CRM Software
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Compare the Top CRM Software of 2020
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Compare the best CRM software currently available using the table below.
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1
vtenext
vtenext
vtenext the CRM for smart working. Thanks to its CRM-style interface and a powerful process management engine, allows you to manage all the main CRM processes as well as other unstructured business processes. It is a ready-made solution for the management of smart working and therefore it can help you manage the COVID19 emergency. Try it!
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Inspection Support Network
Inspection Support Network
A cloud-based solution for inspectors that streamlines business growth, scheduling, workflow automation, agent management and reporting.
Starting Price: $4.00/inspection -
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Mortgage Quest
Market Focus
Mortgage Quest is an automated email marketing and CRM system designed for the mortgage industry. The variety of industry-specific content and marketing strategies increase sales from prospects, current and past customers, and referral partners, such as Realtors. It comes with a weekly mortgage and real estate newsletter, premade mortgage video emails, holiday, birthday and loan anniversary ecards and much more in our content library. Social media marketing services are also available. Auto post our content to Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter
Starting Price: $65 per month -
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Prezly
Prezly
Prezly is a sophisticated CRM and PR tool that helps PR agencies and teams attain better coverage, more influencer engagement, and stronger relationships with their clients. Simple and easy-to-use, Prezly helps PR teams communicate and collaborate effectively, speed up PR workflows, reach stakeholders speedily with beautiful multimedia emails, create attractive and super-functional online newsrooms, and log coverage. With Prezly, you can easily keep an overview of all your contacts (e.g. bloggers, media, board members, social media influencers and employees) and choose the right contact to reach out to. We are currently offering free subscriptions for hospitals and organisations tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, please get in touch!
Starting Price: $270/month for 3 seats -
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Shape Software
Shape Software
Shape CRM helps you manage your business on one easy to use platform. Shape's cloud-based software offers dozens of tools designed to manage and automate your online marketing and promotions via email and SMS, capture and service leads from online sources, organize sales pipelines, nurture prospects and customers, create and send professional online documents, accept online payments, run custom reporting, and automate everyday admin tasks. Shape is the most flexible CRM ever!
Starting Price: $99.00/month/user -
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InfoFlo
Carmel Vision
Infoflo is an easy to use CRM that is perfect for managing customer relationships and includes the most robust Outlook sync on the market! It is a fully integrated contact, relationship, email, calendar, document, sales, task management solution and VoIP. It includes a Quick Books, Outlook and Google Sync. InfoFlo includes FREE Life-Time and is an affordable $99 ONE-TIME cost per user
Starting Price: $99.00/one-time/user -
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Podium
Podium
Centralize all business reviews from across different platforms with Podium, an online review solution. Podium allows users to see their reviews and gain more customer feedback for quick and better-informed decisions. Podium can be accessed through its free iOS and Android app for sending review invitations, check analytics, and manage existing reviews.
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Member365
Member365
Member365 understands that technology isn't always easy to handle. Anyone who has dealt with confusing spreadsheets, software programs, payment processing and many important matters that come with having an association knows how crucial it is to have a reliable resourse to lean on. Let Member365 be the support system you've been looking for!
Starting Price: $149 -
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Planning Pod
Planning Pod
Save 62+ hours every month and streamline your processes with Planning Pod's suite of 20+ easy-to-use tools for event & venue professionals. Our venue management software suite offers venue managers & staff an all-in-one platform for tracking every detail related your event bookings - including booking calendars, email communications, BEOs, food-&-beverage orders, floor plans / room layouts, leads, proposals, invoicing, payments & more. Our event management software gives event planners, corporate planners, meeting planners & non-profits a single place to collaborate & manage thousands of details. This includes attendees, budgets, timelines, tasks, floor plans, registrations / ticketing, communications & more. Our event floor plan tool makes it easy to create professional event layouts in minutes and is also included in our event software and venue software packages. Join the 20,000 event pros who rely on Planning Pod's tools every day. Try it free for 14 days!
Starting Price: $19/month -
10
LiveHelpNow Suite
LiveHelpNow
Fully integrated customer service suite meeting all of your customers' needs. All channels of support in one solution: Live Chat, SMS-to-chat, Chat Bots, Email management, Knowledge base management, VoIP Call Management, contact center analytics. Quick and easy installation, no setup fees, no contracts. Hosted with 99.999% uptime and financial grade AES-256 bit encryption. HIPAA, ADA and PCI compliant. #1 rated 7 years running as best live chat and SMS help desk platform #84 Inc 500 fastest growing company
Starting Price: $21.00/month/user -
11
KORONA
COMBASE USA
KORONA offers innovative POS software with unique features built for retailers, ticketing and event operations, and quick-service restaurants and cafes. The subscription service comes with automatic updates, full, 24/7 customer support, and zero contracts, fees, or surcharges. With KORONA, businesses get an array of features to improve operations and increase efficiency and insight. Detailed reporting, inventory analysis, product performance, promotions, loyalty, employee management, vast integrations, multi-store management, online retail and ticketing, hardware options, and credit card processing options are just a handful of the point of sale features that make KORONA the fastest-growing POS solution in the U.S. Learn more by setting up a no-commitment free trial or scheduling a product demo. Your dedicated account manager will walk you through each feature your business will use to succeed.
Starting Price: $49.00/month -
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4Degrees
4Degrees
The 4Degrees platform offers intelligent relationship and deal management tools to help your team get the most out of your professional networks. We combine the ability to search your team's network easily and intuitively with automated data entry and intelligent alerts so you never miss the chance to move a relationship or deal forward. Unleash the power of your network with 4Degrees! Some common use cases of our CRM software include: - Venture Capital - Private Equity - Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) - Investment Banking - Commercial Real Estate - Consulting - Deal sourcing, deal flow, and due diligence
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13
CallShaper
CallShaper
CallShaper is a call center software and Predictive dialer designed to help reduce costs and increase ROI for Call Centers. CallShaper partners with businesses to maximize contacts, track the performance of agents, manage leads, telemarketing, and sales processes. The drag-and-drop interactive voice response (IVR) editor allows managers to transfer calls to third-party stakeholders and other recipients based on agents' availability, time, or type. CallShaper lets call centers analyze databases to determine landline or wireless leads, Do Not Call list numbers, and call abandonment rates whilst maintaining compliance with Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regulations. Supervisors can import leads by uploading files in bulk and agents can utilize call scripts to communicate and resolve clients' queries. Using predictive and preview dialers, marketing agents can automate call handling processes and review lead information before client interactions.
Starting Price: $75 per month -
14
Union Impact
Union Impact
Union Impact goes above and beyond in improving the way you manage your member information. There are a number of ways our system will make your union most effective: • Union Impact allows you to view the most important member information from a single screen without the need to jump around. Our customizable member module is personalized to your business processes and organizes your member data so that you can achieve maximum productivity. • Gain the capability to easily schedule member follow-ups and delegate tasks. Delegated tasks can have text or email reminders to ensure that duties are not missed and that no member feels left behind. • Enable a web portal for your members where they can sign-in and view the information you allow them to see without the need to call your staff. Members can also pay dues online and submit updated information such as phone numbers, addresses or requests.
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15
Naranga
Naranga
Naranga is the leading franchise management software that is making operations easier and saving thousands of dollars for hundreds of franchisors across the globe. Brands like Edible Arrangements, Inspire Brands, Honey Baked Ham, Painting with a Twist, Outdoor Living Brands, Dwyer and Floyds Barbershop trust Naranga to help manage their business. Built by a franchisor for franchisors, Naranga is a one stop solution for all your franchising needs. Our franchise solutions assist with on-boarding new franchisees, centralize operations, communications, lead management, brand standards, and POS. Naranga has added 200 new brands in 2017-2018 alone. With 300+ total brands, we offer the simplest, most intuitive solutions on the market today. #SimplySucceed #PartnerOverProvider
Starting Price: $5/location -
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Starting Price: $30.00/month/user
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17
Five9
Five9
Five9 is a top-tier cloud-based Contact Center software, with features that manage inbound, outbound, blended or multi-channel contact centers. In addition, the platform offers IVR with speech recognition, multi-channel ACD, predictive dialer and customer relationship management (CRM) integrations, and built-in call recording, along with agent scripting and quality monitoring components. The software is available as a web-portal or downloadable Java-based application, which only needs Internet-ready computers and headsets to get started.
Starting Price: $180.00 per user per month -
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CloudTalk
CloudTalk
Searching for a smart call centre software? Try CloudTalk.io, a new-generation cloud phone system for SMEs, startups, online stores or call centres (sales and customer service teams). 25+ integrations with favourite CRM, helpdesk or e-commerce tools as Shopify, SalesForce, Pipedrive, Intercom at hand along with a 5-star rated customer success team make it easy to seamlessly migrate or set up your new cloud call centre from scratch. We are rapidly growing every month and we have already successful cooperation with 1000+ companies across the world like DHL, Yves Rocher or Karcher. Try 14 day FREE trial from CloudTalk (no credit card details required).
Starting Price: $15.00/month -
19
FlexBooker
FlexBooker
FlexBooker helps you Easily Accept Online Bookings From Your Website. Your account can be set up in minutes, and right away you can start taking appointments from your clients online, without the back and forth of arranging times in the past. Not only will FlexBooker help you drive business, even while you sleep, but will increase your sales through automated confirmations, reminders and follow-ups via e-mail and text message! FlexBooker also includes powerful reporting and all data can be exported to Excel for analysis. It is highly customizable, including both design, colors, booking form fields. Other powerful features of FlexBooker include the ability to accept payments when your clients book online via credit card, and also membership management, allowing automatic subscription payments and package management.
Starting Price: $39.00/month -
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Newired
Newired
Newired empowers companies to guide users to resources and answers on virtually any web application, by making the user learn and perform on the go. We shall not forget that digital is, first and foremost, for people. -Newired makes technology and software more accessible, replacing any disconnected documentation, tutorial, or training with contextual in-place guidance and support. -Newired guides users with in-place help so they can learn by doing until they comprehend it and are comfortable with challenging content, with support that ensures process compliance in complex internal applications. -Newired can be deployed on any web-based application or website without touching the code and can be adapted to meet customers' needs.
Starting Price: $ 6,480 per year -
21
DoctorConnect.net
Adtel International
DoctorConnect provides industry leading patient engagement. In business for over 25 years, we provide highly customizable services to thousands of doctors, clinics and hospitals. Appointment Reminders, After Care Surveys, Automated No-Show and Recall Messaging, and more. We can directly interface with hundreds of EMR and PM systems. We'd love to hear from you and show you how we increase your revenue and your patient satisfaction.
Starting Price: $99.00/month -
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Join It
Join It
Join It is a membership management service that helps businesses and nonprofits effectively sell, track, and grow their membership.
Starting Price: $18.56/month -
23
Oz App
Oz Application
During these trying times, Oz App wants to help you improve your business by offering a FREE THREE MONTH TRIAL of Oz software with NO SETUP FEES. We want event planners, venue managers, caterers and band managers to succeed with our cloud-based software accessible anywhere, even the comfort of your own home. Booking and event management simplified. Everything you need in one place. Accessible anywhere & anytime. Our software is designed to run your business with maximum efficiency and productivity. Think of Oz as your virtual smart office that's accessible 24/7 from any device. OZ keeps your data in the cloud to be sure it's always saved and accessible. Report or filter for almost any scenario, allowing you to target market to specific venues. We'll make the process painless, so when you log in for the first time you can get to work book.
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24
LiveAgent
QualityUnit
Stay on top of all customer requests and inquiries with LiveAgent, the most reviewed and top-rated help desk software for SMB in 2020. LiveAgent boasts the fastest chat widget on the market and has over 150M end-users worldwide. LiveAgent is a fully-featured web-based live chat and helpdesk software. LiveAgent harnesses the power of a universal inbox, real-time live chat, built-in call center, and a robust customer service portal. LiveAgent has over 175+ helpful features such as advanced automation features, rules, tags, and 40+ integrations. Join companies like BMW, Yamaha, Huawei and Oxford University in providing world-class customer service. Start your free 14-day trial today, no credit card required.
Starting Price: $15.00/month/user -
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SharpSpring
SharpSpring
SharpSpring is a comprehensive marketing automation platform with robust features, functionality and performance. SharpSpring is one of the most flexible platforms on the market, offering powerful, behavior-based email marketing, native or 3rd party CRM integration, dynamic forms, landing page and blog builders, social media management, universal CMS compatibility, and integration with hundreds of applications. SharpSpring is usually less than 1/3 the cost of the competition, is the easiest company to work with and the easiest platform to use. Marketing agencies should inquire about SharpSpring's special partner program.
How to choose the right CRM software
Today’s technology is enabling small to midsize businesses to operate more efficiently, thereby saving on expenses and time. Among the most beneficial of these new developments is customer relationships management (CRM) software, which enables businesses to manage existing customers, potential clients and contacts more effectively. The software can organize and analyze vast amounts of data with lightning speed, improve workflow, and boost customer relationships to new levels. It all adds up to an enhanced ability to compete and to record significantly improved profit margins.
Handling relationships with customers and contacts in these ways was unachievable before these advances in technology without preparing extensive spreadsheets and devoting considerable time, energy and staff resources to do so.
A key to the effectiveness of CRM software is in gathering extensive and detailed information about customers and potential clients, followed by organizing, recording and effectively using that information. CRM software retains information not just on customers’ basic details, but also on each contact or lead that a company maintains, whether by telephone or email. It monitors their interests and their purchasing habits. It provides the tools for following up, cross selling, developing marketing strategies, and tracking invoices more effectively. Some CRM software can even go so far as to prompt staff to email or telephone customers at around the time at which they have called the company.
The applications also can scan web traffic and social media to identify potential clients based on such aspects as their interests and hobbies. Instead of an employee trying to remember details on customers or searching for it in randomly gathered papers scattered on an office desk or hidden in computer folders with meaningless names, the software retains this information in a central place. Not only is it retained, but it is well ordered in an efficient and logical way. So, for example, the software will automatically send a gift card or message to customers or contacts on their birthdays. New or improved products or services can be broadcast immediately on their release.
CRM software goes even further than organizing information on customers and contacts and maintaining relationships with them. It provides the ability to aim messages to specific demographic groups, such as millennials and seniors. Information also can be directed to specific geographic areas, such as a city, county or state, quickly and efficiently without having to develop spreadsheets to do so or having an employee going through the information and select those who should be served with the information. In addition, CRM software enables employees to set and measure sales targets, to develop effective marketing techniques and even to scan internet traffic and social media for potential leads.
As a result, staff can be freed up to concentrate on the more personal face-to-face aspects of marketing and sales without having to spend their time on inputting vast amounts of information, assessing results, and maintaining regular communications with customers. The result is enhanced sales ability, greater productivity, and more satisfied customers.
Many CRM systems have been developed and a large number are available. Sorting through the various CRM software can run up costs and eat up time. But it is essential that the programs chosen are the most appropriate to a company’s needs. Here are guidelines to help a business make the right selection.
Evaluate the cost against the features
Clearly small and midsize companies will want to take into account the cost of CRM software. But there is more to the software than the cost itself. The price needs to be balanced against the benefits of the features that are incorporated in the software. The features required by a company depend on the nature of the business that it conducts. Some features will be of little or no use to a particular company, while others will be of significant advantage to it.
In addition to checking out the benefits, a company might want to consider some of the newer CRM software that offer affordable entry points. As the company grows and it becomes acquainted with the software, more features can be added. A company can choose whether the new features are worth the additional costs in terms of the returns it might receive from them. A company will also want to take into account hidden costs, such as the degree of training that is required to ensure that staff are using the software effectively. More complex software might mean spending considerable time on teaching staff to use it more efficiently. Ideally, the time taken to becoming fully acquainted with the software should be as short as possible and should be measured in days rather than weeks. Clearly a smaller business simply cannot afford to have staff spend large amounts of time becoming acquainted with the new CRM system.
To help answer these questions, it might be advisable to check the support documentation with the application. Just how complex a program is it? What kinds of problems will employees face as they implement it? Another method to determining a software’s cost effectiveness is to try out the application to determine just how long it will take for your staff to be up and running on it. Most CRM software suites come with a free evaluation period. Use this time to import information into the CRM, including accounts, and assign tasks to employees. Evaluate whether the software is effective for your company’s needs or whether it actually creates more work. You might also record how extensively you need to pore over the documentation that comes with it or how many times you need to call support for help. If one application fails the test, try another until you are satisfied with the return on investment it brings with it.
Another factor in evaluating software is whether the new CRM software will integrate with the systems that are currently being used by your company. Will it be necessary to buy new hardware or switch to new operating systems? Also, effective use of the software might require new smart phones or tablets, incurring additional costs. Even though CRM software is relatively new on the market, the rapid advancement of today’s technology has meant that the applications have become more varied and bring with them more options in addition to the basic benefits. Newer versions enable the software to be implemented in a Software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. Others offer the choice of storing information on the cloud rather than on your own computers or servers. Such a choice can save on costs, lessen complexity, and provide additional security. Another consideration is integrating the CRM software with your telephone system, enabling you to gather information from calls and conversations.
Here’s another aspect to consider. Industry-leading CRM software suites tend to integrate with third-party providers. Those providers operate many of the tools that you will be using. This adds to the costs of the overall application. It also means you might find yourself dealing with different support systems and you cannot always be sure that the varied applications work effectively alongside each other. Careful evaluation of each CRM will pay dividends in the long run. Rather than simply buying a CRM system that provides you with all the bells and whistles that today’s systems provide, it is wise to check carefully into the individual benefit of each, using the factors outlined here as a guide.
Assess usability
In addition to the cost and the features, a major consideration when selecting CRM software is to ensure that it is going to be relatively uncomplicated for you and your employees to use. Ideally, after an initial learning phase, staff should find it reasonably intuitive. To test a program’s usability, make sure you consult your employees on it. After all, they are the ones who will be tasked with using it. What might look simple on an initial examination of the program might prove difficult when it comes to actually using the program itself. The way the program works might take an inordinate time to learn.
Employees might find that menus are difficult to find or to use, are too many to go through for relatively simple tasks, or are far from intuitive. They might even find that gaining the information they need involves going through so many hoops that it takes more time than if they had done it themselves without using the program. Having discovered how one aspect of the program works they should be able to apply those basic principles to other aspects of the program. They might be frustrated to find that, for example, the menus work in one way on one aspect of the program, but work in another way on a different aspect.
Make sure, too, that the employees try out the CRM software in a variety of situations. In some cases, the tasks they are called upon to employ using the software might actually make their jobs harder. They might find, too, that they never use many of the features for which you are paying. CRM software also should be able to alert a user to any major errors, such as entering data in the wrong place. One way to determine usability is to learn the application yourself and then to teach someone how to operate it. Read the support documentation, scan through the FAQs, if any are available, as well as any user blogs you might come across. If — on completing all these tasks — you find it painstaking or even frustrating to teach someone the system, or if you find you cannot understand the system well enough yourself to teach someone to use it, alarm bells should sound.
Even if you find the CRM software relatively straightforward to use, it is nevertheless likely that at some point in the future you might need to call the support line for help. While evaluating the application, therefore, it is a good idea to call the support line when you get even slightly stuck to check out how valuable it is. Check out how long the wait time is, which hours they are available in your time zone, and ask numerous questions.
Not only will this enable you to become more familiar with the program, but you will be able to check out the availability and quality of the support that is provided.
Check out the communications features
Concentrate on those features of the CRM software that you will use and drill down on their practical use for your company. Try not to be blindsided by social media apps that are fashionable and said to be catching on. Chances are that email will continue to remain for the foreseeable future the best way you can communicate with your customers. Almost everyone has email on their desktop, laptop, tablet or phone, which they check regularly. Many of the new social media applications, however, are unavailable on desktops and laptops.
Another benefit of email is that it can convey information, including logos, graphics and pictures more effectively than apps such as Twitter or even Facebook. A well designed email can be appealing and inviting in a way that other apps are not. In short, you should understand the way in which the CRM software you choose will interact with customers and contacts over email. The application you choose should ensure that information contained in email messages is automatically captured and does not have to be manually gathered. Of course, this does not mean you should ignore mobile apps. They are a vital part of communicating today, but they are quite different than those applications that operate on desktops and laptops. So you should evaluate them as a separate entity.
Viewed from a different perspective, an important new feature that is being added to CRM software today is the ability for an employee to communicate on a mobile device with the data that is stored centrally, either on your servers or on the cloud. This ability should be as effective as if the employee were sitting in the office working on a desktop.
These applications mean that, by using a remote mobile device, such as a smart phone or tablet, staff will be able access all the CRM tools wherever they are in the world as long as they have access to the Internet and whenever they want to do so, even outside regular business hours. Sometimes the communication methods are different when working from a mobile device than they are when using a desktop computer. Switching from one to another can be a learning experience for employees. But for some companies, depending on the nature of their business, it is important that their employees need to be able to communicate in this way. For many, specially those who are constantly on the road, such communication is vital to them. If this is the case with your company, therefore, make sure that they have the ability to plug in to your CRM software from wherever they are using their mobile devices.
Gauge marketing effectiveness
One of the advantages that CRM software is bringing with it is the ability to introduce automation to relationships with customers. In the past, sales representatives, or anyone who had a direct relationship with customers, needed carefully to record tasks to be performed. Examples would be following up a set time after a sales negotiation or at the ending of a trial test of a product or service. Questions might need to be answered, too.
Not only that, but emails would have to be written to each client, ensuring that they are provided with the correct information. Now CRM software performs many of these tasks automatically. In doing so it sharply lessens the prospect of contacts falling through the cracks as a result of neglecting to follow up in time or overlooking to keep track of them in a timely manner. It also can produce customized email templates for each situation or for special offers, making it unnecessary to write each email individually.
Such features are valuable when following up on leads. The reason: In many businesses, potential customers fail to respond to an initial sales attempt. They might set it aside with the intent to decide later. Following up becomes as important to closing the sale as the first lead generation was.
In some cases, potential clients ask questions about a product. Should they fail to receive an answer in a reasonable amount of time, they will move on and consider other products. Using CRM software, particularly when it is linked to a mobile app, staff will be prompted to respond quickly to questions. In the case of existing customers, too, it is often vital to respond as quickly as possible to problems or questions users might have.
Another example would be in the case of, say, a webinar that a company is planning to hold. CRM software can automatically remind those who have signed up for the webinar, delete those who might cancel before it is held, and follow up on those who took part to determine their feedback. Should a client cancel an account, CRM software will automatically try to assess the reason for the cancellation and gather feedback that the disillusioned customer might have. Such applications could also try to persuade customers to return should the problem they faced be resolved. In all cases, speed is of the essence. Here, the fast reaction time provided by CRM software can play a significant role.
These tasks can be undertaken by some CRM software using advanced methods of artificial intelligence, saving time and boosting productivity. A number of CRM applications include the ability to synchronize various email accounts into a central portal. They also can initiate email marketing campaigns and can include the ability to conduct chat sessions.
Third-party integrations
An essential element in selecting CRM software is to separate the features that will be provided by the software itself and those that will be delivered through a third-party provider. In doing so, you will need to determine the degree to which these add-ons will operate within the parameters of the system you already are using.
You almost certainly will want to connect email services provided by the application itself or add ons with the existing email apps you are using. If they will not do so, are you ready to switch to an app they will support? The same is true of a calendar or possibly newsletter management software. In some cases the application might indicate that it is compatible with apps you already use. They might describe this as “native integration,” meaning that the company has an application that you can select, download and use. Problem solved. But if the company does not provide such integration, you will have to do some detective work yourself.
A possibility is to have your IT staff (if you have such) investigate and see whether they can build integration with the software for you. You might decide that the software itself will be compatible with what you have, but you need to follow this up with assessing each of the third-party providers — if such exist — individually.
Size up reporting and analysis abilities
A critical aspect of CRM software is its ability to provide you with reports and analyses. They will help you not only to determine the results of what you have been able to achieve using the software, but will enable you better to determine how you should proceed in the future. To assess an application’s reporting ability, check on features that can be customized according to your business. In this way you can assess how your workers have been performing and how customers have been responding. You should be able to produce reports on net sales, demographics on your customers, and track profits in real time.
Ideally, these reports should be exportable. You should be able to save them and print them out if necessary. In addition, using any tool you prefer, you should be able to convert the data into graphic displays of various sorts, such as charts and dashboards. You can then present them to shareholders, partners or others interested in some way in the running of your company. The data will come alive and be more meaningful. An additional benefit will be to combine statistics so that the ratio of, say, email messages to actual sales can be determined.
Rate the degree of security
In today’s world of hackers and loopholes in systems, security has become a paramount concern to most consumers. Failure adequately to protect customers information can be damaging to your reputation. It becomes essential, therefore, to asses a CRM software on its security. A relatively new aspect of security is the storing of data on the cloud. At one level, such storage is considerably more secure than anything saved on your hard drives, where it is vulnerable to theft, fire and other damage. But you need to feel satisfied with the security being provided by the program you are using, particularly where almost all the data is being stored in that way. After all, you are recording information on customers, some of which might be sensitive.
You can test the level of security provided by a CRM software provider in several ways.
One is to research the company providing the software. Check whether it has fallen foul to security failures and how they responded to them, if there were any. Another is to find out where your data will reside, who is ultimately responsible for its security, and what will happen if there is a problem. Among other ways to test the security is to check whether your CRM software fails to adequately record when users change their passwords. Another is to find out whether you can specify each user’s access controls. You can also check on how well the CRM software relates to your existing IT security software.
Evaluating CRM software
Check on how others have evaluated and tested CRM software. Some will rate the best applications available, whereas others will evaluate them based on the features that they provide and yet others will examine them on cost. Go through the assessments carefully, checking those that crop up regularly on top-10 lists.
For example, some will provide a list of free CRM software, such as Hubspot CRM, Inslightly, Zoho and Freshsales. Others will rate online CRM apps, such as OnePage, Airtable, SugarCRM, and Act! CRM. Yet others will provide a list of CRM software for small businesses, such as Pipeline, Infusionsoft, Salesforce, and AgileCRM.
Then there are categories of CRM software for real estate agents, for corporations, for sales people, for insurance agents…. You name it.
It is important to remember, however, that, even in select categories, each CRM has its own strengths and its own weaknesses. Some might specialize in outstanding email services, but if your business uses little email, the CRM might not be for you. Others are great for sales people, but if you have only a limited number of clients, you might need a different kind of CRM application.
Some might be free up to a certain level. If your business expands, you might need to start paying for the software and it’s best to check out what that might be.
Use the criteria outlined above to find the CRM software that will work best for you. Having looked into the pros and cons, try one out if possible before committing to it.
Once you have selected a CRM application and it works for you, chances are you will be opened to a whole new world of managing customer relationships. You will be left wondering why you had not jumped on board much earlier. But then, of course, a lot of this technology is new and was not available until a few years ago.
If commercial CRM software isn't what you're looking for, be sure to check out the free open source CRM software section.