Customer Relationship Management programs, or CRMs, can be very helpful for building and maintaining positive business relationships with your clients. We’ve collected a list of some programs we recommend. The right program will allow you to:
- Manage customer data
- Enhance the customer experience
- Provide a clear brand face for your customers
(1) HubSpot
HubSpot is a great starting place because the free version is fairly extensive. It offers a variety of marketing, sales, and service tools in addition to CRM features like these:
- Contact management
- Contact website activity
- Companies
- Deals
- Tasks & activities
(2) Ontraport
Ontraport is a powerful CRM that is known for being flexible and customizable to your needs. It offers a mix of essential features and more advanced options that are unique to Ontraport.
- Collect client data automatically
- Strong marketing platform links your marketing messaging and sales processes
- Automate multiple aspects of your workflow
- Track multiple pipelines at the same time
- Custom Objects feature lets you track even your most complicated processes
(3) Mailchimp
Mailchimp may be known more as a marketing automation platform, but it also has some great CRM options.
- Host all your customer data in one place
- Tags let you add your own audience insights
- Groups allow customers to tell you what content they want to receive
- Segments give you the option to isolate specific subsets of your audience
(4) ConvertKit
ConvertKit is an option somewhat similar to MailChimp in that its main function is as an email service provider. That said, its extensive features make it a great option to satisfy your CRM needs.
- Very user-friendly automation options
- Segment your audience however you like
- Over 70 integration partners
- Create and automate RSS feeds to publish your blog posts
(5) Infusionsoft by Keap
Infusionsoft has a good reputation as a comprehensive solution for advanced marketing and sales automation. It’s easy to use, making it a great option for entrepreneurs at any level.
- Campaign Builder takes action automatically based on your customers’ activity
- Tasks can be assigned to your sales team automatically
- Compatible with PayPal, Venmo, etc.
- Built to expand as your business grows
(6) ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign focuses mainly on email marketing, but has a wider range of CRM tools. It’s a particularly good choice for smaller businesses because it’s simple and more affordable than some of its bigger competitors.
- Leads and contacts are all located in one place
- Marketing automations can be closely connected to your sales processes
- Lead/contact scores help you determine which deals are most likely to close
(7) Mad Mimi
Mad Mimi is a very user-friendly email marketing tool. It’s another simple option that could be particularly useful for smaller companies.
- Email templates let you send professional-quality updates without having to spend too much time on design
- List management features are all easily found in one place
- Real-time tracking
- Add-ons like autoresponders and integrations make it easy to expand Mad Mimi to fit your needs
(8) Agile CRM
Agile CRM is a great choice for small businesses. It’s free for businesses with up to 10 members and can be easily expanded as your company grows. Its main goal is to streamline the sales and marketing processes, so its features are organized into either sales or marketing categories.
- Variety of project management tools
- Online scheduling feature for appointments/meetings
- Deals feature lets you predict future sales, mark past milestones, and automate responses/follow-ups
- Telephony allows you to make and record calls
- Social CRM feature works directly with your social media accounts
- Option to build a marketing landing page
There are many choices out there when it comes to CRM software. It’s important to consider what features are the most important for your business when considering your options. Choose a program that can be adapted to your specific clientele and can be expanded as your business grows.
