Nowadays, a CRM software is a must-have for a company that deals with a lot of contacts and thus requires a special software which will keep all the information about them in order. Such software helps to have a clear view on deals and prospecting customers, being able to analyze the data obtained from these programs and having an IT-based approach towards achieving company’s goals. But deciding upon right CRM software for your business is not an easy task.
That’s why we have created this article where we have gathered some of the most popular CRMs available on the market so you could compare them against each other, find out which one suits your needs best and finally choose what
Bigin by Zoho CRM
Benefits:
Bigin is a pipeline-centric CRM from Zoho that is built specifically for small and micro businesses. At $7/user/month, Bigin is the most affordable CRM system in the market.
Bigin’s makers consciously cut down on features that most small businesses will never actually use. Owing to which, Bigin stays minimal and intuitive throughout. Having said that, Bigin does offer all the essential features such as built-in telephony and email, multiple pipelines, workflow automation, activity management, and a fully-customizable dashboard to track key business metrics.
The multiple pipelines in Bigin let you customize each stage in your pipeline for different business operations. With a clear pipeline view, you can always keep track of open deals by stage and easily filter contact and company information. Bigin also carries the same pipeline view to their mobile apps, something the competition heavily lacks.
Bigin integrates with Google Workspace (Formerly G Suite), Microsoft Office 365, Mailchimp, Zapier and a host of other popular Zoho apps including Zoho Desk, Zoho Campaigns, and Zoho Forms. The mobile apps for iOS and Android are rated well and their macOS app was recently featured by Apple on the AppStore.
Drawbacks:
As businesses grow, their requirements become more complex, which might force them to look at higher editions of Zoho CRM (Starting at $12/user/month), which offers a fully-featured CRM that is customizable for businesses of all sizes and types.
Pricing:
Express edition:
- $7/user/month, when billed annually
- $9/user/month, when billed monthly.
Free edition: If you work just by yourself, Bigin has a free edition that should help you satisfy your basic CRM needs.
Bigin offers a 15-day free trial for new users. You can sign up without entering your credit card information.
InfoFlo
Benefits:
This is a CRM that goes the extra mile for Microsoft Outlook integrations. It has highly-detailed customer management with custom fields, for more 360-degree contact views. There is a great set of telephony tools including SMS integration and full VoIP. With InfoFlo, you can choose whether it runs on the cloud or on-premise for added data security. Lastly, there is very competitive pricing if you go for the desktop version.
Drawbacks:
InfoFlo does have a ton of useful tools. One drawback, though, is you should be prepared to put in the time mastering them all. Regarding subscription downsides, the cloud requires a minimum of 3 users which is not great for companies that only need 1 or 2 users.
Pricing:
- Cloud Starter is $30 per user per month, 3 users minimum
- Cloud Advanced is $35 per user per month, 3 users minimum
- On Premise is $99 per user
All plans are basic with the option to select add-ons. For example, the Cloud Starter gets you 3 add-ons, while the Cloud Advanced gets you 5 add-ons. Additional add-ons can be purchased.
Really Simple Systems CRM
Really Simple CRM used to be just that: simple. But the software has grown and now includes a range of sophisticated CRM tools.
Really Simple Systems has a set of features for the standard three departments: marketing, sales and service. Marketing gets you lead management and campaign management. There’s also email marketing and automation. Sales tools include contact and pipeline management. It also does tasks, calendars and sales forecasting. Customer service has case management, SLAs and case reports.
Really Simple Systems has a free plan. For premium plans, the cost per user starts at $14 per month billed annually.
Really Simple Systems CRM is best for:
- Individual users
- Startups
- Small teams
- SMBs
- CRM tools
- Task management
Drip
Drip is the leading eCommerce CRM, but it’s also a great CRM for small business. It’s powerful, has a beautiful interface, and is very easy to use for any business.
This CRM makes it easy to build automation workflows and email campaigns. You even have the choice of building your email with a visual builder or text builder. And either option is really easy.
Drip also offers easy list segmentation, conversion tracking, content customization, purchase intent marketing, and much more. With tags, events, and custom fields you can learn and track everything you need about your customers’ stories.
This makes it an excellent customer database software that helps you manage your contacts in a profitable way.
It’s designed to increase your bottom line and help you generate leads, manage contacts, and turn them into lifelong customers.
Drip is loaded with features including marketing automation, advanced contact management, actionable reports, email campaigns, one-on-one conversations, eCommerce user tracking, and more.
You can easily integrate Drip with all of the best 3rd-party services like email services, lead generation software, WooCommerce, Shopify, and many more. There are even workflows for Facebook and Instagram lead generation.
Features:
- Marketing automation workflows
- Advanced contact management using tags, custom fields, and events
- Native integrations with popular 3rd-party services
- Actionable reports
- Easy email list segmentation
- Content customization
- eCommerce user tracking
- Custom conversion tracking
- Purchase intent marketing
- Automatic revenue attribution
Pricing:
Plans start at $49/month for up to 2500 active contacts, unlimited email sends, and 24/7 chat & email support. You can try Drip free for 14 days.
Salesforce
SalesForce is perhaps one of the biggest and most widely used CRM software on the market. Luckily for smaller business, SalesForce offers a basic edition called Lightning Essentials. This package provides the user with an advanced contact manager that includes email integration and follow-up reminders. It also includes a lot of options for integration and customisation.
Pricing: Lightning Essentials package ($25/month/user), Lightning Professional ($75/month/user), and more.
Website: www.salesforce.com
Hubspot
HubSpot offers a completely free version of its CRM software that is rather popular among small businesses. The software includes all of the basic features provided by CRM software, allowing you keep track of your company’s activities, including contacts and company profiles, assigning & tracking deals, and managing all of that data in a detailed dashboard (visible to all team members). Already a HubSpot Sales user? Then you can also use this CRM software to boost your inbound sales. Not to mention, HubSpot offers several integration options with popular apps like SalesForce, Shopify and Microsoft Dynamics.
Pricing: Free of costs or upgrade to paid version (starting at 41 EUR / month).
Website: www.hubspot.com
Salesmate CRM
With Salesmate CRM you can speed up the sales processes and offer customers a personalised experience. Manage your contacts effectively and keep track of all related sales activities. This tool is also perfect for sending out email campaigns and you’ll know what happens to your emails once you hit send. As a Small Business you appreciate flexibility and scalability and Salesmate understands these needs. Some unique features within this CRM software include: Prospect & Lead Engagement, Sales Pipeline & Activity Tracking, Sales Automation & Sequences and more.
Pricing: Starts at $12/user/month.
Website: www.salesmate.io
Salesflare
If you hate filling out a CRM and want one that actively helps you sell, Salesflare is a good choice for you. It automatically pulls up all the info you need and automatically keeps itself up to date.
Salesflare is built specifically for small and medium-sized businesses who sell B2B. And while it may look simple, it still packs a lot of power. You can even use it to send personal email sequences at scale
Pricing: $30/user/month
Website: www.salesflare.com
Agile CRM
Agile CRM is a CRM software offers a lot of those big business features like custom appointments, drag-and-drop marketing automation and reports via email. This software also supports widgets, a large library of plugins, API-powered integrations and more. The free version, however, is quite limited in terms of features offered.
Pricing: Free for up to 10 users, or choose the Starter package ($14.99/user/month).
Website: www.agilecrm.com
Sendinblue
Sendinblue is a powerful email marketing service that has all the features you need to serve as a complete CRM, too.
Sendinblue is a great option for any size business, because you can get started for free and then upgrade as your business grows. They offer reliable email delivery, email marketing, automations, transactional emails for eCommerce, smart segmentation, and more.
Unlike many other CRMs, they also have SMS marketing and chat. SMS marketing is a powerful tactic that can instantly boost sales and engagement. Their live chat solution allows you to connect with customers and leads in real time.
Sendinblue comes with a top-tier support team and detailed documentation so it’s easy to get started.
Features:
- Easy segmentation and personalization
- Powerful marketing automation tools
- Transactional emails with reliable delivery
- Landing page and signup form builder
- Easy Facebook ads and retargeting
- Detailed and actionable analytics
- Automatic send time optimization
- A/B testing
- SMS and Chat marketing tools
Pricing:
Get started for free! Click here to try Sendinblue free today.
Constant Contact
Constant Contact is a wildly popular email marketing service, but you can also use it as a CRM. It’s great for small businesses, with a simple and easy-to-use dashboard, marketing automation, reporting, sales funnels, and a useful drag and drop tool for creating emails.
You can also store contacts, manage customer information and add 3rd-party integrations (including eCommerce integrations) from Constant Contact’s huge marketplace. The number of integrations makes it easy to build just the right platform for your business.
Features:
- Email scheduling
- Easy list segmentation and list cleaning
- Marketing automation to make lead nurturing a breeze
- Drag and drop builder to easily create stunning emails
- 100+ email templates
- Easy integration with eCommerce platforms
- Run Facebook and Instagram ads to grow your email list
Pricing:
Plans start at $20/month for the Email plan, but you’ll want to go for Email Plus (starting at $45) to get all the features that will make this a an easy CRM software option.
Salesflare
Salesflare is another popular CRM that you might want to consider, and their tagline says it all: less work, more sales.
That’s because Salesflare is a CRM that allows you to connect with customers–not to mention all of your favorite marketing tools. You can get started in just a few clicks, and generate more sales even if you have little data starting out.
This software gathers your leads’ contact information from social profiles, email signatures, and other public sources. Plus, all of your meetings and phone calls are automatically logged, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting tedious data entries.
Features
- Contact information is gathered and automatically updated from public sources
- Meetings and calls are recorded and filed to keep you organized
- Files exchanged with customers are automatically sorted and tracked
- Sales opportunities are placed in an easy-to-read dashboard
- Notifications are sent telling you who messaged you and from which channel
- To-do lists are automatically generated to help you stay productive
Pricing
Plans start at $29/month when billed annually. From there, pricing jumps to $49/month for the Pro plan and $99/month for the Enterprise plan.
Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a ridiculously user-friendly CRM software that’s designed to be simple and fast. Using their pipeline management feature you get an overview of your entire sales process and can stay in control of it the whole way.
In addition to pipeline management with a clear, visual interface, you’ll also get email integration, sales reporting and forecasting, and mobile apps so you can access your CRM from anywhere.
Pipedrive doesn’t offer any segmentation, but it’s simple enough to make identifying leads and maintaining relationships really easy.
Features:
- Mobile alerts and email reminders
- Easy integration with Google Apps, Trello, Zapier, and more
- API for easy integration with any software
- Email integrations to keep your sales communication is one place
- Email templates
- iOS and Android mobile apps
- Sales forecasting and trend analysis
- Backups and encryption to keep your data secure
- Drag and drop tasks as customers follow the sales funnel
Pricing:
Plans start at $12.50/month per user (billed annually).
Conclusion
To be able to compete in this highly competitive market, you need to have an excellent customer relationship management or CRM software. It will not only enable you to track your sales pipeline but also assist you in satisfying your customers. However, the problem is that there are so many software out there that it can be confusing as to which one you should opt for.