Customer Relationship Management (CRM) refers to a collection of interconnected software tools designed to efficiently handle, monitor, and store data associated with both existing and prospective customers of a business. These solutions are data-driven, providing a systematic approach to managing and organizing information crucial for building and maintaining relationships with clients.
What we cover
Why Use CRM Software?
Utilizing CRM software is crucial for businesses as it simplifies customer interactions and consolidates valuable information, promoting better communication and teamwork within teams. By centralizing customer data in a single platform, businesses can develop a comprehensive understanding of their clients, facilitating personalized and targeted interactions. This results in heightened customer satisfaction, increased loyalty, and enhanced overall operational efficiency.
Furthermore, CRM software enables data-driven decision-making by providing insights into customer behaviors and preferences. This not only helps in tailoring marketing strategies but also allows businesses to proactively meet customer needs. Ultimately, the adoption of CRM software empowers organizations to forge stronger, enduring connections with their customer base, contributing to sustained success and expansion.
General Pricing
CRM software costs vary based on factors such as the number of users, features, deployment type, contract length, and industry requirements. Generally, prices start at around $12 per user per month for small business subscriptions and can go up to $1,500 or more for premium plans.
Additional factors influencing CRM software costs include data storage fees, support levels, and customization options. Businesses should carefully compare offerings from different providers, considering their specific needs, budget constraints, and user reviews before selecting a CRM software solution.
Top Recommendations
monday.com is a collaborative operating system that simplifies task management, project tracking, and team communication.
Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM software designed to help businesses manage and optimize their sales processes efficiently.
Zoho is a cloud-based suite of business software applications offering solutions for CRM tailored to streamline business operations.
Act! is a popular CRM software designed to help small & medium-sized businesses manage contacts and marketing efforts effectively.
Freshsales is a user-friendly CRM software that aids businesses in automating sales processes and fostering customer relationships.
Salesforce is a leading cloud-based CRM platform that empowers businesses to enhance customer relationships and drive growth.
How to Choose the Best CRM Software?
To select the optimal CRM software for your business, follow these concise steps:
- Define Needs and Goals:
- Determine team size and budget.
- Analyze current sales and service processes for improvement.
- Outline key business objectives and essential features.
- Research and Compare:
- Shortlist 3-5 CRM options using comparison websites.
- Test software through free trials and demos.
- Read customer reviews and case studies for insights.
- Consider Integration and Scalability:
- Evaluate CRM integration with existing tools.
- Ensure scalability to accommodate business growth.
- Prioritize Security and Compliance:
- Verify adherence to industry standards and regulations.
- Confirm data security measures like encryption and access control.
- Evaluate Implementation and Support:
- Assess the implementation process and support options.
- Consider available support channels: phone, email, live chat.
- Request Proposal and Negotiate:
- Request proposals from shortlisted vendors.
- Negotiate terms, including pricing and features.
Best CRM Software
Check out this list of the best CRM software options to make finding the right platform for your business a breeze!
Best CRM Software (At a Glance)
| Feature | Zoho | Act! | HubSpot | Salesforce |
| Best For | Small Businesses | Small to Mid-sized Firms | Small to Mid-sized Firms | Enterprise |
| Windows & IOS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ease of Use | 4.3/5 | 4.1/5 | 4.5/5 | 4.4/5 |
| Popularity | High | Medium | High | High |
| Rating | 4.2/5 | 4.0/5 | 3.9/5 | 4.3/5 |
| Price/Free | Free Plan AvailableStandard Plan: $14/user/monthProfessional Plan: $23/user/month | $30/user/month | $1,600/mo | $25 per user/month |
| Software | Web-based | Windows, Web-based | Web-based | Web-based |
| Integration | G Suite, Mailchimp | Outlook, Google Apps | Mailchimp, Zapier | Outlook, Dropbox |
| Customization | Extensive | Extensive | Extensive | Extensive |
Best CRM Software (Let’s Dive Deeper)
1. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM known for its simplicity, making it a good fit for hotels that prioritize sales and guest relationship management.
Key Features:
- Sales pipeline management
- Email and contact management
- Sales reporting and analytics
Ratings: 4.2/5
Pros:
- Intuitive interface
- Excellent for sales teams
- Customization options
Cons: May lack some advanced marketing features.
Pricing: $19.90 for advanced, and other various pricing plans, including a free trial.
Pipedrive, founded in 2010 and headquartered in Tallinn, Estonia, is a renowned cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software provider. It serves businesses globally, spanning over 190 countries, helping them efficiently manage their sales pipeline, customer interactions, and marketing campaigns.
Pipedrive is favored for its user-friendly interface, affordability, and adaptability. It offers a comprehensive suite of features, including contact and lead management, opportunity and deal tracking, activity monitoring, reporting, and seamless integrations with various business applications.
Pipedrive excels as a powerful tool, enabling businesses to streamline their sales pipeline, track customer interactions, automate marketing efforts, generate insightful reports, enhance customer relationships, and boost sales.
Verdict: For an affordable and user-friendly CRM software solution, Pipedrive is a strong contender, catering to businesses of all sizes and across various industries.
2. Monday.com
Monday.com is a versatile work operating system that empowers teams to manage work, meet deadlines, and build a culture of transparency.
Key Features:
- Customizable Workflows
- Collaboration Tools
- Automation and Integration
Ratings: 4.5/5
Pros:
- Intuitive interface
- Extensive customization
- Strong collaboration features
Cons:
- Learning curve for advanced features,
- Pricing for larger teams.
Pricing:
- Basic Plan: $8/user/month
- Standard Plan: $10/user/month
- Pro Plan: $16/user/month
Monday.com stands out as a popular cloud-based Work OS platform, catering to teams of all sizes for effective collaboration, project management, and progress tracking. Its visually appealing interface, customizable boards, and powerful automation make it a versatile and user-friendly tool.
The platform’s strengths lie in customizable boards and workflows, powerful automation capabilities, seamless integrations with popular tools, collaboration tools, and insightful reporting and analytics for data-driven decision-making.
Users appreciate Monday.com for its ease of use, high customization, visually appealing interface, collaborative features, and efficiency improvement. It caters to diverse workflows, making it an ideal choice for teams seeking a flexible and engaging project management tool.
Monday.com suits teams of all sizes, diverse projects, and workflows, those prioritizing collaboration, businesses aiming for increased efficiency, and anyone seeking a visually appealing project management solution.
Verdict: Monday.com is a powerful Work OS platform empowering teams to collaborate effectively and achieve their goals. With an intuitive interface, robust features, and versatile integrations, it’s a top choice for businesses striving to enhance workflow, productivity, and overall success.
3. Freshsales
Freshsales is a CRM software designed for sales and marketing teams, making it suitable for hotels looking to streamline guest management and marketing efforts.
Key Features:
- Lead and contact management for guests
- Sales automation and email tracking
- Reporting and analytics to measure marketing campaigns
Ratings: 4.5/5
Pros:
- User-friendly interface
- Affordable pricing
- Effective lead management
Cons: May require additional customization for hotel-specific needs.
Pricing: $15/user/month, billed annually
Freshsales, a Chennai-based CRM software company founded in 2011, offers a cloud-based solution trusted by businesses worldwide. It facilitates customer interaction management, sales pipeline tracking, and marketing campaign automation for companies of all sizes across 160+ countries.
Freshsales stands out for its user-friendliness, affordability, and adaptability. It boasts an array of features, including contact and lead management, opportunity and deal tracking, activity monitoring, and seamless integrations with other business applications.
Freshsales empowers businesses to manage customer interactions, streamline sales pipelines, automate marketing efforts, generate comprehensive reports, enhance customer relationships, and boost sales.
For an affordable and user-friendly CRM software solution, Freshsales is a strong contender, catering to businesses of all sizes across various industries.
Verdict: Freshsales emerges as a powerful and flexible CRM software, offering affordability and ease of use. It’s an excellent choice for businesses seeking to improve customer relationships, increase sales, and automate sales and marketing processes.
4. Zoho
Zoho offers a comprehensive suite of business software applications, including CRM, project management, and collaboration tools.
Key Features:
- Zoho CRM
- Zoho Projects
- Zoho Desk
Ratings: 4.2/5
Pros:
- Integrated suite
- Affordability
- Scalability
Cons: Steeper learning curve for some modules.
Pricing:
- Free Plan Available
- Standard Plan: $14/user/month
- Professional Plan: $23/user/month
Zoho CRM is a cloud-based platform aiding businesses in managing customer interactions, featuring contact management, sales pipeline visualization, marketing automation, customer service tools, and robust reporting.
Zoho CRM is known for its user-friendly interface, affordability, and broad integrations. It offers comprehensive tools for contact management, sales pipeline visualization, marketing automation, customer service, and insightful reporting.
Zoho CRM’s appeal lies in its user-friendly design, cost-effectiveness, scalability, diverse integrations, and responsive customer support. It suits businesses of all sizes, emphasizing ease of use, budget-friendly plans, scalability, and excellent support.
Verdict: Zoho CRM is ideal for businesses of any size, those seeking an affordable and scalable CRM solution, and teams valuing user-friendly interfaces and responsive support.
5. Act!
Act! is a CRM and marketing automation software designed to help businesses grow by organizing customer information, managing sales processes, and facilitating marketing campaigns.
Key Features:
- Contact and Opportunity Management
- Marketing Automation
- Sales Process Automation
Ratings: 4.0/5
Pros:
- Robust contact management
- Marketing automation features
Cons: Interface may seem dated to some users.
Pricing: $30/user/month
Act! CRM is a versatile cloud-based and on-premise solution designed for effective customer relationship management. Known for its user-friendly interface, customizable features, and robust reporting, Act! CRM is favored by businesses of all sizes.
Act! CRM offers comprehensive tools, including contact management, sales and marketing automation, sales pipeline visualization, and detailed reporting.
Users appreciate Act! CRM for its user-friendly interface, deployment flexibility, customization options, robust reporting tools, and reliable customer support.
Verdict: Act! CRM is suitable for businesses of all sizes, those in need of flexible CRM solutions, companies seeking customization options, and teams valuing strong customer support.
6. Hubspot
HubSpot provides a full suite of marketing, sales, and customer service tools, helping businesses attract, engage, and delight customers throughout their journey.
Key Features:
- Marketing Hub
- Sales Hub
- Service Hub
Ratings: 3.9/5
Pros:
- All-in-one solution
- User-friendly
- Robust automation
Cons: Higher pricing for advanced features.
Pricing: $1,600/mo
HubSpot CRM is a cloud-based CRM platform offering a freemium model, making it accessible to businesses of all sizes. Known for its user-friendly interface, powerful automation, and integrated marketing tools, HubSpot CRM manages the entire customer journey from lead generation to customer support.
HubSpot’s freemium model, contact management, sales and marketing automation, customer service tools, and robust reporting contribute to its popularity. Users appreciate HubSpot CRM for its user-friendly interface, freemium accessibility, powerful automation, integrated marketing tools, and scalability as businesses grow.
HubSpot CRM is an excellent choice for businesses of all sizes, especially startups and those valuing an easy-to-use CRM with integrated marketing and sales tools. HubSpot CRM provides a powerful and user-friendly solution for managing customer relationships, catering to businesses of all sizes with its freemium model, integrated features, and seamless marketing-to-sales alignment.
Verdict: HubSpot’s integrated suite, covering marketing, sales, and service, is praised for its user-friendly interface and seamless integrations. While suitable for businesses seeking an all-in-one solution, smaller enterprises may find it relatively costly.
7. Salesforce
Salesforce is a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform that offers robust solutions for hotels to manage guest interactions, reservations, and more.
Key Features:
- Customizable CRM for managing guest profiles and preferences
- Automation tools for guest communication and marketing campaigns
- Integration with booking and reservation systems
Ratings: 4.3/5
Pros:
- Extensive customization
- Powerful reporting
- A wide range of integrations
Cons: Can be expensive and has a steep learning curve.
Pricing: $25 per user/month
Salesforce, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a renowned cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software provider. It offers a versatile solution trusted by businesses of all sizes across various industries. Users appreciate its user-friendly interface and seamless integration with numerous other business applications.
Salesforce’s CRM software excels in managing customer interactions, tracking sales pipelines, automating marketing campaigns, generating insightful reports, and enhancing overall customer satisfaction.
Key features include contact management, opportunity tracking, lead nurturing, marketing automation, robust reporting tools, and extensive integrations with platforms like HubSpot, Google Workspace, and Microsoft Office 365.
Verdict: Whether you’re a small startup or a large enterprise, Salesforce’s capabilities cater to a wide range of industries and business needs, making it a valuable asset for those looking to automate processes and thrive in today’s competitive landscape.
8. Thryv
Thryv is an all-in-one business management software designed to streamline operations for small and medium-sized businesses, offering tools for appointment scheduling, customer management, and marketing.
Key Features:
- Appointment Scheduling
- Customer Relationship Management
- Marketing Automation
Ratings: 4.4/5
Pros:
- Comprehensive business management
- User-friendly
Cons: Some users may find it feature-heavy for simpler needs
Pricing: Pricing available upon request
Thryv is an all-in-one business management software tailored for small and medium-sized service industry businesses. Going beyond traditional CRM, Thryv encompasses client acquisition, marketing, scheduling, payments, and team collaboration.
Users appreciate Thryv for its all-in-one solution, user-friendly interface, efficiency-boosting automation, scalability, and the convenience of a mobile app. Thryv is ideal for service-based SMBs seeking an all-in-one solution, teams aiming to enhance efficiency, businesses targeting growth, and those valuing effective customer service.
Thryv stands out as a versatile business management solution, simplifying operations and fostering growth for SMBs in the service industry. With a focus on user-friendliness and automation, Thryv can be a valuable asset for streamlining workflows and improving customer relationships.
Verdict: It might be deemed feature-rich for smaller businesses with simpler requirements. Thryv excels in appointment scheduling and reminders, customer communication tools, and marketing automation.
9. Insightly
Insightly is a CRM and project management software that helps businesses build lasting relationships with customers while efficiently managing projects and tasks.
Key Features:
- Project Management
- Workflow Automation
Ratings: 4.0/5
Pros: Integration of CRM and project management, customizable workflows.
Cons: Learning curve for advanced features.
Pricing:
- Free Plan Available
- Plus Plan: $29/user/month
- Professional Plan: $49/user/month
Insightly is a user-friendly and affordable CRM platform designed for growing businesses. Known for its intuitive interface, customization options, and seamless integration capabilities, it caters to companies aiming to streamline sales and customer management processes.
Insightly offers flexible contact management, visual sales pipeline tools, automated workflows, powerful reporting, and seamless integrations with popular business applications. The mobile app ensures on-the-go access.
Users appreciate Insightly for its ease of use, affordability, customization features, scalability, and excellent customer support. The platform strikes a balance between simplicity and robust functionality.
Verdict: Insightly is ideal for growing businesses, teams desiring a simple yet powerful CRM, budget-conscious companies, those seeking customization, and teams requiring convenient mobile access.
10. Zendesk Sell
Zendesk Sell is a sales automation and CRM software designed to enhance productivity by providing sales teams with tools for lead and deal management, communication tracking, and analytics.
Key Features:
- Contact and Lead Management
- Sales Pipeline Tracking
- Communication Tracking
Ratings: 4.2/5
Pros: Intuitive interface, robust sales automation.
Cons: Advanced features may require additional training.
Pricing:
- Essential Plan: $19/user/month
- Professional Plan: $55/user/month
- Enterprise Plan: $115/user/month
Zendesk Sell, formerly known as Zendesk Sunshine, is a popular CRM solution known for prioritizing customer relationships and streamlined sales workflows. With a user-friendly interface, built-in communication tools, and robust reporting capabilities, it caters to businesses aiming to enhance efficiency and drive revenue.
Zendesk Sell offers an intuitive interface, unified sales workflow, seamless communication features, automated tasks, detailed reporting, and integrations with popular business applications.
Zendesk Sell is ideal for customer-centric businesses, sales teams seeking streamlined workflows, companies prioritizing improved communication, those seeking data-driven insights, and teams already using Zendesk products.
Learn more about Zendesk Sell here!
Verdict: Zendesk Sell stands out for its customer-centric approach and streamlined sales workflow. Its user-friendly design, communication tools, and robust reporting capabilities make it valuable for businesses aiming to boost efficiency, customer relationships, and sales growth.
FAQs
What is the Best CRM Software for Small Business?
Many People believe Zoho CRM is the best CRM as it is suitable for beginners.
What are the 3 Types of CRM?
There are three distinct categories of customer relationship management software suitable for businesses:
- Operational CRM
- Collaborative CRM
- Analytical CRM
