Your email inbox needs to work seamlessly with your CRM if you want your sales team to move fast and close more deals.
Integrating Gmail with your CRM means you can schedule outreach, manage deals and follow up with leads without constantly switching tabs.
In this guide, you’ll learn how SMBs that invest in a CRM for Gmail save time and boost sales. You’ll also discover how to use Pipedrive to manage your sales process and inbox in one place.
Key takeaways from CRM for Gmail
Using a CRM for Gmail puts your sales pipeline and email threads in a single view, so you can manage both with less effort.
Pipedrive’s CRM software integrates natively with Gmail, making it a clear choice for small businesses and startups that need better visibility and streamlined workflows.
Syncing Pipedrive with Gmail only takes a few clicks to set up, so you’ll be ready to send and track emails in no time without confusing third-party integrations.
Start a 14-day free trial with Pipedrive to see how a Gmail-integrated CRM system speeds up the drafting process and makes it easier to follow up at the right time.
Why should SMBs invest in a CRM for Gmail?
A Gmail CRM unifies your inbox and your sales data, giving you a cost-effective way to manage customer relationships with less effort.
When you integrate your CRM tool with Gmail, deal information appears in a sidebar while you read emails.
You see the prospect’s stage, previous conversations and next steps without opening another window. You can update deals, add notes and schedule follow-ups from the email thread.
For small sales teams that live in their inbox, this means less time spent on admin and more time closing deals.
Here’s how a CRM for Gmail compares to managing Gmail and your CRM separately:
Using a separate email and CRM | Using a CRM solution for Gmail |
Workspace: Constant tab switching between Gmail and your CRM. | Workspace: Everything happens in one window – no more switching. |
CRM data entry: You’ll need to manually copy email details into your CRM. | CRM data entry: Your CRM automatically syncs emails and replies to the right customer profile. |
Follow-ups: Set reminders in your CRM and send follow-ups in your Gmail. | Follow-ups: Schedule and send emails without leaving your CRM. |
Context: You’ll have to search for deal details in your CRM before replying. | Context: Deal information will appear next to every email for easy reference. |
If your Gmail users send tons of emails every day, those saved minutes add up to hours back in the week. Your CRM automatically updates customer interactions while your team can trust the information and access it in real time.
Why Pipedrive is the best CRM Gmail integration
Pipedrive offers one of the most intuitive integrations available, turning your Gmail inbox into a fully functional sales terminal.
Watch this video to see how Pipedrive’s Gmail extension helps you access deals and contacts inside your email client:
Here are the key features that make it the ideal CRM integration with Gmail for SMBs:
Two-way email sync. Link your Gmail inbox to Pipedrive to log every sent and received message.
Sales sidebar. View deal stages, update deal status and schedule activities without breaking your workflow.
Smart BCC. Manually forward emails to a unique Pipedrive address when you want to track certain conversations.
Email tracking. Get real-time notifications the moment a prospect opens your message or clicks a link.
AI email assistant. Generate personalized sales emails in seconds using Pipedrive’s AI writer.
Email templates. Streamline communications by sending pre-written emails with a single click.
Workflow automation. Trigger personalized emails to send when a deal moves to a specific stage.
From pipeline management to contact management, Pipedrive acts as an all-in-one sales and communications hub.
Download Pipedrive’s general event checklist template
How to set up the ultimate CRM for Gmail with Pipedrive
Connecting your Gmail account with Pipedrive is simple and gives you a powerful way to manage your email and improve many other business processes.
Follow the next steps to set up Pipedrive’s CRM for Gmail in a few clicks.
1. Integrate Pipedrive and Gmail for two-way data flow
First, connect your Google Workspace account to Pipedrive so data can flow between them.
Click on your account icon in the top-right corner and go to “Personal preferences” > “Email sync”. Then, select “Email sync” in the left-hand menu and enter your email address and login details.
Once connected, find the “Sync emails” setting. Choose “All emails” to ensure every email you send or receive appears in Pipedrive’s Sales Inbox.
Here’s a video that guides you through this setup process:
Your emails will now populate the Sales Inbox. They’ll also appear in the history timeline of the specific Person or Deal contact view, where you’ll see the full conversation history alongside your notes.
Pipedrive in action: When the logistics company The Container Team switched to Pipedrive, it used email integration to put an end to manual data entry. Adding this feature cut admin time by 20%, saving roughly 30 minutes per person, every day.
2. Install the Pipedrive Gmail add-on
The Pipedrive Gmail add-on lets you manage email conversations and track leads from a single dashboard.
Once you install this plugin from the Pipedrive Marketplace listing, you’ll be able to see Pipedrive’s contact information in Gmail’s right-hand sidebar.
In the new pop-up panel, you can:
Add contacts
Create new deals
Schedule activities and mark them as completed
Change contact information
The Gmail add-on solves context switching by putting the deal value and note history right next to your inbox. Use the sidebar to check the date of any activities before you reply.
If the date is empty, schedule a follow-up call in your Google Calendar – you can sync this so it reflects in Pipedrive’s calendar, too.
Pipedrive’s CRM for Gmail works on desktop and in the Gmail mobile app for Android and iOS.
It syncs through browsers with Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari and Google Chrome extensions, meaning that no matter where you are, Pipedrive has your emails covered.
You’ll also be able to access Pipedrive’s Scheduler through the extension itself. Scheduler lets you insert links into your emails that show your meeting availability and allow invitees to choose a time that works best for you both.
Note: Pipedrive’s Campaigns add-on adds even more email functionality. Add it to any Pipedrive plan to start sending out email campaigns that convert leads quicker than ever. For every campaign, you’ll be able to track engagement, delivery and performance over time.
3. Use Smart Bcc for privacy and control
Smart Bcc links emails to your deals when you copy in your unique Pipedrive address, building a timeline of the conversation.
How it works: Paste your unique address into the Bcc field of any email you want to track.
The result: Pipedrive captures that message and attaches it to the deal associated with that contact. If you don’t Bcc the address, the email remains private in Gmail.
Go to the “Email sync” settings page and copy your Smart Bcc address.
Save this address as a contact in Gmail named “Pipedrive”. Next time you send a critical sales email, just type “Pipedrive” in the Bcc field to log it.
4. Track email opens for better results
Email tracking tells you when a lead interacts with your message, removing all guesswork involved in deciding when to follow up or provide customer support.
Pipedrive’s email tracking software embeds a tiny, invisible image pixel at the bottom of your email. When the recipient opens your message and their email client downloads the images, that pixel sends a signal back to Pipedrive.
Simply toggle the email tracking options on from Pipedrive’s advanced settings:
Then, if a prospect opens your email three times in one hour, you’ll know they’re interested. If they haven’t opened it after a week, you might need to try a different subject line.
When you write an email in Pipedrive (or in Gmail with the extension installed), look for the tracking icons at the bottom of the compose window.
Open tracking (the “Eye” icon): As the recipient opens the email, the pixel loads and Pipedrive marks it as opened.
Link tracking (the “Link” icon): This function tracks when the recipient clicks a hyperlink inside your message.
As soon as the prospect engages, you’ll receive a real-time notification in three places:
Pipedrive’s Notifications panel. The lightbulb icon in the top right of the Pipedrive interface shows a feed of who opened what and when.
- The deal view: If you link the email to a deal, the updates appear in that deal’s timeline.
- The mail tab. Go to your “Sent” folder in Pipedrive. You’ll see the open and link icons next to the subject line. If they’re blue, it means the recipient has opened the email (as in the image below). Grey icons indicate that the recipient hasn’t opened the email yet.
Keep in mind that if your customer sets their email client to block images, the pixel won’t load and you won’t get a notification.
Pipedrive in action: React and Share, a content analytics company, struggled with visibility into its sales process and task management. Using Pipedrive’s email sync and tracking features made it easy to see which leads were engaging, helping it book 20% more demos within just three months of integration.
5. Use smart templates and AI to draft better emails
If you’re on Pipedrive’s Premium plan and above, you have access to a ton of customizable email templates (also available on the Growth plan) as well as your very own AI writer.
Here’s how the user-friendly email templates work in Pipedrive:
Simply head to your Pipedrive email composer and choose one of the official templates. Focus on writing high-converting copy and let Pipedrive handle the design and even your email signature.
To speed up email creation even more, try out one of Pipedrive’s best productivity tools: the AI email writer.
Head to “Personal preferences > Email sync > Email AI” and enable the “Email content generation” option to turn it on.
Once you’ve activated the feature, you’ll find a “Write my email” button inside the email builder, whether you’re using it from the detail view or the Sales Inbox.
Add a simple prompt explaining what you want Pipedrive to do and it’ll handle the rest. Hit “Generate email” and Pipedrive will have your email ready in seconds.
Use the mail merge features in the Campaigns add-on to send these templates to a list of contacts at once. Add merge fields for customer names, addresses and more to personalize your emails and boost your open rates.
Final thoughts
Investing in a sales CRM that integrates with Gmail is one of the quickest ways to boost productivity and make lead management easier, especially for small businesses on a tight budget.
When you can reply to emails, send marketing campaigns and automate follow-ups without having to switch between apps, the entire workflow becomes much simpler and fewer opportunities will slip through the cracks.
Pipedrive syncs natively with Gmail, meaning you get all the features of both without clunky third-party integrations. Simply follow the steps above to turn your CRM into an email communications hub.
Start a 14-day free trial and see how Pipedrive’s CRM for Gmail removes every bottleneck in your email workflow.
