What Is CRM Software?
As a business grows, the need for a central customer relationship management (CRM) system becomes a higher priority. Updated: July 2019. To help small businesses, we created a list and in-depth analysis of the best free CRM software, based on real user reviews, ordered by highest user satisfaction. Top 10 CRM Software Leaders Salesforce. Salesforce is the Customer Success Platform. LeadMaster CRM. Get an all-in-one CRM, sales and marketing tool that fits the needs. Bpm online CRM. Bpm’online CRM is the most agile platform for midsize and large enterprises. Oracle Sales Cloud (SMB).
A successful sales effort means maximizing every interaction with a customer, without the customer experiencing any additional burden. To do that, salespeople need to be armed with the very latest information you have about a lead. Not just who they are but what they have purchased, how they're using it, and how happy they are with the results. That's where customer relationship management (CRM) software shines.
Often, small to midsize businesses (SMBs) try to mirror CRM functionality with just a large and ever-growing spreadsheet. However, not only is CRM software easier to use than a spreadsheet, it's what you'd expect if your contact list decided to evolve a brain and take part in your sales conversations. It records your customers' contact information and remembers the details of your relationship and every interaction—whether by phone or email, and nowadays across other channels such as social media or even your customer helpdesk.
This information is a gold mine of opportunity, letting you identify prospects for up-sell or cross-sell, convert existing customers to new products or services, target new marketing, or even track invoices. The software is also a fail-safe, preventing sales people from chasing the same prospect. Choosing the right CRM software for your business can dramatically improve your team's collaboration and productivity, increase sales, and heighten customer satisfaction.
In its September 2018 report, 'CRM Software Market Research Report - Global Forecast to 2023,' Market research firm Market Research Future forecasts the CRM market to grow up to 35 billion by 2023. In addition, the CRM market's compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will be 6 percent between 2017 and 2023, according to the report. A key area for CRM growth in 2018 and 2019 will be the addition of artificial intelligence (AI) to leading CRM platforms. Manufacturers like Salesforce and Microsoft are either building their own AI engines to enhance their CRM capabilities or partnering with the likes of IBM's Watson and similiar players to integrate AI's benefits into their offerings. This will have significant impact in any CRM's ability to parse data and draw new insights from all kinds of customer interactions, and that has a direct impact on CRM revenue as market research firm, Statista, details below.
The Revenue Impact of AI Adoption in CRM
Such a revenue impact is possible because AI-enhanced CRM is literally a quantum leap ahead of what many companies still call customer relationship management even today. Even now, employees might use a spreadsheet to simply pass on information about past sales via email threads. Or worse, such information is often left to casual word of mouth, which means it's often missing when needed or it's entirely forgotten. CRM software keeps this information in one place, efficiently organizes it, and makes it possible to take immediate action with it. Such actions can include sending a loyal customer a gift card on their birthday or offering an up-sell opportunity to a platform from which you know their business can benefit (based on previous conversations). It's also a great way to woo back inactive customers. The key is to select the software that's right for the way your team works. The last thing you want is to see employees fighting new software instead of interacting with the customer.
CRM software isn't just about tracking and maintaining contact information. While most look to CRM software as primarily a sales tool, it's moved beyond that space. Marketing and customer service departments can dramatically improve their offerings and operations with CRM as well by using its data to more effectively segment demographics and record and reuse customer incident information. CRM software also helps coordinate interdepartmental actions. For example, the sales team can take advantage of something a customer service representative discovered in a separate transaction. Depending upon the software you choose, you can set and measure sales goals, deliver and track email marketing campaigns, or keep an eye on what people are saying on social media.
Pricing and Add-ons
List Of Best Crm Software
Price can be a significant factor when evaluating CRM software, but that analysis should focus on more than just the upfront costs. Most of the CRM software we looked at offers per-user pricing but it's important to check what's included in that price and which features you actually need.
Training can eat up a chunk of the budget as can upgrades and ongoing support. Consider how much it would cost to integrate the software with existing systems and whether or not you would need additional equipment. That mobile implementation looks slick on the vendor's website, but will it still look that slick once you've designed the customized CRM forms your business will use every day? Does it mean the sales or customer service teams need new smartphones or maybe even tablets? These costs can quickly add up.
Taking the time investment into consideration is why trying out more than one program is key. This way, you can choose the software that will be most efficient for your company. If you have the resources to train and onboard staff and customize the software yourself, then eventually it will start to work for you. But smaller teams can't afford to invest in software that asks a lot up front; you need something that will be up and running in a day in most cases. Read the support documentation and you'll get an idea of setup complexity and any issues you might bump into with the software you already have. Use the free evaluation period to try out important features: import data, add information manually, connect accounts, and assign tasks to other users. Take note of how helpful the software is and whether or not it creates more work. Keep track of how often you have to consult the help system to complete a basic task.
As CRM software has grown more sophisticated, it has branched out into many different directions. There are plenty of options for implementing your CRM in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model or for deploying it on-premises by using your own server. Cloud-based CRM is rapidly growing in popularity because it means you can quickly get up to speed and don't have to worry about managing software on your own servers, which adds complexity and cost. You can look for the software that has deep hooks into social media management and analytics platforms so you can record customer interactions on Facebook or Twitter. Plus, you should definitely consider CRM software that integrates with your business phone system so you can capture call and conversation information. Look closely at your business processes, discuss with employees what they need and want, and contrast that with your bottom line. By doing so, you'll quickly have an accurate picture of the right CRM software for you.
It's tempting to forgo this homework and simply pay for one of the big, all-inclusive CRM software packages just to have access to every feature you might need now or in the future. But that approach will almost certainly wind up costing you more in both time and money, while probably delivering less flexibility than you'd expect. That's because these large CRM software packages are often platforms rather than tools. This means that those myriad features they advertise are really the product of integrating with a host of third-party solution providers, not options you can simply turn on. Third-party integration means not only added licensing dollars but also new integration costs.
A better approach is to understand how your employees have to use the software as well as how they want to use it. Think about what tools your team is currently using and what processes they follow. Figure out how those tasks map to the CRM software you're evaluating. Consider what some of the most common tasks are. For example, if the users have to dig through menus and submenus every single time they want to log a call or email, then the tool will actually complicate their jobs instead of simplify them. Form a small group of users who understand these day-to-day issues to help you in your evaluation; frontline salespeople and managers as well as IT managers are a good start. You don't want to impose a tool that actually makes key tasks more difficult or complex just so you can pay a premium for features those same employees may never touch. More and more CRM tools are also combining the email and sales experience into a single smart inbox or centralized dashboard view to manage all or most daily communications and tasks, without leaving the CRM tool.
As with any piece of software, it's essential to take advantage of free trials when available. No matter how many reviews you read or demos you watch, you can't get a real sense of how the CRM software works until you use it yourself. Be sure to have colleagues from different departments try out the software, too, so you can understand how successful it is in different situations and business processes. This way, you can eliminate programs with too many or too few features as well as understand how much training will be necessary.
Most of these companies offer at least a 14-day trial (and we consider that fairly short as 30 days is better) and some, including Apptivo CRM, Insightly CRM, and Zoho CRM offer free plans, albeit with limited features or users. These can either serve as a full-time solution for small companies or as a long-term trial for larger companies. Apptivo CRM, Insightly CRM, and Zoho CRM also offer free trials as do Base CRM, PipeDrive CRM, and Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional.
Ease of Use and Support
CRM software must be intuitive or you'll never want to use it. Make a note of how many clicks it takes to conduct a basic task and how easy or difficult it is to find the features you need. Beyond being easy to use, CRM software should be able to manage user error. For example, if you try to conduct a task on the wrong screen or input the wrong data, then the best software will identify your error and suggest the right way to do it. On the other hand, poorly designed software will either let you make the error unchecked or will throw up an unhelpful error message.
One way to figure out if CRM software is really easy to use is by training others on how to use it. If you get stuck while training someone else, then that's worth noting. Think about the time it will take to get your team up to speed and whether or not it's worth that investment.
Finally, when you run into problems, whether it's a software bug or a problem using a feature, you'll need a responsive support team. Verify what type of support is included with your subscription and the hours of availability. If available, read through the support documentation, FAQs, and other self-service help (options include blog entries, public knowledge bases, and even online training videos). If there aren't any self-service options, then consider that you'll have to contact support whenever you get stuck. That said, you should contact support while you're trying out software and make a note of the response time. Ask a lot of questions; this will also help you familiarize yourself with the product. CRM software is complicated, but support shouldn't be.
And watch out for gaps in the support plan. Many of these solutions, especially the SaaS entries, have tiered, subscription-based pricing. That often means different levels of support depending on the subscription you choose. If your business process requires access to the CRM on weekends, for example, then make sure you've got access to support during those hours.
Email, Mobile, and Social Features
Don't get distracted by CRM capabilities you won't use. Make sure the software you ultimately select captures the information that's essential for your business, allows effective follow-up, and is easy enough to use that your team will work with it, not around it.
Remember that new technologies, while slick, aren't automatically pervasive. For example, social media is a game-changing technology for interacting with customers. But as much as social and collaboration applications such as Slack are catching on, that doesn't mean email is dead. Most customers still expect to interact with you via email, and an email can still capture much more data than a Facebook post or a tweet can. Understand how your company interacts with customers over email and make sure your CRM software acts as a complement to that relationship, not as a hindrance. CRM software should automatically capture data from email interactions, not force your employees to manually enter email data. Similarly, integrating your CRM software into your email platform means that entering the customer's name or ID in one platform automatically brings up data from the other.
Take the time to also properly evaluate the mobile app; this should be considered a separate app, not just as a mobile 'capability,' and you also shouldn't be asked to pay anything extra for it. Mobile devices are an entirely different breed from desktops or notebooks. Employees use them differently and software renders them differently, which means that business processes that involve them will behave differently. Make sure your CRM software of choice can support the mobile device platform your team uses and carefully evaluate what the app can do. Some apps offer a read-only view of your sales pipeline or contacts so that you can look up the relevant information while out and about. Those apps won't let you make updates until you get back to a computer. Others offer a seamless and responsive experience, letting you do everything you would do on a mobile device that you would on a computer (but usually presenting tools and features differently, which can be difficult for some users to get used to). Don't commit to CRM software until you've actually used the mobile app in a way you and your team would on a day-to-day basis.
Companies, including Sugar CRM and Zoho, cater to the mobile workforce, with full-featured, responsive apps, and mobile layouts. If you have a field sales team that leaves their laptops behind and instead works on their tablets and smartphones, then you need to give them the tools they need.
Marketing Automation
The ability to act as a lynchpin for a well-planned marketing automation strategy is one of the most valuable aspect of CRM software, and it's a shame that not all software packages offer it—though most are beginning to get there. Marketing automation is a popular term these days and it refers to the software's ability to remind sales and marketing representatives to follow up with customers at the right time. Automation reminds you—or, in some cases, actually handles the task for you—of needed activities such as following up 30 days after a sales purchase with a coupon or calling the sales prospect 14 days after the individual signed up for a trial of the software. It can also extend to other software, such as kicking off an email marketing promotion based on criteria that are reached during a phone call with the customer, even if that call was initiated with the CRM system.
This also extends to lead management, which is a core capability of all CRM platforms. Lead management tracks and manages prospective customers (often called leads or 'opportunities') across lead generation and acquisition and throughout the sales pipeline. Lead management can be executed in more of a hands-on manner through tracking progression in a sales pipeline dashboard or reports. Some CRM software providers use a greater degree of marketing automation to trigger actions and sales stages based on lead progression. Lead management is a part of all CRM platforms but how the provider handles it can make a big difference.
Some CRM platforms have email marketing built in while others can connect with a third-party service, such as Campaigner or MailChimp. Automation can also play a part in email marketing, where an action by a prospect, lead, or customer, triggers an email or email campaign. For example, if a user signs up for a webinar on your website, then that can trigger a series of emails about what to do next. Likewise, if a user cancels their account, then that action can trigger an off-boarding campaign that prompts them to save their data or it can trigger an incentive campaign offering discounts or other perks if they decide not to cancel after all. Automation can also mean changing the status of a customer or prospect based on an action on their part.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are also starting to show up in CRM software. Bpm'online uses automation and predictive technology to remind users to complete tasks and guide them what to do next. Salesforce launched its Einstein AI-based business intelligence (BI) platform, which can also provide automation across email management, lead and opportunity scoring, and forecasting. These technologies have a huge potential to save time and to help sales teams perform even better.
Third-Party Integrations
It's important, as we've noted, to determine which features are included with your subscription and which require a third-party add-on. However, it's also worth looking at the software you already use to see if it's compatible with the CRM software you're considering. Maybe you already have email marketing software that you love or you want to connect your cloud storage service, lead management tool, or customer service management platform. As we've mentioned, you'll definitely want to be able to connect your email account and perhaps your calendar, too.
Another excellent example of a value-add integration with CRM would be your product support or helpdesk platform. Next to your sales staff, your product support professionals probably have the most direct contact with your customers and the information they gather in the course of even a short conversation can be gold to a salesperson. Problems with one product line can mean upsell opportunities to another. Reconfiguration requests can indicate new business needs that can also generate upsell. Integration requests can let sales staff know with whom they're competing for key business processes. There's more but you get the idea. Establishing a two-way data exchange between the helpdesk and CRM systems can populate both platforms with valuable data.
Integration today takes two basic forms. The easiest is if the CRM system or the system to which you're trying to connect supports the other as a 'native' integration. That simply means that the company in question has a prebuilt integration module you can simply select, download, and implement as needed. You'll have the best luck with big-name targets here as many companies pre-build integrations for companies such as NetSuite or Salesforce, for example.
The other method is that, if both system support an open application programming interface (API), usually one based on Representational State Transfer (REST). With an API, you can have your in-house IT staff (provided they can do some coding) or an out-of-house contract programmer build a custom integration for you. That option certainly provides the most flexibility and customization but it can also add significant cost depending on the level of your coding talent.
Reporting and Analytics
Once you've been using CRM software to manage your leads and deals, you can see how successful you've been and where you're falling short. Look for CRM software with reporting features that can be customized so that you can see how employees are performing and which types of customers are responding. Look for a tool that lets you export reports if you need to present high-level data to company stakeholders.
Next, take that API or native integration and plug it into whatever business intelligence (BI) tool your organization likes best. That's because BI can turn that humdrum CSV or PDF file reporting data into live data visualizations and dashboards. These can keep you, your sales team, and anyone else with access to the CRM data completely current on sales statistics, demographic information, product popularity, and any number of other metrics. Additionally, only today's BI tools let you combine data from multiple sources—such as your CRM database on one side of the business and your warehouse and supply chain on the other—and ask complex queries that take multiple data sources into account to provide new insights that any one data source simply couldn't.
Don't Forget About Security
Invest in security. There's no simple way to put it. When you're working with the sales pipeline and customer data, make sure security is top of mind—especially if you're using a SaaS-deployed CRM solution (which means not only the app but likely also a big chunk, if not all, of your customer data resides in the cloud). You should feel comfortable with the company's security requirements. It is a warning sign if your CRM software lets you select a password but doesn't generate an audit trail whenever someone makes a change, or if it doesn't let you define the access controls for each user. Customer data is an extremely valuable commodity especially now that customers are more reluctant to part with it. Securing it isn't just about maintaining privacy; it's about protecting profitable relationships that directly impact your bottom line.
Integration plays a role here but it's mostly about research. From an integration standpoint, you can make sure your chosen CRM software can integrate with as much of your current IT security software as possible, such as your identity management system, for example, so your employees can take advantage of single sign-on authentication. But even more important than that is doing your homework. That means digging deep into the vendor's service level agreement (SLA) and ascertaining exactly where your data resides, who is responsible for its safety, and what happens if there's a problem. Doing some Google surfing to see whether this vendor has been breached in the past and what their response was is another good indicator of just what you're getting your data into.
Putting Top CRMs to the Test
In this roundup, we tested some of the most popular CRM software packages on the market today. The packages include Apptivo CRM, Base CRM, Bpm'online CRM, Freshsales CRM, HubSpot CRM, Insightly CRM, Less Annoying CRM, Pipedrive CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM. We've worked hard to evaluate this CRM software with the aforementioned criteria in mind, so check out each of the reviews below to figure out which package is right for you. All have their strengths and weaknesses—some are geared more toward small to midsize businesses (SMBs) while others have broader email marketing capabilities. Some CRM systems are easier to use out of the box, with simple navigations and standard workflows, while others offer deeper and more complicated degrees of customization. Some are dirt cheap while others can be quite expensive when you start moving up tiers, scaling up your sales workforce, or adding premium functionality.
Our three favorites are Apptivo CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM, each of which earns an Editors' Choice designation. However, depending on your business needs, the size and scope of your sales team, and the means by which your organization aims to engage and grow its lead and customer base, any one of these CRM platforms might have the right combination of price and features to work for you. It all depends on your business needs, the size, and scope of your sales team, and how your organization aims to engage and grow its lead and customer base.
Best CRM Software Featured in This Roundup:
HubSpot CRM Review
MSRP: $0.00Pros: Free version available. Very intuitive interface. Excellent email integration.
Cons: Gets costly when you start to add premium functionality. Relatively new, so some minor feature oversights, such as only allowing a single email address per contact record.
Bottom Line: HubSpot CRM is an excellent choice for smaller companies looking to get into CRM for the first time, especially since it's free. But while it's an easy step to take at first, be aware that it can get pricey if you flesh out its features as your organization grows.
Read ReviewZoho CRM Review
MSRP: $12.00Pros: Free for up to 10 users. Stellar feature set. Gamification modules. Google integrations. Valuable reports. Powerful email marketing tools.
Cons: Workflow automation limited to Professional edition.
Bottom Line: An early player in the CRM space, Zoho CRM offers plenty of power, a decently intuitive interface, and a vast collection of advanced features and third-party integrations. All in all, an easy pick for Editors' Choice.
Read ReviewFreshsales CRM Review
MSRP: $12.00Pros: Offers a variety of native and third-party integrations. Great customization capabilities. Intuitive interface. Free version available.
Cons: Fewer third-party integrations than the competition. Reports not available in the free plan.
Bottom Line: Freshsales CRM is an easy-to-use customer relationship management platform aimed at small to medium-sized businesses. A friendly price and a good feature set make this app well worth considering.
Read ReviewSalesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional Review
MSRP: $75.00Pros: Smooth workflow processes. Tons of advanced features. Highly customizable. Social collaboration. Robust third-party app marketplace. Free 30-day trial.
Cons: Steep learning curve. Expensive, especially when accessing more advanced lead generation and managerial features.
Bottom Line: Salesforce combines a formidable feature set with a matching learning curve, but the platform offers everything you could want as far as CRM capabilities for organizations of any size.
Read ReviewBpm'online CRM Review
MSRP: $25.00Pros: Task automation. Personalized tools for event planning, ad campaigns. Predictive unified business process. Feature hiding capabilities. Automatic triggers for marketing campaigns, like programming emails.
Cons: Relatively short trial period. Initial experience can be daunting. Forms require some coding skills. Doesn't work directly with social networks as Zoho CRM does.
Bottom Line: Bpm'online CRM has long been focused on larger businesses and enterprises, but it works fairly well for midsized companies, too. This popularity is based on the product's evolution, which now includes excellent analytics and reporting as well as marketing automation features.
Read ReviewLess Annoying CRM Review
MSRP: $10.00Pros: Simple, uncluttered user interface. Low monthly price. Multiple active pipelines for each lead. Straightforward lead management tools.
Cons: Basic reporting. No notifications of lead handoffs within the application.
Bottom Line: Less Annoying CRM might be the simplest of the simple CRMs we reviewed for small businesses. While you'll need to be careful that this entry-level solution still gives you the features you need, it's an excellent package for beginners at a reasonable price.
Read ReviewInsightly CRM Review
MSRP: $29.00Pros: Email tracking and templates. Granular sharing settings. Power BI integration greatly improves reporting capabilities. Expanded workflow management features in mobile apps. Creates web forms to harvest leads.
Cons: Lead assignment rules only available in Professional and Enterprise plans. No automatic email forwarding. Lead and contact info split into separate tabs. Pipelines not available for leads.
Bottom Line: Insightly CRM ticks all the boxes that most small businesses want when it comes to customer relationship and lead management. However, this platform adds some tools you don't see under a CRM hood every day, including data gathering and project management features.
Read ReviewPipedrive CRM Review
MSRP: $10.00Pros: Simple, intuitive interface. Helpful guidance. Easy setup. Solid mobile apps. Customized web forms for collecting leads. Can create more than one pipeline.
Cons: Limited functionality for the price. No separation between lists of new leads and contacts.
Bottom Line: Pipedrive CRM is a solution that drops feature depth in favor of ease of use to attract small businesses. If you're satisfied with basic functionality and you want to implement CRM quickly, then this package might be for you.
Read ReviewApptivo CRM Review
MSRP: $10.00Pros: Do-it-all, customizable solution. Affordable. 24-hour support. Great mobile apps. Granular security controls. Workflow and campaign management tools.
Cons: Integrations still custom rather than based on standard APIs.
Bottom Line: Apptivo does a great job of checking all your CRM boxes. A fair price, a friendly interface, and lots of customizable capability makes it an easy Editors' Choice pick, especially for smaller businesses looking to get into CRM quickly.
Read ReviewBase CRM Review
MSRP: $45.00Pros: Simple interface. Free 14-day trial. Free training webinars. Full-featured mobile apps. Innovative predictive analytics reporting.
Cons: Customization ability is limited. Deeper automation, reporting, intelligent analytics, and permissions only available at higher tiers. Significant price increase.
Bottom Line: Base CRM does a solid job of delivering a simple to use CRM aimed at small business customers. It even manages to set itself apart through some advanced analytic capabilities and reporting.
Read Review
For any business, small or large, developing strong relationships with customers is a critical factor for success. Using customer relationship management (CRM) software can help companies organize important data from multiple locations into one convenient interface. The ability to track and analyze every interaction with a customer or prospect increases customer engagement and keeps the customer where he or she belongs - at the center of your focus - and helps you close more deals and win more business.
Research has shown that a properly integrated CRM solution can generate ROI from approximately $2.50 to $5.60 for every dollar invested in the solution. Salesforce, one of the leading providers of CRM software, found that using a CRM solution can increase sales by 29%, salesforce productivity by 32% and sales forecast accuracy by 44%. Today's competitive landscape is more crowded than ever, and the ability to tailor your engagement process to fit each customer is an advantage that will help your company stand out.
The right CRM software will make your salesforce vastly more efficient, and help to identify cross-selling and up-selling opportunities. You can also take advantage of inbound marketing techniques that leverage your website and search optimization, combined with a content library, to bring more qualified prospects into the fold. CRM software will capture extremely detailed information about customer behavior and preferences that can inform targeted marketing, product development and sales activities. The right CRM software can help you raise your business to a new level.
Given the role a CRM solution can play in a company's success, it's vital to find the right provider who can offer the features and customization capabilities to fit your business needs. We've reviewed a number of software offerings on the market. The choices are myriad, but we've identified some of the best providers for the small-to-medium sized companies. We'll give you the pros, cons and bottom line on some of the best-known names in CRM software so you can make a decision that will help grow your business.
List Of Crm Software Companies
CRM Trends in 2019
Before getting into our recommendations for the best CRM software in 2019, we're going to analyze a couple particularly interesting trends related to CRM. These trends are still developing, but we see a lot of potential for AI, machine learning and subscription services as they relate to CRM.
List Of Crm Software Applications
AI and machine learning is starting to synchronize with CRM software to create new kinds of customer relationships. As machines become better at 'relationship intelligence' AI is being integrated into other CRM software. Machines can't replace true human interaction, but they are starting to get close. Machine learning allows AI to become more intelligent about customer behavior, opening the door to new types of customer relationships and CRM processes.
The increasing prevalence of subscription services is evolving right alongside improvements to AI and machine learning. The 'subscription economy,' impacting entertainment, transportation and other fields, is changing customer relationships. AI can make use of the vast data gleaned from such subscription services to improve machine learning. By analyzing such data, smarter and smarter algorithms can parse out minute customer relationship details. This suggests AI and the 'subscription economy' may be the way the CRM technology moves in 2018 and beyond.
Best CRM Software for Small Businesses
Salesforce CRM is one of the most recognizable names in CRM software, and for good reason. The company is the world's largest CRM provider, and consistently ranked at the top of industry surveys. They offer a cloud-based solution that reaches every stage of the customer life cycle and is flexible, mobile and fully customizable. It's also easy to learn and use, and offers an intuitive interface that's easy to navigate on mobile and desktop devices. It can be expensive for smaller companies, but many users contend that the lower training costs offset the higher subscription fee. Prices start at $25 per user per month (up to 5 users), with progressively more sophisticated versions including Pro ($75 per user), Enterprise ($150 per user), and Unlimited ($300 per user). Add $25 per user for the service module and $75 for the sales and service analytics module.
Best Free CRM Software
Zoho Office Suite may be free, but choose this option and you won't be forced to compromise on capabilities just because you're not a paying customer. This cloud-based The Zoho CRM solution was created with the needs of small and medium-sized businesses in mind. Users enjoy all the core functionalities of pricier options, and the interface includes tools such as sales and marketing automation, product configuration, reporting, and customer analytics. There's also a gamification feature that adds a bit of fun to the sales process and rewards salespeople who achieve targets. The mobile version gives users access to sales and customer information on iPads, iPhones and Android devices. The free edition is restricted to 10 users, with upgraded services starting at $12 per month. While users report that considerable customization can be necessary at the outset and customer support can be limited, Zoho is a powerful tool for small businesses that are not ready to pay subscription fees.
Best CRM Software for Startups
Hubspot is another fully functioning CRM that is free for users and includes many of the tools a startup needs. It can track and organize contacts and offers a complete overview of the sales pipeline. Hubspot CRM also offers a sales add-on, in free and pro versions ($50 per month), which include email notifications and templates, document tracking, and in-app calling. Moreover, Hubspot offers all the basic features necessary without the complexity that can make other CRM software difficult to use for newbies. It's also a certified, premier Google partner, easily integrates with other software, and can be used in a variety of industries. Unfortunately, there's no phone support for free users, but that would be a little too good to be true.
Best CRM Software for Companies that Want Customizable Solutions
Apptivo is a web-based CRM solution that offers a variety of customer relations, project tracking and financial management functions. Users love the customizable app features that allow them to pick and choose the functions they need for their companies. The software is highly compatible with Google applications and users rave about the highly responsive, 24-hour customer service and great live chat support option. Altogether, one of the most flexible and affordable CRM tools available.
Our Methodology
To find the best CRM software for small businesses, we began by talking to business owners themselves, as well as some of the professionals who advise them. We asked them their choice of CRM software, what features are the most important to them, what informed their choice of provider, what they love about their current CRM software, and what they would love to change. We discovered, not surprisingly, that ease of use and the ability to customize are important features, as is cost. The top features that business owners look for include: contact management, the ability to track interactions, scheduling and reminders, email marketing, pipeline monitoring, reporting analytics and integration with other platforms. They highly value customer support and extensive help desk functions.
We also did extensive research online, reading hundreds of consumer reviews and complaints, and poring through numerous review web sites. Then we narrowed down our list of CRM software to the most commonly mentioned names.
List Of Crm Software Companies In India
With the short list of 10 CRM software packages in hand, we scrutinized each company's website to compare and contrast the options offered. We watched their tutorial videos and reviewed the customer resources offered by each.
Based on our research, we developed these criteria, which we used to evaluate each outsourcing company.
- Range of functionality
- Analytics capability
- Ability to integrate with other platforms
- Customization
- Ease of use
- Mobile access
- Social media integration
- Automation
- Workflow management
- Customer service
- Help desk availability
- Training requirements
Here are the remaining companies we looked at during our research.
Microsoft Dynamics offers a look and feel familiar to Office and Sharepoint users, with a user interface that's easy to use. This makes the software a great option for Microsoft users and it's optimized for performance with Microsoft products, meaning that it can be slightly clunky if you integrate with other products. The solution can be deployed via the cloud, on-premises or via a hybrid combination, but the on-premises option is great for companies that have data security concerns. The range of functionality is comprehensive, but it's a sophisticated product that can be difficult to use. It's a better choice for companies that have well-defined processes. It's great for companies that need contract management capabilities, but can be expensive and difficult to use for smaller companies.
vTiger CRM is an all-in-one option designed for small businesses. It offers sales automation, email, project and inventory management, forecasting, workflow automation, case and lead management and a customer portal. There are also training, migration and email marketing packages available separately. vTiger easy to learn and affordable, with a tech support desk that's quick to respond. The biggest drawback is that it can be difficult to customize.
Nimble is a good choice for companies of any size that want to unify disparate data and improve their social media integration. Unfortunately, there's no Facebook or LinkedIn message integration since these social media forums have removed API access, although Nimble CRM works well with Twitter. The software automatically populates profiles and interaction histories from contact lists, email and social media. The interface gives a comprehensive view of to-dos, key deals, engagement opportunities and more. Best of all, Nimble has a rules engine that helps the software learn from user behavior and predict increasingly relevant contacts and activities.
Top Ten Crm Software
Suite CRM is an open source CRM that is scalable for any business size. Designed to offer enterprise-level functionality, the software can be deployed in a private cloud, directly on private servers, or on a public cloud. Suite is highly customizable and offers a free option for sophisticated enterprise users. However, it takes considerable skill to administer and is only suited to advanced organizations.
Act! manages contacts and leads while offering reporting and third party integration that includes basic accounting, client history and pipeline reports. Available in a cloud version that requires no IT support, as well as in a server-based version. The software offers built-in email marketing tools and integrates with phone systems. However, some users reported that the interface is dated, the software can be confusing to use and social media integration could be better. This difficult-to-use CRM is not for the faint of heart and feels more like a jazzed-up contact manager than a fully functional CRM.
List Of Top Crm Software Companies
Goldmine was among the first contact management and CRM tools. The software is still good for maintaining a centralized contact list, but it's less appealing as a sophisticated CRM. According to some, the email function can be troublesome, in particular, and some users have reported it is prone to crashing. Further, feedback indicated that many of the features available through Goldmine can be found elsewhere at a better price and with better functionality.
This article was updated February 6, 2018.
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