CRM is fine. It does what it’s supposed to do. It doesn’t help me hit my number, but it’s not supposed to.”

Peter Black, CRO of XANT

While we rely on CRM software to build territories, track our funnel, and record deals, we do not rely on it to guide reps to the right prospects or the right activities. It wasn’t built for that.

If we have a revenue team that isn’t hitting numbers, it’s likely they are working on the wrong things. How do we get them working on the right things? Here’s what we know—without a helping hand, daily demands will steer reps to: 

• Be reactive, not proactive
  • They wait for marketing to deliver better leads 
  • They wait for the channel to deliver better opportunities 
• Work on closing deals, not on prospecting 
• Talk to who they already know vs. building new relationships 

The end result of the above is overworking bad opportunities and not working to find new, better opportunities. Our data shows reps spend 297% of time on opportunities that will never close. Why? Probably because it’s more comfortable over-working an opportunity that “might” close than prospecting to create new opportunities. Getting reps working on the right things is the key to hitting a number—CRM is not the answer. How do we get beyond CRM and help our teams hit their number? 

For data in CRM today, we have dozens of apps that make it easy to streamline access and analysis. However, our data is old, incomplete, and inaccurate. How do we get beyond CRM and help reps prioritize activity that works? Even when it requires them to be proactive, to prospect, and to reach beyond the customers/prospects they already know?

Here are 3 steps to the Nirvana of your reps getting beyond CRM to hit a number: 

1. Cadence. If you don’t have a Sales Engagement Platform (SEP) in place, run don’t walk. At this point, the ROI for SEPs is well documented. Forrester estimates a 3-year, 329% ROI on implementing a Sales Engagement Platform. Large companies like Verizon, American Express, and John Hancock use SEPs in scaled environments, and smaller companies like ClickDimensions, Sana Commerce, and QuickStart use SEPs to implement cadence–a structured way of prospecting. 

The primary benefits of cadence are  

a) Visibility —know who is working and what is working

b) Productivity —your reps get more done, and in a more structured way  

There are many SEPs on the market. All of them facilitate click-to-call, integrated with email, SMS, and social messaging. With cadences, you are able to program different plays, or cadence, that get your team working according to a plan. This helps a lot! It’s far better than what we used to have with just CRM. 

→ Here’s where to pay attention:  Cadence is not enough. 

Cadence can help reps do more, but by itself it does not help reps do more of the right things

2. Prioritization. It makes little sense to help teams work faster if they are not working on the right things. The efficiency of a cadence tool helps you cover more ground, but is it the right ground?

Who are they enrolling in their plays? Who decides that? What intelligence is being used to drive enrollment criteria? Human Intelligence? Artificial Intelligence? Buyer Intelligence?   

The responsible way to roll out cadence is with accompanying prioritization. Work faster, yes. But also, work on the right things. 

Prioritization relies on data—data about what works and what doesn’t. To solve this data problem, XANT collects, organizes, normalizes, and anonymizes data in real-time from thousands of sellers who are using the platform to engage buyers. What is working?  What is not working? For which types of buyers, in which types of companies and industries and geographies? All this data helps optimize for your reps: next best prospect and next best action. More of what works; less of what doesn’t.

We call it buyer intelligence. Who are the buyers? What do we know about them? How can we use that intelligence to prioritize?

Buyer Intelligence data streams in from all geographies, industries and sales motions as reps work in Playbooks. Not only can Playbooks see what actions reps are taking, it can also see what is working vs. not, and ultimately what creates revenue transactions. We compare this buyer-intelligence approach to ‘Waze for sales.’ Thousands of sellers virtually sitting on your reps’ shoulders, whispering what is working and guiding your reps to work on things that will pay off. 

3. Change Management. With a Sales Engagement Platform and effective prioritization in place, you can see everything: 

• Which teams and reps are working on recommended things? 
• Which teams and reps are following the recommended plays? 
• What are the results? 

With instrumentation and visibility, you are well armed to run full-scale adoption and change management programs, leaning into what is working and pulling back from what is not working. 

Without visibility, change management is a crapshoot at best. You launch training and hope it sticks. You run an incentive program and hope it works. But with the two capabilities listed above you can actually see which actions are leading to which outcomes, and you can fire up the best of sales enablement and sales ops to fine-tune your machine for performance. 

*** 

This may seem like Nirvana indeed, but at XANT we work with customers every day whose objective is to accelerate their revenue. Our customers aren’t as interested in implementing software as they are in seeing real results. We provide #1 and #2 listed above: The world’s leading Sales Engagement Platform for enterprises, leveraging a global buyer intelligence database to power prioritization that works. The visibility we create in the process is a perfect environment for your sales ops and sales enablement teams to do what they do best—and if you need help or guidance along the way, we are there for you. 

We want nothing more than for you to hit your number. If leveraging Playbooks helps you get there, we know we’ll have a partner for life. 

As always, thoughts, comments, challenges and questions welcome. 

Rock on!

Dave Boyce, CSO, XANT

Peter Black, CRO, XANT

RELATED: 7 Advantages Of Using CRM Software

In this article:

1. What Is Pipedrive CRM?
2. Features and Benefits of Pipedrive
3. Pipedrive Specifications
4. Pipedrive Integrations
5. Pipedrive Interface
6. Pipedrive Pricing
7. Pipedrive CRM Lead Management
8. Pipedrive Pipeline Management
9. Customer Reviews

Pipedrive Review | CRM Software Review

What Is Pipedrive CRM?

Pipedrive CRM is a sales software that helps automate tasks for sales professionals. Overall, this software aims to aid salespeople in closing more deals.

Pipedrive prides itself as a tool that has helped its users boost their close rates by up to 28%. According to their website, this occurs after the first year of using Pipedrive CRM alone.

This tool also has the advantage of having two experienced sales managers as its founders, who made it with activity-based selling in mind. Although it aims to please customers and executives of a business, it primarily has the salespeople in mind who will be using the software.

Features and Benefits of Pipedrive

• Sales Pipeline Management: Pipedrive has an interface that helps visualize the sales process, making it significantly easier to manage. As with all tools, there’s a learning curve, but it’s not difficult to figure out.
• Email Communication Features: The email features enables users to send and receive from one account even if they use several providers. It also includes other useful features like tracking prospect’s actions on your email and email template creation, among others.
• Pipeline Management and Sales Activity Management: The “Pipeline Management” feature provides an overview of activities in the sales pipeline. On the other hand, the “Activity Management” feature keeps track of all tasks that move a deal forward.
• Open API: For even more customizability, the software gives your developers access with its open API or public application programming interface.
• Sales Forecasting: The “Forecasting” tool on the software helps identify deals’ expected close dates. This tool will help you figure out which deals to focus on.
• Lead Management Feature: Pipedrive gives you the ability to add web form on websites, whether yours or on others, so you can generate new leads.

Activity-Based Selling Definition: Activity-based selling is a kind of selling strategy that shifts focus away from closing a deal. Instead, it puts the focus on the entire process or set of actions that lead to a sale.

Pipedrive Specifications

Pipedrive CRM on a phone

Due to the fact that Pipedrive is primarily a CRM, it is vital that you look at specific features necessary for CRM software. Whether it’s because these features are standard or they should be, there are specifications that a user should keep in mind when checking for a CRM.

With that said, here’s a list of some of the specifications you should look for. Check out how Pipedrive measures up to these specs:

• Availability on Mobile: Yes, it’s available on mobile for both iOS and Android.
• Simple Setup Process: With its easy drag-and-drop and single-view interface, it’s safe to say that this software has a simple setup process.
• Security Features: Each company data is stored in separate databases. Plus, Pipedrive has set up multiple backups of your data, as well.
• Ability to Sync Your Contacts: Yes, this software can sync your contacts from all major email service providers. With the syncing feature, you can do all your client communications in one place.
• Can Create Custom Reports: Reports in the “Progress” tab can only be customized so far. Instead, they recommend making use of the “List View’s” flexibility and multiple filters for you to export the needed information.
• Customer Support: Pipedrive has a support center, email support, in-app support, and live support. Aside from that, its customer support service is available 24/7.
• Multiple Language Support: So far, the software only supports English. However, its customer app support system is available in both English and Portuguese.
• Business Size Support: Although it doesn’t market itself for big businesses, it does work well for small to medium-sized companies. It can also work for freelancers, too.
• Can Integrate Social Media: Yes, this feature is available on Pipedrive to better engage with clients.
• Many Deployment Channels: Right now, Pipedrive only operates via cloud-hosting.

Pipedrive Integrations

Pipedrive prides itself on the numerous apps they can import and integrate into their system. Aside from that, there is also a built-in forecasting system in Pipedrive.

Integrations are important to streamline the place where salespeople have access to their sales management tool. On that note, here are some of the major systems and applications that Pipedrive integrates:

• Google Apps
• MailChimp
• DropBox
• Zoho CRM
• Salesforce
• Zapier
• ActiveCampaign
• Torpio API
• NiftyQuoter API
• Trello

Pipedrive can interact with a multitude of online mailing systems so that the interaction between their own mailing system and these email service providers is seamless. With this, users of Pipedrive can send emails from different accounts using only their Pipedrive account.

Pipedrive can also integrate with other CRMs so that it’s easier to transfer contact details and other essential data from different applications.

Pipedrive Interface

One other feature of Pipedrive that users may appreciate is its customizable and straightforward interface. This gives Pipedrive room to change and adapt depending on the wants and needs of your sales team.

The interface of Pipedrive allows everyone to see the stages of progress for each deal. Aside from that, it expounds on the actions that reps need to take next for each step.

Pipedrive’s interface has the activity and goal feature. This allows reps to follow and look into the pending activities left to do in a particular pipeline.

Pipedrive’s customizability comes in the form of its ability to add custom fields and your own pipeline stages. This will help accommodate how you do your business.

Pipedrive also has an open API that allows you to customize the CRM as much as you need. You can even turn modules on and off, so you can have better pipeline visibility while navigating the CRM.

RELATED: What Is CRM | Understanding Customer Relationship Management

Pipedrive Pricing

Pipedrive has a free trial available for those who are looking to get a feel of the software first. Once you’ve dipped your toes into the software and want to experience its features in full, then check out their pricing plans below.

The higher up you go into the pricing plan, the more features and storage capacity for each user. Aside from that, you will save 17% more when you’re billed annually than billed being monthly:

• Silver: $12.50/user
• Gold: $24.20/user
• Platinum: $49.17/user

When billed monthly, the pricing plan will be as seen below:

• Silver: $15/user
• Gold: $29/user
• Platinum: $59/user

The free trial that Pipedrive has will let you give access to their system for around 14 days. After the 14 days pass, you have two months to subscribe to Pipedrive before they delete or remove all your data.

Pipedrive CRM Lead Management

One thing that Pipedrive has added in their repertoire this year is their lead management tool called Leadbooster.

The Leadbooster aims to help organizations catch their web leads before they lose them altogether. They acknowledge the need for faster responses from sales reps when it comes to talking to leads from the web.

Otherwise, faster competitors might take away these potential customers. This is where Leadbooster comes along.

Any existing customers or subscribers of Pipedrive have access to Leadbooster. Thus, they can make use of Leadbooster soon enough to get faster response rates that will let sales reps strike while the iron is still hot.

Leadbooster is an excellent way of integrating automation and chatbots into your sales process with the help of Pipedrive.

Pipedrive Pipeline Management

Pipedrive makes it easier for you to focus on the sales management of your pipelines. Since it gives a visual view of how each sales process is going, complicated sales processes become simpler to view and oversee.

The pipeline view categorizes each sales deal by stages. This view allows people to see and identify which to prioritize.

Pipedrive’s intuitive interface also makes it easier for you to access relevant statistics and reporting on the health of your pipeline. This will let you know which areas of the pipeline need work or are doing well.

Customer Reviews

Plenty of customers of Pipedrive have expressed how much they love the software.

They cite the “Activity Management” tool and the email Integration features as the most well-liked tools of the software. Aside from that, they also expressed appreciation for the simple interface. People also appreciate that Pipedrive has a mobile app.

However, there are some cons that people have against the software.

Some want more customizable reports, while others wish to have better accommodations for a growing business. Another common point of improvement that users said pertains to the site lacking certain features.

Below are some of the reviews of Pipedrive users from Software Advice:

All-in-all, Pipedrive is a CRM software that has a solid customer base of customers who are happy with its offerings. The software has shown how well it can power up your sales efforts and continues to look for more ways to do so.

Hopefully, as Pipedrive continues to grow, it will be more able to address the needs of a growing enterprise. They should also develop some of the features they already have.

For example, their Leadbooster is efficient, but it has a lot of room to grow as well.

Nonetheless, they have done an excellent job overall of creating a CRM that salespeople would want to be their go-to management tool for sales.

Do you think we’ve covered everything there is to know about Pipedrive? Leave a comment down below to let us know!

Up Next:

• Is CRM Dead? How Sales Reps Can Get The Most Out Of CRM
• What Is HubSpot CRM? | Overview, Features And Pricing
• Sales Email Secrets | Secrets Of Email Prospecting To Increase Open Rates

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2019, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.

RELATED: 7 Advantages Of Using CRM Software

In this article:

1. What Is Bitrix24?
2. Features and Benefits of Bitrix24
   1. Packed With Features to Help Small and Medium Business
   2. Provides Tools that Make Time and Task Management More Efficient
   3. Hands-On Task Supervision and Monitoring
   4. Provides Support for E-Commerce
   5. Offers Various Methods of Access
   6. Quick Integration With Other Third-Party Software
   7. Easier Communication Through Central Inter-Company Messaging Features
3. Bitrix24 Pricing
4. Bitrix24 Reviews

Bitrix24 Overview, Features, and Reviews

What Is Bitrix24?

Bitrix24 is a highly secure Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software for both small and medium-sized businesses.

CRM Software Definition: A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is an online platform that integrates all business activities into one ecosystem. It helps business owners automate tasks and monitor their sales pipeline.

It offers a multitude of different functionalities that can cater to every business need.

Bitrix24 is designed to boost collaboration and communication among employees. It also brings efficient data management through its cloud storage services.

By automating sales and marketing processes, Bitrix24 users can also enjoy advanced task management and improved teamwork.

Features and Benefits of Bitrix24

1. Packed With Features to Help Small and Medium Business

With the Bitrix24 CRM tools, small and medium businesses can get a panoramic view of the company, anytime and anywhere.

• Business Process Automation — Bitrix24 CRM platform can help you get rid of repetitive tasks through business process automation. Your teams can optimize business processes better, from employee onboarding to creating accounts payable invoices.
• Includes Tools Designed to Improve Sales Prospecting and Achieve Better Marketing Campaigns — The Bitrix24 CRM software offers tools that can create reports, sales analyses, and target audience segmentation.
• Intuitive Software — The software’s intuitive interface enables your sales managers to monitor the company’s sales funnel.
  • The interface lets you create unlimited pipelines. It also lets you create multiple sales funnels to cater for your products and services.
  • Apart from that, sales managers can also check on the progress of each sales officer easily.
  • The interface allows quick creation of funnel stages. Different employees can be assigned a separate color for better monitoring of progress.
• Unique CRM Dashboard Design — Through its unique CRM Dashboard design, your managers can quickly take a snapshot of how many deals a team has won. This helps them spot a team performer faster and reward him or her accordingly.
  • Through the dashboard, your finance team can see which clients have not yet been invoiced. It also lets your sales team set sales targets either as number of deals, or as sales volumes.
• Free Web Form Builder — Bitrix24 CRM tools also have a free web form builder. This can be used to create different forms and templates. Such forms can be embedded into websites and Bitrix24-hosted public pages.
• Provides Direct Access to Social Media Pages — This lets your employees engage with clients on different websites through Bitrix24.

2. Provides Tools that Make Time and Task Management More Efficient

Another feature that sets Bitrix24 apart from other software is its efficient project management tools.

It has a wide array of organizational features that can enhance your team’s efficiency.

• Project Groups — The software allows you to create separate groups for each of your projects. Each group can store all files, discussions, and tasks per project. You can customize the access parameters for each group so only authorized employees can access sensitive data.
• Project Timeline Tools
  • Calendars and Gantt Charts — The software’s platform also allows its users to organize project timelines through creating calendars and Gantt Chart.
  • Task Dependency Analysis — Helps sales managers establish logical relationships between tasks. Sales managers can also have an easier time monitoring each sales agent’s progress.
  • Customizable Tools — The platform enables users to customize checklists, notifications, and reminders. It also has a customizable task planner, which lets different teams delegate and customize fields in each task. These can help different teams rate different tasks easily and share templates.

Gantt Chart Definition: A Gantt Chart is a type of chart that shows the tasks, respective status per task, and the responsible persons. This helps sales managers monitor deadlines and identify potential delays.

3. Hands-On Task Supervision and Monitoring

One useful feature of Bitrix24 for sales managers is its task supervision deck. These can help supervisors rate employees’ efficiency while monitoring task reports.

• Email Integration for Task Assignments — The platform also lets your supervisors list tasks from emails. It also lets business owners spot recurring tasks to reduce turnaround time.
• More Efficient Task Assignment and Monitoring — Additionally, the software can also let your managers assign the counters and roles per project in one ecosystem. This lets managers have a more holistic view on the status of each employee’s tasks.
• Kanban View — The “Kanban View” in the software’s platform is also available for tasks and projects. This lets business owners manage employee workload, to avoid tasks being overdue. It also lets supervisors allocate how much time should be spent on individual tasks.

Kanban View Definition: A Kanban view or board can visually depict tasks by showing a team’s workflow and the team’s current progress. This helps sales managers monitor all work items and limit work-in-progress items.

4. Provides Support for E-Commerce

Using Bitrix24 CRM software for e-commerce

Bitrix24’s flexible e-commerce software tools can also help you boost your business’ sales achievements.

These features can help you manage your inventory, sales, and payment processing.

• Easier Calculation — The tools can help you automate processing and storing sales invoice as well. As a result, you can calculate for discounts, variable prices, and shipping costs easily.
• Assists in Website Creation and Monitoring — The platform lets you use your own domain name and customize your own website templates. It can also help you copy web pages and take advantage of Google Analytics and Google Maps.
• Stores Sales History — By storing your sales history, the software can speed up releasing sales and other financial reports.

5. Offers Various Methods of Access

Bitrix24 can be accessed either through cloud or on-premise with a unique source code access. The pricing is different depending on the type of access.

You can also install this software in your own company’s server and customize it.

Bitrix24 also comes with its own mobile and desktop apps, which are available for iOS and Android devices.

6. Quick Integration With Other Third-Party Software

Bitrix24 also allows users to link it with other software, such as Slack, Skype, Google Drive, and Office 365. You can also integrate your platform to other online marketplaces.

Through REST API in Bitrix24, you can create your own apps as well. Both API and REST API are available in the cloud and on-premise editions.

7. Easier Communication Through Central Inter-Company Messaging Features

Bitrix24’s messaging features are also noteworthy for its users. It allows inter-company messaging through different channels and mobile messengers.

• Project Channels — Through the platform, employees can assign a respective channel for each project. The interface also allows users to transfer conversations from one channel to another.
• Work Hour Limits — It also allows supervisors to create work-hour limits.
• Automated Greetings and Replies — Teams can also develop automated greetings and replies. These can be used to engage with clients from different social media platforms.

RELATED: 9 Best Sales Software Systems For Your Business

Bitrix24 Pricing

As discussed on the official website, the pricing is different for cloud and on-premise access, respectively.

Different rates apply for small and medium-sized companies that need CRM and professional task management.

A higher fee may be asked from companies that require cutting edge project management and advanced automation tools.

Bitrix24’s pricing plans are as follows:

Cloud Plans

• Free — For those just starting out, Bitrix24 offers a free trial. This gives access to a total of 12 users and an online storage capacity of 5GB.
• CRM+– $69/month
• Standard — $99/month
• Professional — $199/month

On-Premise Plans

• Bitrix24.CRM (12 users) — $1,490
• Business (ranges from 50-500 users) — $2,990-S14,990
• Enterprise (options include 1000, 5000, and unlimited users) — $24,990-$59,990

For more information on what each plan includes, check out the pricing matrix on the official website.

Bitrix24 Reviews

The following reviews are from different Bitrix24 platform users. These are from Capterra, a leading software review website in the U.S.

Bitrix24 is truly a state-of-the-art online tool. It enables business owners like you to boost the productivity of everyone aboard.

Bitrix24 pricing may depend on your business needs. You can assess which package is the most helpful for your business.

Have you tried Bitrix24? Share your experiences in the comments section below!

Up Next:

• Lead Management Software Review
• Must Have Sales Management Software
• Inside Vs Outside Sales: What’s The Difference Between The Two

RELATED: What is CRM? | Understanding Customer Relationship Management

In this article:

1. What Is Infusionsoft? 
2. Benefits and Specifications of Infusionsoft
3. Efficient CRM Platform
4. Organizes Business Contacts in One Place
5. Marketing and Sales Efforts Automation
6. Online Selling Tools
7. Unlimited Emails
8. Payment and Invoicing Tools
9. Infusionsoft Pricing
10. Infusionsoft Reviews

Infusionsoft CRM | Overview, Benefits, and Reviews

What Is Infusionsoft? 

Infusionsoft is a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) digital platform that allows businesses to integrate their e-commerce, marketing automation tools, and social media sites in one ecosystem.

This platform empowers its users by enabling them to map each step of their sales and marketing strategies. At the same time, it helps users save time by automating repetitive tasks, such as following up with customers.

Also, its CRM tools help organize all the customer interactions and daily activities in one space. Through this, business owners can deal with basic business issues in less time.

Businesses can also get new leads they can eventually turn into loyal customers. The automation tools also help sell online while enriching personal relationships with customers.

By automating selling efforts, Infusionsoft enables businesses to have a consistent brand messaging.

Overall, Infusionsoft can boost businesses’ reputation while offering professional and efficient services.

Currently, Infusionsoft caters to small businesses. To date, it’s already being used in more than 20,000 small businesses to streamline their CRM with all their third-party software.

Benefits and Specifications of Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft has a lot to offer to your business. Here are the top benefits and features it offers:

Efficient CRM Platform

Infusionsoft can help you organize your sensitive documents, client information, and marketing information all in one place.

Streamlining data allows users to access any data at any time and anywhere they want. Users can also adjust the data access parameters, so only authorized employees can access specific data. This helps you maintain your business data and monitor if any Data Privacy concerns will emerge.

Also, the platform helps you link all your business’ activities in one ecosystem. This functionality can empower you to create quick business decisions using real-time data.

For example:

• You’re in an offsite business presentation with a client.
• While pitching, you can already offer a customized sales quotation by just plugging in field inputs in the software. This saves you the effort and time from setting another meeting just to present your quotation.

Its CRM tools will also help create faster inter-departmental collaboration. Your finance team can access the data logged by your sales team to create a financial forecast based on real-time data. This helps all departments become more forward-looking and share their own insights faster.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software Definition: A kind of software that streamlines and automates all your business’ processes. It helps you connect to clients more efficiently and effectively.

Organizes Business Contacts in One Place

Infusionsoft offers easy migration of client information from your devices to the platform.

It also helps you organize your sales data by letting you create custom fields and tags. Through this functionality, you can set personalized appointments, online sales, and payments.

You can also simultaneously send unlimited emails and updates to these contacts.

This can also help you create hyper-targeted campaigns for specific customers based on your sales history with them.

With Infusionsoft, you can store up to 10,000 contacts, but the actual number of contacts would ultimately depend on the package you avail.

Marketing and Sales Efforts Automation

Another huge benefit of Infusionsoft is its ability to automate your business’ marketing and sales strategies.

Infusionsoft can help you create automated workflows for different teams.

Its marketing tools can also help you build web pages quickly. Different packages have various built-in industry-specific templates and drag-and-drop campaign builder functionality.

When you avail of a package, the technical support team will also reach out to you to help you set up your sales pipeline, reporting, and dashboard.

Sales Pipeline Definition: A sales pipeline is a visual representation of your business’ sales prospects. This pipeline can also help you monitor your sales agents’ performance, and if they are close to achieving their quotas.

This marketing automation feature will help your business spot emerging trends and react accordingly, as based on real-time data.

And, more importantly, this advanced feature will also help business owners have a 360-degree perspective on the business in just a few minutes.

RELATED: Sales Email Secrets | Secrets Of Email Prospecting To Increase Open Rates

Online Selling Tools

You can also sell your products and services using Infusionsoft’s online storefront, shopping cart, and order forms. At the same time, you can manage your sales pipeline through the platform.

Infusionsoft has functionalities that help you automatically qualify leads. It can also set reminders and send scheduled emails for you.

The more advanced Infusionsoft packages offer guidance on basic e-commerce setup, as well as internal business setup.

These advanced packages can also offer basic integration help, including advanced Marketplace integrations.

Marketplace Integration Definition: A kind of online service that allows users to sell their products or services to different online marketplaces. It enables businesses to reach more customers and easily sell on different websites.

Unlimited Emails

Through the platform, you can send out unlimited emails to your contacts. You can reach out to up to 10,000 contacts, depending on your package.

The platform’s responsive email builder is user-friendly, too. It has a built-in assortment of email templates. The builder also lets you create your own set of customized templates.

This functionality also enables you to trigger broadcast emails to clients and to employees, to keep in touch with everyone easily.

It also helps you customize your emails’ content, depending on your clients’ preferences.

And, as a business owner, this can give you a flawless way to send out daily reminders to your employees so they never miss out a deadline.

Payment and Invoicing Tools

Infusionsoft can also help you match your payment and invoices easily.

Because of its user-friendly interface, the platform is usually described as an industry standard sales tool.

The platform helps you comprehensively track your sales pipeline and monitor where all your customers are at in the funnel.

The tools can also speed up the process of sending data from one department to another. If your finance team needs to ask information on client purchase, then your sales team can deliver in just a few minutes.

Through Infusionsoft, the process of sending out invoices can be automated through online forms. This makes your internal processes less prone to human error as well.

Infusionsoft Pricing

If you wish to avail of these functionalities, you may check out the different Infusionsoft monthly pricing and packages below.

• Basic — $199/month
• Pro — $299/month
• Premier — $399.month

The more advanced packages offer more hours of coaching sessions with an Infusionsoft team.

• In the basic package, you can get a coach-guided implementation of your first marketing campaign.
• But in the premium package, Infusionsoft will assign a project manager that will monitor your project from beginning to end. This also includes post-setup training sessions.

Infusionsoft Reviews

If you are curious about the different Infusionsoft reviews, then check these out below. These feedbacks are from Capterra, which is one of the country’s leading business software review websites.

Truly, Infusionsoft CRM is a powerful online solution that can help your business streamline its processes. It has different functionalities that can provide you with a panoramic view of how your business is doing.

There are different packages available to you. Find out which one can cater to your business’ needs the most, and make the most out of it.

Have you tried using Infusionsoft? If you haven’t, which feature are you most excited about? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

Up Next:

• TechTarget: How a Millennial Workforce Benefits Sales Teams, CRM
• Inside Sales Reps: Take Notes in Your CRM
• 5 Best Practices To Deal With Phone Anxiety As A Sales Rep

RELATED: 15 Sales Management Software And CRMs Used By Sales Teams

In this article:

1. Current Landscape of CRM Software Market
2. Different Benefits of Using a CRM Software
   1. More Streamlined Data Management
   2. Faster Inter-Company Collaboration
   3. Enhanced Customer Interactions
   4. Increased Sales
   5. Lower Overhead Costs
   6. Remote and Flexible Software Access
   7. More Organized Social Media Marketing

Different Perks of Using a CRM Software

What is CRM Software? A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software allows businesses of all sizes to engage with customers more efficiently and effectively. Through automation and streamlining, CRM helps businesses achieve a better customer experience. And at the same time, the business can also gain better data and analytics.

Current Landscape of CRM Software Market

CRM software used to be available only for large enterprise companies. Nowadays, there’s CRM software that caters to small businesses as well.

Some vendors may offer free CRM software package for a limited time. This may depend on their free trial terms and agreement.

CRM software brings all client information into one live interface. With it, you can track your clients’ call logs, sales history, requests, and appointments.

Some of the best CRM software may also give real-time notifications about clients’ significant activities. Examples include the number of times they access your website or click links from your emails.

Different Benefits of Using a CRM Software

1. More Streamlined Data Management

One large benefit of CRM is helping users have an organized data management and storage system.

Through this, different departments can easily access the data that they need. It can assure you and your team that no customer data is misplaced or misclassified.

CRM software also lets you set data parameters. This means that only authorized employees or departments can access sensitive customer information.

Aside from streamlining data, it also helps you safeguard your CRM data ecosystem from hackers.

Data Privacy Definition: A company or an individual’s ability to distinguish which personal information in a computer system can be shared with external or third parties.

2. Faster Inter-Company Collaboration

Since CRM software lets you streamline databases, it enables faster inter- and intra-department collaboration.

Everyone can also access on-location and real-time data, which allows for easier sharing of insights and faster decision-making. There can be a faster turn-around time for sales-related reports.

For example, decision-makers can take a quick browse through the CRM and already be well informed. This can help them come strategize and decide faster when needed, such as when reacting to volatile market trends.

3. Enhanced Customer Interactions

Another practical benefit of using CRM software is achieving more leads and unparalleled customer retention.

CRM can help you answer customers’ problems or queries faster by providing users with a 360-degree view of all pertinent customer information.

Suppose a customer calls to report a deficient product.

Your customer service team can flag the product’s serial number in the system. Then, your logistics team can analyze the product’s manufacturing batch. Necessary replacements can be made faster.

From there, your finance team can forecast the replacement costs to your monthly bottom line.

Your customer service team can use CRM to analyze recurring problems. This lets them reduce the turn-around time of customer engagements.

At the same time, your marketing team may also use such information to parse data and forecast market trends.

The software enables departments to anticipate customer needs better. Employees can thoroughly analyze customer demographics and segmentation.

RELATED: Stop Pitching: Start Solving Problems For Your Customers

4. Increased Sales

Another major benefit of having CRM software is achieving more robust sales growth.

Through automation, you can monitor your sales pipeline more comprehensively.

You can easily pinpoint which deals to prioritize. You can also track which customers are profitable and which ones are not.

Also, this software can also help you track client interaction. All information can be captured, whether by phone, email, or through customer helpdesk.

This can help your business employ a more comprehensive target marketing plan. At the same time, you can take advantage of big data analyses and an automated sales dashboard, too.

As a result, you can better identify client prospects for upselling or cross-selling. This can minimize sales cycles while boosting sales success rates.

For example, by using CRM, your Sales department can give a quick scan of your current sales figures and be able to assess the most performing sales clusters.

They can forward this information to the Supply Chain and the Logistics departments. This client information can help the departments organize more effective marketing trials.

CRM software helps you monitor both performing and needy sales clusters. As a result, you can gain better insights on how to spread your resources among teams.

5. Lower Overhead Costs

Profitability can also be achieved by decreasing overhead costs. Through automation, the time spent on manual procedures can be allocated to other important tasks.

With user-friendly CRM tools, you can also reduce training costs.

CRM helps you equip employees with easy-to-understand standard operating procedures (SOP). This can also help your business avoid doubling of tasks.

CRM also gives you an easier time aligning accounting, sales, and inventory monitoring tasks.

All forms, templates, and procedure lists can be universally available in your system, for everyone’s easy access.

Also, all avenues of customer engagements, such as emails and phone calls can be tracked better. A CRM system helps your customer service team forward clients’ concerns to the right department immediately.

This, in turn, lets you see which teams or employees are performance hotspots. This lets you recognize performers for incentives faster, too.

6. Remote and Flexible Software Access

One important functionality of CRM software is its ability to be remotely accessed.

Using the software, you can access customer information, sales history, and delivery schedules anytime and anywhere.

The software also lets you access real-time inventory counts and clients’ credit limits using your authorized devices. This helps you process approvals within minutes instead of days.

These features would be very helpful, especially in field sales.

During a client meeting, you can log field inputs in the CRM software. While you are pitching, your back office can already start processing the inputs and produce a quote.

Then, you can easily show the quote as your meeting ends. This can save you time from scheduling another meeting just to show a customized quote.

7. More Organized Social Media Marketing

CRM software also gives a panoramic view of all social media platforms.

Since social media is a crucial part of modern-day marketing, CRM can help you monitor your business’ online engagements.

You can have consolidated monitoring of all your online platforms to track which network is the most effective in generating traffic. This can help you assess online trends to know the most effective time to roll out new marketing campaigns and promotions.

Moreover, CRM software also helps monitor if you’re successfully reaching your ideal online customer profiles. This can aid you in developing new products for your target market.

Indeed, CRM software can open more doors of opportunities for your company.

Through automation and streamlining of inter-departmental processes, you can boost your employees’ productivity while achieving your target sales growth.

The best CRM software for your business should be able to help you increase sales and productivity, have better coordination among employees, and achieve a healthier sales pipeline.

Up Next:

• TechTarget: How a Millennial Workforce Benefits Sales Teams, CRM
• Is CRM Dead? How Sales Reps Can Get The Most Out of CRM
• Top 25 Sales Leaders Award Winners

In this article:

1. How To Find The Right Sales Management Tools For Your Company
2. Top Sales Management Software and CRMs That Sales Teams Use
   1. CRMs for Enterprise Companies
   2. CRMs for SMB and Mid-sized Companies

Top Sales Management Software and CRMs For Sales Teams

Sales Management Software Definition: This refers to the systems that allow Sales Managers and their teams gain more insight into their organization’s key performance indicators (KPIs). This also helps in accountability, as it can monitor sales reps’ performance.

CRM Definition: This is the acronym for Customer Relationship Management, which is a strategy used to manage an organization’s interactions and relationships with customers and prospects. Salespeople often refer to the CRM system, a tool that helps them with sales and contact management, productivity, etc.

How To Find The Right Sales Management Tools For Your Company

Over recent years, the business industry grew more competitive and complex as companies gave birth to new solutions and innovations. In order to thrive, sales companies need to keep up with client demands in the most efficient way possible.

Progressive companies keep themselves on top of the game by using sales management software, or CRMs. Clients have needs that they want to meet, so sales teams need to be dependable and efficient — with the help of sales management tools.

In choosing the right sales management solutions for your company, first, you need to look for options that can cater to your needs. This is what this list will provide you.

Next, you need to ask several important questions, such as:

• Will your current sales operations blend seamlessly with the tool?
• Does the tool allow both onsite and offsite access for your sales reps?
• Can it support the social media functions of your company?
• Does it promote ease of use for everyone on your sales team?
• Does the software provider offer excellent after-sales and customer service?

To get you started on your decision-making process, we compiled a list of the top sales management software and CRMs. Most of these offer free trials so you can experience the tool before deciding on the best one for your sales team.

Top Sales Management Software and CRMs That Sales Teams Use

CRMs for Enterprise Companies

1. Microsoft Dynamics 365

Microsoft’s Dynamics 365 is not a typical CRM or enterprise resource planning (ERP) software package. They dubbed it as the “next generation” of smart business applications that work well with the existing systems you have.

Here are some of the things you can expect from Dynamics 365:

• Modern — Its multi-channel applications integrate mixed reality, artificial intelligence (AI), and social and mobile capabilities so you can always innovate.
• Unified — Microsoft’s cloud platform allows you to unify relationships, data, and processes with business applications.
• Intelligent — Dynamics 365 has built-in artificial intelligence.
• Adaptable — With their secure platform, you can always adapt new ways of working. It allows you to extend existing applications, build new solutions, and integrate with other technologies.

2. Salesforce

Salesforce lets you collaborate with their consultants and specialists, and provides the education you need to be a sales industry pro.

• What’s unique about Salesforce is they created what they call the “Community Cloud.” Through this, you can change the way you engage your business partners, employees, and customers.
• You can build communities to interact and collaborate with the people important to your business. With the help of these dedicated communities, you can maximize your business’ ROI.
• Another development from Salesforce is the Standard Success Plan, which irons out your processes. They also take it one step higher by acting as your corporate advisers.

3. SAP C/4HANA

SAP has its own CRM technology suite, the fourth generation being C/4HANA. Their suite includes the following:

1. SAP Customer Data Cloud —This can help you build trust with your customers by providing them the data privacy they require. It also offers customers control and transparency, while still complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
2. SAP Marketing Cloud — With this, you can personalize your customers’ experience with your business. You can also optimize your marketing to drive revenue and B2B marketer growth.
3. SAP Commerce Cloud — Its main purpose is to provide a single commerce solution you can treat as an omnichannel.
4. SAP Sales Cloud — This allows your sales team to have a better selling experience. You can use this to manage incentives and sales territories.
5. SAP Service Cloud — This suite helps you gather and understand customer feedback so you can serve them better.

CRMs for SMB and Mid-sized Companies

1. Act!

If you are looking for a CRM software that is more cost-efficient, you may want to consider Act! It caters to the CRM and marketing automation needs of small businesses.

Act! can help your small business by providing the following services:

• Customer Management — They help you organize the details of your customers and prospects.
• Marketing Automation — Act! Marketing Automation can drive growth to your business by maximizing your engagement. This feature is available through an additional subscription.
• Sales Pipeline Management — This dynamic feature can help you close more deals faster.
• Business Insights — Improve your strategies by using the data and insights provided by their Act! Insight dashboards.

Aside from those, Act! also provides solutions to your service and product marketing, and they ensure your emails get to the right people. Lastly, with their Act! Connect, you can connect your CRM software to popular apps and transfer information.

2. HubSpot

Hubspot provides software for sales, marketing, and service. As they say, what’s good for the business should also be good for the customer.

Here are some of the popular features you can expect from HubSpot’s three main offers:

• Marketing Hub: Lead Generation, Analytics, and Marketing Automation
• Sales Hub: Email Automation, Email Tracking, and Meeting Scheduling
• Service Hub: Customer Feedback, Ticket System, and Knowledge Base

3. Infusionsoft by Keap

Using sales management software

This one-stop shop CRM and marketing automation platform supports small-scale businesses. Infusionsoft by Keap caters to your specific needs by automating your business, marketing, and sales processes according to your preference.

• Lead Generation and Client Database Organization — With their sales management software, you can capture leads and organize client information in a single dashboard. More importantly, you can ensure that the information is always up to date.
• Team Management — Infusionsoft also allows you to set reminders and tasks so your sales team will avoid overlooking anything important.
• Marketing Automation — If you want to send email sequences to customers and prospects, they can also help you through the marketing automation they offer.
• Sales Automation — With their sales automation feature, you can streamline and create a standard for your sales process. Infusionsoft can help you save time by turning your repeatable and proven business process into a system.
• E-Commerce — This software also helps improve your e-commerce by providing solutions that will allow your customers to buy from you 24/7, with no sales call required.

4. Netsuite

Netsuite is a CRM software backed up by computer technology giant Oracle. They provide encompassing business solutions for every business size in various industries and for every role.

With their software, you can replace the varied business systems you use such as SAP, QuickBooks, Sage, and Microsoft Dynamics. Netsuite can help you gather leads and analyze them, guiding you until you turn them into growth opportunities for your company.

Here are the other services that Netsuite CRM provides:

• Sales Forecasting
• Quotations
• Integrated e-commerce
• Commissions
• Order Management

5. Nutshell

Nutshell is a “sneaky powerful CRM” that is simple to use and understand but still boasts of sophisticated features.

The great thing about this CRM is its flexibility. It can fit any sales model and they offer different ways to help companies based on their specific sales mode.

Nutshell’s features include:

• Sales Automation
• Reporting and Performance Tracking
• Team Collaboration
• Pipeline Management
• Contact Management
• Free Customer Support

6. OnContact by WorkWise

This all-in-one CRM software has three main selling points that can benefit you and your sales team:

• Intuitive Interface — Their interface aims to boost your sales reps’ user adoption of the software, as well as streamline transaction processes and increase productivity.
• Responsive Interface — OnContact can adjust its interface for all browser sizes.
• One Price Offer for Complete CRM — They offer one simple pricing for their sales and marketing automation, and their call center and customer service software.

Aside from those, OnContact also helps Sales Managers make data-driven decisions to drive results by equipping them with the right tools. Another great feature they offer is CRM Mapping, which can help your sales reps better plan their schedules and trips.

RELATED: Mapping The Sales Process: 6 Steps For Success

7. Pipedrive

Using CRM software

Pipedrive is a sales CRM software that guarantees an organized and simplified sales process. They designed and refined their system to focus on what drives closed deals.

They provide a holistic data tracker and streamline your sales process so everyone in your sales team is up-to-date. In this way, you can focus on your pipeline and plan your tasks strategically.

Pipedrive also brings value to your business by helping you plan employee activities and liaising your client deals. If those aren’t enough, here are three things that make this software stand out:

• It’s easy to set up.
• Their users stay logged in.
• You can integrate it with other apps.

8. Sales Cloud by Salesforce

Not to be confused with Salesforce’s Community Cloud, Sales Cloud is another game-changer in the CRM platform.

Sales Cloud operates on advanced technology, which allows it to efficiently supply users real-time data. You only need to log into their software, and you will get essential information such as:

• Generated leads
• Customer demand predictions
• Customer satisfaction
• Social media interaction

9. SugarCRM

SugarCRM proved their customer-focused value by receiving the highest Net Promoter Score among major CRM vendors.

Their goal is to enable businesses to have “extraordinary customer relationships” with the affordable and adaptable CRM solution they provide. SugarCRM can help you provide a unique customer experience.

They offer a complete CRM product that collects the information you’ll need from service, sales, and marketing. SugarCRM promises a fast system that you can integrate with anything.

It also has a modern design that works well with popular everyday devices. With SugarCRM, you can deliver great customer service, grow your sales, and run uncomplicated but effective marketing campaigns.

10. TeamWox

If you have a small or medium-sized business, TeamWox is an ideal CRM for you. They specialize in sales and finance and staff management.

Here are the solutions that TeamWox provides their users:

• Electronic version of document management that allows team collaboration
• Single CRM storage for all your business partners’ contacts and your relationship history with them
• Task assignments and progress tracker
• Ease of communication among team members and with business partners
• Financial flow tracker and employee productivity evaluation

With TeamWox, you can manage your business and increase productivity, even while you’re away from the office.

11. Zendesk Sell

This sales automation software was previously called “Base.” It exists to enhance sales teams’ processes, productivity, and pipeline visibility.

Zendesk Sell is also available for mobile. You can install it on any device — such as a laptop or a smartphone — and it will work efficiently.

Its other features are:

• Fast data implementation
• Sales team activity tracker
• Real-time data syncing
• Data-driven insights

12. Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM caters to businesses of all sizes. They help their customers connect with their prospects at the right time and engage with them across different channels.

Zoho CRM packs in the following features:

• Multichannel Sales CRM covering email, live chat, telephony, and social media
• Artificial Intelligence via their Zia AI and Zia Voice
• Performance and Analytics
• Customization
• Process Management
• Sales Automation
• Pipeline Management
• Team Collaboration
• Marketing Automation

If your sales team is still practicing traditional methods that don’t drive the results you want, it’s time to use sales management software. Make sure you consider what’s important to your business before adopting a new CRM.

If possible, include your sales team when you deliberate. Your team’s insights and inputs will help you pick the right sales management software for your business.

Which of these sales management software options will best fit your business? Let us know why in the comments section below!

Up Next: How to Improve the Sales with Reporting & Analytics

What Is CRM: A Basic Guide to Customer Relationship Management

 1. Is CRM Dead? How Sales Reps Can Get The Most Out of CRM | Podcast

Let’s face it, CRM sucks to use, especially if you’re a sales rep. But, we use it because we have to. I promise that statements like that won’t last though. Something has to happen to make CRM valuable and I’m not talking about SMART CRM as that is more of the same.

We need to not just give to CRM, we need to get from CRM. The next evolution of CRM is a system of growth and it combines CRM with AI and sales technologies to help sales teams sell more. Click here to check out the podcast.

2. Are You Making These Costly Mistakes With Your Salesforce CRM Metrics?

The Salesforce CRM is a powerful platform that delivers mountains of valuable sales data. But are you using that data effectively?

Jason Jordan, a partner at Vantage Point Performance, says his research reveals that only 17 percent of the metrics sales leaders measure can be managed directly.

The result, he says, is that inside sales teams waste a lot of time worrying about the wrong metrics and fail to focus on the high-impact activities that drive performance. Click here to read more about these costly mistakes.

3. CRM’s Not Dead Yet – How Sales Reps Can Get the Most Out of The CRM

You know as much as I do that achieving quota is tough. Okay, it’s real tough and the numbers show it. According to Miller Heiman, quota attainment is at an all-time low at 53% in 2017. That’s down 10% from just five years ago. You and I both know there are a lot of reasons for this but one reason that we found of interest was time management. Sales reps are not spending their time selling, and they are spending even less time with their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. So, what’s the deal– is CRM dead? Click here to read more on how sales reps can get the most out of CRM.

4. Inside Sales Reps: Take Notes in Your CRM

You just hung up the phone with a lead or client and you start to list all the details from the conversation into your CRM notes section. You scheduled the follow-up, you write up everything the two of you talked about, summarize emails sent, faxes and possible purposes.

When all is said and done, did you know the average sales rep spends roughly 7.5 minutes after each call taking notes on what was discussed? Click here to read more on how to take notes in your CRM.

5. Is CRM Dead? – Infographic

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, the foundational system for sales teams, has reached a tipping point. New research shows that sales reps spend very little time selling (36% of their time), even less in the CRM (18%) and too much time in spreadsheets managing CRM-related tasks. Click here to check out this infographic.

6. CRM Adoption – Why Some Inside Sales Reps Don’t Fully Utilize a CRM

Leads are fickle things. Who of us hasn’t been on that call when things went south?

Why are leads so hard to convert to sales? There have been many studies that talk about that, but I wanted to talk about the nitty-gritty reasons why we often don’t get the results we expect; CRM adoption.

This article talks about CRM adoption rates, and both point to a larger problem: Salespeople not fully adopting the CRM or not utilizing it in the way management has instructed. Click here to read more about CRM adoption.

7. CRM Isn’t Enough – Here’s What’s Next

Everybody’s using Customer Relationship Software (CRM) today. Everybody. And although it’s become such a commodity, average sales quota attainment has fallen each year, for the last five years.

Why?

The CRM’s ability to deliver on its promise of improving the sales process has stalled. It’s not built to address the challenges of today’s complex buying environment.

In our connected economy, buyers educate themselves through online information, peer references, and crowd-sourced reviews. They are making decisions in a non-linear and recursive way, and the approval process varies by company.

Many buying decisions can be made with no sales rep involved at all.

The CRM software organizes sales efforts in a linear construct, following a single-threaded, phase-based path towards a close.

So how can a sales rep train in a single linear selling process possibly know the course of action that will suit individual prospects the best? Click here to read more about what’s next after CRM.

The goal of customer relationship management is to improve relationships with customers and potential customers, which is a universal goal across all businesses and industries. This is why CRM is an important business strategy that should be utilized with the proper tools and knowledge. We hope that this article has helped you answer “what is CRM?” and understand how to maximize its potential in your business.

Do you have more questions about CRM? Ask us in the comments section below!

Up Next: Only 28% of Business Deals Are Forecasted Accurately, Shows New Research

RELATED: 9 Best Sales Software Systems for Your Business

In this article:

1. Overall Look at HubSpot CRM
2. Benefits
3. Specifications
4. HubSpot CRM Pricing
5. HubSpot CRM Reviews
6. Hubspot Tiers
   1. Marketing Hub
   2. Sales Hub
   3. Service Hub
   4. Growth Suite

What Is HubSpot CRM? | CRM Software Review

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Definition: A part of the sales process that involves tasks related to anything that has to do with the maintenance and management of the relationship between a business and its customers.

Overall Look at HubSpot CRM

HubSpot’s CRM markets itself as software that automates menial tasks salespeople have to do daily. From following up on potential customers to keeping track of your sales funnel, HubSpot CRM provides a single interface for all of these tasks.

The most significant appeal of the software is the fact that it’s free and you get an unlimited number of contacts with it. However, users don’t only have those benefits to gain from using HubSpot CRM.

Here are some of the features of the software that make it stand out from the rest.

Benefits

• Unlimited Contacts — Users can add unlimited contacts at no cost.
• Consolidated Interface — The software has a consolidated interface for both sales and marketing processes.
• User-Friendly — Easy-to-use and intuitive setup, which is ideal for people with no computer science background.
• Software Integration — HubSpot CRM can integrate a lot of applications or programs you already use into the interface. For example, Dropbox, Pipedrive CRM, or even your website.
• Sales Pipeline Tracking — Tracks and manages every element within your sales pipeline.
• Identify Sales Locations — It helps identify where the sale happens, such as via email or through social media.
• Ideal for Smaller Organizations or Startups — Excellent CRM for businesses with a tight budget
• Automates Organizational Tasks — It automates some organizational tasks, such as scheduling and providing notifications of prospect interactions
• Manage Content Better — Includes features to help you manage your content
• Task Management Feature — It includes a task management feature that helps remind you of your daily tasks automatically. Additionally, HubSpot CRM also makes it easier to assign tasks to specific people as well.

Specifications

There are certain features of CRM software every person should look for and expect. After all, these features either receive constant use or are features that address standard tasks or issues in sales operations.

Below are the specifications all CRM software should ideally have. Let’s see how HubSpot CRM measures against them.

Although the list of specifications above is indeed crucial, it’s essential to consider your organization’s needs first to find out which specs you really need.

RELATED: 15 Sales Management Software and CRMs Used by Sales Teams

HubSpot CRM Pricing

Technically, HubSpot CRM is a free software open for anyone to install and use. However, while this is the case, it also has other pricing plans for organizations looking for more advanced features. Here are the pricing plans for HubSpot CRM:

• Free — Free, with limited features
• Starter: $50/month
• Basic: $200/month
• Professional: $800/month
• Enterprise: $2,400/month

If you plan on purchasing a plan, you’ll have to contact customer support via phone and email. Aside from that, you’ll also get access to more advanced features in the software.

However, it really depends on your organization’s needs since a lot of the features essential to customer relationship management are already in the free version of the software.

HubSpot CRM Reviews

Most of the customer reviews on HubSpot CRM are positive. In their comments, users have cited the features of the software they like most.

Commonly liked features of the software include its email tracking and automation capabilities. Also, the task management feature is a big hit amongst users.

A few customers have major gripes about the software. One of the most common downsides of the software that people bring up is the costliness of upgrading from a free account.

However, they are mostly satisfied with it, and plenty of people are open to recommending it for others to use. Here are some of the customer reviews of HubSpot CRM from Software Advice:

Hubspot Tiers

Is HubSpot Free? Hubspot’s CRM is really free for an unlimited amount of users.

If you’re a business that’s just starting out and wanted to place a relationship management workflow that can scale up, then the CRM software will be just enough for you. The free tier alone is already full of useful features, but if you need some of the more advanced features, you can then look into some of its paid plans.

The Hubspot platform is divided into different “hubs,” which have different pricing schemes depending on where you want to focus.

Marketing Hub

Hubspot’s Marketing Hub is a plan intended to give marketing teams what they need to get a lead and turn them into a customer.

Pricing Tiers:

• Starter (starts at $50/month, includes 1,000 contacts) – All HubSpot CRM features, plus tools that allow you to capture, understand, and engage your leads.
  • Highlights: Ad Management, Live Chat, Conversational Bots, Forms, Pop-Up Forms, Contact Website Activity, List Segmentation, Email Marketing, Ad Retargeting
• Professional (starts at $800/month, includes 1,000 contacts) – All Starter features, plus tools that automate your marketing, enhance your brand’s presence, and increase conversion and revenue.
  • Highlights: Marketing Automation, Smart Content, Blog and Content Creation Tools, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Content Strategy, Social Media, A/B Testing, Landing Pages, Calls-to-Action, Video Hosting and Management, Website Traffic Analytics, Campaign Reporting, Attribution Reporting, Custom Reporting
• Enterprise (starts at $3,200/month, includes 10,000 contacts) – All Professional features, plus features that allow you to easily manage your team and make sense of your data.
  • Highlights: Content Partitioning, Hierarchical Teams, Single Sign-On, Social Permissions, Additional Domains, Email Send Frequency Cap, Calculated Properties, Content Management System (CMS), Filtered Analytics View, Events API

Sales Hub

The Sales Hub is what you would want if you need some advanced CRM features. This plan contains what you need if you want to quickly close deals.

Pricing Tiers:

• Starter (starts at $50/month, includes 1 user) – All HubSpot CRM features, plus features that track your prospects and keep your sales pipeline humming.
  • Highlights: Email Tracking and Notifications, Email Sequences, Calling
• Professional (starts at $400/month, includes 5 users) – All Starter features, plus features that easily automate and personalize your sales process as it scales up.
  • Highlights: Deal Stage, Task, and Lead Rotation Automation, Workflow Extensions, 1:1 Video Creation, Sequence Queues, Quotes, Products, Teams, Salesforce CRM Integration, Multiple Currencies, Required Fields
• Enterprise (starts at $1,200/month, includes 10 users) – All Professional features, plus the ability to coach other sales reps with the best practices so you can close deals much faster.
  • Highlights: Playbooks, Goals, Call Transcription, Calculated Properties, Predictive Lead Scoring, Quote-Based Workflows, eSignature, Recurring Revenue Tracking, User Roles, Single Sign-On

Service Hub

If you aim to use HubSpot as your customer support management software, the Service Hub is just for you.

Pricing Tiers:

• Starter (starts at $50/month, includes 1 user) – All HubSpot CRM features, plus features that track your customer communications and better measure your efficiency and productivity.
  • Highlights: Ticketing, Live Chat, Conversations Inbox, Calling, Conversational Bots, Team Emails
• Professional (starts at $400/month, includes 5 users) – All Starter features, plus features that allow customers to be independent and improve their experience.
  • Highlights: Ticket Status, Ticket Routing, Task Automation, Multiple Ticket Pipelines, Knowledge Base, Video Hosting and Management, Custom Reporting, NPS Surveys, Customer Experience Surveys, Customer Support Surveys, Insights Dashboard
• Enterprise (starts at $1,200/month, includes 10 users) – All Professional features, plus the ability to manage multiple teams and self-serve whatever data your team needs.
  • Highlights: Playbooks, Goals, Hierarchical Teams, User Roles, Single Sign-On, Slack Integration, Calculated Properties, Webhooks

Growth Suite

For those who use a bit of everything, HubSpot has its own bundle called the Growth Suite. This bundle combines all three hubs for a price lower than buying each hub individually.

Pricing Tiers:

• Starter (starts at $113/month) – HubSpot CRM, plus Starter versions of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub
• Professional (starts at $1, 200/month) – HubSpot CRM, plus Professional versions of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub
• Enterprise (starts at $4,200/month) – HubSpot CRM, plus Enterprise versions of Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub

Overall, HubSpot CRM proves itself to be deserving of the acclaim that it has. With its easy-to-use drag-and-drop feature and effective lead generation, it is no wonder this CRM software is a top contender in the industry.

Plus, it’s great for businesses with a limited budget too! With all of these useful features, this makes it a great candidate if you’re in the market for a basic CRM software.

Have we covered everything there is to know about HubSpot CRM? Leave a comment below to let us know!

Up Next:

• Is CRM Dead? How Sales Reps Can Get the Most Out of CRM
• Lead Management Software Review
• The 9 Best Sales Prospecting Tips and Techniques You Can Do Now

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 7, 2019, and has been updated for quality and relevancy. 

RELATED: 15 Sales Management Software and CRMs Used by Sales Teams

In this article:

1. Benefits of Utilizing a CRM for Small Businesses
   1. Organized Contacts
   2. Efficient Sales Reporting
   3. Segmented Customers
   4. Improved Customer Service
   5. The Best CRMs Automate Repetitive Tasks
2. The Criteria to Find the Best CRM for Small Business
3. Top CRM Systems Tailored for Small Businesses
   1. Agile CRM
   2. Apptivo
   3. Capsule CRM
   4. ConvergeHub
   5. Insightly
   6. Nimble
   7. OnePageCRM
   8. PipelineDeals
   9. Streak

Best CRM for Small Business: What You Should Consider

What is CRM? Short for “Customer Relationship Management,” this refers to the strategy of managing the organization’s interactions and relationships with their prospects and customers. In sales, CRM often refers to a system that helps salespeople with their productivity and performance evaluation, among others.

Benefits of Utilizing a CRM for Small Businesses

Small businesses have to be very careful with where they invest and put their resources since they don’t have a lot to spare. This is probably why a lot of small businesses are hesitant to invest in CRMs.

However, this means you might miss out on some of the benefits of CRMs. Here are some of them.

1. Organized Contacts

Using a CRM tool can help you organize the customer data you gather. This works to your benefit, as it will be easier for your sales team to run sales processes when they have a clear overview of prospect and customer data.

When you have an interface that makes it easier for you to access customer data, you become more efficient at managing your customer relationships. Relationship management is an important part of creating strong connections with current clients, which is what CRMs are there to help with.

2. Efficient Sales Reporting

Sales reports are essential to gauge the performance of each sales rep and the team in general. It also helps you manage your pipeline.

For your sales report to be accurate, you need to have the right data. A CRM software can provide the data you need to ensure that you hold each team member accountable for their performance.

Aside from that, the best sales CRM are able to organize your data in a way where sales reports are more meaningful to you. Meaning, you’ll be able to focus on key performance indicators that matter to you.

3. Segmented Customers

Each customer is important, but sometimes there’s a need to focus on a particular segment. With a CRM tool, you can categorize which segments your customers belong to.

There are some CRMs that are able to gather customer data from a variety of sources. Additionally, there are some CRM features that help make segmented customer data easier to understand for your perusal.

This helps your sales team personalize customer experiences and lets you execute efficient and targeted sales efforts.

4. Improved Customer Service

One of the main things CRMs help improve for businesses is their customer service.

Some CRMs are able to integrate social media accounts into it. This will be useful for immediate or faster conflict resolution between the business and the customer.

As much as small businesses would like to provide intimate and deeply personal customer service, sometimes this isn’t possible. By using CRM, it’ll be much easier to provide high-quality customer service both to prevent and resolve issues.

5. The Best CRMs Automate Repetitive Tasks

Another reason why a small business should use a CRM solution or software in their operations is because of the convenience it brings.

Due to the fact that the manpower in small businesses is much more precious, it’s going to be a waste if efforts are focused on menial administrative tasks. This is where CRMs come in.

Most, if not all of the best CRMs, help automate a lot of repetitive tasks. From marketing automation to marketing campaigns, CRMs help small businesses focus on more critical business processes.

The Criteria to Find the Best CRM for Small Business

Another reason why small businesses might not be considering CRMs to help their business is they wouldn’t know where to start.

There are a lot of CRM solutions out there. Thus, the confusion is understandable.

However, for a small business, there are several factors that should be taken into consideration.

To narrow down your options, here are the criteria you should consider when finding a CRM system for your business:

• Cost-efficient: Since small businesses don’t have much leeway in budgeting yet, this is an important factor to consider.
• User-friendly: Small businesses don’t have the time to get down and dirty with new software. Thus, it should be user-friendly.
• Customizable: Each business has a different need and business model. Therefore, the CRM should be able to adapt to the differences in each business.
• Integrates seamlessly with other business tools
• Provides customer support

Top CRM Systems Tailored for Small Businesses

You don’t have to look any further for the best CRMs that can best serve your small business’ needs. Here are nine CRM systems you should consider getting:

1. Agile CRM

Agile CRM

There are three primary reasons to choose Agile CRM:

• All-in-one CRM — With it, you can automate your sales, service, and marketing in a single platform. This lets you seamlessly process data and enables consistent messaging.
• Easy to implement — You won’t have difficulty taking advantage of Agile CRM’s latest features and integrations as they’re easy to implement. It also offers great support for your business. The downside is the free version only offers limited features.
• Cloud-based — Agile CRM’s service is a cloud-based SaaS. It’s convenient because it’s simple, fast, and mobile-ready.

This CRM software is free for 10 users, with the following paid packages:

• Starter: $8.99
• Regular: $29.99
• Enterprise: $47.99

2. Apptivo

Apptivo CRM provides an all-in-one cloud solution for your sales team’s needs, such as CRM, invoicing, and project management. It also provides customizable business solutions so you can pick only what your business needs.

Apptivo supports your go-to devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops. This makes it very convenient since it allows users to use it any time and anywhere.

It also integrates with other services like G Suite, Office 365, Dropbox, and PayPal. To top it all off, it has reliable customer service that’s always ready to assist you.

Apptivo doesn’t require a contract and credit card for you to avail their services. It’s free for three users, and offers the following paid packages:

• Premium: $8 per month
• Ultimate: $20 per month
• Enterprise: Contact them for the pricing

3. Capsule CRM

Capsule CRM gives your sales team a complete view on its user interface. It’s conveniently divided into five segments — dashboard, sales pipeline, people and organizations, calendar and tasks, and cases.

Additionally, you can also use it on both desktop and mobile. Capsule CRM integrates with popular applications like G Suite, Twitter, Zendesk, and Xero.

This software is safe, secure, and always backed up. It also offers dedicated customer support for its users.

You can cancel your Capsule CRM subscription anytime, and it’s free for up to two users. Their paid plans include:

• Professional: $18/user per month
• Teams: $36/user per month

RELATED: What Is CRM | Understanding Customer Relationship Management

4. ConvergeHub

ConvergeHub CRM

ConvergeHub’s CRM has the following features and benefits useful for small businesses:

• Unified Platform — All its features are in one platform, so they all have the same look and performance. This lets you avoid having duplicate data within your system and gives 360-degree visibility on all your data.
• User-friendly — It’s easy to navigate, making it simple to use for anyone in your sales team.
• Easy Set Up — You can immediately implement ConvergeHub within your sales team as it’s easy to set up.
• Enhances Productivity — It provides advanced and automated sales productivity tools that can help improve your sales process.
• Customizable — ConvergeHub flexibly meets your needs with its customizable software. Its aim is to adapt to the way your small business works.
• Seamless Integration — You can set it up to integrate with leading third-party tools like WordPress, Box, and GoToMeeting.

You can opt to pay either quarterly or yearly for your ConvergeHub subscription, and you can also try it for free. On that note, here are its paid plan packages:

• Starter: $9/user per month
• Pro: $29/user per month
• Premium: $59/user per month
• Industry Edition: Contact them for the pricing

5. Insightly

Insightly CRM prides itself as a leading CRM platform based on the number of organizations that use it. It deserves a spot as one of the best CRMs for a small business as it is among the top choices in the market.

Insightly’s interface is user-friendly. In fact, it’s easy-to-navigate, offers customization options, and also allows integration.

However, there is one disadvantage. The only downside — it doesn’t generate dashboards and custom reports.

Its pricing plans are as follows:

• Plus: $29/user per month (eligible for free trial)
• Professional: $49/user per month (eligible for free trial)
• Enterprise: $99/user per month

6. Nimble

If you prefer to access your CRM data from your inbox, Nimble is a good fit for you. It allows you to access insights, update contacts, and manage deals straight from your G Suite or Office 365 inbox.

This is a great CRM software if you want to combine your email, contacts, and social media interactions (particularly on Twitter) in just one platform. All-in-all, Nimble is an excellent CRM for a multitude of app integrations.

Nimble also works well with mobile so you can use it anywhere. It offers a free trial and its premium plan, Nimble Business, starts at $19/user per month.

7. OnePageCRM

OnePage CRM

If you want to promote more action within your sales team, go for the task-based OnePageCRM. It helps your sales reps be more productive by creating a simple and focused to-do list.

Aside from that, you can also download the OnePageCRM app on your mobile device to check your to-do list on-the-go. What’s more, it connects to other business systems you use, so it’s easier to streamline your data.

OnePageCRM offers a free trial and a $12/user per month subscription plan.

8. PipelineDeals

Pipeline Deals is another high-quality CRM that’s easy to use for small to medium-sized businesses.

Here are the features and benefits you can expect from PipelineDeals:

• Contact management
• Sales pipeline tracking
• Unlimited reports and dashboards
• Customizable fields
• Integration with other business tools like Gmail, Outlook, and MailChimp
• On-the-go access through the PipelineDeals mobile app

It offers a free trial and the following paid plans:

• Start: $25/month per user
• Develop: $33/month per user
• Grow: $49/month per user

9. Streak

If you’re a big fan of Gmail, you might find Streak as the best CRM for small business. It’s a Chrome plugin that allows users to work directly from their Gmail inbox.

With Streak, it’s easy and convenient to schedule emails, send group emails, and create individual email threads for each team (e.g. sales, marketing, HR, etc.).

It offers the following price points:

• Personal: Free
• Professional: $49/user per month
• Enterprise: $129/user per month

Each of these customer relationship management tools can help your business thrive. Now the only thing you need to do is to narrow down the list to help you find the best CRM for small business that will work well for you.

Take the time to figure out what your sales team needs and explore your options. This way, you can make the right choice for your own small business.

It’s important that you look into what you want to get out of a CRM first before making your decision. That way, it will be easier to narrow down your choices.

Aside from that, it can help make it easier for you to know how you want a CRM to work for your business. Good luck in your search!

Which of these CRM software do you want to try, and why? Let us know in the comments section below!

Up Next:

• 9 Best Sales Software Systems for Your Business
• 9 Best Predictive Dialers for Your Business
• How to Win at Sales Development — 27 Tips from the Experts

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on May 8, 2019, and has been updated for quality and relevancy.