Course Overview & Objectives
CRM is about organising customer information, understanding their needs, and maintaining strong, consistent relationships. Many SMEs struggle with CRM because teams are busy, data is incomplete, and follow-ups happen irregularly.
AI helps address these challenges by simplifying admin tasks, suggesting next steps, and generating personalised communication quickly — even when the CRM contains only basic information.
This course introduces learners to a free CRM platform and its integrated AI assistant. Through hands-on practice, learners will create a fictional contact, explore the CRM interface, and use AI to produce notes, insights, and personalised messages.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, learners will be able to:
- Explain the role of CRM in managing customer relationships within SMEs.
- Create and explore a customer record in a free CRM platform.
- Use an integrated AI assistant to analyse a contact, identify missing information, and suggest next actions.
- Generate personalised emails or follow-up messages using AI.
- Reflect on how AI can support CRM workflows, improve communication, and reduce manual workload.
Tools Introduced
Step-by-Step Activities
Your goal:
Explore the HubSpot CRM tool, and use its AI feature to generate a personalised email.
- Go to https://www.hubspot.com/products/crm and create a free account.
- In your dashboard, go to “CRM”, and then “Contacts” on the left-hand side. After this, on the right side of this page, click “Add Contacts”, and then “Create new”.
- Enter this fictional profile:
Copy/paste into HubSpot:
- First name: Emma
- Last name: Nolan
- Email: emma.nolan@example.com
- Phone number: 555-0199
- Job title: Interior Design Consultant
- Company: EcoHome Living
- Lifecycle stage: Lead
- Lead status: New
Note:
Lifecycle stage and lead status are core CRM fields that show where a customer is in their relationship with the business. They help teams understand whether someone is a new lead, an active customer, or needs follow-up. Even in a simple training exercise, filling these fields demonstrates how CRMs organise and prioritise customer interactions.
5. Save the contact.
6. Create a note about the contact (shown below), and write this: Visited the shop and asked about eco-friendly candles. Interested in sustainable home products.
7. Open the contact you created and explore how CRM systems organise customer information.
8. Open HubSpot’s AI assistant, and ask it the following questions:
- “What additional information should I add to this contact?”
- “Suggest three next steps for engaging this customer.”
- “Write a sample CRM note for this contact.”
- “Explain the difference between contacts, companies, and deals.”
This will help you understand CRM structure through AI explanations.
9. Ask the AI:
“Write a friendly, personalised email to Emma Nolan following up on her interest in eco-friendly candles.”
Review and refine the email.
This demonstrates how AI can support CRM communication.
10. To explore the HubSpot’s features in more detail, watch this tutorial video:
Assessment
Reflection:
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. [Project number: 2024-1-AT01-KA220-VET-000245796]