natural part of daily workflows for delivery and support teams. This expands data contribution, improves data completeness, and brings CRM from the periphery into the operational center.

CRM in Jira:

• Makes CRM tasks feel native to day-to-day work
• Reduces friction for non-sales users to contribute insight
• Improves accuracy and trust in customer records

6. Unify Permissions, Roles, and Access Control

Every additional system introduces governance overhead. External CRMs require separate permission schemes, role definitions, and audit configurations, creating duplication and gaps.

Key challenges:

• Inconsistent access across systems creates risk
• Administrators must maintain two user databases
• Audit trails are fragmented and incomplete

Security and compliance are easier when access is managed centrally. Jira already supports granular permissions, project roles, and user groups. A native CRM in Jira leverages this existing structure, eliminating redundant admin work and ensuring a clean audit trail.

CRM in Jira:

• Uses Jira’s permission model to control CRM visibility
• Reduces complexity for IT and compliance teams
• Strengthens control without added infrastructure

7. Enable End-to-End Automation Without External Dependencies

Modern CRMs offer internal automation, but extending that automation into operational systems like Jira typically requires Zapier, custom code, or a third-party connector. This creates fragility and ongoing maintenance work.

Key challenges:

• CRM activity does not initiate internal task creation
• Handoffs between sales and delivery are manual
• Each workflow requires external setup and testing

Automation delivers the highest ROI when it is built on top of unified systems. When CRM objects such as deals and contacts are native Jira entities, they can be included in automation rules without middleware or API workarounds.

CRM in Jira:

• Enables full lifecycle automation using Jira’s native rule engine
• Automatically assigns tasks, updates statuses, or triggers alerts
• Streamlines collaboration without middleware complexity

8. Consolidate Reporting Across the Full Customer Lifecycle

Organizations need insights across the full funnel, from lead acquisition to delivery to support. When CRM and Jira are separate, data is siloed and reporting becomes manual and error-prone.

Key challenges:

• Sales and delivery metrics live in different dashboards
• Lifecycle reporting requires data stitching and exports
• Leadership lacks visibility into true performance drivers

Cross-system analytics introduce delay and uncertainty. A CRM for Jira allows reporting to be embedded inside native dashboards, filtered by fields familiar to all teams. The result is faster decision-making and shared alignment across sales, support, and product.

CRM in Jira:

• Connects deals, issues, support tickets, and activity logs
• Powers real-time dashboards or external BI pipelines
• Supports unified planning and performance management

9. Streamline Tech Stack, Reduce Licensing and Admin Overhead

CRMs are often licensed per seat, per module, or by feature. When CRM functionality is duplicated in multiple tools, costs rise and ROI falls.

Key challenges:

• Redundant systems inflate operational costs
• Admin teams must support and troubleshoot multiple platforms
• End users must be trained across multiple tools

Every platform you add creates new overhead in provisioning, governance, and support. Using Jira as a CRM reduces this complexity by extending your existing investment into a broader use case without requiring a new ecosystem.

CRM in Jira:

• Eliminates the need for external licenses and connectors
• Reduces switching costs and training requirements
• Simplifies your toolchain and budgeting

10. Build a Scalable Foundation for Customer Operations

Disconnected systems may work for small teams, but they introduce fragility at scale. More users, more deals, and more customers amplify the pain of misalignment.

Key challenges:

• Inconsistent workflows across departments and regions
• Difficulty scaling CRM usage beyond sales
• Poor data hygiene and reporting at higher volumes

Jira is already used to scale execution through projects, boards, and permissions. Extending it to customer management allows CRM processes to scale in the same way. This results in tighter alignment between growth and delivery.

CRM in Jira:

• Allows each team to grow within a shared system of work
• Ensures process discipline without requiring new tools
• Enables a consistent experience across the entire customer lifecycle

Final Thought

Teams that rely on Jira to execute work deserve a CRM that lives in the same environment. A disconnected CRM means sales, delivery, and support are constantly working from different playbooks. That introduces inefficiencies, communication gaps, and risk to your customer experience.

Mria CRM is the first truly native CRM for Jira, built on Atlassian Forge. It brings customer data, process logic, and operational workflows into one secure, scalable platform, transforming Jira into a unified customer operations hub.

Mria CRM is currently under development and will be available on the Atlassian Marketplace. If you’re interested in being among the first to experience what CRM in Jira should truly look like, subscribe below to get notified when it goes live.

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