Best CRM Software – Take Your Customer Relationship Management to the Next Level
Customer relationship management software (CRM) is an important tool in your business’s toolbox and one that small business owners or big companies should incorporate into their daily routine.
With the right CRM software, you can keep track of your customers details, meetings, and proposals, and it helps you manage the day-to-day scheduling of your clients.
By using a CRM system, you’ll be able to save yourself (or your team) time by quickly accessing the details you need when you need them all in one place.
Say goodbye to those countless Excel spreadsheets and say hello to a new way of working that has the potential to take your business to the next level.
My pick of the best CRM software tools
- Monday.com – overall best CRM tool
- Pipedrive – easy to use CRM platform
- Hubspot CRM – best free CRM software
- Click Up – versatile CRM solution
- Bigin by Zoho CRM – best for small business
monday.com – overall best CRM tool
Monday.com is more than a CRM solution letting you keep track of leads, clients and marketing campaigns all from a single online tool.
With the monday.com CRM platform, you’ll be able to gather leads and keep track of them from various sources like LinkedIn, Facebook, Emails, and more.
You can set up custom automation to help process your leads and navigate the system through their intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
Don’t have time to set up a CRM from scratch? That’s ok. Use one of their many CRM templates and find one that fits with the way your business works to get up and running in minutes.
Here’s a few CRM features you might like:
- Lead capturing
- Lead management
- Sales pipeline
- Contacts management
- Customer onboarding
- Customer projects
- Marketing activities
- Team tasks
The great thing about monday.com is that from the moment you get your first lead, you can manage that lead, turn them into a client and keep track of that client’s projects all from the same system.
You’ll get real-time analytics on how the project is performing and keep track of all your customers’ conversations, a handy tool for any small business.
With a mobile app available, you can keep track of everything on the go and see what needs to be done or what new leads you need to contact.
The monday.com pricing structure is also pretty flexible and competitive. If you’re a freelancer or individual looking to keep track of your work, you can sign up and use the free CRM software, which has most of the basics.
If you’re after those handy features like Automations and Integrations, you’ll need to get their Standard plan which starts at £9 /month for a single seat when paid annually. If you’re after Time Tracking, more Automations, different views, and great file storage (up to 100GB), then you’ll want their Pro Plan, which starts at £14/month when paid annually.
Note that you’ll have to pay for a minimum of 3 seats no matter which plan you take, so your monthly expenses can quickly ramp up.
If you want to try monday.com for free, you’re in luck as they give you a 14-day free trial with no credit card needed so you can signup, take a look around and decide if this is the best CRM software for you.
Bigin by Zoho CRM – best CRM software for small business
If you’re a large company looking for a complete CRM system then the Zoho CRM is probably what you’re going to want to take a look at.
What we are going to focus on here is Bigin, a CRM solution created by Zoho CRM, especially for small to medium businesses. It’s an easy-to-use CRM platform without some of the more advanced features that you get with monday.com or Salesforce CRM.
Zoho Bigin lets you manage your contacts and leads but through a very minimal design. You’ll be able to interact with potential customers through the use of the built-in telephony system, emails, capture leads through your website via webforms and respond to your customer’s Tweets all from within the Bigin CRM system.
Once you’ve captured your leads, you can then move to the Management Pipeline, where you’ll be able to organize deals, customize your CRM data, and manage your activities and teammates.
You also get automation built-in, letting you save time from repeatedly doing the same tasks over and over again. Pick your dashboard, get real-time notifications and keep track of your business deals and data, helping you be GDPR compliant.
When it comes to the Bigin Pricing, you can sign up for their free CRM platform, which offers 500 records and limited interactions.
For just £5 per user per month, you can boost that up to 50,000 records, email integration, no-code webforms, and custom fields to help customize the way you work. The most expensive plan was just £10 per month per user, unlocking advanced workflows and even more features.
Sign up for a 15-day free trial with no credit card needed, and you’ll be able to see how Bigin can help your business perform.
Pipedrive – easy to use CRM platform
Pipedrive CRM give you the tools you need to get control of your customer relations and sales pipelines.
With an easy-to-use interface, you’ll be able to move away from your aged spreadsheets and quickly see what leads you have, who to follow up with and who’s onboard for your next sale or project.
Designed by salespeople, it takes the complications out of what you’ll find in other platforms, including Salesforce CRM, which can sometimes take a Ph.D. in Quantum physics to figure out (something most of us are probably lacking).
What you get with Pipedrive CRM is a much quicker learning time, saving you time, money and headaches. You’ll get access to workflow automations, measure performances, and be able to focus on the right customers at the right time.
You’ll get 24/7 customer support and access to their blog, and a community of marketers who use the system, which, if you have a problem, will be there to help.
When it comes to pricing, you get a 14-day free trial with access to all the features you’ll find in the Pipedrive Pro plan, which starts at £49.90 per user per month. With that, you get access to everything in their essential and advanced plans, plus the addition of contacts timeline, document tracking, eSignatures, Google Drive and OneDrive integration, and Team Management. The Pro plan is tailored to those who have up to 100,000 open deals.
If you’re a smaller business with up to 3,000 open deals, the essential plan at £12.50 per user per month is affordable. Still, for those looking for a few more features, including Workflow Automations, you’ll need the advanced plan at £24.90 per user per month.
It might not be as cheap at Bigin or monday.com, but Pipedrive is certainly worth a look if you’re after the ease of use but with still great CRM features. Pipedrive even has a mobile CRM app to keep track of business when you are on the move.
Hubspot CRM – best free CRM software
If you’re looking to cut your business costs while upgrading your outdated customer management system then the Hubspot free CRM tool could be the best fit for you.
With many of the features you’ll find in paid customer relationship management tools, Hubspot CRM is undoubtedly one to investigate more.
Here’s some of the free features you’ll find:
- Unlimited Users – get your entire team on board
- Contact management – run automated views to manage your data
- Companies – keep track of company & client details
- Deals – keep track of the deals and their status
- Company Insights – get info on the companies your dealing with
- Prospects – see who’s visiting your website and turn them into leads
- Ticketing system – report and sort issues
- Shared inbox – never miss an email
- Reporting dashboard – get the latest stats on your deals
- Tasks & Activities – track and store all the data relating to your interactions with your customers
With the Hubspot CRM software, you’ll be able to see what leads you have, find out where along the sales pipeline they are and who you need to contact to make that next sale happen all at a glance.
If you’re a bigger business or just after a few more features like fewer limits on features, automations, monitoring, targeting, and performance reporting for your team. In that case, you’ll want to go for the Hubspot CRM premium plan.
Regarding pricing, the Hubspot Free CRM version is free but comes with limits that some small businesses could find too restrictive.
The paid version of Sales Hub the Hubspot CRM pricing rocks in at:
- Starter Plan: £38 ($45) per month for 2 users.
- Professional Plan: £369 ($450) per month for 5 users
- Enterprise Plan: £990 ($1,200) per month for 10 users
It’s not cheap, but you get access to their entire sales suite of tools.
Try Hubspot for free and see if it’s the best fit for your business.
ClickUp – versatile CRM solution
ClickUp is a monday.com alternative which not only can be used as a highly effective CRM but also gives you access to project management tools, keeps track of your marketing campaigns, can be used of event planning, finance tracking, and even HR management if you need it.
ClickUp is a versatile online software tool that can have you organize and grow your contacts list and develop your customer relationships with a few clicks.
You’ll be able to see your entire sales pipeline and your customer details and manage accounts all in one place while interacting with your team and your customers through the built-in communication tools.
You can integrate your favorite CRM tools like Salesforce and integrate your emails into ClickUp, helping you and your team never to miss a potential sale.
ClickUp CRM also lets you build the customer database you’ve always wanted, making sure your team, customers, and deals are all in sync.
ClickUp is an online software solution that can simplify the number of tools you need, consolidating your data into one place, saving you and your team time, and letting you focus on getting more leads and growing your business.
Note: It’s also great for non-profits, as it lets you manage your donors, campaigns, budgets, and more.
When it comes to ClickUp pricing, there’s a free version for personal use, which comes with limited storage but is great for freelancers and small at-home businesses.
If you’re after more features then you’re going to want to pick from one of their paid plans:
- Unlimited: $5 per user per month
- Business: $9 per user per month
- Business Plus: $10 per user per month
- Enterprise: Contact their sales team for pricing
The Unlimited plan is a good option for small teams, with more advanced workflow automation, tracking, and management abilities being unlocked with the Business plans.
Overall, versatile software at a reasonable price, no matter how big or small your business is.
Which is the best CRM software for small business?
There are many great CRM companies in the list above for you to pick from.
Which you need for your business will be down to a couple of things:
- How big your team is
- What your CRM budget is
- What features you need
But just cause one comes with all the features you need at the right price doesn’t mean it’s the right option.
Many of these have free trials or free versions which let you try out the software. A great way to see if it’s a good fit for your team and to answer a few questions:
- Is it easy to use?
- How long will it take to learn the system?
- Is there 24/7 help, online community, or detailed FAQs section?
- Will it save you time and money?
If you’re on a budget or a freelancer looking to store your customers’ details and projects, Hubspot CRM (free) and the monday.com free plan are good options.
Small businesses with small teams and small budgets who want an easy-to-use and uncomplicated user experience might want to give Bigin from Zoho CRM a try or ClickUp.
For those with bigger teams then the paid version of monday.com, Pipedrive and Hubspot CRM are all good options.
No matter your team size or budget, there’s an option that will get you away from those spreadsheets and help simplify your business in a few quick steps.
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