An Intro
CRM – Customer Relationship Management – is much more than a boardroom buzzword. It’s the lifeblood of your Sales and Support operations; it’s the oxygen that fuels your customer-facing communications.
And for companies of all sizes in all industries, the software they adopt to handle CRM is their proverbial beating heart.
These CRM softwares provide centralized platforms with multi-faceted capabilities. They organize your prospects, streamline your communications, and develop a comprehensive sales pipeline to build your revenue and sustain business growth. They help you get the most out of your email marketing efforts to capitalize on all those leads and contacts. And, well, that’s really just the tip of the iceberg.
These systems can do a lot, but the thing is, the sea is red with different CRMs – many of which can provide legitimate value to any business. Their offerings differ quite widely depending on your company goals, functionality needs, and overall budget.
Choosing which CRM to move forward with can be tricky, so we’ve outlined eight of our favorites as a solid starting point. Take a look, and let us know what you think!
Eight that are great!
The CRM Godfather is one of the biggest names in the industry for a reason. Wearing a toolbelt equipped with all sorts of sales, marketing, and customer service gadgets – which you can thoroughly customize and then automate – Salesforce is king thanks to its wealth of possibilities. As a result, it’s not necessarily the simplest CRM, nor is it the cheapest.
That said, if you know how to utilize its functions, you absolutely get your money’s worth. It may be a better choice for a seasoned CRM veteran than for a beginner, but its industry-leading status makes it a must-add on any such list.
Unique feature: Einstein AI – “a data-driven analytics tool that provides insights into the results of your CRM campaigns, helping you improve your future strategies.”
Plays nice with: Cloud, iOS, Android.
Price ladder (per month): $25 (5 users max); $75 (unlimited users); $150, $300 (customizable)
Free trial? 30 days.
Big on G Suite? This CRM is a top-of-the-line option build for all sorts of Google integrations.
Formerly known as ProsperWorks, this software actually won a Google partner of the year award in 2016.
G Suite functionality notwithstanding, it’s a fairly intuitive software with a distinctly user-minded design. Add in some unbeatable support, a useful Chrome extension, and a very fair price, and you really can’t go wrong with Copper.
Unique features: Direct integration with your existing Gmail and Google Apps.
Plays nice with: Cloud, iOS, Android.
Price ladder (per month): Basic – $19/user; Professional $49/user; Business – $119/user.
Free trial? 14 days
This comprehensive and customizable CRM easily integrates with social platforms, other Zoho products (i.e. Campaigns, Mail), G Suite apps, and other widely used communication channels. Other strengths include sophisticated workflow automation and advanced email marketing tools to quickly boost your sales game. Plus, it remains fairly intuitive (and affordable!) for all the useful features it manages to provide.
Unique Feature: A “conversational AI sales assistant” named Zia who makes educated prognostications about ensuing sales activities. Oh, and she’ll give you advice in areas of improvement.
Plays nice with: Cloud, iOS, Android.
Price ladder (per month): Standard – $12/user; Professional – $20/user; Enterprise – $35/user; Ultimate – $100/user.
Free trial? 15 days.
This simple, effective CRM is “built for minimum input and maximum output.” They live up to their mantra that “power comes from simplicity” by offering an extremely intuitive, yet still impressively capable software. In particular, their comprehensive, streamlined sales pipeline is a highlight feature to let your team sell more efficiently.
You don’t need to be an expert to use it, nor do you have to shell out big bucks to enjoy its benefits – what’s not to love?
Unique features: “Pipedrive’s visual sales pipeline prompts you to take action, remain organized, and stay in control of the complex sales process.”
Plays nice with: Cloud, iOS, Android.
Price ladder (per month): Silver – $12.50/user; Gold – $24.20/user; Platinum – $62.50/user/month).
Free trial? 14 days.
Here’s a CRM that truly works for you, regardless of your needs. Flexible and adaptable to different use cases, Zendesk Sell will help you apply it’s “scientific approach to sales” however most benefits your marketing strategy. That science is predicated on data-driven insights that you can easily use to modify your future campaigns as necessary.
Plus, Zendesk Support is an industry leader in customer service, sure to help you achieve more meaningful interactions and relationships with your valuable contacts and prospects.
Unique features: An intuitive user interface that “removes the friction from deal updates so reps and management are always able to access, analyze and collaborate on up-to-date and relevant deal data.”
Plays nice with: Cloud, iOS, Android.
Price ladder (per month): Annual plans ranging from $19 to $199.
Free trial? 14 days.
Sometimes simple can be better. On the other end of the complexity spectrum from feature-laden Salesforce is Hubspot, a straightforward, cut-to-the-chase CRM ideal for smaller companies with more basic sales and marketing needs.
Oh, and did we mention they offer a fully free version? That’s right – take advantage of their contact management, lead generation, email building, and workflow automation without spending a dime.
Unique features: The free price tag option.
Plays nice with: Cloud, iOS, Android.
Price ladder (per month): Free. More intricate plans starting from $50 up to $3,200.
Free trial? Basic plan.
Less Annoying CRM
An eye-popping name and some relatable product messaging isn’t all this CRM has going for it. It’s built on three pillars of strength: Support, price, and ease of use. Put together, it really does live up to its name.
Made specifically for small businesses, this CRM doesn’t rope you along, allowing for flexible, monthly contracts with no long-term commitment. Altogether, it really is… Less Annoying.
Unique features: Simplicity is key.
Plays nice with: Cloud.
Price ladder (per month): $10/user is the only option.
Free trial? 30 days.
Insightly
Integrations galore: G Suite, various social media accounts, and all sorts of apps at your fingertips. With a self-proclaimed promise to “accelerate sales, build relationships, [and] deliver projects,” Insightly expertly utilizes data to customize insightful reports for your business.
All sorts of email marketing options that simplify project automation and sales pipelines coupled with a relatively low price make this CRM an unquestioned bang for your buck.
Unique features: Data visualization resources in the form of insightful, transportable dashboard cards.
Plays nice with: Cloud, iOS, Android.
Price ladder (per month): Plus – $29/user; Professional – $49/user; Enterprise – $99/user.
Free trial? 14 days. (Plus: Basic 2-user plan is Free!).
Final Word
No matter which CRM you choose, it should come as no surprise that its effectiveness only goes as far as your leads and prospects will take it. That’s why we at Evercontact have developed some nifty CRM integrations to ensure your marketing and communications efforts are always targeting accurate contacts.
For instance: ContactRescue, our one-time tool that extracts contact info from your email archives for an up-to-date address book, easily allows for a CSV of all your updated contacts to easily import into any CRM. The Business edition of our ongoing, in-real-time Evercontact subscription (which updates contacts in real-time from incoming emails) can offer you the same.
Furthermore, our Enterprise plan goes a step further to include a direct integration into Salesforce. Essentially, this would guarantee that your Salesforce contacts’ info is always updated. Just imagine: No more tedious manual inputting of changing email addresses or phone numbers
For a bit more insight into the difference between ContactRescue and Evercontact, and how each of them can help you maximize your CRM effectiveness, here’s more info!
Ultimate point being: You can utilize the tools at your disposal to boost outreach and optimize your messaging. Whether that means scouring our list of CRMs and picking the one that works best or employing the many add-ons available (ours included!) to ensure long-lasting customer relationships.