Best CRM Software

Are you looking for CRM software for your business? Here is a list of the best customer relationship management systems that GoodFirms' research team exclusively handpicked. This simple, easy-to-use listing will assist you in selecting the most suitable CRM system for your projects. CRM software manages sales leads, email campaigns, customer analytics, deal forecasts, and other tasks. Explore the best customer relationship management software list, easily compare products, and check the features and pricing. Also, check the verified user reviews for the CRM system listed here.

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List of Best CRM Software

  • CrossConcept Continuum PSA

    One Solution. Best Practice Project Delivery.
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    Small to large enterprises can effectively manage customer relationships with CrossConcept Continuum PSA, the next-generation CRM software. The software is integrated with project management tools to swiftly handle everything from workflow management to timesheets to meet project deadlines. This online CRM software enables automation in everyday sales processes, improving forecasting & reporting a ... read more about CrossConcept Continuum PSA

    Entry Level Price
    $15 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    Category Focus
    50% in CRM Software
  • Revamp CRM

    A CRM built from the ground up for B2B & B2C eCommerce
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    Revamp is a CRM solution for small businesses. The sales-driven CRM software offers all the standard features like sales forecasting, sales dashboard, multiple pipelines, workflow automation, etc. From engaging customers to closing more deals more securely, this customer relationship management software is the best CRM for e-commerce. The multilingual CRM system organizes sales through tags or lea ... read more about Revamp CRM

    Entry Level Price
    $19 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    Category Focus
    100% in CRM Software
  • Digital CRM is a unique CRM system that automates the entire workflow from lead generation to sales management and marketing. As a centralized CRM software, the tool enables the team to stay proactive, automate their work, and connect with customers seamlessly. The software extends its functionalities to other software like task management, document management, order management, and project mana ... read more about DigitalCRM

    Entry Level Price
    $500 One-time
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    Category Focus
    33% in CRM Software
  • Sales365cloud

    Think CRM, Think Sales365cloud
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    The cloud-based CRM software is an all-in-one customer relationship management solution for all business types. The software helps users to excel in CRM strategies with features like lead management, opportunity management, sales automation, campaign management, etc. The software works beyond traditional CRM functions by integrating online inventory management systems and gains complete control ov ... read more about Sales365cloud

    Entry Level Price
    Contact vendor
    Free Trial
    N/A
    Category Focus
    50% in CRM Software
  • Mailchimp

    All-In-One Marketing Automation Platform for Small Business
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    Mailchimp is the world's leading marketing automation platform. It helps businesses of all sizes find their audience, engage their customers, and build their brand. Mailchimp's CRM features allow businesses to get to know their audience and find new ways to market to them. The audience dashboard shows businesses pre-built segments, such as top locations, recent sources of growth, common tags, and ... read more about Mailchimp

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    10% in CRM Software
  • HubSpot CRM

    Everything you need to organize, track, and nurture your leads and customers.
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    HubSpot CRM is more than just a CRM system. It's a complete business growth platform that helps attract, engage, and delight customers. HubSpot CRM is the perfect tool for businesses & also highly scalable, so you can quickly grow your business without switching to a new CRM system. With Hubspot CRM, you can Create and manage your website, Build landing pages and email campaigns, Track your websit ... read more about HubSpot CRM

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    25% in CRM Software
  • Zoho CRM

    Build everlasting customer relationships with the world’s favorite CRM.
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    Zoho CRM is a cloud-based, AI-powered customer relationship management (CRM) software that helps businesses of all sizes grow and scale by providing a 360-degree view of their customers. With Zoho CRM, businesses can automate their sales and marketing processes, personalize their customer interactions, and track their progress toward their goals. some additional unique points about Zoho CRM are It ... read more about Zoho CRM

    Entry Level Price
    Contact vendor
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    Category Focus
    20% in CRM Software
  • Salesforce CRM

    The No 1 Growth Platform for Digital Sales.
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    Salesforce CRM is the world's #1 CRM platform, trusted by over 150,000 customers worldwide. Salesforce CRM is the future of CRM. With its cloud-based architecture, Salesforce CRM is always up-to-date and secure. It's also highly scalable, and It's a complete customer relationship management (CRM) suite that helps you attract, engage, and delight your customers. With Salesforce CRM, you can Unify y ... read more about Salesforce CRM

    Entry Level Price
    $25 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    Category Focus
    20% in CRM Software
  • Simply CRM

    The CRM you will actually use, Gain more customers, optimize your business and earn more money
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    Gain more customers, optimize your business, and earn more money - with Simply CRM. It's the CRM software that you will actually use: Easy-to-use, with visual overviews. All-in-one platform - including CRM, Helpdesk, Financial & Project Management. Also, we are offering free support 24/7 (your local language!). ... read more about Simply CRM

    Entry Level Price
    $15 Per Month
    Free Trial
    30 Days
    Category Focus
    34% in CRM Software
  • Solid Performers CRM

    Best sales and marketing CRM software.
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    Solid Performers CRM is one of the very few SAAS CRM Software which is capable of performing multiple functions which, includes lead management, Lead Followup Management, Client Management, Client Followup management, Lead Client Conversion in One Click, Proposal Management, Proforma Invoice Management, Invoice Management, Product Management, Finance Management, Project Management, and many other ... read more about Solid Performers CRM

    Entry Level Price
    $10 Per Month
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    18% in CRM Software
  • ActiveCampaign

    Keep track of leads in a CRM, not in your head.
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    ActiveCampaign CRM software is built considering every stage of the customer journey. The software provides a customized dashboard to fit any size B2B, B2C, and eCommerce businesses. This AI-integrated software offers end-to-end sales force automation, lead generation, marketing automation along with email marketing to enhance complete sales management. Besides these tools, ActiveCampaign CRM inc ... read more about ActiveCampaign

    Entry Level Price
    $9 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    Category Focus
    14% in CRM Software
  • Pipedrive

    Designed to keep you selling.
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    Pipedrive is the perfect CRM system for businesses that want to close more deals and grow their business. It's easy to use, affordable, and packed with features that can help you take your sales to the next level. With Pipedrive, you can Visualize your sales pipeline, Automate your sales process, Personalize your communications, Make better decisions & Grow your team. ... read more about Pipedrive

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    20% in CRM Software
  • Calendly is a simple, easy-to-use, yet powerful scheduling software, which aims to save time, accelerate sales and improve service quality. It eliminates the old-school way of using email and phone tags for scheduling appointments, calls, interviews, demos, and more. It allows hot prospects to connect right away and ensures staff doesn’t lose them to phone and email tags. ... read more about Calendly

    Entry Level Price
    $10.00 Per Year
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    10% in CRM Software
  • monday.com is a cloud-based Work OS, where teams create workflow apps in minutes to run their processes, projects, and everyday work. Teams shape their workflows and projects, code-free, with a platform that adapts to shifting needs quickly, liberates teams from manual grunt work, and connects teams in a collaborative workspace. The platform’s features include customizable workflow templates to ... read more about monday.com

    Entry Level Price
    $30 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    Category Focus
    5% in CRM Software
  • Bitrix24

    Your company. United. Free. Unlimited. Online.
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    Bitrix24 CRM is the perfect tool for businesses that want to close deals faster. Bitrix24 CRM helps businesses track their leads, qualify them, and move them through the sales pipeline and automate sales process so user can free up time to focus on closing deal. also provides businesses with a visual representation of sales pipeline, so user can track their progress and identify bottlenecks. ... read more about Bitrix24

    Entry Level Price
    Contact vendor
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    4% in CRM Software
  • Clickup

    All your work in one place.
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    ClickUp is an all-in-one management software that enables organizations to manage requirements, create documents, chat with colleagues, set goals, and track projects. With features like process, task, and time management, ClickUp offers mind maps, reports, forms, dashboards, and communication tools like email and messaging. Other modules of Clickup include task management, resource management, wor ... read more about Clickup

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    5% in CRM Software
  • Dynamics 365 software smartly helps small and medium businesses to function in a hyperconnected way aligning right from customer intake to customer retention. This cloud-based software integrates well with ERP features to facilitate the best management and efficient planning of resources. Optimizing service operations and personalizing customer service is just accessible with Microsoft Dynamics 36 ... read more about Dynamics 365

    Entry Level Price
    $65 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    Category Focus
    25% in CRM Software
  • EngageBay

    Market better. Sell faster.
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    EngageBay is an All-in-One CRM software that allows you to Store unlimited contacts and build stronger relationships by keeping track of all your customer details in one place. It offers unique features like Contact Management, Deal Management, Sales Automation & Appointment Scheduling, which are designed to help businesses automate, track, and improve their sales and marketing process. ... read more about EngageBay

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    10% in CRM Software
  • SharpSpring

    A powerful suite of sales & marketing automation tools to boost conversions and deliver results.
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    SharpSpring is a comprehensive CRM software with a full-funnel sales and marketing automation facility ideal for marketing agencies and small to medium businesses. Right from creating a lead, to closing a sale, this online CRM tool is easier to use. The email marketing feature of this CRM engages existing customers and keeps them within the loop of the brand's activities. SharpSpring also integrat ... read more about SharpSpring

    Entry Level Price
    $399 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    Category Focus
    20% in CRM Software
  • Airtable

    Organize anything, with anyone, from anywhere.
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    Organize your work your way with Airtable. An all-in-one collaboration software, Airtable combines the power of a relational database with the flexibility and ease of use of a spreadsheet. It works across platforms and devices and syncs data in real-time. Users can choose from different formats to view the tasks at hand, including grid, calendar, Kanban, gallery, and forms. ... read more about Airtable

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    10% in CRM Software
  • Keap

    Sales and Marketing Automation built to help you grow without chaos.
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    Keap is a cloud-based CRM system that helps small businesses to close deals faster. It offers a unique set of features like AI-powered insights, Email tracking & calls analytics that is designed to help businesses automate their sales process, track their progress, and improve their sales skills. Keap recently added the ability to connect with your favorite productivity apps like Gmail, Slack, and ... read more about Keap

    Entry Level Price
    $40 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    Category Focus
    20% in CRM Software
  • Sugar CRM

    No1 Rated CRM platform for small and medium size businesses.
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    SugarCRM is a CRM that's built for the future of sales. It's packed with features that help you close deals faster and continuously evolve with the latest developments. SugarCRM is easy to use, even for non-technical users. SugarCRM also offers a number of features that help you stay ahead of the competition, such as a mobile app that allows you to access your CRM from anywhere, integrates with a ... read more about Sugar CRM

    Entry Level Price
    $49 Per Month
    Free Trial
    7 Days
    Category Focus
    25% in CRM Software
  • InsureCRM

    Go Digital and Accelerate Sales and Customer Acquisition of your Insurance Business
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    InsureCRM Software, a fully functional insurance CRM software, is one of the initiatives by Damco to empower insurers with digital capabilities to provide superior customer experiences. The agile platform is one of the best CRM software for insurance agents equipped with features to automate tracking of customer interactions on a single screen that leverages automation for logging their sales acti ... read more about InsureCRM

    Entry Level Price
    Contact vendor
    Free Trial
    N/A
    Category Focus
    100% in CRM Software
  • Insightly

    The Best CRM to Build Customer Relationships
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    Insightly is a cloud-based CRM that's built for collaboration. With Insightly, you can easily track your tasks, collaborate with your team, and stay on top of your deadlines. Insightly also offers a variety of features that can help you manage your projects more effectively, such as task scheduling, time tracking, and budget tracking. It also offers a variety of integrations that allow you to conn ... read more about Insightly

    Entry Level Price
    $29 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    Category Focus
    25% in CRM Software
  • Funnel CRM

    Best CRM software for growing teams
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    Funnel CRM is a cloud-based CRM software that caters to more than 2000 small businesses such as agencies, developers, personal trainers, designers, service professionals, consultants, freelancers, and many more. It has modules for deals, contacts, proposals, tasks and activities, Gmail integration, notes, and many more. Funnel CRM relieves businesses from redundant and time-consuming tasks and cr ... read more about Funnel CRM

    Entry Level Price
    $10.00 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    Category Focus
    50% in CRM Software
  • Dolibarr

    One web suite to manage all of your business.
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    Dolibarr ERP & CRM is an Open Source and free software package to manage companies, freelancers or foundations. We can say Dolibarr is an ERP or CRM. You enable only the feature you need. So whatever is your business management need, you are able to set up the application to match your need and only your need. Our marketplace is available to all developers and organizations, to centralize several ... read more about Dolibarr

    Entry Level Price
    $12 Per Month
    Free Trial
    15 Days
    Category Focus
    10% in CRM Software
  • Close

    High adoption, high performance. Get the all-in-one CRM built just for sales teams.
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    Close CRM software can easily create a route of growth for your business. It increases the sales team's productivity with sales force automation by taking care of core operations. The integrated reporting & forecasting tools help the sales team build a brand's image through the sales pipeline, marketing, and sales strategies. The core features of Close CRM include lead generation & management, tas ... read more about Close

    Entry Level Price
    $29 Per Month
    Free Trial
    14 Days
    Category Focus
    34% in CRM Software
  • Taskeo

    Move your business into the cloud
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    Taskeo strives to become a go-to tool for all those companies that grew tired of using several apps to manage their activities. Businesses of all kinds can easily adopt it, making Taskeo fully usable outside the mainly targeted industry which is law firms and agencies. Taskeo aims to provide comprehensive software for businesses, law firms, and agencies that need assistance in their business and p ... read more about Taskeo

    Entry Level Price
    $5 Per Month
    Free Trial
    N/A
    Category Focus
    10% in CRM Software
  • Agile CRM

    All-in-One CRM Software, Sales Enablement + Marketing Automation + Customer Service.
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    Agile CRM is an All-in-One CRM software that supercharges your sales, marketing, and service. Agile CRM's unique features and latest developments help businesses close deals faster in a number of ways. For example, AI-powered insights can help businesses identify opportunities they might otherwise miss. Email tracking can help businesses measure the effectiveness of their email campaigns and impro ... read more about Agile CRM

    Entry Level Price
    Free version
    Free Trial
    Available
    Category Focus
    16% in CRM Software

Buyer’s Guide

Introduction to the Buyer’s Guide for CRM Software

CRM software provides a 360-degree view of the information related to customers and prospects. It helps cultivate customer relationships and improve a business organization's operational efficiency.

CRM is consistently augmenting the software market. The driving force behind the growth in CRM solutions is businesses' requirement to manage their data perfectly, provide excellent customer service, and acquire real-time information to help them make smart decisions and achieve sales goals.

Furthermore, delivering an exceptional customer experience in this competitive business scenario has become mandatory if you want your organization to sustain and expand. Whether you are planning to invest in your first CRM system or change your existing one, choosing a CRM is challenging. Fortunately, this buyers' guide provides you with complete information about CRM systems, as below, that can help you select the right CRM system and achieve your business goals.

What is CRM (Customer Relationship Management)?

CRM is a combination of practices or a strategy followed by businesses to build better customer relationships, improve revenue, and provide a flawless customer experience. CRM enables you to prioritize your customers and helps your organization follow a customer-centric approach, resulting in increased customer loyalty, exponential growth in sales, and ROI.

Why is Customer Relationship Management Important?

To acquire and retain customers, it is important to build and nurture relationships with them. It is quite crucial to build healthy customer relationships to keep them happy. One unhappy customer can result in several unhappy customers, especially in this era of social media, where everything gets viral so quickly. According to Deloitte's research report, customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies not focusing on the customers.

How to Use CRM to Deliver Exceptional Customer Experiences?

Besides following the right philosophy for providing exceptional customer service, you need to use the right tools and technology too. A streamlined CRM system deployed in an organization helps the employees who are directly dealing with the customers. It helps sales, marketing, and customer support teams take action in terms of selling, communicating, improving the quality of the products/services, coordinating, and everything else, which can benefit both the customers and the business.

What is a CRM system?

CRM system or customer relationship management system is a tool that helps in improvising contact management, client communication, order management, operations, and productivity. CRM systems and practices help you promptly access all the information with a single click or a tap, whether it is about the last conversation with a client or understanding the likes and dislikes of a potential buyer.

Components of a CRM Software

Below are the major components of the CRM software:

Marketing

  • Organizing Campaigns
  • Generating Leads
  • Maintaining Customer Database

Sales

  • Assigning Leads
  • Converting Leads to Customers
  • Upselling & Reselling

Support

  • Resolving Customer Queries/Complaints
  • Managing Service Requests
  • Maintaining & Growing Knowledge Base

Orders

  • Delivering Products
  • Generating Invoices

What Does A Customer Relationship Management Software Do?

Earlier, CRM software was used to store customer data and information, but now, it has changed over the years. Now, CRM software can accomplish many tasks like -

Contact Management: The entire information about the customers, like their contact details, purchase history, payments, preferences, demographics, etc., are stored in one place. It becomes easy to access the required information whenever required.

Lead Nurturing: Keeping track of leads and assigning them to the specific sales team/executive is very important to ensure efficient management and high conversions. 

Tasks Management: CRM adds tasks and deals automatically with customer information. It helps in assigning and monitoring tasks in your sales pipeline. Moreover, data updated in real-time ensures that you are accessing the latest information.

Marketing: CRM software assists in the entire marketing and promotion activities like bulk emailing, customer segmentation, inbound marketing, campaign creation, etc., and enhances their effectiveness, helping to achieve sales goals. 

Salesforce Automation: CRM software can automate the entire sales process, including tracking client interactions, analyzing sales opportunities, sales team performance tracking, forecasting sales, and many more, which can provide clear visibility of market trends, patterns, and behavior.

Workflow Automation: CRM software can be used to automate and streamline various processes in an organization and enhance its efficiency. It saves time, money, paperwork, and also eliminates the repetition of tasks, and improves accuracy at the same time.

Reporting: CRM software can generate different reports that can provide visibility of overall business from different angles. Whether it is about tracking sales performance or marketing expenses, customer relationship management software can provide quick & accurate reports.

What are the Benefits of CRM Software Solutions?

Real-time and reliable reporting

CRM provides sorted, structured, well-tabulated, and actionable data metrics and reports that help in real-time decision-making related to deals, clients, and potential leads. The visual sales funnels created by CRM applications are trusted resources for sales teams.

Data visualization and organized information

CRM's dashboard gives exceptional visualization of crucial customer data, sales, and lead data on a centralized dashboard. CRM Dashboard can be configured for graphs, tables, charts, etc. Using CRM means keeping all the information about your customers organized to make it more accessible. Every interaction with your customers is identified, documented, and recorded. 

Elevates Personalized Communication and Proactive Service

CRM solutions elevate personalized communications by a series of automated emails at various stages of the customer journey and sales process. Many times your customers may have to communicate with different people in your team. In that case, it can become a hassle for the customer if they need to explain their issues and preferences every time they speak to a new person. The customer relationship management tool can eliminate this problem as it ensures that everyone in the team has the same customer data.

 Automates Repetitive Tasks To Increase Efficiency

There are some tasks like filling out the forms, completing legal formalities, etc., which are monotonous but are vital in a sales process. A CRM helps automate these repetitive tasks and helps your representatives focus on the tasks like closing deals and solving the queries of the customers with tools such as chatbots and automated messaging. 

Increases Collaboration and Efficiency Within Multiple Teams

CRM helps in accessing the calendar, emails, phone call details, etc., keeping the multiple teams updated about the information relating to meetings & conferences. Marketing, sales, and customer service teams can easily share valuable data using CRM and accomplish their common goals.

Encourages Smart Decision Making

Miscalculated data accessed from excel sheets or guesswork can lead to wrong decisions and failures. The best CRM tool can provide accurate data in the form of customized reports providing information about your overall business's current status. Based on that, you can design strategies that work and grab the opportunities that yield long-term profitability in your business.

In a Nutshell, 

  • CRM provides real-time and reliable reporting of customer data and potential leads
  • CRM's dashboard gives exceptional data visualization of crucial sales, lead, and customer data
  • CRM solutions elevate personalized communication at various stages of the customer journey and sales process.
  • CRM automates repetitive tasks with tools such as chatbots and automated messaging to increase efficiency
  • CRM tools increase collaboration and efficiency within multiple teams
  • The best CRM tool provides accurate data and customized reports that enable smart decisions.
  • CRM follows a predictive data-based approach to solve issues proactively

Industry Wise Use of CRM Solutions

CRM Software for Real Estate: 

CRM system assists real-estate developers in automating the document approval process, automatically assigning clients to employees for follow-ups, conducting customer analytics, segmentation, workflow automation, and lead scoring.  Companies can use top free and open source real estate CRM systems for streamlining their daily workflows. Property developers can build strong relationships with customers by implementing CRM.

CRM Software for Healthcare

CRM solutions for Healthcare make healthcare providers capable of unleashing personalized experience to patients. From onboarding employees to providing self-service options to patients, CRM for Healthcare delivers exceptional results and improves operational efficiencies. 

CRM for Software Companies/ CRM for IT industries. 

CRM in the IT industry can work wonders when it comes to aligning marketing and sales teams. IT companies can provide the best CX and customer success programs by deploying CRM for the IT sector. 

CRM Software for Banking/Insurance/Finance

With digital economies coming into play, CRM for Banking, Insurance, and Finance sectors meet unique challenges in delivering consumer satisfaction. It enables Inter-department data tracking, efficient communication, and funnel-based lead conversion.  It helps banks to create valuable customer journeys for their customers. 

CRM Software for Retail

CRM for retail software helps retailers to target strategically important customers. It creates an omnichannel selling experience with its SMS, Watsapp, Live chat integration. Most CRM for Retail has inbuilt AI that enables retailers to make faster decisions. 

CRM Software for Manufacturing

Customer relationship management software for manufacturing gives a 360-degree view of sales pipelines, improved services, analytics tools, intelligent planning, and sales projections. CRM data mapped with AI can help manufacturers make real-time sales decisions. 

CRM Software for Travel & Hospitality

CRM for hospitality and travel provides the tools for tracking customer interactions, sending proactive responses, offering special discounts, and crafting personalized customer journeys. CRM also helps in a multi-channel advertising and managing customer loyalty. 

CRM Software for Media

Media companies can boost revenues across media publications, converge the organization's data, and increase circulation with the help of  CRM solutions. CRM assists in conducting budgeting, loyalty analysis, and customer retention.

How CRM software caters to the Below Entities?

CRM Software for Small businesses: 

Small businesses' customer base, focus, and scale are entirely different from large enterprises. Therefore, the complexity and clunkiness of CRM for large businesses don't apply to small ones. CRM for small businesses is designed to provide mobility,  flexibility, easy adoption capabilities, a single platform interface, and affordable prices. 

CRM Software for Mid-sized businesses

CRM for midsize businesses helps them in customer onboarding, lead generation, and increasing profitability by keeping processes agile. CRM solutions for midsize businesses provide all functionalities required by midsize enterprises with complete security features. 

CRM Software for Large businesses

CRM for large businesses unleashes complete workflow automation, exceptional functionalities, and lead capturing essentials. Large enterprises have a huge customer base and they require stringent data security and privacy features. CRM designed for large enterprises provides robust data safety features and modules needed for various CRM-related tasks.

Who Uses CRM Software?

CRM Software for Sales Teams

A CRM system helps streamline sales teams' work by automating major aspects of their daily workflow. The process involves analyzing sales opportunities, marketing campaigns, communicating with prospects, designing customized marketing strategies evaluating sales team performance, and forecasting sales.

CRM software for Lead Generation Team

CRM solutions for lead generation help you build a customized lead generation funnel for attracting prospects, nurturing their interest, capturing and converting leads. 

CRM Software for Project Management Team

CRM applications for project managers keep projects on track, automate processes, track budgets, and manage employees, resources, and customers under the project. 

Types of Customer Relationship Management Software

Strategic CRM:

Strategic CRM puts the requirements of the customers first. Its job is to collect, segregate, and apply information about the customer and market trends to come up with business strategies benefitting the customers.

Operational CRM:

Operation CRM is focused on recording the interactions with the customers and allowing sales & marketing professionals to access that information and communicate accordingly. It ensures that all the sales opportunities, contacts, and tasks are attended to efficiently at the right time.

Analytical CRM

Analytical CRM is oriented towards analyzing the data required to make informed decisions for future business strategies. For example, an analytical CRM can provide answers to questions referring to the details about the customers positively responding to the previous marketing campaigns. This helps in analyzing the target audience and launching new marketing campaigns accordingly.

Collaborative CRM

Collaborative CRM keeps your sales team, marketing team, partners, management, production team, and all the stakeholders on the same page. It allows smooth communication and transactions between the teams involved in a sales and marketing campaign, production, or task.

What are various CRM Deployment options?

On-Premise CRM software:

Many companies prefer on-premise deployment of their CRM tool, as they get full control over it in terms of data and security. 

Cloud-based CRM System

A cloud-based deployment, also known as Software-as-a-service (SaaS) or cloud CRM, is hosted by the service provider and can be accessed from anywhere as long as there is internet available. Several companies opt for cloud CRM because of its cheaper setup, low maintenance costs, and quick deployment.

Web-based CRM Software

Web-Based CRM software or online CRM systems can be accessed from anywhere using the internet. These are scalable SaaS-based CRM products. 

Open Source CRM Software:

Most open source CRM software has its source code in the public domain. They can be customized easily to fit your needs. They can be downloaded and deployed for various OS platforms: Windows CRM software, iOS CRM software, and more.

How to Choose the Perfect CRM System for Your Business?

There are several CRM tools available in the market, but not all can suit your business. You have to analyze what CRM software can do for you and your sales teams. Below listed are some factors which you need to consider while selecting the right CRM for your business.

Goals

When it comes to analyzing CRM software requirements, you need to understand the problem you need to resolve using a CRM. You need to prioritize your goals to determine which CRM would suit your business type and size. For example, if tracking customer interactions is of prime importance to you and your CRM doesn't allow that, then investing in it would be of no use. If you are a small business owner, then you can go for CRM software for small businesses. 

Implementation

Implementing a new CRM system can be tedious if it does not match your organization's existing resources. You need to ensure that the new CRM tool you are investing in doesn't require you to provide time-consuming training to your employees or hire new ones to implement it. That would increase your cost and add to your problems instead of solving them.

User Adoption

Regardless of the system you choose, your employees are always resistant to change. This is a common issue faced by most of the organizations that the employees are not ready to get trained or acquainted with the new system. In this case, it is always better to take suggestions from employees before purchasing a CRM tool.

Compatibility to Integrate

Whether it is for social media marketing, email campaigns, or automating any other task, you are already using several tools in your organization. Before buying a CRM tool, you need to check how compatible it is with other tools and how well it can integrate with those systems to make your jobs seamless.

CRM Software Demo

It is always better to purchase a CRM system after using it for a certain time. Ask for a Demo of services for various CRM software packages offered by the vendor. Once you have seen a demo for different pricing plans, you can decide on which one from the available  CRM software options will suit your needs. You can ask your employees to take a product demo of CRM software or try using it within a trial period to get an idea of whether it would work for your business or not.

Customized Reports

The customer relationship management software you pick should allow you to generate customized reports as per your business operations and logic. The reports would help you in making informed decisions and set you apart from your competitors; thus, it becomes necessary to consider this aspect without fail before investing in a CRM.

What are the Features of CRM Software?

Contact Management

All the CRM solutions facilitate the users to feed the names, contact information, social media accounts of the customers, suppliers, prospects, etc. But, the important features you need to consider are - the fields should be logically organized. The interface should be appealing and user-friendly, and you should be able to access that information quickly.

Interaction Tracking

It is an important feature when different team members are working with the same contacts. If you don't know what your colleague last spoke to one of your customers, you cannot move on with the conversation with him/her. Customer relationship management software should allow you to view the history of interactions done with the customers to communicate accurately and effectively.

Lead Management

The process of converting leads to users in a smooth manner is important for any type or size of business. Proper lead management can do that. The key to the best selection here is to ensure that the CRM follows the process that can work as per your business logic. Your sales team can test CRM software to determine this aspect.

Integrations

Every business is distinctive, and so is yours. You need to ensure that the CRM you are planning to invest in allows integrating the applications and software you frequently use, like email marketing software, marketing automation software, social media marketing software, etc. If it has the in-built capability to manage the tasks you are getting done by using different tools, that can be a better choice for you.

Document Management

Collecting, storing, and sharing documents from a centralized hub directly benefits your team members and indirectly to your customers. Keeping the entire sales team on the same page helps in providing an excellent customer experience. A centralized hub for knowledge is an asset to an organization, and if your CRM includes that, it definitely can be a major reason for your business growth. 

Quotes/Proposals Management

If your business requires creating, printing, and managing quotes and proposals, this feature in your CRM can help you. You can easily create and email the quotes/proposals, check the history of contracts with your customers/suppliers, and manage these documents at a centralized location.

Sales Pipeline Management

Want to check the buyers' journey of a specific contact? A CRM allowing you to manage the sales pipeline can help you in that task. You can check each individual's status and progress at each stage of the sales pipeline and design a customized marketing strategy for your prospects for successful conversions.

Workflow Automation

There are several tasks in an organization that needs to be done repeatedly — for example, sending promotional emails, birthday greetings, etc., to your customers. The CRM allows you to automate the workflow and ensures that your sales team focuses on productive tasks instead of utilizing their time in monotonous tasks.

Reporting/Analytics

With the reporting feature, you can generate customized reports relevant to sales figures, individual salesperson or team, customers based on geographical location, buyers' journey, etc. You just need to ensure that the CRM you select allows you to generate customized reports as per your business requirements.

Proactive Approach

CRM allows you to follow a proactive approach based on the predictive data it provides. It helps you in solving the issues before they even arise. For example, from predictive data, if you find that you are not going to get more projects this year, you can follow a proactive approach by hiring more resources required to complete those projects and save your business from disruptions.

Factors to Consider While Evaluating a CRM software Vendor:

After identifying the major factors to consider while selecting a customer relationship management software, the next thing that comes is to pick the right CRM vendor. Here is the list of major aspects that you need to look into while evaluating a CRM vendor.

Industry Experience

By going through the website and client list of the CRM vendors, you would get an idea of whether they have served with CRM tools to companies similar to yours. An experienced vendor should be able to match your demands.

Configuration & Training

Customer relationship management software is of no use to you if it is not configured properly, and your staff has not been provided training on how to use it. So, when you are asking for other details of a customer relationship management software from the vendor, ensure that you ask whether they would be providing configuration services and training to your employees or not.

Flexibility & Scalability

The CRM vendor you select should be able to provide you with scalable and flexible CRM solutions. Today, if you have opted for an on-premise CRM solution, it is not necessary that you will not need a cloud-based CRM in the future. Moreover, your business is going to grow, and so are your requirements. Your CRM vendor should be ready to match up to your software expectations in the future.

Customer Support

Customer support is required, especially when customer relationship management software has been newly deployed in your organization. You need to ensure that the CRM vendor you have chosen has a local partner network and provides prompt customer support.

Check Reviews

Don't purchase customer relationship management software from any vendor at its face value. Try to purchase the top-rated CRM after checking the customer reviews, which will give you an idea about the quality of the CRM tools and services they offer. Get answers to the questions like - are they quick at responding to their customers? Or how is the quality of their CRM product? Because once you buy the customer relationship management software from any vendor, you will not be able to change your decision until the purchase period expires.

Average Cost of a CRM System

Most of the CRM system cost is based on a monthly subscription and the number of users. A CRM tool's cost can be as minimum as $5 per month and can go up to $100 per month, depending on its features. For example, you can use services of the CRM software company, such as  Asort CRM, by paying only $5 per month, whereas CRM software vendors such as LionO360 CRM will cost you around $100 per month depending on the features you require. If you are not comfortable with monthly subscription plans, you can go for solutions like Conduct CRM, which is for $150 per year, or BusinessMan Enterprise, by paying a one-time charge of $11995.

The CRM tools for large enterprises are usually by quote as their requirements are specific, and users can be unlimited. Usually, the more features and the number of users a CRM has, the higher its pricing.

Some CRM solutions are available free for a specific period, thus providing you the facility of using it before you invest in it. The users and features can be limited in the free trial period, but it gives you an idea about whether that customer relationship management software is compatible with your business or not.

Also, there is some free and open source CRM software available in the market, which you can customize and deploy without making huge investments. These free ones might not be having the dynamic and robust features you are looking for, but you can check them out as some of them, like Hubspot and Zoho CRM, can provide many benefits free of cost.

Tips to Successful CRM Implementation

For any organization implementing a CRM system is a challenging task. Many times, companies invest in customer relationship management software with high-end features and functionality, but lacking user-friendliness prevents users from adopting it. What is the point in investing so much in the software when your people are not using it? So, below are some tips that can help you in the successful implementation of CRM in your organization.

  • Encourage top management to involve and motivate their subordinates to use the CRM. 
  • Create enthusiasm within the teams to use the software
  • Launching the new CRM system by organizing a party or posting motivational information
  • Provide detailed usage guidelines of the new CRM system to the users
  • Provide sufficient training about using the new CRM tool to your employees
  • Be clear with the purpose of introducing a new CRM system in your organization with your employees

What are the Upcoming Trends in CRM?

Leaving history behind, CRM is evolving and will continue to evolve in the future. So, here are some upcoming trends of CRM that you need to consider -

  • The use of AI in CRM would increase at an exponential level.
  • IoT would be a major advancement in the CRM market.
  • Mobility in CRM is here to stay.
  • Social media would continue to play a major role in customer relationship management.
  • CRMs would become much more user-friendly.

Why Referring to GoodFirms List of CRM Software Can Help?

The competitive landscape of the software world makes it necessary for the buyers to take a deep dive into the core functionalities, modules, and framework of the CRM software solutions before investment. However, unearthing everything on your own requires time, resources, and knowledge of all parameters that should be taken into account before finalizing the vendor. This is exactly where GoodFirms can help CRM software seekers.

Resourceful and inquisitive, the GoodFirms’ software research team analyzes every aspect of the best CRM solutions available in the software world with its unique research strategy. After following the intricate research process, GoodFirms provides the listing of more than 60k software and services with detailed information and 30k+ unbiased reviews. GoodFirms leaves no stone unturned to bring to you the best perspective on CRM software solutions, including detailed descriptions of features, alternatives, comparisons, and prices. GoodFirms uses a spectrum of methodologies to perform an accurate analysis of various software vendors before finalizing the top software providers in the market.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CRM database and how It can help your business?

A CRM database is a centralized location where businesses store the data that companies generate while managing and interacting with customers. The data includes contact information, purchase history, and communication records. CRM databases are well organized and searchable, so authorized personnel can easily find the necessary information. CRM can help improve customer service, marketing, and sales.

What is mobile CRM and why is it required for businesses?

Mobile CRM is a software application that can access information on mobile devices. It's an application for businesses of all sizes. Mobile CRM Apps can help companies to improve customer service, increase sales and marketing.

How to use CRM software?

CRM software is implemented for robust customer relationship management. Start by setting up a dashboard. Then, customize your CRM per your industry and business's needs and get all sales employees on board. Import all customer contacts, details, deals info, vendor info, etc. You can also integrate CRM software with other tools such as Zapier, ERP, POS, Social Media, etc.

How does CRM software improve customer satisfaction?

With CRM software, customer service becomes quick and easy. If your customer comes with a problem, and your representatives don't have important information, like their past purchases, payments, etc., at their fingertips, it may take a lot of time to solve their issues. Providing quick resolutions to your customers' problems can help improve customer services, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction.

What makes a successful CRM implementation?

Encourage top management to involve and motivate their subordinates to use the CRM software. Provide detailed usage guidelines for the new CRM system to the users. Provide sufficient training about using the latest CRM software to your employees. Be clear about the purpose of introducing a new CRM system in your organization with your employees.

What are the benefits of using CRM software to manage deals?

CRM software helps identify deal opportunities, capture deal-related data, track progress, and positively close deals. CRM system also helps analyze sales for profitability and the possibility of success.

What is Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software designed to do?

Customer relationship management software is the set of applications that provide technologies companies need to practice, strategize, manage, and analyze customer interactions and related customer data throughout the customer lifecycle. The software increases sales, creates more leads, and helps keep customer satisfaction levels at the pinnacle.

How much does a CRM system cost?

CRM software costs can range from $5 or low per month to as high as $100 per month or more per user, depending on the CRM system's functionalities and usability. You can also deploy free and open-source CRM software without making huge investments.

How to leverage AI-enabled CRM software for robust security?

AI-enabled CRM software can detect any infiltration attempt, forged entries, bogus customer data, and security issues in the database. It also mitigates the security challenges associated with cloud-based CRM.

How easy is CRM software to use?

Using a CRM system depends on the user's experience and is easily understood CRM. They also come with installation guides, FAQs, troubleshooting, technical support, and feature guides for easy onboarding.

How do organizations identify their customers across systems?

A CRM system that stores, organizes, and manages customer data helps an organization's sales and marketing teams accurately identify and recall customer data across all channels.

Who are the best-rated CRM Software on GoodFirms?

GoodFirms has listed 390+ CRM Software based on reviews & ratings, here are Best-rated CRM Software:

  • Funnel CRM - (5/5 Ratings, 6 Reviews)
  • Dolibarr - (5/5 Ratings, 5 Reviews)
  • InfoFlo -  (5/5 Ratings, 4 Reviews)
  • Solid Performers CRM - (4.9/5 Ratings, 36 Reviews)
  • EngageBay - (4.8/5 Ratings, 13 Reviews)

What is a CRM System?

A CRM system is a customer-centric platform that centralizes and automates tasks related to sales, marketing and customer service. It offers comprehensive functionalities including contact management, sales pipeline management, marketing automation, customer service automation, reporting and analytics and more.

Who is the Cloud-based CRM Software on GoodFirms?

The Cloud-based CRM Software on GoodFirms, based on verified client reviews and ratings, includes:

  • Simply CRM - (5/5 Ratings, 43 Reviews)
  • HubSpot CRM - (4.4/5 Ratings, 116 Reviews)
  • Mailchimp - (4.3/5 Ratings, 176 Reviews)
  • Zoho CRM - (4.3/5 Ratings, 72 Reviews)
  • Salesforce CRM - (4.3/5 Ratings, 51 Reviews)

Who are the free CRM Software on GoodFirms?

The Free CRM Software on GoodFirms, based on verified client reviews and ratings, includes:

  • SarvCRM - (5/5 Ratings, 1 Review)
  • Agile CRM - (4.6/5 Ratings, 5 Reviews)
  • Freshsales - (4/5 Ratings, 5 Reviews)
  • openCRX - (4.5/5 Ratings, 2 Reviews)
  • Odoo CRM - (4.5/5 Ratings, 2 Reviews)

Who are the best CRM for small businesses on GoodFirms?

The Best CRM Software for Small businesses on GoodFirms, based on verified client reviews & ratings, include:

  • Oncontact CRM - (4.8/5 Ratings, 3 Reviews)
  • Vtiger CRM - (4.5/5 Ratings, 4 Reviews)
  • VS CRM - (4.5/5 Ratings, 2 Reviews)
  • Bitrix24 - (4.4/5 Ratings, 16 Reviews)
  • InsureCRM - (4.4/5 Ratings, 7 Reviews)

Who is the best CRM for Marketing Automation on GoodFirms?

The Best CRM for Marketing Automation on GoodFirms, based on verified client reviews and ratings, include:

  • Simply CRM - (5/5 Ratings, 43 Reviews)
  • HubSpot CRM - (4.4/5 Ratings, 116 Reviews)
  • Mailchimp - (4.3/5 Ratings, 176 Reviews)
  • Zoho CRM - (4.3/5 Ratings, 72 Reviews)
  • Salesforce CRM - (4.3/5 Ratings, 51 Reviews)
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