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Choosing the best CRM for your company might be difficult. There are other factors to consider, including the functionality you require, the cost, and whether or not it will operate with my existing software. So, which CRM is the best for a small business? It's a difficult question to answer. In fact, that's arguably an enormous number of options. So, to help you cut through the noise, we've put together a comprehensive guide on how to compare CRM software for small businesses with the help of a CRM comparison chart.
What is CRM?
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a tool for managing all of your company's customer and potential customer relationships and interactions. The idea is straightforward: improve business contacts in order to expand your company. CRM assists businesses in staying in touch with customers, streamlining procedures, and increasing profits.
When people talk about CRM, they usually mean a CRM system, which is a tool that can help in contact management, sales management, agent productivity, and other tasks. CRM software can now be used across the whole customer lifecycle, including marketing, sales, digital commerce, and customer service interactions.
A CRM solution enables you to focus on your company's relationships with individual people — such as customers, service users, colleagues, or suppliers — throughout the relationship's lifecycle, which includes finding new customers, winning their business, and providing support and additional services.
So, the most popular CRMs around the world are:
Benefits of CRM
CRMs are created with the evolving needs of the target audience in mind. As a result, it's clear that no single solution will meet your company's requirements. That's why, before making a final decision, you should analyze the CRM feature comparison chart.
In a nutshell, the most effective CRMs:
- Assist in the management and organization of client data.
- Make data more accessible and keep departments, particularly marketing and sales, on the same page.
- Assist in the sale of more services and products.
- Follow leads and contacts via sales funnels.
- Assist in automating customer communication.
- Combine functions into a single platform.
Read More About Benefits of CRM System
Factors To Consider While Comparing CRM Features
It may be tempting to invest in one of the industry's best all-in-one CRM systems, but you must first determine how the solution will fit into your business cycle and examine the CRM features list comparison.
- Cost: Price is a big consideration when it comes to CRM systems comparison chart, and it's not just about the upfront fees. Most CRM systems have user-based pricing, but it's important to know what's included in the basic package and which features are extra. Costs for training, integrations, and implementation should all be considered.
- Ease of Use: Choose software that is simple enough to be appealing to team members. Consider how many clicks it takes to do basic activities and how simple it is to locate the most important elements. It should be able to handle user failures and be simple to teach others how to use.
- Deployment: Is a SaaS model a good fit for your company? Is it necessary to host it on-premises? It's simple to get started with a cloud-based CRM, and you won't have to worry about managing the platform or servers.
- Email, Mobile, and Social Features: This CRM feature comparison matrix is critical to maintaining a positive relationship with your consumers in order to run a successful business. To ensure strong interactions and collect vital consumer data, make sure your CRM includes communication options. Through social media management and analytics tools, keep track of client interactions across many channels.
- Support: Check to see if the vendor has a responsive support team that can help you with everything from system issues to feature-specific concerns. Check out the several forms of assistance that come with your subscription, as well as the hours of availability. To determine the quality of their help, look at their FAQs, manuals, knowledge bases, and training videos. If your company requires assistance on weekends, make sure that support representatives are available during those hours.
- Security: This is unavoidable. Customer data is priceless, and a CRM should be well-equipped to protect it. Safety isn't only about respecting privacy; it's also about protecting valuable relationships that have a significant impact on your organization. Your system must be capable of handling the workload.
What To Look for in a CRM
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Contact Management
Contact management software enables organizations to swiftly reach out to current customers and manage their relationships with them. CRM software also aids your sales team in logging communications, managing leads, and even creating marketing campaigns. Let's have a look at some of the most important elements of the CRM comparison chart.
Online Case Management
You can track, close, and reopen existing cases with this essential function included in the CRM software. You can also take control of the secure handling of all confidential information using online case management. Improve customer satisfaction by effectively managing each client situation on an individual basis.
Online case management is an important feature that helps you avoid cybersecurity risks by ensuring that your customers' and leads' sensitive information is kept safe from prying eyes. Data breaches can land any organization in hot water, which is the last thing anyone wants to happen.
Activity Management
CRM software provides information about which clients have placed orders. You don't have to be an expert to use these tools to follow and monitor every aspect and behavior of your contact. CRM software not only gives you precise, real-time views of what your contacts are doing, but it also allows you to go back and look at earlier data to follow a customer's experience. CRM software helps you make better and more informed judgments about customer satisfaction and re-align your efforts to improve client relationships.
Client Interaction Tracking
CRM software allows you to keep track of every client interaction with your company, across all departments and levels. This element, in particular, has proven to help in the integration of sales, marketing, and customer service. Clients are more likely to interact with these three critical departments.
Several technologies are available for tracking your customer experience journey, and CRM systems provide the potential to acquire a complete and detailed view of each customer.
Customer Segmentation
Divide your customer base into segments to better understand and structure the process. CRM software enables segmentation based on pipeline stage, purchase history, geography, replies, interests, and lead score.
Your list is available for examination based on certain parameters now that it has been grouped according to different parameters. When you do this, your marketing efforts are strengthened because you'll be able to distribute tailored information to the correct people.
Payment Management
Payment management systems make it simple to track all payment-related data. A CRM system collects information from a variety of sources, including billing, invoicing, order status, and purchase history. This improves the efficiency of sales management and lowers the cost of doing business.
The majority of CRM solutions allow for simple integration. CRM software can be integrated to third-party programs like PayPal or Stripe, which can help deliver timely warnings and reports about a customer's payment status.
How to Compare CRM Software
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Make a list of business goals for the CRM
Before you begin CRM software features comparison, you should first define what you want your CRM system to do for your company. That way, you may pick a CRM that specializes in the areas where your company wants to grow the most.
Here are a few examples of popular goals to get you started:
- Increase customer satisfaction by facilitating teamwork.
- Allow sales reps to increase their productivity.
- Improve marketing and sales cooperation
- Recognize your sales funnel.
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Make a list of must-have features
Once you've figured out why you need a new CRM, you can focus on the features that will help you achieve your company objectives and CRM software comparison matrix.
The following are some of the most common found in CRM software:
- Tasks and deals
- Management of contacts and leads
- Reporting and insights
- Tracking of emails
- Templates for emails
- Calls are recorded.
The following are some additional features that may be of interest for CRM feature comparison:
- Marketing automation is a term used to describe a
- Customer service of the highest quality
- Management of a project
- scoring in the lead
If your sales process is mostly conducted by email, tools like email tracking and email templates will be essential. Call recording will be more crucial if it is mostly phone-based.
While these features will be useful to sales agents who use the CRM system on a daily basis, management will need reporting to understand the entire sales funnel at a glance and optimize it so that more deals are closed.
Examine how each feature performs across vendors when comparing CRM services. While many CRM systems offer free contact management and data storage, the quantity you may get for free differs depending on the software manufacturer.
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Know your budget and understand CRM pricing
Before you start researching CRM software solutions that are out of your pricing range, figure out how much you're willing to spend. The majority of CRM software is priced according to the number of users. Take the time to learn about each vendor's pricing so you can estimate how much it will cost your company. You'll need to consider how many sales agents will use the software in the future, not just now, but in two or three years.
For small firms on a tight budget, a low-cost or free CRM system is an excellent solution. If you're a salesperson or marketer trying to persuade your boss to use a CRM, the fact that it's free will go a long way.
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Find out what people are saying on discussion boards
When users answer questions on discussion boards, they give a plethora of information about CRM systems and CRM capabilities matrix. This is a fantastic approach to getting unbiased CRM advice "straight from the horse's mouth." You can either ask your own question or look up answers to queries that have already been asked. Quora and Reddit are two prominent discussion forums. In addition to looking at discussion boards, you can search for a CRM provider's name in the search box on social networking sites like Twitter and LinkedIn to see what others are saying about a CRM system you're considering.
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Read reviews on third-party review websites
Reading reviews on third-party review sites like Capterra, FindMyCRM, GetApp, or G2 is another wonderful way to learn what consumers are saying about CRM software. FindMyCRM has done the legwork for you and gathered all of the information you'll need to speed up the choosing process. Everything from reviews to program features and pricing may be found by searching and filtering. Besides, you can test drive your desired CRMs on the FindMyCRM website to estimate particular features and see CRM in action to make the final decision.
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Get the input of your sales team
While it's critical that the CRM you select meets your company's goals, it's also critical that it meets the needs of your sales agents. After all, you don't want to spend money on a CRM system that your salespeople won't use. And it's a far greater issue than you might imagine. Sales managers' biggest issue with CRM is that their salespeople don't use it. The easiest approach to avoid this issue is to include your sales staff in the purchasing process. You'll not only get your team's buy-in, but you'll also get vital feedback from the people who will be using the CRM on a daily basis.
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Narrow down your list
You'll need to cut down your list of CRM software comparison chart after you've set your business goals and done some preliminary research. While it's necessary to look into a variety of CRM systems at first, it's impossible to do a deep dive into each of the 500+ CRM providers. Choose five or six vendors who stood out to you when you researched them online and who came up in conversation with your sales team.
Reviews sites like Capterra enable you to filter down the list of CRM providers based on the number of stars they have, the number of people in your firm, whether the CRM is web-based or requires installation, and the CRM system's features.
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Look at CRM comparison webpages
Once you've created a CRM software comparison table and narrowed your options to five or six, it's time to start comparing them and narrowing them down even more. After examining the websites of several CRM software providers, the details may become unclear. A CRM comparison matrix typically compares a few providers based on key criteria for selecting the best CRM system. The free CRM comparison tool you can also find on the FindMyCRM website and compare CRM features.
Try out Our Free CRM Comparison Tool
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Find out which CRMs are compatible with existing software
Unfortunately, some salespeople and marketers may discover after it's too late if their CRM doesn't integrate with the other technologies they use. One of the most common complaints among sales managers is that their CRM lacks integrations. Integrations ensure that all of your company's products "talk" to one another, which often results in better data. It also eliminates the need for your personnel to perform manual data input, which is a salesperson's worst nightmare.
Having all of your technologies integrated will also give you better insights and boost the efficiency of your entire organization. On their websites, CRM providers usually list the technologies that they integrate with.
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Sign up for a demo or free trial
You wouldn't buy a car without first taking it for a test drive, and your CRM should be no different. According to Capterra's research, the most significant characteristics of CRM software for salespeople are functionality and ease of use. There's no better way to see how useful a CRM is than to put it to the test.
Most CRM vendors provide a free trial or even a completely free but limited version of their software. There's nothing keeping you from taking it for a test drive to evaluate how usable it is firsthand in these situations. Invite your sales representatives to try it out as well.
Leading CRM Software Features Comparison
Creatio
Creatio offers customers a CRM system for modern businesses that follow market trends. Thanks to the software, you can manage the full sales cycle - from getting a lead to repeat orders.
Features
- Activity Dashboard
- Alerts/Notifications
- Calendar Management
- Call Recording Software
- Customizable Reports
- Email Marketing Software
- Interaction Tracking
- Lead Generation Software
- ROI Tracking
- Social Media Integration
- Third Party Integrations
- Workflow Management Software
- etc.
Benefits
And the system itself can be developed with the help of a friendly visual creator without code. Setting up such a system does not require writing code and is accessible to users without programming skills. Its tools allow you to create any interfaces without restrictions and without a single line of code, quickly compose functionality from ready-made modules and templates, and automate all business processes necessary for enterprises.
The tools include everything you need: calendar contacts, document and task management, and more. The mobile version of Creatios is available for smartphones and tablets. This CRM for various industries allows you to store all company documents and quickly find any contract, invoice, or correspondence.
Features Not Included
- HR management
- Canned Responses
- E-commerce
HubSpot
CRM Cost Comparison of Top 11 CRM Platforms in 2022
HubSpot CRM is a cloud-based CRM that is free to use for businesses that aim to employ inbound marketing to attract visitors and potential customers. It's designed for small to medium-sized businesses that already have or are planning to expand their internet presence.
Features
- Activity Dashboard
- Alerts/Notifications
- Calendar Management
- Contact Management
- Contract/License Management
- Calendar/Reminder System
- Campaign Management
- Cataloging/Categorization
- Client Management
- Client Tracking
- Collaboration Tools
- Customer Database
- Customer Service Analytics
- Customer Support
- Document Management
Read a Detailed HubSpot CRM Overview
Benefits
- Database - Create corporate records automatically, associate contacts, de-duplicate leads, and handle details that should not distract teams.
- Timeline - Consolidate all of your e-mails, notes, phone calls, and even internet visits into a single, easy-to-understand interface.
- Templates & Content - In HubSpot CRM, you can create and save email templates, schedule messages, and store sales content.
- Automatic Enrichment & Company Database - Instantly see any new or helpful information about your contacts or company that you contribute to HubSpot CRM.
- HubSpot CRM integrates the technologies you already use, staying up to date and surfacing useful facts throughout your day.
- Fully integrated with HubSpot Marketing - Eliminate the complexity of integrations and syncing by bridging the gap between sales and marketing.
Features Not Included
- AI-Based Sales Recommendation
- Contacts Map
- Territory Hierarchy
- Call Tagging
- Report Preview
Pipedrive
CRM Cost Comparison of Top 11 CRM Platforms in 2022
Pipedrive is a sales management system for small sales teams in businesses of various sizes. The features are geared at sales, offering users control over the steps that convert leads to sales, boost productivity, and ensure that no sales chances are lost.
Features
- Activity Dashboard
- Alerts/Notifications
- Business Card/Badge Scanning
- Churn Management
- Calendar Management
- Calendar/Reminder System
- Call List Management
- Call Management
- Call Recording
- Campaign Management
- Cataloging/Categorization
- Client Tracking
- Client/Property Matching
- Code-free development
- Collaboration Tools
Read a Detailed Pipedrive CRM Overview
Benefits
- Pipeline View provides you with the most comprehensive view of outstanding deals available.
- The Timeline View forecasts the current month or quarter accurately.
- Everything may be customized: Pipedrive is very straightforward to adapt to your needs.
- Excellent reporting: create team and individual goals and track progress in real-time.
- Solid, Safe, and Secure: rock-solid hosting, numerous backup sites, and nightly backups.
- Pipedrive eliminates the things that slow you down in traditional CRMs, saving you time.
- Google Calendar and Contacts are synced, as well as Dropbox for Gmail.
- Connects effortlessly to third-party applications such as MailChimp, RightSignature, Contactually, and Ecquire, and includes a strong API for custom integrations.
Features Not Included
- Community Management
- Content Creation
- Content Management
- Customer Experience Management
- Behavior Tracking
- Content Creation
- Event-Triggered Actions
- Gamification
- Engagement Tracking
- Real-Time Analytics
- Real-Time Data
- Real-Time Reporting
- Social Media Integration
Salesforce Sales Cloud
CRM Cost Comparison of Top 11 CRM Platforms in 2022
Salesforce is one of the most popular and widely utilized CRM programs on the market. It's a cloud-based CRM system for businesses of all sizes. Salesforce is a single platform that allows you to manage all of your sales, service, marketing, and analytics from one place.
Features
- Accounting Integration
- Activity Dashboard
- Channel Management
- Client Tracking
- Client/Property Matching
- Auto-Dialer
- Calendar/Reminder System
- Call List Management
- Call Management
- Call Recording
- Campaign Management
- Cataloging/Categorization
- Collaboration Tools
- Commission Management
- Competitive Analysis
Read a Detailed Salesforce CRM Overview
Benefits
- Increase your sales by 50%.
- Provide outstanding service.
- Participate in all of the crucial discussions.
- Create your own apps and websites.
- Your worldwide organization's collaboration
- Mobile: Access to real-time data from everywhere
- Get the information you need to make better decisions.
Features Not Included
- Data Enrichment
- LinkedIn Prospects Capture
- Group Appointment Scheduling
- Canned Responses
- Predefined Workflow Templates
Zoho CRM
CRM Cost Comparison of Top 11 CRM Platforms in 2022
Zoho is a cloud-based customer relationship management system for small and medium-sized businesses that allows users to keep track of all client interactions in one place, whether they happen online, over the phone, or in person. Zoho may be downloaded and used for free for up to ten users, making it ideal for businesses that are just getting started with CRM.
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Features
- Access Controls/Permissions
- Activity Dashboard
- Content Management
- Customizable Branding
- Customizable Reports
- Alerts/Notifications
- Appointment Scheduling
- Cataloging/Categorization
- Channel Management
- Collaboration Tools
- Commenting/Notes
- Contact Database
- Customizable Templates
- Data Import/Export
- Document Management
Read a Detailed Zoho CRM Overview
Benefits
- With your new sales assistant, Zia, the conversational AI sales assistant, you can stay on top of everything.
- For sales success, you'll need in-depth analytics.
- Building and automating your sales process requires process management.
- Customers, vendors, and partners all have their own portals.
- There is no data lockup, and you can export your data at any moment.
Features Not Included
- Organization Charts
- SMS Scheduling
- Document Conversion
- Automatic Creation of Orders
- Order Segmentation
Insightly
CRM Cost Comparison of Top 11 CRM Platforms in 2022
Small firms can use Insightly CRM to manage all aspects of their sales and project management processes in one place. Early adopters can upgrade and expand Insightly as needed because it is designed for businesses at various stages of development.
Features
- Activity Dashboard
- Alerts/Notifications
- Commenting/Notes
- Commission Management
- Appointment Scheduling
- Business Card/Badge Scanning
- Calendar Management
- Calendar/Reminder System
- Call Management
- Campaign Management
- Cataloging/Categorization
- Collaboration Tools
- Contact Database
- Contact Management
- Contract/License Management
Read a Detailed Insightly CRM Overview
Benefits
- Using centralized customer data to collaborate across the business
- Ensure uptake with a simple and easy-to-use interface
- Lead management and automated workflows will help you grow your business faster.
- Flexible record linking helps you understand complex organizational relationships.
- Interaction frequency can be tracked by linking emails, proposals, and other documents.
- By concentrating on relationship gaps, sales efficiency can be improved.
- Task management is used to coordinate the activities of employees, freelancers, and partners.
- Templated tasks and events boost productivity.
- Automate the creation of tasks, events, and emails, as well as the updating of milestone statuses.
Features Not Included
- Activity Management
- Custom Workflow
- Inventory Manager
- Automated Responses
- Chatbot/Conversational AI
- Automatically Collects Social Networking Data
- Integrated Email Marketing
- AI Analytics
- Phone Support
- Custom Reporting
- User Forums
- Integrated Digital Marketing
- Third-Party App Marketplace
Conclusion
Choosing the right CRM for your company can save you time and money in the long run, so it's worth taking the time to do it right the first time. It's always a good idea to map out your needs and budget, regardless of the size of your company, and then try to match them up with the ideal small business CRM solution. Avoid getting carried away with having every feature available; instead, concentrate on the elements that will directly assist your organization and compare CRM software for small business properly. More about CRM comparison you can find in our blog category "CRM Comparison".
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