Brevo CRM Explained: How to Manage Contacts & Deals Like a Pro (2025)
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) has evolved from a capable email platform into a full customer communications suite — and its CRM is now a practical tool for small teams that want simple, integrated sales workflows without adding another subscription. This guide walks you through exactly how Brevo’s CRM works, how to structure contacts and deals, the automations that save time, and best practices that move deals faster. I’ll give step-by-step actions, real examples, and pro tips you can implement today.
Quick takeaway: Brevo’s CRM is best for small businesses, agencies, and ecommerce stores that want integrated email + SMS + CRM. It’s not Salesforce-level, but it’s fast to adopt and tightly integrated with Brevo’s automation and messaging features.
What the Brevo CRM actually is (short version)
Brevo’s CRM is a lightweight sales platform inside the Brevo ecosystem designed to:
- Store and organize contacts (with custom fields, tags and segments).
- Track deals through visual pipelines (deal stages, values, owners).
- Automate deal creation and follow-up via workflows.
- Combine marketing (email/SMS/WhatsApp) and sales activity in one place to preserve context.
That means no more copy-pasting between your ESP and your sales tool — everything lives under one roof.
Key CRM features you’ll use every day
| Feature | What it does | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts & custom fields | Store contact data, tags, behavioral properties | Tailor outreach; power segmentation. |
| Segments | Dynamic groups based on rules (activity, custom fields) | Use for targeted campaigns & workflows. |
| Deals & pipelines | Visual pipeline with stages and deal values | Track opportunities and forecast revenue. |
| Automations | Triggers/actions including “Create a deal” | Automate lead ops and follow-ups. |
| Enrichment & activity log | Auto-enrich contacts, call transcripts, email history | Faster follow-up and contextual selling. |
| Tasks & meetings | Assign tasks and schedule calls | Keep sales reps accountable. |
Each of these modules is linked to Brevo’s marketing tools (emails, SMS, WhatsApp), so a single automation can create a deal, send an SMS, and notify the sales owner — powerful for small teams.
Getting started: set up your CRM the right way (step-by-step)
1. Plan your data model (10–20 minutes)
Before importing, decide the key contact fields and deal stages. Typical fields:
- Contact: first/last name, email, phone, company, lead source, lifecycle stage.
- Deal: pipeline stage, deal value, close date, owner, product interest.
Pro tip: Keep it lean — start with 6–8 fields and add later. Too many fields slow adoption.
2. Import contacts (10–30 minutes)
Go to Contacts → Import and upload a CSV (Brevo supports mapping fields during import). Clean data first: remove duplicates, normalize phone formats, and split full names. Brevo allows assigning owners and tags on import.
3. Create segments and tags (10 minutes)
Use tags for topical attributes (e.g., “lead-magnet-A”) and segments for dynamic groups (e.g., everyone who clicked the pricing page in the last 30 days). Segments update automatically and are reusable in automations and campaigns.
4. Build a pipeline (15 minutes)
Go to Deals and create a pipeline (e.g., Lead → Qualified → Proposal → Negotiation → Closed Won/Lost). Set default probability or expected close dates if you want basic forecasting.
5. Configure automations (30–60 minutes)
Create automations for repeatable tasks:
- New contact fills form → create lead contact → create deal in “Lead” stage → assign owner → send welcome email.
- Abandoned checkout detected → create “cart recovery” deal and notify sales.
Brevo supports a “Create a deal” action inside automations, so you can move prospects into your pipeline automatically.
How to manage contacts like a pro
Use enrichment & activity to reduce manual data entry
Brevo can enrich contacts (company, social handles) and logs email/SMS activity so your reps see the full history before calling. That context increases close rates and shortens sales cycles.
Merge & dedupe regularly
Duplicate contacts bite deliverability and reporting. Run periodic dedupe checks and merge duplicates manually from the contact profile screen. Brevo’s contact page has tools to find and merge duplicates.
Score leads (simple approach)
If you don’t have advanced lead scoring, use a points system via custom fields:
- +5 points: downloaded pricing PDF
- +10 points: visited pricing page twice
- +20 points: requested demo
Use automations to update the score and move high-score leads into a “Sales-ready” segment.
Deal pipelines: organize and forecast deals
Create multiple pipelines for different use cases
You might have one pipeline for inbound leads, another for agency proposals, and a third for renewals. Brevo supports multiple pipelines and custom stages.
Use deal properties for reporting
Set deal value, expected close date, probability — these allow you to calculate a simple pipeline forecast (expected revenue = deal value × probability).
Automate stage changes
Rather than requiring manual updates, wire stage changes to events:
- Payment received → move to Closed Won
- No response in 14 days → move to “At risk” and trigger a task for owner
Automations reduce dropped deals and keep the pipeline healthy.
Must-have automations for Brevo CRM (templates you should build now)
- New lead → Deal creation → Welcome email
Trigger: Form submission → Action: Create contact + deal in “Lead” → Send email → Assign owner. - High-intent activity → Sales notification
Trigger: Contact viewed pricing or product page → Action: Add to “hot leads” segment + notify salesperson. - Deal moved to Proposal → Follow-up reminders
Trigger: Deal enters Proposal → Action: Create task → 3-day reminder sequence. - Win → Onboarding workflow
Trigger: Deal Closed Won → Action: Add to “customers” list + onboarding automation (emails, SMS). - Stale deal cleanup
Trigger: No activity for X days → Action: Move to “Dormant” → send re-engagement or mark for follow-up.
Brevo provides automation templates and a classic/new editor to compose these workflows.
Tasks, meetings & team collaboration
Assign contacts and deals to owners, add notes, and schedule meetings. The activity feed stores email history and chat transcripts so everyone has the context. Use tasks to enforce SLAs (e.g., contact within 24 hours). These simple CRM hygiene habits are what separate treated leads from neglected ones.
Reporting: what to track & how to read it
Brevo’s dashboards show basic sales metrics: open deals, value by stage, deals won/lost, and activity reports. For deeper analytics, export deal data to BI tools or connect to your analytics stack. Key KPIs:
- Pipeline value by stage
- Deal velocity (avg days in pipeline)
- Win rate by source
- Revenue per owner
If you need advanced forecasting, export to a spreadsheet or BI tool — Brevo is great for operational CRM but not a full analytics suite.
Integrations & extensions
Brevo integrates with Shopify, WooCommerce, Zapier, and major CMS platforms — which means ecommerce orders, form fills, and web events can automatically create or update contacts and deals. Use these integrations to reduce manual data flow and ensure data freshness.
Practical example: From website visitor to closed sale (sample flow)
- Visitor fills “Request demo” form (Brevo form).
- Automation creates contact + deal in “Demo requested” stage, assigns owner.
- Welcome email + calendar invite sent automatically.
- Sales rep calls and updates deal notes in Brevo.
- Rep moves deal to Proposal → automation schedules follow-up tasks.
- Customer pays → automation marks deal Closed Won → onboarding sequence begins.
This single connected flow converts more leads and keeps the entire team on the same page.
Best practices & common mistakes (to avoid)
- Don’t overcomplicate fields. Keep custom fields minimal.
- Use segments, not static lists. Segments auto-update for real-time targeting.
- Automate thoughtfully. Automations should reduce work, not create noise.
- Keep data clean. Run dedupe and validation checks monthly.
- Measure business outcomes. Track revenue and win rates, not just email opens.
Who shouldn’t use Brevo CRM?
If your business requires advanced sales forecasting, complex territory management, enterprise workflows, or deep CPQ capabilities, a more robust CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot Sales Enterprise) may be necessary. Brevo’s strength is simplicity and integration with messaging, not heavy enterprise features.
Quick setup checklist (15–30 minutes to get going)
- Import contacts & map fields.
- Create 1 pipeline with 4–6 stages.
- Build a welcome automation that creates deals.
- Add tags and a key “hot leads” segment.
- Assign owners and create template tasks for follow-ups.
Final verdict: When Brevo CRM wins (and when it doesn’t)
Brevo CRM wins when you want integrated marketing + sales without stitching tools together or paying enterprise prices. It’s ideal for small teams that need simple pipelines, automated deal creation, and unified customer context (email, SMS, WhatsApp). If you need heavy-duty sales ops, advanced forecasting, or deep B2B features, consider a specialized CRM — but for most SMBs, Brevo strikes a smart balance of power, simplicity and price.
