Best CRM Software 2021
CRM software is a key element in growing and scaling your business. In this review, we are going to explain what CRM software is, the benefits of using CRM software, and some important criteria you should consider when selecting a tool for your business. After that, we’ll introduce our top 5 choices for the best CRM software in 2021.
Your company’s success largely depends on the satisfaction of your customers. One way to make sure that your customers are happy is through good customer relationship management (CRM). CRM can be done in many ways, but mainly through providing a seamless customer experience on a single platform. This means that sales, marketing, and customer service teams may very well be using the same CRM platform to access customer data. Normally, you’ll find customer contact information and any interaction history with the company on CRM software — for example, it’d be helpful to know if a customer has spoken with a customer support representative or voiced out their concerns on social media.
Besides just storing your customers’ data, a CRM system can do so much more: help optimize customer communications, convert existing customers to new products and services, automate tasks and workflows, help address the needs of customers, and shorten sales cycles. By now, you’re probably thinking of getting a CRM tool, so let us help you make that decision!
What’s on This Page
Top 5 Rated CRM Software
Salesforce CRM
Best for growing businesses
Founded in 1999 in San Francisco, Salesforce is a big name in the world of CRM software. Its cloud-based software is packed with features and suitable for both small businesses and enterprises. Besides CRM services, Salesforce also provides a range of enterprise applications specialized in customer service, marketing automation, analytics, and application development. Let’s take a look at its major CRM features:
Lead tracking: Salesforce’s lead management tools can track deals from lead to completion, informing business owners where their leads came from, where they’re at, and if and when they’ve made a purchase. All the details are kept in one place.
Automatic data logging: Salesforce has a built-in email integration with Gmail and Outlook, which seamlessly identifies and imports leads’ information.
Customizable reports and dashboards: Want to see and share data with your teammates and executives? Salesforce has got your back. You can customize what kind of data you want to see (such as deals, activities, top accounts, win ratios, conversion rates, etc) and that data will update in real time so you can always see the most current data and reach out to your leads at the perfect time. If you’re asking yourself “what’s the most important data to report?”, there are also dozens of prebuilt report templates available.
Price:
From $25 per month per user.
Overall Ratings:
StackCompare.com
4.38 (Aggregate Score)
Trustradius.com
4.15 (2768 user reviews)
G2.com
4.2 (11250 user reviews)
monday.com
Best for integrated project management
Founded in Israel in 2012, monday.com is a cloud-based platform that allows companies to manage their projects and customize their workflows. This is essential for sales pipelines, marketing campaigns, CRM, and project tracking, etc. With monday.com, you just can’t help but get work done. Its interface is colorful and intuitive, which makes work fun! Here is more on its features:
Lead tracking: At first glance, monday.com may look like a fancier spreadsheet, but when you give it a closer look, you’ll find that you can easily move information and move leads along with different statuses and next steps. The color coding also helps with identifying leads and taking the right action to accommodate their needs.
Workflow automation: Since monday.com is all about streamlining workflows, you can expect to use its software to schedule reminders and notifications when something happens. To help you get up and running in no time, you can choose from its library of CRM and sales workflow templates.
Colorful dashboard: Colors make data beautiful and easy to digest. With attractive pie charts, bar charts, and status buttons, you can see where your deals stand at a glance.
Affordability: com is especially great for small business owners for its relatively low price. Who wouldn’t love a simple solution that allows you to store customer information and empower teamwork?
Price:
Free version available. Paid plans start from $8 per month per user. 14-day free trial available for all plans.
Overall Ratings:
StackCompare.com
4.75 (Aggregate Score)
Trustradius.com
4.4 (1986 user reviews)
G2.com
4.7 (2816 user reviews)
Zoho CRM
Best for scaling remote teams
With more than 50 million users worldwide, Zoho CRM has empowered over 250,000 businesses in 180 countries to increase sales and convert leads. It’s headquartered in India, but has enabled many remote teams and sales reps to make sales happen globally. Take a look at its main features:
Great mobile app: Zoho is great for sales and marketing professionals that are often out and about. Its mobile app (available on both iOS and Android) is pretty much the same as the desktop version and updates data in real time for you to view the most up-to-date customer data.
Edit offline: Sometimes, internet access isn’t always available when you’re on the go. Zoho’s mobile app solves this issue by letting you access and edit your data offline. Anything you edit offline will sync with the system once you’re connected to the internet.
Data logging: Not only can you log calls, customer visits, and other activities in the mobile app, you can also attach voice recordings and files for later reference. Using the mobile app’s AI tool, you can even add notes to existing client records, change a deal’s status, and initiate phone calls.
Simplified workflows: Zoho is here to make your life easier. Lean on it to plan your day, set reminders, and schedule activities. That way you’ll always be doing something to get closer to a deal.
Leads mapping: This feature is quite unique to Zoho. You can use their map integration to see leads that are near you. This means you can maximize your time when you’re on the go and generate sales wherever you are.
Price:
Free version available. Paid plans start from $14 per month per user.
Overall Ratings:
StackCompare.com
4.38 (Aggregate Score)
Trustradius.com
4.0 (517 user reviews)
G2.com
4.0 (1900 user reviews)
Pipedrive
Best for easy-to-use interface
As a tech unicorn with a $1.5 billion valuation, Pipedrive is a relatively new CRM company. Unlike many other software that also caters to marketing and customer service professionals, Pipedrive is sales-oriented with one single goal: to help you sell. Pipedrive’s features are as follows:
Email integration and lead tracking: One of the biggest functions on Pipedrive is the email function. All you have to do is connect your email provider with Pipedrive, then you can start emailing leads directly from your Pipedrive inbox. Because you’re emailing from Pipedrive, you can easily track opens and email history. If you have scheduled calls with a contact, all your call logs and recordings will also be automatically saved.
Updating database: Pipedrive has a Smart Contact Data feature that pulls social media and work data for contacts with a single click. Say goodbye to manual data entry!
Connecting with leads: As Pipedrive is designed for sales, you’ll find useful features such as live chat, chatbot, and forms that help sales teams connect with potential customers. You can search target buyers by filtering their company size, industry, and any keyword.
Workflow automation: Like many other software, Pipedrive helps simplify workflows by providing pre-made templates for sales tasks. For example, you can tell Pipedrive when to send a follow-up email, when to schedule a call, and when to send automatic messages to a sales manager.
Price:
From $12.5 per month per user. Free trials available.
Overall Ratings:
StackCompare.com
4.75 (Aggregate Score)
Trustradius.com
4.15 (275 user reviews)
G2.com
4.3 (1356 user reviews)
HubSpot CRM
Best for small businesses with simple CRM needs
Founded in 2006 in Massachusetts, HubSpot is the ideal CRM software for small-to-medium-sized businesses that want a relatively cheap tool to help with sales and marketing efforts. It’s not as complex as some of its competitors, yet still provides a wide range of functionality. Let’s take a look at its main features:
Content marketing: Unlike other tools that require you to use a different service for content marketing needs, HubSpot allows you to publish blogs and whitepapers on the same software to generate inbound leads. These leads will then feed directly into the CRM. Handy, right?
Lead capture: HubSpot can automatically import contact information into the system when a potential lead takes an action, e.g. sending your company a message through your website.
Activity logging: You can email leads directly using HubSpot and integrate the system with email providers like Gmail. Any interaction you have with leads will be automatically logged on HubSpot. These interactions can then be analyzed and reported to provide insights such as how long it typically takes for leads to respond.
Workflow automation: HubSpot’s automation tool is simple and easy to set up. Just tell the system what your processes are like by dragging and dropping elements.
Price:
Free version available. Paid plans start from $45 per month per user.
Overall Ratings:
StackCompare.com
4.38 (Aggregate Score)
Trustradius.com
4.2 (1056 user reviews)
G2.com
4.3 (7079 user reviews)
Our Rating Process
When you’re choosing a CRM software for your business, make sure to pay attention to the following criteria:
Ease of Use
Lead Tracking
Data Logging
Automation
Ease of Use
Technology is so advanced these days that you shouldn’t have to manually add a contact to your database; instead, you should be able to import lists of contact or create new contacts with a single click with modern-day CRM software. Some smart software can even sync with a larger database to make sure your records and information are up-to-date!
Lead Tracking
Having your customers’ contact information is only the first step. After that, CRM software should help you track their activities and convert them to your products and services. You’ll then get insights on data such as where these customers originated from, what marketing channels worked best on them, and what their consumer behavior is like.
Data Logging
You want to document every interaction you have with your customers, but nobody likes entering data manually… Here’s where CRM software comes in handy! Whatever phone calls you make, emails you send, and tasks you create for your customers, your software can log those activities in automatically for you. Talk about efficiency.
Automation
You don’t just use CRM software to store information; you use it to save time and make sales happen. To do so, you need a tool that can simplify processes for you, or automatically hop on the next task when triggered. For example, when a customer has opened one of your marketing emails but didn’t click on any links or buttons, you want to send them a follow-up email to remind them of your services. A CRM software is exactly the help you need to do so; they understand that when A happens, they have to do B.
Product Features
Salesforce CRM
$25
/ month
- Lead Tracking
- Automation
- Customizable
monday.com
$8
/ month
- Lead Tracking
- Automation
- Free Trial
Zoho CRM
$14
/ month
- Mobile App
- Offline Editing
- Lead Mapping
Pipedrive
$12.5
/ month
- Lead Tracking
- Automatic Updates
- Free Trial
Alternative Options
Other Services
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best CRM for small businesses?
For small business owners, some of the most important factors to consider when selecting a CRM software are cost and project management ability. Since small businesses typically have fewer people in the company, it’s important to build out a system and organize data in a way that can be scaled. As small businesses may not have generous budgets like some bigger companies do, the cost of software matters greatly. Judging from these two factors, we believe monday.com is the most cost-efficient CRM tool for small businesses. It’s an extremely user-friendly software and offers a free version of their software.
If your team is mostly remote, consider Zoho CRM. Their mobile app is great for professionals who spend a lot of time on the go. Best perk? They offer a free version as well!
- Although CRM software is largely sales-oriented, marketing professionals can benefit greatly from them as well. For example, the databases on a CRM tool can help marketers target their messages at the right audiences. Then once, say, an email has been sent to target customers, those communications can be tracked within the same CRM tool.
- The reporting capabilities on CRM software can help marketing teams understand how their leads are engaging and converting. Automated processes can also help marketers follow up with leads at the optimal time.
What is the best CRM for real estate professionals?
- The ideal CRM software for real estate professionals doesn’t just identify, track, and manage customer lifecycles, but also has features tailored to the uniqueness of the industry. These features may include integration to multiple listing services, real estate transaction management software, and referral management templates — to name a few.
- A very popular choice is kvCORE. This all-in-one real estate platform is designed for the modern brokerage and offers beautifully crafted and customizable websites. This tool also tracks leads interaction and alerts real estate agents of the best time to reach out to a lead based on their past interactions with your website, ads, and marketing campaigns.