9 min read

Contents

What is CRM?

Types of CRM Tools 

• Analytical CRM
• Collaborative CRM
• Operational CRM

Free vs paid CRM?

The Best CRM Management Tools

• Salesforce Customer 360
• Zoho CRM
• Bitrix24
• Hubspot

In the digital world, companies no matter how small are dedicated to opening the door and selling their product to a range of people from all over the world. Almost all of the companies are present on social media platforms and selling or carrying out their own communication with customers. The goal continues to be to sell, of course, but winning a customer, keeping them, and getting them to decide to spend their money on our company has become absolutely paramount to our survival. Hence the importance of using CRM management tools. 

For this reason, a while ago we were talking about eCommerce process automation, today we are talking about another valuable tool that has become absolutely essential. Can you imagine an organization system that allows you to function as a large company without being one? Today we have what the CRM of companies is for, what types of CRM exist and which ones you should try for your own business. 

What is CRM?

The abbreviation of CRM comes from the English “Customer Relationship Management”. Don’t think it is a limited software that makes our work easier but the truth is that the concept goes advanced. We live in an era in which the customer is the most important for any online or offline business. People no longer seek only to meet their needs. They think the companies are the ones that anticipate it by offering solutions to their problems. How the relationship with the client is and how we make them feel will largely depend on our business success.

No matter how big or small a company is, the goal is always the same: sell. But to sell it is not enough to offer a good product, you have to have someone to sell it to! That is why the product or service we offer is as important as the ability to find, win and keep customers. They do not care about the size of our business but rather feeling satisfied with their acquisition, and this goes much further than good quality or original packaging.

Today we are going to learn how the CRM management tools work and allow us to be closer to our target audience. Collect personal data and preferences in order to have a more direct deal with your clients and offer him a series of advantages that are truly irrefutable. With the new CRM programs, we will have everything in the palm of our hands!

What is CRM Used For in Companies?

When it comes to talking about the benefits of one or the other CRM, it is most likely that each one has its own, but they all have something in common: they greatly facilitate all tasks within our organization. Having everything at hand at a glance greatly reduces the time we spend on internal communication and, more importantly, the possibility of easily avoidable mistakes. We go to what really matters, working with the CRM management tools that gather everything necessary for our daily operations and keep the tasks of the entire team up to date, wherever its members are.

In addition, the sales process with a CRM is much more personalized. If we have carried out data collection campaigns, we can manage another communication campaign in just a couple of clicks. If we want to manage a mailing that exclusively reaches women between 40 and 50 years old to promote a cosmetic, we will have the perfect list with just a couple of searches. If we have provided good customer service, they will also be delighted to receive our communication, the ideal assumption! Therefore, if you ask us what a CRM is for, we are clear about it. Each of the CRM management tools serves to function as a large company even if we are rather small, with a very low price and all the advantages that this implies!

Now, you have to be very clear: a Customer Relationship Management tool is not miraculous. We do not pay and everything is done. A CRM tool must be worked on and fed day by day. A CRM is a productivity tool that allows us to dedicate time to what really matters. Developing the product and taking care of our customers should be our main occupations.

Types of CRM Management Tools

Once we know what a CRM is and what it is for, we have to talk about the types of CRM management tools: 

• Analytical CRM: Evaluates data and helps us to make valuable decisions. Some advanced CRMs, even implement artificial intelligence tools to refine their predictions and be even more useful.
• Collaborative CRM: This type of CRM goes beyond helping us with the internal functioning of our company. It allows us to be in permanent contact with the client, either via email, live chat or even by phone or through video calls.
• Operational CRM: It focuses on organizational elements with a very clear objective: that we are able to increase our sales volume. Marketing, stock management, accounting etc., an entire office in your pocket.

Free or paid CRM?

When it comes to growing our company, is it really worth paying for a CRM tool or will it be a sterile expense that ends up weighing us down more than helping? For example, if we want to buy a bicycle and we hesitate between two models with very different prices, the first thing we would say would be: how much are you going to use it? Of course, as a general rule, the bicycle is a hobby, while our company, in most of our occasions, is our life. So, don’t apply the same to any question that involves spending money. 

Of course, you can start with free online CRM. In fact, some of them are ideal to start within this world of business productivity. The possibilities that one of the paid CRM management tools will offer us will always be much higher, and more functionalities, better results, the success you can achieve will depend on you!

• Greater customization options, ideal for adapting the CRM to our type of business.
• More storage, which directly influences the volume of contacts with which we can work.
• Facilities when importing information from our spreadsheets and databases.

We have it very clear: a free trial with the option of payments so that there is no limitations when it comes to growing.

How To Take Advantage of Your CRM Tool?

As we have mentioned throughout today’s blog, a CRM tool greatly facilitates our work, but it does not give us everything done. We are not using a magic wand, but an organization system that classifies everything and exposes it to us much more efficiently. Of course, for it to offer us good results and not be a sterile investment, it is convenient to take into account some tips:

• We must use the CRM on a daily basis. If we do not update the information, and we are not awaiting updates, we will be wasting a large part of its potential and, therefore, a multitude of business opportunities.
• Knowing how to take advantage of the information that the CRM reports to us is vital. Yes, there we see a series of data, but what do we intend to do with them? What actions will start to turn that advantage into money for our company? Don’t be afraid to be creative!
• Segmentation, the key. One of our services may be more suitable for a segment of the population than for the rest, so… why not take advantage of the information we have to reach it directly? We will use information that we already have and we will save a good little money, two birds with one stone.

The Best CRM management Tools

There are many alternatives that we can find in the market, so when it comes to talking about the best ones, we should rather talk about which ones are better adapted to our reality. Of course, within this, the truth is that there are some CRM management tools, so we can easily get the right one. That is why we have decided to make a small selection that, we believe, encompasses the best of the best. Does this mean that you can’t try others? Not at all; in fact, you probably come up with a very different one that you like a lot more.

You know, for tastes, colors, and for CRM software companies!

1. Salesforce Customer 360

When we decided to make the leap to Salesforce CRM, it didn’t take long for us to realize that we had been doing a lot of things wrong. The mere fact of having access to a much more visual interface already changes the life of our company, but this is only the beginning. Swapping tedious databases, spreadsheets, and other electronic tricks for a system that stores everything intuitively is a blast. In addition, this system adapts to our activity like a glove. You just have to decide which functions to hire and which not, you don’t have to buy the entire product!

For us, in addition to the power it demonstrates, there are two key points in salesforce:

• All information is stored in the cloud and is always available, just a couple of clicks away.
• The Salesforce app makes data easy and intuitive to access. We can use both our computer and our smartphone or our tablet. Everything is organized in such a way that it is easy to work no matter what device we use, which is much appreciated.

And the thing is not here. We may decide to contract a basic package, enough to manage all the information we have and gather it all in one place, more accessible and secure, but we can always implement new functionalities. For example, marketing, analytics , or even community tools, ideal to start making our mark on social media. In the business world, it is not enough to open channels with our customers, we must also know how to maintain them. Salesforce CRM is available for Ios and android devices. 

2. Zoho CRM

Another thing we don’t know, but after taking a look at their website … you can tell that Zoho developers don’t have a grandmother! They sell us this CRM tool as the most reliable and popular in the world, and if so … how can we resist trying it? To begin with, it offers us a free 15-day one. This customer management CRM not only allows us to have all your data at hand but also helps us to work closer to our team since we can answer your questions without having to leave Zoho. And that’s not all.

In addition, we can hold meetings and webinars from within the productivity tool itself. That is, for the same price of a regular CRM, we will obtain a very powerful platform both to work with our team and to convert potential clients into prescribers. In times of coronavirus, in which every sale counts and access to the target audience has been so limited, any channel that allows us to reach their homes is always welcome. For us, the ability to chat live with prospective buyers and view conversion stats live is extremely attractive.

• Its interface is very simple, we just have to learn how to use it because it is very intuitive.
• Tremendous facilities when exporting information from our spreadsheets and databases, we will hardly waste time getting started with the Zoho CRM!
• Its applications, both on iOS and android, are fully proven.

That’s right, you can download the app on the main mobile operating systems today.

3. Bitrix24

The first detail that has caught our attention about the Bitrix24 CRM is the access to a free online CRM. Unlike its main competitors, which are usually paid CRM management tools, Bitrix24 offers us a free account with unlimited users and 5Gb of cloud storage. This, without a doubt, is a great incentive for a company that begins in this to see what a CRM is used for, or even how to use a CRM.

This is very positive for the employer and helps him to manage everything more efficiently. Keep in mind, if we have started with Bitrix24 and we have taken the trouble to start it, it is most likely that we will contract a pricing plan with them when the free version is too small for us. A medium-long term strategy, but we would say that it should work quite well. Among the services it offers us, the following have caught our attention:

• Development in full integration with the website of our company.
• Phone calls from the CRM itself with VoiceIP service.
• Perfect synchronization with services like MailChimp, Dropbox, Gmail or One Drive.
• Mailing platform to avoid having to resort to any external service.

In addition, in these times, a competent mobile app could not be missing to be able to manage the relationship with our clients from any place or device. We cannot carry our computers everywhere, but we always carry a smartphone or tablet with us! It is also available for iOS and Android operating systems. 

4. Hubspot

When we visit the Hubspot website we find something that this CRM tool already wins our hearts with before we start: it is totally free. In addition, the first text that we find is already a declaration of intentions:

• “Do you think CRM systems are only used to manage contacts? You’re wrong. HubSpot CRM has tools for your entire team and is 100% free ”.

The Hubspot CRM is one of the types of CRM software that we should always have on hand, even if we are paying for a more complete service. In fact, knowing that we may want to look a little further, it has great integration with other elements of this list, such as the Salesforce CRM. Thus, we can use it as the main tool or as a support tool depending on our needs, something that is very good to know.

Of course, if the interface and the operation of Hubspot have ended up seducing us, we can always buy its premium version. As you can see, there are options for all tastes. Here are some of the free features available to you that have caught our attention:

• Tracking emails and notifications.
• Monitoring of prospects.
• Meetings Scheduling.
• Live chat.

And now the best of all, because the fact of being a free CRM tool may be making you doubt it. Yes, it has an app for both iOS and Android, so we have left you a little excuse not to dive headlong into the wonderful world of comprehensive customer relationship management!

So, if you want to automate the sales and marketing capabilities it is mandatory to choose one of the best CRM that better fits your business needs from the list of Top 15 CRM software.