At least 91% of businesses with a minimum of 11 employees are putting CRM services to use for their sales needs but their choice isn’t always compatible with what they need. There are a variety of expansive customer management tools and platforms but business leaders are still searching for the best CRM software to satisfy what their business does rather than what it doesn’t.

The issue isn’t that most solutions can’t solve your problems, it’s mainly pinpointing which of them enhances efficiency while focusing on your pain points. When you find the right fit, you will achieve better segmentation, get to know your customers better, and even anticipate the needs or wants of those customers.

To make these benefits a reality without the hassle that often comes with it, keep reading as we help you find the best CRM software to exceed your expectations for client management. 

What Features Should You Be Looking For in the Best CRM Software?

Having a strong stance on customer relationship management is how you put your business ahead when it comes to organization, prospecting, and tailoring your business to what your market actually wants. Every CRM has a similar concept but CRM solutions offer different things.

Overall, you want to hit a few basic boxes when looking for the best CRM software. These basics should consist of;

• Data reporting
• Integrations and API (allows you to connect different tools to your profile)
• Pipeline management
• The ability to be mobile

Once you find a solution that offers these basics, you can start to tailor your search based on key features that match your business needs. Keep in mind that when looking for CRM tools, there are three main types of CRM models;

• Analytical
• Operational
• Collaborative

While there are three main models, there are some options that can give you the best of all three worlds without sacrificing relevancy to your business operations.

Think of Your Needs

If you have a sales-driven organization, your workflows need to be based on analytics. Around 47% of leaders in the sales industry are tracking CRM usage as a productivity metric and this means that the system you use needs to offer accurate customer data profiles.

It also needs to be easy to use, simple to learn and train on (if you want a quick adoption turnaround of usage), and even easier to access regardless of the device you’re using. Let’s take a look at some of the top options for CRM services that will satisfy all of these needs.

Salesforce

Salesforce is known as the “world’s #1 CRM platform” and you can’t ignore its popularity. With Salesforce you’re going to get mobility, automation, quality security, and a sales and service cloud. Salesforce is a robust platform with endless features, however, there are probably some that you aren’t aware of just yet. 

The platform now offers in-line editing for Salesforce reports, pipeline inspection, a flow builder, scoping rulers for better automation, and collaborative forecasting. If you are operations-based and also have a strong focus on sales and projections…Salesforce could be a go-to option.

How much can you expect to pay for Salesforce? There are four different pricing editions and it starts at $25 per user/per month which is their ‘essentials’ package.

SharpSpring 

If your business is focused on converting leads and getting to know your audience, SharpSpring might be the best choice for what you need. This platform is sales-driven and offers a variety of benefits from lead scoring and behavior tracking to streamlined mobility and email automation. Businesses can also take advantage of how user-friendly the interface is along with the use of chat bots and sales notifications.

How much would SharpSpring run up your budget? For this marketing and sales automation tool, you can expect to pay around $449 per month for 1,000 contacts.

This platform is meant for companies that want to grow and sustain that growth. To get started, the platform offers a trial period.

Hubspot

Hubspot is a popular tool for small businesses and its hub of useful tools is very comprehensive and easy to navigate. For businesses that want better collaboration between their sales, marketing, and customer service teams, Hubspot is a prime option.

The platform is easy to customize to your needs and it’s meant to help reduce the workload on your team. You can expect simple sales integrations, marketing process linking, and streamlined user-friendliness.

What can you expect to pay for Hubspot? You might like to know that this platform is 100% free.

Hubspot also features its CRM as a ‘free forever’ option. The company has multiple hubs that you can use as well from operations and marketing to services and sales.

There are four tiers for each hub which will range from free to enterprise options. What will change among each tier are the features that will be available. 

Zoho

If you need streamlined help with sales and marketing, Zoho could be the perfect option. This CRM sales platform offers robust automation and its popularity comes from its comprehensive approach to analytics.

Zoho has a fairly small learning curve and it’s an easy option for businesses that need to maximize productivity with more hands-off capability. Zoho strives on its claim that CRM solutions don’t have to be centered around data entry to work well.

Through automated workflows, the system will practically do the groundwork for you. The platform features over 800 app integrations including Trello, Slack, Shopify, and even Microsoft 365…all tools businesses use day-to-day. This allows you to keep your operations tools all in one place with your sales and marketing tools.

What can you expect to pay for Zoho’s CRM software? You can access a 15-day free trial and the trial does not require you to enter a credit card.

After the trial, you can opt-in for a monthly plan as low as $20 per month or a yearly plan as low as $14 per month (billed annually). You can also use their bundle option which offers more customization.

Making It Easier to Drive Your Sales and Operate Your Business

When looking for the best CRM software, you need to focus on accessibility, mobility, and a high count of integrations. Looking for these things makes it easier to find not just basics in a CRM but custom options that better suit your business model. Sales itself takes a lot of manpower if you want to see real results.

While you need an efficient, responsive, and solution-driven CRM, you also need a team to manage it. Instead of running your full-time team too thin, work with The Selling Factory, a popular solution for on-demand sales support. Start with a consultation today.