The area of CRM systems has been on the rise in recent years. It’s easy to see why. After all, for most businesses customer relationship is as important as it ever was, and new technologies have made it easier to manage and nurture larger pools of customers – both potential, existing and old ones.
Yes, you guessed right, this article is all about CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems. Today, there are loads of them out there. While large companies have the resources to evaluate and integrate the tool that suits their business needs and IT infrastructure (more often than not, they go with their existing IT vendor, e.g. opting for Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM), small and medium-sized businesses are often struggling to find the optimal solution to fit their business needs and wallet size.
For that reason, we chose to evaluate and select what we think are the best CRM systems out there for small and medium-sized companies. But before we get to the actual list, let’s get the basics down.
How Do CRM Systems Work?
Customer Relationship Management systems are ultimately designed to keep track of the customer contact information. CRM systems compile customer data across different points of contact between the customer and the company, including the company’s website, telephone, direct mail and social media.
CRM systems can give customer-facing staff detailed informations on customers’ personal information, purchase history, buying preferences and concerns. This enables the company to do customised, pro-active sales work as well as greatly improve their customer service.
- Recording customer interactions on email, phone, social media etc.
- Automating various processes through tasks, calendars and alerts
- Tracking performance and productivity
Choosing The CRM System That’s Right For You
Now that the inner workings of the CRM systems are known, the next step is to decide which particular program to use. One important thing to remember when choosing the right kind of CRM program is how it interacts with the team itself. Will it impede further interaction with a customer or will it be a way to improve customer relations even more?
Ideally, the latter should be the goal. It is not only about tracking and maintaining contact data. CRM systems were also created to improve marketing strategies and sales. And the best way to do this is to know your customers.
When you know your customers, you understand their needs, what products they will find valuable, how you should communicate with them etc. And a CRM system should basically help you do that.
So, which are the CRM software systems we recommend for small and medium-sized companies? Below is our list. If you think we missed a name, please let us know and we will review and possible add it to the list.
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Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a sales-focused customer relationship management tool for teams of all sizes. With 50,000+ paying customers spanning across 155 countries, sales teams are drawn in by the CRMs simple yet powerful design that prioritizes usability above all else.
When using Pipedrive, nothing falls through the cracks, allowing your team to spend less time filing and more time selling with CRM that is both agile and powerful.
monday.com
monday.com is a visual tool that will help you track leads and manage projects in one place. It’s a CRM mixed with a project management tool in one, and totally visual, so you can keep track of all the moving parts.
You can easily manage customer interactions with an intuitive and visual interface, drive sales growth with improved customer relationships, easily design board layouts to fit your unique businesses needs.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign combines the power of email marketing, marketing automation, and sales/CRM automation. You’ll be able to create powerful automated marketing and sales processes that adapt to create happier, more loyal customers.
With ActiveCampaign, you can send newsletters, design email campaigns, and keep in touch with your contacts and customers. You can also automate your marketing using personal and behavioral data about your contacts.
Accelo
Accelo Sales is perhaps the easiest CRM to implement while keeping your client-related communication all in one place. Unify your team by automatically tracking and sharing client emails, attachments, appointments, notes, and custom fields without changing how you normally use email. This smart technology platform lets you experience complete client insights from anywhere and on any device.
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is powerful free CRM software that doesn’t compromise on capabilities just because you’re not paying for it. Unlike other free CRM, Zoho CRM offers all the core functionalities of CRM software and lets you onboard up to 10 users at no extra cost. You’ll also have access to your data anytime, anywhere using Zoho CRM’s mobile app, without having to purchase a plan.
ProsperWorks CRM
ProsperWorks is another CRM Software that is extremely easy to use. It’s neither complicated nor confusing. By integrating with tools you’re already using and eliminating repetitive tasks with automation, ProsperWorks is all about speed. It drives productivity and helps you sell more, faster.
bpm’online CRM
Bpm`online CRM is a process-driven cloud based software that connects the dots between marketing, sales and customer service, allowing medium and large organizations to efficiently manage the complete customer journey from lead to order, and to ongoing account maintenance.
Bpm`online has been widely recognised by key industry analysts, including Gartner, Forrester, Nucleus Research, Ovum, ISM and received multiple prestigious awards.
Salesforce
Salesforce is an all-in-one, cloud-based solution that has everything you need in a CRM software. Although this software is typically associated with larger businesses and enterprises, Salesforce’s small business edition lets you take advantage of the product’s robust set of CRM tools and resources at an affordable, small-business-friendly price.
Part of Salesforce Small Business Solutions, the platform is very easy to use and includes key features like lead generation, contact and opportunity management, sales forecasting, workflow automation, and much more.
Insightly
Insightly is a simple, but feature-rich CRM software fits the bill for microbusinesses. It has all the basic capabilities that really small businesses need in a CRM software, but is also highly scalable as your business grows.
Additionally, Insightly is one of the most affordable CRM solutions available; there’s a free version to help you get started, and paid plans start at a fraction of the price of comparable CRM software.
HubSpot
HubSpot is a fully functioning CRM that is completely free for all users. The software includes all of the tools startups need from a CRM. It tracks and organizes all of your contacts, as well as all of your potential sales. It provides businesses of all sizes with a complete overview of their sales pipeline.
Also for free, growing businesses can tack on HubSpot’s sales software. It includes a variety of tools, such as email notifications and templates, document tracking and in-app calling, designed to keep the sales process even more organized.