When small businesses are just starting and don’t have a lot of clients, it is pretty easy to keep track of everything with a simple Excel spreadsheet. But, once businesses start to grow, this software just isn’t going to be enough to track things like customers, sales, progress, etc. Luckily, there is something else businesses can use: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools. Even the smallest businesses can benefit from using CRM tools, and it isn’t expensive. In fact, there are some that offer free plans. There are many different CRM tools like SalesForce available, and here are a few of the best below.
StrideApp
This CRM is simple to use, and ideal for small businesses. A free trial period is offered so you can check it out and see if it is the right CRM for you. Every plan allows unlimited users, and up to 10 deals can be managed with the free plan. Users receive an email each Monday that informs them about any deals they have going on, and it can even be used as a project management tool, allowing people to work together on things like assigning tasks, making deals, and more.
Zoho CRM
If you are looking for a free CRM, this is a great one to try. Similar to SalesForce in layout and usage, there are a number of great tools, many of which are available with three-year plans. Some of the functions are even better than those from SalesForce, and there are plenty of tools for most small businesses and freelancers in the free plan. When you do decide to upgrade, you will pay less than the plans offered from SalesForce.
SugarCRM
For those who are looking for the ultimate in professional CRM products, they will find it in SugarCRM. There is a hosted version and a downloaded version, with the hosted being more expensive and not all together necessary, although it does offer more functionality. With the downloaded version, you do the hosting yourself, so you can save money. Functions like accounts, leads, and opportunities are similar to Zoho and SalesForce, and there are some functions that you will only find with SugarCRM. In addition to leads, you can have targets, which are potential leads in the making, and there can be many targets in a single list. Those who use cold calling a lot can really benefit from using this tool.
Nimble
When people use Nimble for their businesses, they can have all of their contact information stored in one convenient location. There is a free plan for those who just want to check it out, and a regular plan that costs $15 monthly. It is accessible through social media, and after signing up for a plan, users connect to their social media accounts, and add social media accounts for clients to message them directly. All messages are posted in the Signals/Messages/Activities tool. The signals tab provides special dates, opportunities, etc. The activities tab is the task manager, and the messages tab is where emails and social media messages are stored.
SalesForce
A single user can enjoy plans that start at only $5 per month. The entry plan is Contact Manager, and there are plenty of awesome features offered. The Group plan offers a feature that helps track leads. Users can connect to SalesForce with such social media websites as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Keep track of contacts, opportunities for sales, and a whole lot more. There are also a lot of reports which help explain the data that is collected through SalesForce, and users can also create their own custom reports, and separate contacts into future and current customers.
What’s your favorite CRM solution?