Not only are Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms a great way to track your leads, they can also improve your business relationships by helping to monitor client interactions (and give us a kick up the bum when we need it).
A good CRM offers streamlined management and analysis of your business processes, and the ability to integrate with your other operational software. However, we know that selecting the best CRM for your business isn’t always that easy. So to save you the hassle, we’ve rounded up 5 of the currently most popular CRM platforms, to help you decide which might be best for you and your team.
Pipedrive
If simplicity is what you’re after, Pipedrive will have you covered. With the ability to fully customise your pipeline and track all of your customer activities, Pipedrive gives you more time to focus on sales – without all the fuss. Its AI automation technology allows you to automate your daily processes and save time on many routine tasks. With communication tracking and intuitive synchronisation features, you’ll have a streamlined view of all your interactions, and scheduled reminders to help you stay on top of your sales activities.
While Pipedrive offers a simplistic and intuitive user interface, it may be worth considering that its email features are limited, and phone support is only provided in the highest pricing plan, so you may want to keep this in mind when weighing your options.
When it comes to pricing, Pipedrive’s Essential plan offers easy customisation, 24/7 support and over 300 integrations for £19.90 per user per month. At £29.90 per user per month, the Advanced plan provides full email syncing and workflow building. The Professional plan provides advanced insights and analytics at £59.90 per user per month, and the Enterprise plan comes in at £99.90 per use per month with unlimited feature access and user permissions.
Salesforce
For those looking for a completely personalised experience, Salesforce offers just that. The feature-rich CRM platform offers customisable workspaces for each of your team members, and over 2,500 integrations. With a detailed view of each customer, Salesforce helps to streamline your communications, so you can efficiently manage all of your interactions. And when it comes to flexibility, the Salesforce App allows you to access and manage your data on-the-go.
While Salesforce boasts extensive customisation capabilities, its interface is a bit more complex than some of the other CRM platforms on this list, so be aware that it may come with a steeper learning-curve.
With Salesforce’s starting Essential plan, you can access project management, email integration, and mobile app features, for up to 10 users, at £20 per user per month. The Professional plan provides comprehensive forecasting and lead registration for £60 per user per month. At £120 per user per month, the Enterprise plan features advanced customisation and workflow automation tools. And the Unlimited plan provides 24/7 unrestricted CRM power and support for £240 per user per month.
Monday.com Sales CRM
Prioritising time efficiency and organisational simplicity, Monday.com allows you to manage and track your interactions and sales processes, in a streamlined and customisable way. Its extensive task automation and scheduling tools enable you to save precious time on repetitive tasks, helping you to manage your operations more effectively. And to ensure the CRM functions in the best way for your business, you can also tailor the interface and manage multiple pipelines at once. The other good thing about Monday.com is that it can be adapted to any part of your business. In fact, we actually use Monday at Neptik. As a CRM it works brilliantly for us, but we don’t use it as it comes out-of-the box, and have customised it to a pretty hefty extent. We’d definitely recommend it, but that comes with a warning sign for people that want something ready to go, and less of a faff.
While custom automations are a highlight of Monday.com, it’s worth noting that you’ll be limited on the number you can create based on your pricing plan (starting at 250 per month in the Standard plan). With their completely free individual plan, you can store up to 1,000 contacts, and have access to lead-capturing web forms for up to two users. The Basic CRM plan (£8.50 per user per month) offers unlimited contacts, boards and customisable pipelines, and ready-made templates for storing leads, contacts and deals. Monday’s Standard plan comes in at £12 a month, providing email sync and advanced account management. For £20 per user per month, the Pro plan offers sales forecasting, analytics, and up to 25,000 custom automations. And by contacting the sales team for a custom quote, you can gain access to their Enterprise plan, offering enterprise-level integration, automation and security features.
HubSpot
One of HubSpot’s most attractive features is its extensive range of free CRM tools. With scheduling, tracking, email integration, live chat and sales management features, HubSpot is your best bet if you’re looking to test CRM features without committing to a subscription fee. Plus, if you ever want to upgrade your system, HubSpot’s paid plans offer all the extra advanced functions you’d expect from an effective Customer Relationship Management platform – from automation and integration, to pipeline monitoring.
As far as pricing goes, while it offers a solid free version, its subscription prices are the highest on this list. HubSpot’s Starter plan begins at a minimum of £38 a month (based on two users), while the Professional and Enterprise plans start at a minimum of £369 and £990 per month. A lot of people think it’s the go-to CRM if you mean business, but from our experience it’s a lot of money for what you get – we’ve seen a number of clients re-think their decisions after working with us.
Freshsales
For businesses that value intuitivity and user-friendliness over customisation and extensive integration, Freshsales helps to simplify the sales process. Providing a 360° view of customer interactions, insights and assistance from its AI tool, and task-automation, Freshsales is a simple, yet highly effective CRM platform, ideal for small to medium businesses.
As well as offering a completely free plan, Freshsales’ Growth plan offers visual sales pipelines and AI contact scoring for £12 per user per month. The Pro plan provides AI insights, sales-team management, and multiple sales pipelines at £39 per user per month. And at £55 per user per month, the Enterprise plan offers extensive forecasting, custom modules, and dedicated account management. Whilst we don’t use Freshsales, we do use their Live Chat tool on our site (Freshworks), which can be bought separately for £15 per month.
So there you have it – a little roundup / review on a few of the current most popular CRMs. All in all, an effective CRM platform can be a real game-changer for your business. Hopefully by now, you’ll have a clearer idea of what’s out there that could potentially help enhance your sales operations. Or, a benchmark to compare if you’re considering a switch.
