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Building an award-winning website

When a leader in logistics solutions, Consafe Logistics, outgrew its old website, it was time to revamp. With style!

The new, functional website built by 6Minded helped accommodate expanding audience and showcase its innovative solutions, exceeding all expectations.

With 60% increase in contacts through the new websites and manifold boost in conversions, our joint work was rewarded by HubSpot with a 2023 Impact Award.

For over one hundred years, TSR Recycling GmBH has been the connecting link between scrap metal suppliers and buyers, handling the entire process, from purchase through recycling to sales.

Through decades of market presence, the company has developed over 170 recycling plants and business locations across Europe and an extensive network of road, rail, and ship transportation routes. This includes their Polish subsidiary, TSR Poland Sp. z o.o., with whom we worked on this project.

A combination of reach and experience allows TSR to process a diverse range of raw materials for customers in Europe and beyond.

tsr.eu

Fueling digital transformation in an unlikely industry

When TSR Poland first contacted us in 2021, we knew that, despite years of HubSpot experience, this project would be a first. Why?

Because of the unique industry. Most businesses from the sector are still stuck in their old ways, relying on spreadsheets and paper documentation for sales, SCM, and contact management.

But that's not the case for our client. Innovation has always been a cornerstone of the company's growth, enhancing not only its recycling and supply chain processes but also back-office operations.

A seemingly common case…

After several years of collaboration, TSR Poland turned to us with another, fairly standard request: migrating deal and client data to HubSpot and simplifying information available to the sales team.

Previously, salespeople had to retrieve customer details from two sources: Microsoft Dynamics ERP and a public, third-party database containing current public waste records in Poland. While ERP worked perfectly for accounting purposes, the constant back-and-forth between the two databases significantly slowed the sales process.

A unified database in HubSpot would solve this inconvenience by serving as a single, consistent source of truth for all sales-related information, improving visibility and efficiency.

...with a couple of twists

However, this case turned out to be more tricky than it first seemed.
The project had several specific characteristics that posed their own challenges:

Data formating

The differences between the public database and ERP data formats, as well as inconsistent formatting in the former, made it difficult to integrate them seamlessly. A thorough data unification was essential to warrant that the imported records were correct.

Company Structure

We needed to find an accurate way to relate parent companies to their children, ensuring that salespeople know whom to reach out to. Previously, tax ID was used, which didn't work for companies with multiple branches.

Continuous Data Sync

Some companies from the public database had already been imported to HubSpot, while records from ERP were still being added. We had to make sure that both datasets were properly matched in HubSpot to avoid confusion and errors in the future.

Purchase-only deals

The implemented process revolved exclusively around purchasing, which required an inventive approach. We had to use purchase ledger entries, link them together based on invoice ID, and then map each invoice to individual transactions.

Defining owners

In ERP, salespeople (or owners) were matched to transactions, not their companies. What's more, each company could have two owners assigned, depending on the type of traded metal. This meant that we needed to extract owner details from ledger records.

Quality Assurance

The project involved moving over 60,000 records from two greatly different databases. Reviewing a dataset this large manually would take too much time and effort, so we needed an airtight QA process to prevent errors.

Before we could get started on the project, we needed to do some preliminary work.

☝🏼 First, we held a series of discovery meetings to get a good understanding of our client’s needs, processes, and data structure.

✌🏼 Then, we set up lines of communication between us and the TSR Poland's team. At 6Minded, we use Notion boards to outline the project schedule and scope, assign tasks, and track progress. The board is shared and co-edited with our partners to warrant that everyone stays on the same page.

A journey toward coherent sales data, step by step

We divided the project into eight stages, each with several smaller substages. This breakdown maximized visibility and control, allowing for a smooth and transparent handover of individual tasks.

Data Import and Database Structure

First, we created a database structure document, outlining all required properties.

Next, we exported ERP data, merged it with the public database records, and imported the combined datasets to HubSpot.

Verifying Data Accuracy and Completeness

We consulted TSR Poland to confirm the accuracy and completeness of the imported data.

After we corrected any errors, we asked the client for the final confirmation that the ERP data was displayed correctly in HubSpot.

We imported the most up-to-date data to make sure it would match the current state of ERP before we launched continuous integration.

API Testing and Response Mapping

Our clients's accountants would still use ERP and update it with current customer data. We needed to ensure that this data was in sync with the HubSpot sales database.

We decided that API would be the best way to connect ERP with HubSpot. Our tool of choice was Make.com, a third-party integration platform.

At this stage, we tested API calls and mapped response data to HubSpot properties in a dedicated document.

Data Sync Configuration

With properties mapped, we could set up the sync of company objects from ERP to HubSpot using Make.com.

Next, we set up the data sync of deals
(ledger entries) with HubSpot in Make.com.

Once configured, Make.com fetches all updates to ledger entries from Dynamics, looks for
corresponding records in HubSpot, and then decides whether it should make an update.

Automatic Owner Assignment

In ERP, deal owners (salespeople) are matched to transactions rather than companies (like in HubSpot). Transaction info alone wasn't enough for salespeople to tell who's managing which company.

Worse still, owners in ERP are labeled only by their initials. Finally, each transaction can be owned by two salespeople, depending on the type of the traded metal (ferrous or non-ferrous).

Due to these difficulties, owners had been matched manually. To expedite this process and ensure that ERP and HubSpot stay in sync, we set automated owner assignment based on ledger records.

Final Data Sync Check

Before the project could go live, we needed to verify the accuracy of imported and synchronized records based on data from the last 14 days.

End User Training

We taught the operations and back office teams how to use HubSpot, including complex workflow dependencies, and other systems, such as Make.com or Zapier.

Go Live!

With every stage completed, the project is ready to go. We set the final launch date and get ready for the grand debut!

Post-Launch Support

After the project goes live, we provide two weeks to a month of hypercare. During that period, we aim to answer all questions and fix any simple issues on the same day.

The project owner is fully focused on client hypercare and is assisted by one CRM developer.

We continue to communicate with the client and handle requests using Notion boards, emails, and weekly meetings.

All clients can also sign a retainer agreement to receive long-term, ongoing support—just as TSR Poland did.