Customer Relation Management (CRM) software is designed to help businesses manage various aspects of their customer-related processes, including data, interaction, sales and business information.
Although there are many options for businesses of all sizes, it’s important to find the right one for your needs. CRM systems should save your business time and give you the opportunity to make more money. These are my recommendations for anyone looking to invest in this software.
Zoho
Zoho is easy to use and has a very low price point. The main drawback of Zoho is that it is limited in helping businesses with sales and marketing, which is one part of most businesses that consumes a great deal of time and energy. However, it is a perk that you only pay for the applications and features that you want to use.
One of Zoho’s best features is that you can customize it to fit your business. The overall look, functionality and modules can be made to work for you. However, that does mean the set-up requires a great deal of customization.
Infusionsoft
Infusionsoft is mostly tailored to small businesses. Their software tools work together seamlessly to help you manage clients, emails, appointments, quotes, invoices and payments.
Although Infusionsoft offers a free 14-day trial available without a credit card, there is a hefty kickstart fee for new customers. The fee pays for a consultant who helps you set up the first few campaigns, which is helpful, but off-putting to some customers. Customers have also reported being unhappy that Infusionsoft doesn’t have native integrations with third-party tools.
SugarCRM
SugarCRM is ideal for businesses of any size — from freelancers to large enterprises. It allows businesses to self-host and keep data on their own servers, while also offering many customization options. However, these customizations can be expensive and time-consuming. Beyond this, SugarCRM is highly rated for customer experience.
As with any CRM, SugarCRM has downsides that could be a dealbreaker for some businesses. One is that creating custom reports are time-consuming because of how the reporting dashboard functions. Additionally, there is a minimum commitment of 1 year, so it isn’t a platform you can just leave at the drop of a hat. However, there is a free 7-day trial for anyone who wants to test it out.
There may not be a CRM software that is perfect for any and all businesses, but there is likely one out there that is perfect for what your business needs. The trick is balancing the pros and cons to find a service that fits.