CRM, or customer relations management platforms, are necessities for businesses looking to grow their bottom lines.
With good CRM software, businesses get a better understanding of their customers.
A high-quality CRM provides businesses with data that can be organized into useful reports. Along with data, a CRM lets businesses track their contacts with customers to give them personalized attention.
The best CRM software solutions give businesses of all sizes the ability to track customers and their data. But, these CRM platforms are also always growing as developers are adding new features that improve the effectiveness of your CRM regularly.
Businesses that regularly use CRM have favorite features.
One of the most popular features is an affordable price. Along with a fair price, a CRM that can be learned quickly is helpful for all businesses, especially small ones with very few employees.
Businesses also appreciate when a CRM can be customized and integrated with other software.
Small businesses also prefer being able to contact live customer support, especially in the early stages of learning to use the platform.
Here are the 9 best CRM software tools that have these features and many more.
Best CRM Software Solutions
1. Agile
Agile is a good choice for businesses that have ten or fewer employees.
It comes three vital focus areas: sales, marketing, and services.
Employees can follow their customers by adding contact information which can be tracked automatically through communications – think email and social media.
Employees can also schedule appointments through the CRM.
The platform includes a drag-and-drop user interface dashboard that lets them track sales, enhance workflow, and keep track of customer orders.
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2. Capsule
This is not just one of the best CRM software platforms but also the first ones on the market.
It was first introduced in 2008 and has a simple interface that is not loaded with unnecessary features.
Because it set the stage for CRM usage, Capsule is popular with small businesses and it continues to grow in popularity as new ones find it.
Capsule has been around for a long time, but it does not mean that it is outdated. In fact, Capsule offers seamless integration with apps like MailChimp and Gmail so you can easily add contacts.
You can also use the Capsule’s job and time tracking to see where your employees are spending their time.
3. Freshsales
This one of the best CRM software includes features like built-in phone and email data, records of conversations, smart email templates, and pipeline management.
It also includes AI to learn from the data that is entered into the system so the CRM can build leads and score them, too.
4. Hubspot
Businesses that are looking for the ultimate bargain in a CRM have to look no farther than Hubspot.
This platform is free and comes with basic features that let small businesses follow activities, contacts, and profiles from customers.
Small businesses can assign deals and watch the data on the easy-to-read dashboard that can be shared with employees.
Hubspot is popular with inbound sales activity, so businesses use that aspect of the website can easily integrate their inbound data with the Hubspot CRM.
The cloud-based platform can also be used with SalesForce and other sales-based apps.
Hubspot also includes training opportunities through its Academy dashboard that is completely free and extremely useful. It is rare to find something so valuable at a low cost.
Along with a free CRM platform and frequently updated training opportunities, Hubspot also includes an online library of apps that include invoice generators and other template generators that can be customized.
5. Insightly
The next one of the best CRM software tools is Insightly. It provides insight for small businesses that are looking to learn about their customers and how they interact with employees.
Small businesses often select this as their favorite option to work with lead management and present reports. It is affordably priced so small businesses can use it.
The CRM lets businesses use project management features so they can easily track tasks.
One of the best things about Insightly is that it works flawlessly with Google’s suite of apps, an Microsoft, too.
With the collection of features, Insightly can claim to help businesses grow by at least 20% by helping businesses manage sales, relationships, and projects.
The ease of integrating the CRM with Gmail and other popular apps takes away the need to learn new programs.
You get to keep your Gmail address and maintain your documents when you use Insightly. The attractive and accessible dashboard cards let users see up to 100 records in a bright and intuitive chart or graph.
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6. Nimble
A good CRM platform provides a nimble user interface that lets employees access a plethora of information on a single screen. Nimble has dedicated itself to filling those needs.
The portals can be customized so employees can see what they need on their screens and they can also automate interactions with customers.
This CRM is built to interface with Salesforce, but it can also stand alone.
With regular updates and helpful customer service, Nimble lets you manage your data without worry.
7. Salesforce CRM
Salesforce is the first name in CRM platforms.
The platform comes in several variations that can be used by small businesses, large businesses, and everything in between.
The basic version includes email integration, reminders to follow up with customers, workflow automation, and it can be integrated with other apps.
It is possible to customize several of the features. Salesforce is cloud-based with a healthy set of features and tools.
With Salesforce, businesses do have to pay for service, but those services are some of the best in the industry.
The CRM is a SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform that offers quality security so customer information cannot be infiltrated by hackers.
Along with tough security, the app allows employees to build and follow marketing campaigns as well as create and manages events that bring in customers.
Through automation, the app also can learn about the business and customers.
It is not the easiest platform to the learn intuitively, but the customer service is robust, enthusiastic, and always available.
8. SugarCRM
If your employees are tech savvy, they will have fun working with one of the best CRM software solutions – SugarCRM.
This platform has an affordable price at a few different levels. It also comes with customer service that is ready to help you at a moment’s notice.
Along with being easy to customize, SugarCRM is also very easy to learn. It comes with guides to help with learning the system and customizing the features, with plenty of options for developers to play in the open source community.
SugarCRM offers webinars for its current and potential customers who want to learn more about the platform and features.
Some of the most recognizable enterprises in the world have turned to this CRM because it is powerful, customizable, and affordable.
As more businesses choose SugarCRM, the ratings seem to only get better. It is clear that the developers at SugarCRM listen to their customers and enhance the features that their customers like to use.
With SugarCRM, businesses can reach and interact with their customers anywhere because it includes a feature of mobile phones.
With all of the features, SugarCRM has been able to keep the price low. They do not add on unexpected fees, which customers truly appreciate.
9. Zoho
Zoho is a popular choice with larger businesses as well as small ones. The prices are right.
Despite the low price, the platform comes with frequent updates and with plenty of sales and marketing features.
Zoho lets businesses track website views and it announces sales with friendly pop-up notifications.
Its intuitive, user-friendly interface can be customized at different levels. It has a clean and modern screen and has extensions that can be installed with a quick click.
Zoho has their own Marketplace that businesses and developers can use to find and build accessories.
Zoho is always looking for ways to improve its CRM and the latest incarnation is a support system called Zia, which is a voice-activated sales assistant.
Zia is not just any assistant, it actually learns from your interactions with the dashboard and with customers.
Along with Zia, Zoho also follows several possible sales channels through tech-driven email, live chat, social media, and traditional telephone calls. When customers make a purchase, Zoho will immediately respond with customized messages. Even the analytics can be customized, so you can learn from sales funnels while finding anomalies. You can also follow KPIs that you set for each customer or each marketing campaign.
Of course, Zoho cannot provide all of these features for free. But, the price includes more features than most of the other best CRM software systems.
You can also integrate Zoho with apps like Slack, G-suite, Twitter, and MailChimp.