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CRM stands for\u00a0Customer Relationship Management.<\/p>\n
In the space of just a few years, CRMs have evolved enormously. Approachable and far easier to learn, implement, and pay for, they\u2019ve morphed from three-letter monsters into ready-set-go software for businesses of all shapes and sizes.<\/p>\n
What is CRM?<\/p>\n
A CRM gathers customer interactions across all channels in one place. Managing centralized data helps businesses improve customer experience, satisfaction, retention and service.<\/p>\n
CRM allows businesses of all sizes to drive growth and profits.<\/p>\n
Featured CRM sponsors for your Business <\/p>\n
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Yes, they\u2019re still mainly designed for sales, marketing, and service teams. But now they do a dizzying number of other things too, like help users manage relationships between team members, vendors, partners, and collaborators.<\/p>\n
Learn more about\u00a0our list of\u00a0best CRM Software<\/a>\u00a0for a great roundup.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n A CRM system manages all your contacts and aggregates lead and customer information to build profiles of everyone you interact with. This gives you easy access to important information to better understand customer behavior like purchase records and previous communications with contacts across different channels (chat, email, etc.). Customers won\u2019t have to repeat their stories over and over to you, and you\u2019ll be able to address issues with best practice and less effort for improved customer loyalty.<\/p>\n Streamlining and improving the sales process, building a sales pipeline, automating tasks, and analyzing your sales data will inevitably lead to one outcome\u2014increased sales and sales productivity. A CRM system\u00a0allows you to have all your customer-facing voice, chat, and email touchpoints accessible in one place. You\u2019ll clinch more deals by building a repeatable, proven sales process, and delivering the right message on the right channel at just the right time.<\/p>\n Retention and churn rates are extremely important determiners for a company\u2019s success; customer churn is a major obstacle to business growth. CRM tools like sentiment analysis, automated ticketing, and customer support and customer service automation can dramatically improve your retention by letting human agents defuse problems. Analytics tools that look at customer life cycle can show you when churn happens and why, so you can identify and address pain points.<\/p>\n Analytical CRM tools make your data available, intelligible, and relevant to your business needs. All your heaps of sales data, finance data, and marketing data flow into CRM to become visible metrics, with data warehousing and data mining there to make sense of everything. The net benefit is customer acquisition, customer retention, and better data management.<\/p>\n Having all your major day-to-day business functions in one place makes for better workflow, easier collaboration between team members, and better project management. Task automation eliminates menial, repetitive work and gives more time for the cognitive tasks humans are best at. Dashboards and analytics will help you gain insights into your work and optimize all kinds of business processes.<\/p>\n Miscommunication and lack of information transfer are two major time-wasters. When people take time self-learning to do things other team members already know how to do, or work on redundant tasks, you\u2019re losing a lot of hours per week. Collaborative CRM tools can streamline your teamwork by letting you build a knowledge base, establish best practice workflows, and allowing for frictionless communication between team members.\u00a0<\/p>\n A CRM system\u00a0allows you to foster greater transparency in your organization by assigning tasks, showing work, and delineating exactly who is who and who is doing what. If your main concern is sales, you can make use of performance tracking for individual sales agents. A CRM platform allows everyone in your organization to gain visibility on your business processes, fostering more mutual understanding and collaboration.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n CRMs pull in information from email, voice calls, and other channels to help you get more customers and keep the ones you have. They give you a single place to organize your workflows and business processes, so you can collaborate, close more deals, and get more done.<\/p>\n Marketing and sales force automation, contact and project management\u2014these are the bread and butter features of a CRM system.<\/p>\n In practice, CRM should work with the way your business works. There are many types of good CRM out there, and none one-size-fits-all\/right CRM option. However, there is most definitely a CRM technology tailored for every company\u2019s unique business strategy.<\/p>\n CRM systems\u00a0are generally designed to streamline and improve customer interaction, the sales process, and the running of marketing campaigns. They do this by improving efficiencies across workflow and the sales pipeline\u2014automating tasks, and analyzing data.<\/p>\n A solid CRM strategy provides an all-in-one solution for managing your team\u2019s voice, chat, and email touchpoints. They track leads, customer needs, offers, and conversions in one place, and help with optimizing your website and running ad campaigns.<\/p>\n That improves the mechanism behind your business and dramatically increases visibility on your team, customer base, and to the broader public.<\/p>\n Keeping track of all that data makes task automation one of the most significant advantages provided by today\u2019s CRM platform. By letting machine learning and analytics do some of the heavy lifting, you save time and keep yourself from getting burned out on cognitively distressing or low brain-activity tasks.<\/p>\n Making phone calls within your CRM platform automatically generates data in real time, the date, who made the call, and so much more. You\u2019ll be able to automatically track old and new customers and schedule follow-ups, with a centralized base for contact information.<\/p>\n Click to call, cross-platform functionality makes it a breeze to call from anywhere, makes your business more agile, and saves an incredible amount of money on phone bills.<\/p>\n Email integration streamlines the sales process from your inbox, letting let you organize leads, appointments, and contacts, sync information from Gmail to your CRM system, and generate follow-up reminders to close more deals.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, new developments in natural language processing and machine learning are making a CRM system better and better at transcribing (and logging) phone conversations into actionable items so that no customer detail is forgotten.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The short answer? Anyone who has a business can benefit from CRM system.<\/p>\n The longer answer: anyone doing sales, marketing teams, service, support, or running a startup, managing a community group, non-profit, or volunteer organization, and editorial teams, ad agencies, and art projects or productions can benefit.<\/p>\n Businesses of all kinds use a CRM system, from solo freelance operations and home-run e-commerce to small businesses, mid-size businesses, and massive enterprise-level corporations. Everyone can benefit from better organization, centralized task management, and contemporary AI and automation tools that make work faster and better with less time and effort.<\/p>\n In general, companies are becoming more remotely distributed, and teams are becoming more flexible from project to project. It makes sense to invest in a tool that neatly places all your work processes in one place, and lets you access all your tasks and workflow processes on-the-fly via cloud services.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there\u2019s no question that online business competition is only going to keep intensifying. Thoughtful CRM systems use can give your organization an edge. Automation allows your company to punch above its weight, eliminating repetitive tasks so the human part of your business can play to its strengths.\u00a0<\/p>\n The CRM market grew 15.6% in 2018 as SMBs continue to adopt these tools, and vendors continue to frantically keep streamlining and delivering products that fit contemporary work. Meanwhile, CRM continues to be the fastest-growing software category out there. It certainly seems like the future is going to be very CRM-y.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0\u2018Uberization\u2019<\/a>\u00a0trend has hit the CRM market like a tidal wave. Developers have come into the user, offering software with friendly user interfaces and appealing niche design language. Simplicity and low friction usage now come standard.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t always the case.<\/p>\n The history of the CRM reaches back to the\u00a0dot.com bubble era. The first version of legacy software SAP CRM, for example, was released\u00a0way back in millennial year zero, aka 2000<\/a>.<\/p>\n Back then, all CRM platform\u00a0had a big learning curve and required a complete retooling of the workflow.<\/p>\n First, you needed to train up. Then you\u2019d have to import all your contacts onto a proprietary cloud and plug away doing data entry.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Things look a lot different today. A small business can now implement CRM processes with minimal hassle, without hiring developers.<\/p>\n A Cloud-based CRM system has\u00a0become standard. Cloud storage, automated data entry, and web\/mobile cross-platform functionality have improved user experience (not to mention customer experience) dramatically. Prices have dropped too, with free, open source, and affordable professional and enterprise plans available across the market.<\/p>\n Legacy providers like Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, and Salesforce have kept pace with trends, and continue to command serious market shares. But an increasingly diverse cast of new wave platforms have emerged to challenge them, too.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n CRM systems\u00a0are, by and large, designed for selling stuff. But some of them have a special emphasis on the sales cycle and feature some very sophisticated tools geared explicitly towards increasing conversions.<\/p>\n A sales CRM system\u00a0handles the process of selling from point A to B, encompassing sales leads, sale processes, and sales teams. It allows you to build a sales pipeline, track leads, and achieve significantly better visibility on sales opportunities. You\u2019ll be able to simplify workflow and manage your customer-facing voice, chat,\u00a0and email touchpoints on a single platform.<\/p>\n Having an all-in-one sales CRM is great for effectively managing all-things-sales. That includes leads, contacts, and opportunities, as well as accounts, quotations, and proposals.<\/p>\n Lead management and contact management tools collect information from email, voice calls, and elsewhere, aggregating them to build up singular, rich profiles of the people in your business orbit.<\/p>\n With a Sales CRM, you\u2019ll be able to see where a customer is in the sales cycle, and nurture leads by targeting them with relevant, individualized information. Opportunity management features help you spot sales as they develop, so you can respond at just the right time.<\/p>\n Account management keeps track of clients: their activity, pending deals, payment status, and associated contacts.<\/p>\n Quotation management lets you create quotes fast and track those in play, which is invaluable for sales forecasting and managing production processes. Sales CRM integrations with proposal management tools like PandaDoc make it easy to create, track, and store proposals.<\/p>\n Sales force automation rationalizes your workflow by sorting information across channels, generating new data and tasks, notifying you on follow-ups, order processing, and tracking, and all things telephone related. This helps to cut down your manual entry tasks considerably.<\/p>\n Agent performance tracking tools, meanwhile, are very useful for evaluating and incentivizing your team, scheduling team members, and planning schedules for slow and busy periods.<\/p>\n Read the in-depth article on Sales CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Pipedrive<\/a>\u00a0has a name that leaves little to the imagination, but that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n The platform is indeed all about the sales pipeline. It allows you to create multiple pipelines customizable to your business needs, with a highly visual design that provides a clear overview of all activity and prioritize the most important sales activities.<\/p>\n Graphical cues and a drag-and-drop interface let you move leads through the sales pipeline and determine which are most likely to close.<\/p>\n You can migrate data from a previous CRM system into Pipedrive, or import it directly.<\/p>\n Mailchimp, Zapier, and Google Apps integrations further expand the platform\u2019s scope of operations. iOS and Android apps help you manage sales on the fly.<\/p>\n Close<\/a>\u00a0is a web-based app targeted at startups and small and medium-sized enterprises, offering easy-to-learn yet powerful tools for boosting sales team performance.<\/p>\n The platform has particularly useful tools for voice calls. Call automation and predictive dialing features help you engage with the most qualified leads in the most efficient, effective way.<\/p>\n Call recording lets you monitor and review your sales team\u2019s interactions, address pain points, and boost conversions.<\/p>\n Customer profiles are automatically generated based on data segmentation. Lead tracking tools allow you to do in-depth, customizable lead scoring via an easily mastered user interface, particularly when paired with a powerful Autopilot integration.<\/p>\n SugarCRM<\/a>\u00a0is a highly customizable CRM platform for managing customers and leads, bringing your sales team in sync with your marketing and support teams.<\/p>\n The platform\u2019s prime value is in refining and personalizing your sales cycle and sales pipeline. Tweakable dashboards and productivity and collaborative tools make it easier to bring your team\u2019s personas together into a cohesive, appropriate system.<\/p>\n SugarCRM\u2019s Sales Stage keeps track of opportunities from \u201cProspect\u201d to \u201cProposal\u201d to \u201cDeal Won\u201d, and assigns a probability of success for each stage. That\u2019s very useful for sales forecasting.<\/p>\n The platform\u2019s development tools let you build custom apps for your discrete selling needs. A clean, drag-and-drop modular interface lets you do a lot of \u2018developer\u2019 stuff like setting up features and fields, without knowing a line of code.<\/p>\n Android and iOS apps keep your sales squad humming along on the go, with access to in-depth sales information any time of day.<\/p>\n Dialpad<\/a>\u00a0is a cross-channel \u2018softphone\u2019 sales platform with voice, video, call center, and messaging features. It\u2019s not a CRM in and of itself, but rather a lightweight-yet-powerful tool that integrates with more broad featured CRM platforms like\u00a0Zendesk\u00a0and\u00a0Salesforce. \u00a0<\/p>\n The platform also offers\u00a0native integration with G Suite<\/a>\u00a0for a seamless crossover with the web apps you already use. \u00a0<\/p>\n One of Dialpad\u2019s most exciting (and eminently useful) features is\u00a0VoiceAI<\/a>, a form of advanced AI analytics that uses speech recognition and natural language processing (NLP) technology. This handy tool automatically generates an accurate transcription of all your sales calls in real-time.<\/p>\n The Moments features, meanwhile, creates a timeline of each sales voice call, highlighting key moments and classifying them by customer \u2018intent signals.\u2019 What that means is that when someone utters a line like \u201cthis price is a bit expensive,\u201d a \u2018price inquiry\u2019 flag and time note will automatically be generated, letting you know there\u2019s still space to follow up and make a deal.<\/p>\n Real-time sentiment analysis, meanwhile, generates a customer satisfaction score while in conversation. Real-time coaching floats in the background with automated feedback for the sales agent, including pricing, features, and competitor offering information.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Customer service is more important than ever. A service CRM integrates tools from dedicated customer service and support (CSS) software, and fits them in with marketing and sales to handle the breadth of customer experience.<\/p>\n Maybe you’re asking yourself “why would I choose a CRM system over customer service software?” Well, one reason would be to have a unified knowledge base, aka customer information that is collected by and accessible to multiple different departments\u2014ex. sales, marketing, and customer service. Streamlined access to contact data and collaborative team tools help you respond and resolve customer inquiries faster and smarter.<\/p>\n And, if you’re going for a customer service-centric CRM, considering all the customer touch points\u2014social, chat, email, phone, and website\u2014is essential.<\/p>\n A service CRM system offers service and support staff immediate access to customer information across all relevant channels.<\/p>\n Every feature of your CRM captures customer data, including case history, so all your service reps will have full visibility on the people they\u2019re interacting with. This delivers faster resolutions and cuts down customer frustration, thus decreasing churn and boosting conversions.<\/p>\n Phone, email, online forms, live chat, and social media contact points are all available in-app.<\/p>\n When a customer reaches out across one channel, a \u2018ticket\u2019 is created. The ticket contains the customer name, details, and the nature of their issue, also flagging the relevant department according to what the issue is to ensure they speak to the right person.<\/p>\n Read the in-depth\u00a0article on Service CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Agile CRM<\/a>\u00a0features a Helpdesk that segments customers according to individual history, matching them to the rep most qualified to tackle their specific issue. Reps can be grouped into silos, so you can pass an issue to a specialist in the event the first choice isn\u2019t available.<\/p>\n Telephony features let you make calls in-app, record them for analysis and quality monitoring, and automatically generate call logs. The platform\u2019s feedback database, meanwhile, allows you to build up a backlog of information to further guide operations towards best practice.<\/p>\n Zendesk Suite<\/a>\u00a0puts incoming questions from customers via email, tweets, chat, and social channels get put into one place, speeding your ability to respond and making your business smarter.<\/p>\n The software flags conversations that need attention and lines up tickets intelligently so agents can knock them down in the right order. Records are tracked until the issue is resolved, and issues can be organized by type.<\/p>\n SugarCRM\u00a0offers full-fledged\u00a0service CRM<\/a>\u00a0functionality, with case distribution workflows, tools for improving customer visibility, and collaborative tools for workflow rationalization and clear-cut task assignment.<\/p>\n Everything is designed with quantifiable metrics in mind: speed response and resolution times, reign in customer service-related\u00a0expenses,\u00a0and optimize user experience with tailored customer satisfaction metrics.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Marketing has unique challenges and fulfills a singular \u201cfrontline\u201d role in your business. A marketing CRM setup can help out with that, big time.<\/p>\n Any good customer relationship management CRM is built on the principle of better business through overlapping communication, as well as the centralization of tasks and data. In that spirit, a marketing-focused CRM offers a lot of help with marketing by symbiotically merging it with sales, letting you run campaigns more effectively, obtain more leads, and close more deals.<\/p>\n Build marketing campaigns and automate\u00a0them across channels, get statistics on opened\/unopened mail status, click-through rate, and use A\/B testing to find the best strategy for your landing pages.<\/p>\n A marketing CRM can segment leads into different categories, according to how long they spent on your website, what links they clicked on, and what kind of personal information they shared on a form. Marketing segmentation allows you to build separate campaigns for separate demographics, keeping your brand \u201ctop-of-mind\u201d until the lead is ready to become active.<\/p>\n Integrations with tools like Customer.io and Mailchimp can help out with automating the delivery of emails and texts, as well as building social media ads. Drip marketing features let you schedule a sequence of emails to arrive over a set time period.<\/p>\n Read an in-depth article on Marketing CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n HubSpot<\/a>\u00a0is a ginormous name in the CRM world and offers a very accessible, comprehensive CRM solution that forms the core of its \u2018full stack\u2019 business management platform.<\/p>\n Their\u00a0dedicated inbound marketing hub\u00a0boosts conversions with strong automation,\u00a0management, and lead tracking tools, linking marketing to your sales and support teams.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the\u00a0Personas<\/a>\u00a0feature can help you dig deep to understand the mindsets of different customer strata, then segment them for better marketing strategy.<\/p>\n Drip eCRM<\/a>\u00a0is built to support online businesses and does a great job of tracking ecommerce KPIs. It\u2019s designed specifically to help smaller operations get out from the shadow of big companies and their personalized algorithms, helping them build more intimate, intelligent customer relationships.<\/p>\n As may be given away by the name, it specializes in drip marketing campaigns. It handles the time-released distribution of marketing materials through email, text message, Facebook ads, and personalized landing pages and websites.<\/p>\n The platform uses marketing automation to ascertain if someone is a prospect, customer, or an advanced user, then directs strategy in the right direction. Lead scoring and tracking features help you keep tabs on purchase intent and unique events.<\/p>\n Keap<\/a>\u00a0organizes client information in one locale to personalize marketing and boost workflow. It\u2019s targeted at small businesses, with features built to run campaigns with advanced\u00a0marketing automation.<\/p>\n You can use triggers to automate tasks when specific criteria are met. Data from campaigns, workflows, and tracking are made extra intelligible through real-time monitoring, visualized statistics, and in-depth analytics.<\/p>\n The tracking features collect leads into different segments, each of which gets delivered personalized \u201cnudges\u201d to close more deals, while workflows automate tasks based on triggers. Data from campaigns, tracking and workflows become intelligible through statistical reporting.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Visual editing lets you build email campaigns and landing pages and ready-made templates are available on their\u00a0marketplace\u00a0if you\u2019re strapped for time.<\/p>\n Creatio does more than marketing, but its main objective is definitely acquiring, preparing, and qualifying leads. It\u2019s been designed to look and respond to user input like a social app, so it\u2019s intuitive to learn and easy to share your insights.<\/p>\n The platform helps to plan and execute\u00a0marketing campaigns<\/a>\u00a0using a simple visual designer tool. You can also set up triggers to assign certain actions to contacts, like answering a CTA. Real-time monitoring lets you analyze campaigns and see how they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n Creatio\u2019s\u00a0email marketing\u00a0uses a bulk mail creator, fully loaded with ready-to-use templates to get the word out quickly and attractively. There\u2019s also A\/B split testing and click-stat tools for gauging which emails are most successful. All that data feeds into the platform\u2019s analytics.<\/p>\n Zendesk\u00a0has long been known for its sales, service, and support, but their new\u00a0Zendesk Sunshine<\/a>\u00a0CRM platform takes customer engagement into a more front-line holistic approach.<\/p>\n Launched\u00a0at the end of 2018, the open and flexible platform operates on the principle that customer data can power all aspects of a business operation, including marketing.<\/p>\n Another new tool,\u00a0Zendesk Explore, allows you to creatively analyze metrics across email, chat, and voice.<\/p>\n Mailchimp<\/a>\u00a0is a stalwart in the field of email databasing and automated blast emailing. Their straightforward design tools let you create\u00a0email marketing campaigns\u00a0and tailor messages to reach people across email channels.<\/p>\n Mailchimp provides a long list of\u00a0automation\u00a0features, letting you set up auto-emails triggered by events like new sign-ups, purchases, or abandoned cart reminders.<\/p>\n In terms of\u00a0integrations, Mailchimp offers a vast collection of ready-to-merge services and is easily teamed with CRMs like Salesforce, Insightly, and many, many more.<\/p>\n They also do\u00a0postcards\u2014yes, the real-life kind (come to think of it,\u00a0Customer.io<\/a>\u00a0does this too!).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n While there is no de facto best\u00a0small business CRM, some software tools are more suitable than others when it comes to the needs of tiny teams.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll want a CRM system with workflow, reporting, and automation tools that work well, but aren\u2019t crazy difficult to master. Simplicity, intuitive design, and a low learning curve are three other major things to look for.<\/p>\n Likely you won\u2019t have the need for many app integrations just yet. Integrations with your email platform, document editing suite, and social media channels should be sufficient at the outset.<\/p>\n If you run a small business, you\u2019re probably doing things your own way, rather than following a playbook from established figures in your field.<\/p>\n With that in mind, it may be in your best interest to seek a CRM system with customization features, one with a drag-and-drop interface that lets you easily modify lead, contact, and opportunity fields, as well as add sections relevant to your business.<\/p>\n Read the full article on Best\u00a0Small Business CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Nimble<\/a>\u00a0is a straightforward, no-nonsense web app CRM with a special focus on social media. It lets you aggregate posts from major social media channels, namely Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, keeping tabs on who\u2019s talking about or engaging with your brand.<\/p>\n Smart social search and market segmentation tools help you laser down to the most important opportunities and smartly handle them. Data organization and reporting features show what\u2019s working, what\u2019s not, and where you can take strategy in the future.<\/p>\n Integrations with Office 365 and G Suite ensure you can import and organize contacts from the platform you\u2019re already using.<\/p>\n NoCRM.io<\/a>\u00a0has an interesting shtick, insofar as their whole thing is \u2018you don\u2019t need a CRM.\u2019<\/p>\n While that may or may not be true, their suspiciously CRM-y platform focuses on simple-yet-effective tools for lead management, sales, and intra-team collaboration. It tightens up selling by capturing leads from disparate places, from websites and email to third-party apps and business cards.<\/p>\n You can organize leads, prioritize and reference them, and assign them to specific teams or team members (as well as set up automated reminders to keep everyone on task and timeline).<\/p>\n NoCRM.io also bundles a full-featured mobile app for iOS and Android, helping you close more deals on the go.<\/p>\n Copper<\/a>\u00a0requires pretty much no training and can be installed in about five minutes. It also integrates with G Suite, so that\u2019s very helpful if you use Gmail all day, every day.<\/p>\n The platform has small business-ready features like automated data entry, smart identification, lead and customer tracking, and optimization of opportunities and sales contacts. There\u2019s a visual, aesthetically pleasing sales pipeline for funneling managing leads across the qualification process.<\/p>\n You can boost the management of your teams and workflows with weekly pipeline progression reports. Drag-and-drop functionality, custom filters, and alerts keep you on the ball and let your team (or you)\u00a0to\u00a0put energy into the vital work of building customer relationships. A useful @mention function lets you send alerts to other team members.<\/p>\n Copper has competitive pricing that will work for most small businesses. Give it a whirl with the\u00a014-day free trial, then consider the\u00a0paid plans\u00a0set at $19 (Basic), $49 (Professional), and $119 (Business).<\/p>\n Capsule<\/a>\u00a0is simple and straightforward, with a handsome user interface and zero learning curve.<\/p>\n Eschewing extended features in favor of the basic business of managing daily work, Capsule lets you instantly find out what\u2019s going on with your sales pipeline (bids, lead generation, proposals, customer data, etc.) and tasks. Key information is made easily accessible. Contact lists can be imported easily from Gmail, Outlook, and CSV spreadsheet and database files.<\/p>\n If you run a business by yourself or with a single partner, you\u2019ll be pleased to know you can get\u00a0Capsule\u2019s\u00a0free version (the cap is two users). The freebie includes Zapier integrations for G Suite, Zendesk, Twitter,\u00a0Mailchimp\u00a0and more.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a\u00a0thirty-day free trial\u00a0for the Professional Version. After that, paid plans start from $18.<\/p>\n Insightly<\/a>\u00a0is available on the web and mobile versions for both Android and iOS. It also integrates with G Suite and Microsoft Office 365.<\/p>\n Seamless pipeline integration with your CRM feeds into features like managing contacts and customer data, tracking opportunities (aka sales leads), and assigning tasks to team members with handy to-do lists.<\/p>\n The Insightly Sidebar sits in your browser as a Chrome extension, allowing you to save Gmail messages directly to your CRM and cross-reference contact information.<\/p>\n The platform also features\u00a0Business intelligence (BI)\u00a0(powered by Microsoft Power BI), which aggregates historical and real-time data within your CRM platform, letting you decipher trends and metrics to make more informed decisions.<\/p>\n Like Capsule, it\u2019s free for up to two users. That said, it should be noted Insightly\u2019s free version doesn\u2019t include a data backup system and contains daily caps for mass emailing. It also limits the number of custom fields that can be added to each record.<\/p>\n Paid plans start from\u00a0$29.<\/p>\n Zoho CRM<\/a>\u00a0tailors its product to small businesses with a simple user interface, and full-fledged automation features and customizable modules.<\/p>\n Define workflows, manage your leads, and rationalize everyday tasks. Integration with Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ lets you reach out and engage with leads at just the right moment.<\/p>\n Zoho is available in\u00a0free and paid versions. The trial version is available for up to three users, but it\u2019s a bit limited in functionality, with no mass emailing feature and limited customizability.<\/p>\n More full-featured paid versions start at $12.<\/p>\n Pipedrive<\/a>\u00a0has a visual and straightforward user interface, designed to help move the customer down the sales pipeline and clinch deals.<\/p>\n The platform emphasizes the sales process and tracking contacts. It\u2019s got tools for picking up leads, managing contacts, and keeping you on top of deals. Build multiple sales pipelines with customizable, unique stages that are context-appropriate.<\/p>\n Full email sync ensures you can view messages from whatever email service you use in-app.<\/p>\n Pipedrive has a useful mobile app for both Android and iOS to keep you on top of things.<\/p>\n Pipedrive is available from the not-too-shabby starting price of\u00a0$14.90.<\/p>\n Freshsales<\/a>, the CRM component of the\u00a0Freshworks 360\u00a0customer engagement suite, is simple and effective.<\/p>\n The platform is built to help you scale your business, monitor deals, eliminate mundane tasks,\u00a0run sales email campaigns, and create efficiencies through data centralization. Lead capture automatically grabs leads from emails. You can develop your own\u00a0lead scoring criteria\u00a0to find your best leads, too.<\/p>\n On the voice side of things, there\u2019s a built-in\u00a0phone module\u00a0with auto-dialing, call recording, and call routing features.<\/p>\n Freshsales\u00a0offers a\u00a030 day free trial\u00a0for all its plans. The basic paid plan is\u00a0$12.<\/p>\n Zendesk Sunshine<\/a>\u00a0is the CRM arm of the\u00a0Zendesk\u00a0customer service and support empire.<\/p>\n As a \u201cmultidimensional\u201d customer relationship management tool, it\u2019s built to work holistically across your business and break down barriers between teams and traditional roles.<\/p>\n The whole platform is built on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) public cloud. The AWS infrastructure is used so that data migrates in and out of the CRM easily. The fact it\u2019s based on AWS also makes it easy to do custom app creation for your specific small business needs.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s\u00a0HubSpot, a big name app with a\u00a0free option<\/a>\u00a0with basic features, highly suitable to small businesses looking for limited CRM functionality.<\/p>\n The free version of HubSpot has some pretty robust inbound marketing tools. Features for managing workflows beef up your project management. It\u2019s also easy to assign and track leads, monitor the sales process, and record customer interactions across all channels.<\/p>\n HubSpot is designed to work with both G Suite and Microsoft Office, so it\u2019ll work for you regardless of your developer allegiance.<\/p>\n The paid versions of HubSpot are not exactly cheap, but they do add key features like reporting, AI assistance, and advanced automation. Depending on what you want your CRM suite to focus on, there are separate packages for Marketing, Sales, and Service at $50 a month each.<\/p>\n The all-inclusive Growth Suite\u00a0starts at $113 a month.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n If you\u2019re like most people, your personal and professional life is near dependent on Google\u2019s ubiquitous email service. Gmail claims over 1 billion active users, and over 4 million paying business customers worldwide.<\/p>\n All this to say that Gmail is probably not going anywhere anytime soon. People appreciate the platform\u2019s design, efficiency, and emphasis on user experience.<\/p>\n As a result, many CRM developers have opted to craft software integrated with the platform. Since we already use Gmail and associated G Suite apps all the time, it makes sense that developers would want to piggyback off of the troves of information that flow through our inboxes.<\/p>\n It also makes sense that users like us would want to use a CRM tied to a platform we already know how to use. A Gmail CRM dramatically cuts down the learning curve in comparison to traditional CRMs, and makes a successful CRM implementation<\/a> a breeze.<\/p>\n Read the in-depth article\u00a0Gmail CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Streak<\/a>\u00a0is a fully integrated Gmail CRM. It\u2019s built inside the Gmail box for desktop and mobile, resulting in an organic improvement on your pre-existing workflow. It integrates with a range of G Suite apps (most notably Google Sheets, Drive, Chat) and provides familiar CRM tools like sales pipeline and lead generation, using automatic data capture from contacts and emails.<\/p>\n While widely used for sales, customer support, recruitment, and customer service, Streak also counts many customers working in media and creative agencies. That\u2019s because it does a great job of managing partner relationships, making it particularly attractive in industries where collaborators change from project to project.<\/p>\n Capsule\u00a0offers a\u00a0Gmail add-on integration<\/a>\u00a0in the form of a sidebar Chrome browser extension. As a result, you access it in the same way as any other Google app\u2014pretty simple indeed.<\/p>\n Once it\u2019s up and running, you\u2019ll be able to use it to generate and track leads, add follow-up tasks and new cases, as well as store entire email conversation threads with a two-click process. Having better visibility across the board will help you nurture relationships and convert more often.<\/p>\n The platform caters primarily to startup and small business clients, given its simplicity and clean, comprehensible design. Customizable features and mobile CRM functionality seals the deal.<\/p>\n Pipedrive\u00a0offers\u00a0a Gmail extension<\/a>, which (like Capsule), runs as a sidebar application, letting you easily do stuff like schedule sales activities and add Gmail contacts to your CRM platform.<\/p>\n Pipedrive is geared primarily towards sales and subsequently places emphasis on tracking leads and keeping your sales pipeline humming along. Once you install the Gmail add-on for Pipedrive, a sales history for each of your contacts will automatically be generated every time you open one of their emails. This dramatically improves your access to contextual cues for each lead, which is key to closing deals.<\/p>\n Copper<\/a>\u00a0connects Gmail and CRM beyond the sidebar. The platform is built on Google Material Design, so you can do all things CRM\u2014such as email tracking, call logs, and contact management\u2014in what looks and feels like G Suite.<\/p>\n Copper\u2019s Chrome Extension lives inside Gmail, with full-fledged G Suite integrations to make sure your Google spreadsheets, docs, and slides link seamlessly to all your customer profiles.<\/p>\n Copper\u2019s native G Suite integration comes with AI-driven capabilities for automating menial and irritating tasks. The platform automatically makes a record of calls, emails, events, and other productivity documents.<\/p>\n That said, it\u2019s worth noting that Copper is not 100% integrated into your inbox. There\u2019s still going to be a bit of tab-switching in your daily grind, but nonetheless, Copper\u2019s workflow feels seamless and breezy.<\/p>\n Google itself uses and recommends Copper CRM for its millions of users. Not a bad recommendation.<\/p>\n Insightly<\/a>\u00a0bills itself as the \u201c#1 Gmail and G Suite CRM\u201d, but what they really mean to say is that they\u2019re (arguably) the #1 CRM with a pretty convenient Gmail integration.<\/p>\n Lack of full integration notwithstanding, their Insightly Sidebar Chrome browser extension is indeed quite useful. It lets reps migrate contacts and emails from their Gmail inbox or sent folder directly into the app with a single click, and gives users easy access to Insightly with hover note features and task creation options. It also automatically saves contacts and emails into the CRM sidebar.<\/p>\n Insightly has an equally useful desktop and mobile app, Kanban sales pipelines, custom reports, and a bevy of dashboard options. t\u2019s built for enterprise-size sales and relationship management, but that said they do offer a free-for-two-users option caters to startups as well.<\/p>\n NetHunt<\/a>\u00a0is a fully integrated Gmail CRM, not a Chrome Extension or sidebar. It takes your familiar Gmail dashboard to the left of your inbox and adds a second tab, letting you access all the CRM capabilities you might need.<\/p>\n Deals, Companies, Support, Tasks, Contacts, and Pipelines are all readily accessible from this dashboard, directly inside your inbox. A sidebar dashboard on the right side of the inbox gives more information, including company and customer profile details.<\/p>\n The whole CRM is built around \u201cRecords\u201d, which are a collection of your emails, tasks, and other files you can organize into customized groups and views.<\/p>\n Sales team members can check out key customer details in every email and create leads from emails in a single click, access social profiles, and view chat messages. Marketers can make use of personalized email campaigns backed by analytics and get automatic data updates based on email campaign results. The app helps support teams outline, organize, prioritize customer requests, and automate support inquiries.<\/p>\n Zapier integration connects NetHunt with 1,000 other favorite app combos.<\/p>\n Price-wise, NetHunt has a free plan for up to two users. The Professional plan is $24\u00a0(includes space for 25,000 records and 2,000 email campaigns per day). The Enterprise plan, which includes 250,000 records and 2,000 email campaigns per day, is at a slightly steeper price\u2014$48 per user, per month.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s customer journey is complex. People have an incredible number of choices to make, and increasingly pull the trigger based on word of mouth from their social circles. The public is likely to come upon your product from personal recommendations, as opposed to direct advertising.<\/p>\n Social channels have become a key platform for advertising, customer engagement, and communication with the public at large. Hence the rise of the social CRM, which aggregate and analyze posts from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.<\/p>\n As the role of social media in business has evolved, competition has intensified. Staying on top of changes in online behavior is another major challenge.<\/p>\n That means social media management is now a crucial business investment.<\/p>\n Traditional CRM focuses on communication channels like phone, email, and text. Social CRM broadens this scope to include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn\u2014social media platforms equipped with messaging modules where customers and businesses can chat directly with each other.<\/p>\n For customer service and support, a social CRM translates to a quicker and more efficient method for addressing any customer feedback, whether positive or negative. Posts from multiple social channels are aggregated in one place, meaning you\u2019ll be better equipped to keep on top of what\u2019s going on with customers, leads, and the public at large in real-time.<\/p>\n Read the in-depth article on Social CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Sprout<\/a>\u00a0is a social media management suite that helps foster empathetic, real interactions with customers and leads.<\/p>\n Its\u00a0cross-channel aggregated social media feed powers a holistic platform designed to tackle all the\u00a0needs under the sun, from social marketing to customer care, reputation management, and analytics. Social listening tools help you manage your brand in real-time and analyze social data for relevant marketing insights.<\/p>\n The software\u2019s auto-scheduling feature lets you queue up posts across all social channels, and to do so from many different accounts with ease. The discovery tab helps you find influencers, discover the best people to follow or unfollow, and see who\u2019s reacted to\u2014or interacted with\u2014your company or mentioned your brand.<\/p>\n Nimble<\/a>\u00a0is designed for use with Google Apps and the Microsoft family of programs. It also integrates with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, AngelList, Foursquare, and Google+.<\/p>\n The social CRM is highly useful for generating leads and segmenting contacts, as well as tracking your cross-channel communications history.<\/p>\n The platform automatically finds and links social accounts of leads and customers, using this data to generate detailed, singular contact profiles on the platform. Its smart search feature lets you sort contacts by connectivity status or following\/followers stats.<\/p>\n Zoho Social<\/a>\u00a0focuses on\u00a0new\u00a0lead acquisition, mainly across Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. It lets the user trawl social media to find potential customers, manually select those deemed likely to convert and brings their contact information into the main Zoho CRM platform to begin the sales process.<\/p>\n The software provides for the managing of multiple brands in one place, a big plus if you\u2019re working in an agency environment. It also has an automated function to add new leads based on custom-defined triggers.<\/p>\n By setting specific criteria, such as age demographic, \u2018Likes\u2019, or shopping habits, you can quickly generate an impressive number of high-quality leads.<\/p>\n Salesforce<\/a>\u00a0is a pioneer in CRM and related SaaS tools. In recent years, they\u2019ve embraced\u00a0AI\u00a0as part of their customer solutions toolkit.<\/p>\n When it comes to social media, Salesforce\u2019s AI helps social feeds to identify leads and put them in touch with reps. It covers the usual social CRM features, like \u2018listening\u2019 for your product and service being mentioned across channels, letting you respond quickly to engagement, and organizing\u00a0posts and analytics.<\/p>\n Marketing and sales features are bundled separately from customer service.\u00a0Social Studio\u00a0comprises social media sales and marketing, and\u00a0Social Customer Service\u00a0covers the customer specifics. Fortunately, it\u2019s pretty straightforward to navigate between both platforms and share information.<\/p>\n Salesforce\u2019s integrated\u00a0Einstein AI\u00a0includes, among many other features, an image classification tool which can identify logos, food, objects, and scenery shared in social images to develop metrics on the contexts in which a product is being used. Suffice to say this opens up a myriad of new possibilities for deep social listening and plotting marketing strategy.<\/p>\n The platform has quite a few\u00a0pricing plans\u00a0depending on package and business type and\u00a0nonprofits\u00a0enjoy special discounts.<\/p>\n Hootsuite<\/a>\u00a0is a souped-up social network management platform. It should be noted up front that it\u2019s \u2018not really\u2019 a CRM per se, as evidenced by its lack of sales pipeline features.<\/p>\n It does have great scheduling tools and the all-in-one social dashboard going for it, not to mention very useful analytics\u00a0for measuring the success of your content.<\/p>\n The platform offers a slew of integrations with platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, WordPress, Instagram, Youtube, and Pinterest.<\/p>\n Your Hootsuite dashboard can be customized and made more CRM-ready with app extensions that link it to Nimble, Microsoft Dynamics, Salesforce, and more. You can find these extensions and more on the Hootsuite\u00a0app directory.<\/p>\n Pricing\u00a0starts from $29 per month.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The days of the 9-5 desk jockey are quickly being numbered. Meanwhile,\u00a0over half of all internet traffic is routed through mobile devices<\/a>. For an agile workforce on a flexible schedule and often on-the-move, investing in a mobile CRM is a wise choice indeed.<\/p>\n Mobile CRMs\u00a0perform more-or-less the same functions as traditional CRMs, but they\u2019re accessible from (surprise, surprise) tablets and smartphones, and thus re-formulated for smaller screens running iOS or Android. The best of the bunch take advantage of the format, offering intuitive user interfaces and powerful analytics and communications tools.<\/p>\n Ideally, a mobile CRM platform will allow you to access most, if not all, the information that the web app provides. It will also allow you to input new data on-the-fly.<\/p>\n For sales reps, having the ability to quickly take calls from customers and leads out-of-office\u2014 aided by in-app contact history and product information\u2014is huge. For everyone else in your business, having access to all your information any time, anywhere is super useful for every department\u2014from marketing and customer support to intra-team collaboration.<\/p>\n It should be noted that there is a unique security risk inherent in using a mobile CRM. If you\u2019ve ever had your phone slip out of your pocket on a busy subway car, you know that it\u2019s a lot easier to lose a smartphone than a laptop. With that in mind, you\u2019ll want to ensure that you choose a mobile CRM backed with security features like two-factor authentication and\/or VPN requirements.<\/p>\n Read the in-depth\u00a0article Mobile CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Copper\u2019s mobile app<\/a>\u00a0is designed to seamlessly integrate with all your G Suite apps. It\u2019s focused on simplicity but manages to mirror the look and feel of their web app.<\/p>\n Some key features include a visually oriented sales pipeline to manage leads through the qualification process, one-tap access to contacts via email, voice, and text, and the ability to log notes in-app with the aid of accurate voice transcription.<\/p>\n It also has a very handy @mention function for communicating and sending alerts to other team members on-the-fly.<\/p>\n Haystack<\/a>\u00a0offers a clean, straightforward mobile CRM with a well designed heads-up dashboard. Wherever you are, you\u2019ll be able to view sales metrics, generate quotes, track emails and prospects in your sales pipeline, and manage contacts.<\/p>\n Calendar sync ensures that CRM data on events, task assignments, and deadlines are automatically shared to your phone so you receive alerts.<\/p>\n Haystack\u2019s CRM product is geared at small businesses and those with a side hustle. With that in mind, they offer the solo entrepreneur a trial version of their services, albeit with some limitations versus their paid products.<\/p>\n Salesbox<\/a>\u00a0offers\u00a0a mobile\u00a0CRM focused on sales acceleration. Rather than wasting time on admin, sales agents are empowered to use their gut instincts and react to opportunities as they present themselves, with automation backing their play and putting everything in its right place (as well as generating higher quality data). GPS features allow you to accurately track sales metrics geographically and find useful pinpointed patterns for sales and marketing forecasting.<\/p>\n As an added bonus, iOS users can use the software with help from Siri.<\/p>\n Pipeliner<\/a>\u00a0offers a\u00a0mobile version\u00a0(iOS and Android-ready) with a professional look and\u00a0feel, and boasts some extra features that aren\u2019t included in their desktop version, namely integration with phone, email and camera apps.<\/p>\n That means you can not only run multiple sales pipelines and workflows on-the-go but also engage customers one-on-one. Information syncs smoothly with the desktop app, helping you deliver more productivity.<\/p>\n Keep your salespeople away from data entry and on the hunt, where they can thrive. Plans\u00a0start at $25 per month.<\/p>\n Zoho<\/a>\u00a0has a ton of apps under its brand but is maybe best known for its CRM and specifically\u00a0their mobile app.<\/p>\n Access all your deals and notes, @mention teammates to collaborate while you\u2019re out and about and geotag your locations for meet-ups with customers to better manage time and schedule. Design-wise, it\u2019s also pretty aesthetically pleasing, so there\u2019s that.<\/p>\n Price wise, there\u2019s a trial version for up to three users. Paid versions\u00a0range from $12 to $100 per user per month.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Most CRMs are proprietary. That is to say, they\u2019re a boxed-up, finalized product that just works. No hiring of in-house developers required.<\/p>\n Open source\u00a0Software,\u00a0by contrast, are platforms for which the source code is available to the public. It\u2019s expected that you\u2019ll want to take the existent product and recalibrate it to meet your specific workflow needs.<\/p>\n Most of the time, the platform\u2019s open-source code is already very well developed, and customization solutions have been streamlined for speed and ease. Everything is set up to be further developed by users.<\/p>\n This type of\u00a0CRM thus offers advantages in scalability and flexibility, letting you create new custom features and integrations as they become necessary to your business. You can also proceed without fear of vendor restrictions.<\/p>\n Depending on your skill set and what you want to achieve with a CRM, an open source platform may or may not be better than a closed source one.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re running a niche business and looking for very specific features, an open source software\u00a0could be just what the doctor ordered. Ditto if you find appeal in the open source movement, with its sense of reciprocal community and freedom to innovate.<\/p>\n Then again, you may feel that open source development is too much of a deep-dive down the rabbit hole. If your business operates within an already well-defined market, needs more complex tools, and demands highly responsive product support, it might be best to go with a full stack, proprietary tool after all.<\/p>\n Read the in-depth article on Open Source CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n OroCRM<\/a>\u00a0has a reputation as being the most flexible open-source software in its category. It\u2019s based on the Symfony2 PHP framework for web development, which is widely used and well-liked. That means that lots of open source developers find it easy to understand Oro\u2019s code and create new customizations, making it relatively effortless, not to mention cost-effective, to modify the platform to your needs.<\/p>\n Integrations with Zendesk, MailChimp, and many other well-liked apps round out the package.<\/p>\n Odoo<\/a>\u00a0is all about \u2018extensible architecture\u2019\u2014in other words, a modular design that lets you mix and match different features. Over the years, freelance open source developers in the Odoo community have built a bunch of modules for free and some for purchase.<\/p>\n You can shop around to see if there\u2019s an existing no-cost solution for your business, buy the right one for the best price, or hire someone to build what you need.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re running your working life with Microsoft products, there\u2019s always\u00a0SplendidCRM<\/a>. The developers behind Splendid deduced that Microsoft\u2019s own CRM,\u00a0Microsoft Dynamics, can come off as somewhat complex and daunting.<\/p>\n SplendidCRM believes Windows and Android people deserve as clean and straightforward a CRM experience as Mac\/iOS users, so they built a platform that delivered just that. SplendidCRM offers robust integrations (Microsoft Office 365, Google Apps, Facebook, etc) and well-rounded features spanning workflow, contact, and product management.<\/p>\n The CRM is available as\u00a0a free Community Edition and in three paid versions\u00a0(Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate).<\/p>\n VTiger CRM Open Source<\/a>\u00a0does all the CRM things you know and love, helping you run marketing campaigns, keep track of leads, customers, opportunities, the sales cycle, and daily workflows. A\u00a0Gmail extension\u00a0lets you reference CRM data and info while emailing.<\/p>\n To get vTiger up and running and implement it successfully, you\u2019ll be needing a hosting account and someone with some technical skills. As you scale up your app usage, you\u2019ll likely want to check out the\u00a0marketplace\u00a0for add-ons.<\/p>\n With a low learning curve and easy set-up,\u00a0SuiteCRM<\/a>\u00a0is probably one of the most approachable open source systems around. It handles sales, service, and marketing, with custom module, layout, and relationship development tools\u00a0that will definitely please your IT department.<\/p>\n SuiteCRM offers Google Calendar sync and\u00a0Elasticsearch<\/a>\u00a0integration for quicker, more scalable text searches across your data.<\/p>\n Modular customizability and add-ons mean you can use it for all manner of applications. It also works on any platform: Windows, OS\/X, Ubuntu, Android, iOS\u2014you name it.<\/p>\n Gamified and intuitive,\u00a0Zurmo<\/a>\u00a0is easy to use and modify, manages contacts and amicably takes on sales pipeline and reporting features. Marketing and sales force automation cut down your manual input.<\/p>\n It\u2019s good for on-the-go situations with iOS and Android versions, and runs on the cloud or your own proprietary cloud, as you like. Points, badges, and experience points offer a healthy level of competitive motivation for your team.<\/p>\n You may also be pleased to note the developer also holds on to some lofty social goals of\u00a0community, diversity, and inclusivity.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In a perfect world, all CRMs would be free. Of course, the vagaries of business preclude that utopian reality. Still, there\u00a0are<\/em>\u00a0free platforms out there, and one of them may just be good enough\u2014or at least a good starting point\u2014for your business needs.<\/p>\n A\u00a0free CRM<\/a>\u00a0affords you the opportunity to try out new tools without making any initial investment.<\/p>\n You can determine a given platform\u2019s value for your business without the time and money commitment; learn new features for no money down; and become savvier about what kind of workflow, collaboration, and analytics tools you\u2019ll need going forward.<\/p>\n This is all super helpful if you\u2019re a startup or small business on a lean budget.<\/p>\n Of course, we all know nothing is \u2018really\u2019 free, so there are limitations.<\/p>\n Free platforms often have a cap on the number of users you can add, the number of contacts you can import and\/or keep records of, and a ceiling for cloud storage space.<\/p>\n They also generally don\u2019t have the same full-fledged, high-powered features of professional and enterprise paid products (say in terms of analytics, AI, advanced automation, round-the-clock customer support, and so on).<\/p>\n Read the in-depth article Free CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n HubSpot\u00a0offers a free version\u00a0of its CRM, and it\u2019s a pretty full plate when it comes to features. It allows core CRM functionality and lets you import up to 1 million contacts. You can also add unlimited team members.<\/p>\n Given that HubSpot is such a huge operation, they provide a wealth of training videos to get you up to speed on various features. Their personalized customer service, meanwhile, can help you with setup, troubleshooting, and whatever else really.<\/p>\n One downside is that the free version only lets you share one contact at a time, rather than your entire contact list, which can be a bit of a drag. This is a minor gripe, however, given the immensity of features you gain for $0.<\/p>\n Insightly<\/a>\u00a0offers a trial version for one or two people. If you\u2019re a freelancer, starting a business solo, or in cahoots with a partner, that might be enough.<\/p>\n The software is mainly targeted at small and midsize businesses and makes it easy to manage contacts, organizations, and opportunities (aka sales leads), as well as delegate tasks with handy to-do lists. It\u2019s pretty straightforward to learn how to use, especially thanks to a comprehensive range of well-made, official video tutorials.<\/p>\n Insightly integrates efficiently with G Suite and Microsoft 365 apps. Apart from the main web version, it\u2019s also available as a mobile app for both Android and iOS.<\/p>\n The trial version doesn\u2019t offer a data backup system and caps your number of daily mass emails, as well as custom fields in each record. It also lacks the more advanced lead assignment tools found in paid versions.<\/p>\n Freshsales<\/a>\u00a0is the CRM tool from Freshworks 360, a full-fledged customer engagement suite. The first 30 days of the trial version lets you maintain unlimited leads, deals, and contacts.<\/p>\n The platform\u2019s lead scoring assigns a value from 0 to 100 for each and every lead you have. You can customize the criteria for evaluation (ex. industry, job title\u2026) so that you work only the most promising cases. Likewise, you can set up custom \u2018sort\u2019 categories for organizing all other kinds of data.<\/p>\n Freshsales also features a robust built-in phone module with auto-dialing, call recording, and call routing features.<\/p>\n After 30 days the full-stack freebie version shrinks down into the more Spartan featured Sprout plan, which is capped at 10 users 10,000 records.<\/p>\n Streak<\/a>\u2019s platform is one of the only fully integrated Gmail CRMs. It lives inside your Gmail inbox and includes all the G Suite apps too.<\/p>\n The app simplifies the CRM adoption process for brand new or super lean startups during the early days and lets anyone that already uses Gmail get up and running immediately.<\/p>\n Emails are automatically grouped together according to common tasks and added to a pipeline. Data sharing among team members is automatic, letting you easily reference email and phone call logs. When someone opens an email you sent, you\u2019ll get a notification.<\/p>\n The\u00a0trial version\u00a0of Streak is primarily for personal use and includes the basic CRM tools as well as the full email power tools. One can also create an unlimited amount of pipelines.<\/p>\n Really Simple Systems<\/a>\u00a0(aka. RSS) doesn\u2018t shy away from touting their marketing automation, sales and service platform as simple.<\/p>\n They offer paid-for versions, but their\u00a0free option\u00a0is so much more than just a temporary trial offer. It covers tiny teams of up to two users, so incubating startups and solo entrepreneurial ventures can have a CRM without eating costs early on.<\/p>\n The\u00a0trial version\u00a0allows for unlimited contacts and up to 100 MBs of document storage. It includes core features like\u00a0sales automation\u00a0and customer service, as well as\u00a0contact\u00a0and\u00a0lead\u00a0management tools and which aims to keep on the ball with sales, suppliers, and everyone else.<\/p>\n For small businesses in the B2B game, RSS is a great choice for entering the CRM scene.<\/p>\n Bitrix24<\/a>\u00a0puts communication and collaboration front and center.<\/p>\n The cloud version of Bitrix24 can be had\u00a0for free, and it supports a whopping 12 users and 5 GB of storage. The paid plans don\u2019t differ so much in features from the freebie, but they offer larger scale uses of the same features and improved storage.<\/p>\n The platform\u2019s\u00a0communications\u00a0toolkit includes complete phone, chat, email, and video features. Task management is divided into\u00a0group task\u00a0features, which helps plan and assign tasks, as well as timing them for future planning. Then there\u2019s\u00a0project management, which utilizes devices like calendars and Kanbans in highly pleasing visuals.<\/p>\n The Bitrix24\u00a0CRM\u00a0covers the gamut of pipeline management from engagement to sales to reporting. Setting\u00a0quotes\u00a0for clients and arranging invoices is facilitated with various currency and tax metrics which come as a fixture to their product catalog feature. \u00a0<\/p>\n Bitrix24 is a winner for the generous scale of their free version. Also, points to their clean aesthetics, which makes using it that much more pleasurable.<\/p>\n Apptivo\u00a0offers their\u00a0starter version<\/a>\u00a0for free, and it\u2019s a solid bet for a tiny team of three users, with 500 MBs of storage offered.<\/p>\n The trial version doesn\u2019t support third-party integrations. Otherwise, you do get the core standard tools from their full kit.<\/p>\n With Apptivo, there are plenty of features available with their trial version and what\u2019s great is how well they all work together. These take the form of various Apptivo-branded apps.<\/p>\n The\u00a0contact app, for example, helps populate contact and lead info by importing data from the emails and website, and cuts manual data entry.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also a suite of\u00a0project management\u00a0apps that help you organize the workload for both individual\u00a0employees\u00a0as well as for\u00a0teams. When it comes to customer service, there\u2019s a\u00a0cases app\u00a0that will automate customer issues.<\/p>\n Airtable<\/a>\u00a0is lightweight software (full disclaimer: it\u2019s not a CRM per se) with a mobile-friendly option and pleasing, breezing aesthetics. That said, there isn\u2019t anything superficial about Airtable\u2014users can fiddle with the design to sort data to great effect, with the added benefit of massive customization.<\/p>\n The app is also more than just dragging, dropping and color sorting. It also incorporates photos and other attachments, with the\u00a0free version\u00a0offering users 2 GB of storage. The workflow management database also allows users to link and interpret data from different sets fast. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n CRMs\u00a0can improve your marketing campaigns with powerful analytics and collaborative tools for visibility across your team. Analytical tools can find meaningful patterns for actionable insights, letting you run effective, targeted ads through marketing automation.<\/p>\n Analytical tools can help turn a lead into a customer, predicting shopping habits and determining how likely a person is to buy something again. That can prove invaluable for future marketing decisions and financial forecasting.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also gain visibility on opportunities you wouldn\u2019t have noticed otherwise. That can influence and improve your marketing, strategy, and improve your sales forecasting.<\/p>\n Marketing automation cuts down work for your sales team, helps you retain customers, and grows sales. Supported by data, your business operations are coaxed towards best practice.<\/p>\n CRM website integration allows you to develop a more accurate portrait of customer and lead behavior.<\/p>\n Your CRM will automatically update data and metrics, ensuring you have a complete, reliable portrait of your business. Analytic tools can offer insights on user interface and help you improve customer experience, increasing your bottom line.<\/p>\n Read the in-depth article on Analytical CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Hubspot\u2019s CRM (free for up to 2 people) integrates analytics and reporting metrics across its dashboards. Meanwhile, HubSpot\u2019s all-in-one\u00a0Marketing Hub\u00a0beefs these features up considerably with advanced\u00a0marketing analytics.<\/p>\n HubSpot Marketing Hub is designed to help improve all aspects of the marketing funnel, from lead acquisition to deal won. The marketing analytics dashboard works by trawling data from third-party databases and your CRM to find and interpret key metrics and generate reports.<\/p>\n Track trends over time, whether that be company-wide aggregate data or individual contact histories. Website analytics tools allow you to interpret which metrics are driving traffic and direct marketing campaigns accordingly.<\/p>\n HubSpot\u2019s free version of Marketing Hub will provide you traffic and conversions analytics, but if you\u2019re looking for advanced analytics, there\u2019s a big price rise at the\u00a0Professional level\u00a0(we\u2019re talking from $0 to the triple digits).<\/p>\n Zoho also offers a dedicated tool for analytics. It\u2019s called\u00a0Zoho Analytics<\/a>\u00a0(surprise, surprise), and it\u2019s designed to seamlessly integrate with Zoho CRM.<\/p>\n This tool lets you aggregate information from a wide range of sources like apps, cloud storage, web feeds, and databases, which you can then turn into dynamic reports on sales funnel to win\/loss, and so much more.<\/p>\n Zoho offers a trial version of Analytics for up to 2 people with a lot of limitations,\u00a0like\u00a0a low cap on how many rows of data you can save (just 10,000) and few app integrations.<\/p>\n Your best option is the\u00a0Zoho Analytics\u2019 Basic package\u00a0($22.50 per month, billed annually), required for analytics to integrate seamlessly with Zoho CRM. Standard, Premium, and Enterprise versions offer ascending levels of data storage capacity, number of users, customizability options, and more app integrations.<\/p>\n Grow\u00a0provides business intelligence solutions for small and scaling businesses. deep data-diving\u00a0accessible to virtually anyone<\/a>. Their M.O. is all about clearly defining and then unifying data, metrics, and analytics to produce clear visualizations and smart predictions.<\/p>\n The platform applies \u201ctransforms\u201d to datasets, meaning it takes raw data and applies transformational actions like sorting, filtering, and grouping, as well as summing and making ratioed comparisons. Then there\u2019s the\u00a0Smart Builder<\/a>\u00a0dashboard, which takes and separates data and charts and then, using business intelligence, arranges and charts information.<\/p>\n Social media,\u00a0Google Analytics, and sales platform (ex. Salesforce) integrations expand the scope of data collection. CRM integrations with Zoho, Pipedrive, and many others ensure business information from all over can be transmogrified into data-driven intelligence.<\/p>\n Grow is available starting at\u00a0$29 a month (billed annually). You can also\u00a0request a 14-day free trial.<\/p>\n Mixpanel\u2019s user analytics tools are\u00a0based around a simple principle<\/a>: if you can figure out the behavior of visitors, leads, and customers, you\u2019ll make smarter, better business decisions.<\/p>\n Mixpanel changes the web page analysis game by emphasizing customer engagement above all else, as opposed to the usual fixation on page views. It\u2019s less about volume metrics and more about refining user experience, and in doing so develop better, more sustainable conversions founded on detailed, data-driven insights.<\/p>\n By showing you what actions people take and what features they like best, Mixpanel helps you focus on your strengths and refine your offering.\u00a0Integrations\u00a0with Zendesk, Salesforce, Zoho, and a host of other CRMs ensure MixPanel can slot into your existing workflow.<\/p>\n Mixpanel offers a\u00a0free \u2018core analytics\u2019 version\u00a0with the usual storage limitations. The full-featured version costs $999 a year.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Operational customer relationship management software is the most common variety. Truth be told, \u201coperational\u201d really is a catch-all term, and there\u2019s a lot of differences across CRMs in this category.<\/p>\n Generally speaking, it just means software that focuses on streamlining customer interactions with sales, marketing, and service automation.<\/p>\n The idea is to generate leads, then convert them into customers and contacts.<\/p>\n Read the in-depth article Operational CRM<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Salesforce\u00a0has a CRM with a lot of powerful features, comprising the full operational suite of sales forecasting, reporting, automating tasks, and collecting and documenting sales leads. Calibrated to fine-tune daily operations and reduce effort and expenses, the platform offers iterative improvements to all your business needs.<\/p>\n AI\u00a0and\u00a0Einstein analytics<\/a>\u00a0predict and interpret data according to your specific business operations.<\/p>\n The new\u00a0Lightning\u00a0platform is\u00a0real\u00a0fast, and it’s component-based, drag-and-drop user interface takes customization to the outer limits.<\/p>\n Salesforce is probably going to take a bit of time to learn, but there\u2019s a free online training center called\u00a0Trailhead\u00a0that is very helpful and approachable.<\/p>\n Salesforce prices their CRM\u00a0from $25.<\/p>\n Propeller CRM\u00a0allows you to put an operational CRM into your inbox with\u00a0Gmail integration<\/a>\u00a0(in the form of a Chrome Extension).<\/p>\n It\u2019s built to manage daily operations, automate marketing, manage your sales funnel\u2014just like a good\u00a0ol\u2019 operational CRM should do. On the collaborative front, the platform\u2019s team-based features are broad and bountiful, and include an overview of your sales activity, tracking tasks and processes, and assigning follow-ups.<\/p>\n Zapier integration connects Propeller to 1,000+ other useful apps. A full-fledged REST API lets you instantly send data wherever it need\u00a0go.<\/p>\n Propeller comes in a one-size-fits-all offering of\u00a0$35 (all features included).<\/p>\n Less Annoying CRM<\/a>\u00a0targets small enterprises who have had trouble implementing operational CRM. Consequently, they provide basic features at a low price point with only the slightest of learning curves.<\/p>\n The software\u2019s user interface is minimal and functional, with no room for nonsense. All the lead tracking, collaboration tools, and follow-up reminder features you\u2019d need are there, as well as basic reporting.<\/p>\n Pricing is likewise quite straightforward. Less Annoying CRM offers a 30-day free trial, after which time you\u2019re looking at a cost of\u00a0$10.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that the changing nature of work has altered the landscape of CRM software.<\/p>\n There\u2019s an increasing number of platforms with non-linear, non-sales funnel oriented applications. They handle everything from personal organization to brainstorming ideas and contact management.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Nontraditional CRMs are gaining ground by catering to needs\u00a0niche\u00a0and holistic alike. That includes everything from nurturing collaboration across your team to managing freelance contracts, streamlining workflow, and sparking inspiration.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Airtable<\/a>\u00a0is an all-in-one collaboration platform that fulfills basic CRM features but is based on flexible spreadsheet functionality. It synchronizes workflow and has a range of analytic, organizational, and communications features.<\/p>\n The software puts a premium on creativity and personalization. Layout and workflow can be endlessly tweaked and customized. Instead of just text and numbers, tables can be filled with lists, photos, and more.<\/p>\n At Tesla, Airtable is the primary engine for identifying and tracking vehicles leaving its factories. News magazine\u00a0Time<\/em>\u00a0uses it to organize all of its production schedules.<\/p>\n Radar<\/a>, a \u2018contact relationship management\u2019 platform, was developed by a team with a creative agency background. It\u2019s designed for businesses where talent morphs from project-to-project, providing a single space for organizing specialist freelance workers.<\/p>\n Radar emphasizes network-sharing across your business. It has a lot of potential applications, from managing freelancers to running a music label to handling photo shoots, film productions, and building up model agency rosters.<\/p>\n Dazed, for example, is currently using Radar for production\u2014handling hiring and coordination of stylists, makeup artists, and art directors. Vice has two different Radar accounts, one for production and another for influencers they work with for brand partnerships.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s\u00a0Milanote<\/a>, which comes off as something like a cross between a mood board and a project management tool. Visually oriented and adaptable, it\u2019s designed to appeal specifically to creatives.<\/p>\n In\u00a0Milanote\u00a0you put notes, images, tasks, files, and messages onto one platform to connect ideas. Collaborate and share ideas in-app, bridging individual initiative with team critique and insights.<\/p>\n While\u00a0Milanote\u00a0isn\u2019t a CRM, it does offer super-minimalist CRM-like capabilities in the form of workflow templates. The simple sales pipeline template, for example, is a basic but effective way of tracking prospects from the lead to deal stage.\u00a0Milanote\u00a0does this in a Kanban-style card-based view, not unlike Trello.<\/p>\nBenefits of CRM\u00a0<\/h2>\n
Improves Customer Service<\/h3>\n
Increase in Sales<\/h3>\n
Retain More Customers<\/h3>\n
Better Analytics<\/h3>\n
Higher Efficiency<\/h3>\n
Better knowledge sharing<\/h3>\n
More transparency<\/h3>\n
How CRM Works<\/h2>\n
The basics of CRM<\/h3>\n
Who Needs CRM?<\/h2>\n
A short history of CRM<\/h2>\n
TYPES OF CRMs<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dq51jve9h21d4.cloudfront.net\/sites\/default\/files\/imce\/xseparator.png.pagespeed.ic.pkw62r6Vlr.png\")
<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/h3>\n
Sales \u2026 for selling<\/h2>\n
Pipedrive<\/h3>\n
Close<\/h3>\n
SugarCRM<\/h3>\n
Dialpad<\/h3>\n
Service<\/h2>\n
Agile<\/h3>\n
Zendesk<\/h3>\n
SugarCRM<\/h3>\n
Marketing<\/h2>\n
HubSpot<\/h3>\n
Drip eCRM<\/h3>\n
Keap – (formerly Infusionsoft)<\/h3>\n
Creatio (previously BPM\u2019Online Marketing)<\/h3>\n
Zendesk Sunshine<\/h3>\n
Mailchimp<\/h3>\n
Small Business<\/h2>\n
Nimble<\/h3>\n
NoCRM.io<\/h3>\n
Copper<\/h3>\n
Capsule<\/h3>\n
Insightly<\/h3>\n
Zoho<\/h3>\n
Pipedrive<\/h3>\n
Freshsales<\/h3>\n
Zendesk Sunshine<\/h3>\n
HubSpot CRM<\/h3>\n
Gmail:\u00a0makes your inbox smarter<\/h2>\n
Streak<\/h3>\n
Capsule<\/h3>\n
Pipedrive<\/h3>\n
Copper<\/h3>\n
Insightly<\/h3>\n
NetHunt<\/h3>\n
Social:\u00a0for social media management<\/h2>\n
Sprout Social<\/h3>\n
Nimble<\/h3>\n
Zoho Social<\/h3>\n
Salesforce<\/h3>\n
Hootsuite<\/h3>\n
Mobile:\u00a0for deal-making on-the-move \u00a0<\/h2>\n
Copper<\/h3>\n
Haystack<\/h3>\n
Salesbox<\/h3>\n
Pipeliner<\/h3>\n
Zoho<\/h3>\n
Open Source: the alternative option\u00a0<\/h2>\n
OroCRM<\/h3>\n
Odoo<\/h3>\n
SplendidCRM<\/h3>\n
vTiger<\/h3>\n
SuiteCRM<\/h3>\n
Zurmo<\/h3>\n
Free: the very cheap option<\/h2>\n
HubSpot CRM<\/h3>\n
Insightly<\/h3>\n
Freshsales<\/h3>\n
Streak<\/h3>\n
Real Simple Systems<\/h3>\n
Bitrix24<\/h3>\n
Apptivo<\/h3>\n
Airtable<\/h3>\n
Analytical<\/h2>\n
HubSpot<\/h3>\n
Zoho Analytics<\/h3>\n
Analytics tools to integrate with your CRM<\/h2>\n
Grow<\/h3>\n
Mixpanel<\/h3>\n
Operational<\/h2>\n
Salesforce<\/h3>\n
Propeller<\/h3>\n
Less Annoying CRM<\/h3>\n
The rise of the nontraditional CRM system<\/h2>\n
Airtable<\/h3>\n
Radar<\/h3>\n
Milanote<\/h3>\n
Followup<\/h3>\n