CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management software. It’s platform-agnostic, which means you can move it to where you want it to be. Whether that’s on your smartphone or in the cloud, it can make its way there. Since CRM is often designed for small businesses, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite CRM software for small businesses.
Are you looking for CRM software to manage your customer relationship? Today, I would like to share the best 5 CRM software with you, which are all free. Once you get and use these CRM tools and find one to your liking, you might want to invest in a full-scale paid upgrade to improve efficiency and advance your business further.
Vtiger (Web, iOS, Android)
Vtiger includes sales, marketing, and help desk features in their all-in-one plan, and also offers a sales-only CRM for those just looking to get their feet wet. It also includes project and inventory management, telephony, social media integration, and internal collaboration. This makes it ideal for small businesses looking for an affordable, do-it-all CRM.
The backbone of Vtiger is the ability to link contacts to opportunities, quotes, cases, projects, and invoices. All of the software’s major functions, called Modules, are accessed from a hamburger-style menu at the top. Clicking on any one will open up only that app to keep things simple and focused. However, from any Module, you can easily create contacts, tasks, opportunities, projects, and other actions.
For example, if you want to create a contact quickly, click the plus icon at the top right, select contact, add a last name, select who it’s assigned to, and pick the contact type. That’s it. You don’t need an email address or even a first name if you’re in a hurry. You can add more info later. There’s also an option to use the full form if you want a more complete record. A few handy features in the contact record are options for do not call, email opt-in/out, SMS opt-in, and referred by.
The marketing app lets you create professional-looking email templates and campaigns. You can segment your contacts based on multiple conditions, such as lead source, engagement score, location, industry and products purchased, plus send autoresponder email campaigns based on triggers such as emails opened and links clicked.
The help desk app provides service case management, live chat, work orders, internal tickets, and real-time performance metrics. Live chat is handled through an integration with Olark, which offers a low-priced and free plan. Cases can be created from email, phone, chat, and social, and linked to contacts with a quick search in the case record. Some options in the case record are priority level, linking products (from the inventory management app), adding billable service, and service level agreement (SLA) info, which you can customize.
Vtiger price: From $30/month/user
Freshworks CRM (Web, iOS, Android)
Some software companies create products with the latest gee-whiz technology but then lose sight of the user experience, making it difficult to set up, navigate, and operate. Freshworks CRM is not one of those companies. Its CRM is designed to allow anyone to jump in and immediately use even its most advanced features.
When you sign up for Freshworks CRM, you’re first given a short tour of the major features (you can opt to skip) and then taken to the activities dashboard. This page includes lots of white space so your first impression is not overwhelming. Here you’ll be prompted to import leads and add tasks and appointments. There’s also an explanation—What’s this page about?—describing the purpose and uses of the page with a link on how to use the dashboard and one for submitting feedback.
On every page, there’s a question mark icon with options for live chat, demo request, feedback, and FAQ. Clicking on FAQ suggests articles for common topics such as leads, contacts, email, tasks, and other settings, and there’s also a search button that instantly displays short explanations for your topic. For more detailed info, you’re given videos and links. During our test, their chat reps were responsive and helpful.
The settings menu displays your options—email, automation, user roles, etc.—with clear explanations of what each setting does and why it’s beneficial. On the left, there are related help articles and videos with detailed instructions. In Pipelines, for example, you’re shown the default pipeline and given the opportunity to revise it or create a new one. And there are seven help articles and a video on various pipeline topics such as “how users can set their preferred pipeline.”
If you’ve exhausted the resources and still need help, there’s phone, email, and chat support included with all accounts.
Freshworks CRM price: Free for unlimited users; from $12/month/user for additional features
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
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
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.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a small business owner using CRM software or not, I can definitely tell you that there are some cool CRM tools every business should take advantage of to help with everyday operations.