Best CRM for Small Business
Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to practices, strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze customer interactions to improve business relationships with customers, assisting in customer retention and driving sales growth. CRM systems are designed to manage contact between the customer and the company -- which could include the company's website, telephone, live chat, direct mail, marketing materials and social media. CRM systems can also give customer-facing staff detailed information on customers' personal information, purchase history, buying preferences and concerns.
To choose the best CRM for small businesses we looked at over 30 programs and narrowed it down to four - Nimble, PipeDrive, Bitrix24 & Zoho CRM. Of all the options, these had the best range of features, were the easiest to use, and fit the budget of most small businesses (with editions priced at $15/month or lower).
USE CASE BITRIX24
Bitrix24 is an incredibly powerful CRM tool compared to other software in this space. It's cheaper than our other Salesforce.com and Zoho CRM, though its features are just as extensive, if a bit more-intimidatingly presented.
If you're looking for a one-stop do-it-all customer relationship management (CRM) software to connect with your employees and coworkers, track leads, follow contacts, and manage activities, Bitrix24 is right up your alley. At $0 for 12 users and $ 39 per month for 24 users, this software can do everything from time tracking to file sharing, all in one place. With its dizzying array of functions, Bitrix24 has the ability to centralize all communications and collaboration for an organization of any size.
Chances are, smaller businesses won't use every tool in Bitrix24's arsenal, and many will do just fine on the free plan. For companies that need more users and storage, the Standard and Professional plans are still very affordable for what they offer. Bitrix24 is a well-thought-out CRM service that can handle just about anything you throw at it
USE CASE NIMBLE
Like Pipe Drive, Nimble is very easy to set-up. Nimble brings together all of your social media accounts into one unified contact book and inbox. The goal is to keep you organized across multiple platforms, and help you mine those networks for new customers.
Nimble is visual, intuitive, and fun. The snapshot of “today” helps you plan your time and ensures that important leads and marketing tasks are not neglected or forgotten. This makes it ideal for salespeople who could use the extra help to maintain relationships with their prospects.
The downside to Nimble is that it’s not as powerful as Bitrx24 at tracking sales. You don’t get a separate menu for managing leads (before they’re converted to “contacts” and “opportunities), nor is there project management or workflow automation. Also, Nimble does not have the advanced reporting functionality offered by Zoho.
USE CASE PIPE DRIVE
Pipedrive is both reasonably priced and one of the easiest CRM services there is to set up and understand. You'll be able to get it up and running quickly, and the simple interface will enable you to spend less time working with the software, and more time working on your next sale.
If you're looking for a CRM that will centralize all aspects of your business, however, you may be better off with Bitrix24, Nimble or Zoho CRM. Though Pipedrive may lack in native capabilities, it excels with time-saving visuals and ease-of-use. This software will appeal to you if you are looking for basic CRM management without a bunch of confusing bells and whistles.
USE CASE ZOHO CRM
Zoho requires a little more time to set up and learn how to use, but it includes many features you won’t find in the other CRMs. There’s customer service case management, invoicing and website visitor tracking, to name a few.
Their robust automation tools also enable you to create features of your own. For example, you could auto-assign leads to different sales teams depending on the their location. You can setup alerts for managers when a sale reaches the final stage, or surpasses a certain dollar value. For suppliers or retailers, you could automatically send customers a followup email 1 week after delivery. The possibilities go on…
The downside of all these great features it that things can get complicated quickly. Also, at $20 for the “Standard” edition and $35 for the “Enterprise” edition, Zoho is a bit more expensive than Bitrix24 and Nimble. If you don’t need these tools, you can save a lot of time and money by going with one of the latter CRMs.
On the other hand, Zoho is far cheaper than Salesforce, which is another CRM that offers a lot of automation tools and add-ons. Salesforce Enterprise runs $125/month compared to only $35/month for Zoho.
