CRM is an acronym for Customer Relationship Management. It is an approach to managing a company’s interaction with current and future customers. CRM software consolidates customer information which could include company website, address, telephone number and email address into a single CRM database so business users can easily access and manage it.
It also allows users to track various interactions with customers such as through phone, email, live chat or any other channels. Cloud-based storage options help protect company data against theft or damage, particularly in the case of natural disaster, and can drastically reduce recovery times.
How it works
Essentially, a CRM system works by collecting leads or consumer information, analyzing the collected information to understand customer or market requirements, and adjusting marketing campaigns accordingly to increase sales. CRM also serves customer service and support divisions– by making business interactions more efficient and improving customer satisfaction as a consequence. In any business, the bottom line of the CRM workflow is to (1) Initiate marketing, (2) Process sales, (3) Schedule orders and (4) Provide support.
Of the many CRM software options available on the we’ve narrowed it down to our favorite 3: Zoho CRM, Salesforce, and NetSuite. With each option there is no hardware to procure, no large, up-front license fee, no maintenance fees associated with hardware or software and no complex set-ups. Let’s take a look at the pros, cons, and pricing of each.
1. Zoho CRM
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- Pros – Zoho CRM offers simple interface yet powerful features. Users can generate reports according to their preferences. Users can also use forecast features to understand future project demands. In addition to these features, Zoho CRM comes with all the standard CRM features such as workflow management, invoices, and seamless synch with other apps. It has a free edition that allows you to get started with up to 10 users. With its mobile apps, it allows you to take the product to the field where you can get updates quickly and in real time.
- Cons – Zoho is suited to small and mid-sized businesses but it is not a preferred choice for large businesses since it is only good if your businesses transactions are limited to 10 currencies at the most.
Plans and Pricing
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- Free edition – It has a free edition that allows you to get started with up to 10 users. Leads, accounts, contacts, feeds, documents, mobile apps are available in free edition.
- Standard – $12 per user per month billed annually or $15 month-to-month. Includes all features in Free Edition plus Sales forecasting, Reports and dashboards, Document library, Roles and profiles, Mass email, Call center connectors and 100,000 records.
- Professional – $20 per user per month billed annually or $25 month-to-month. Includes everything in Standard Edition plus Email integration, Social CRM, Google AdWords integration, Workflow automation, Inventory management, Macros, and Unlimited records.
- Enterprise- $35 per user per month billed annually or $40 month-to-month. Includes everything in Professional Edition plus Territory management, Custom modules, Custom applications, Custom buttons, Workflow approval processes, Time-based actions, and Multiple currencies.
2. Salesforce
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- Pros – It is the #1 ranked CRM in the marketplace. Salesforce is consistently ranked at the top, proving that the customer experience with their CRM is consistent and beneficial. Salesforce supports all major browsers. From Internet Explorer to Chrome to Opera, Salesforce has their CRM supported on all major browsers that companies use today. It reduces training costs. Salesforce is a system that is complete and easy to manage. It’s also easy to learn, which often saves training costs for a business because incoming users are already familiar with the system or may have used Salesforce in the past. This reduction in cost can help to offset the increase costs of using this CRM.
- Cons – It can be too expensive for small businesses to use. That is a cost that not all small businesses can handle, even if they do benefit from the software as a service, which means a less attractive CRM solution is looked at instead. For companies that send out a lot of emails every day, Salesforce seems like a great solution to track the information that comes from those messages. The unlimited version of Salesforce is capped at the 1,000 mark, which means it really isn’t unlimited. The entry level plans are capped at 250 emails per day, however, so there is some benefit to upgrading.
Plans and Pricing
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- Starter – $25 per user per month, up to 5 users. Includes One list, Automatic data capture, Customizable sales tracking for one list, Intelligent follow-up reminders, Contact auto-complete, Shared address book, Sent-email notifications, Seamless collaboration, Smart mobile apps and Webinars and live trainings.
- Professional (Complete CRM for any size team)- $65 per user per month. Includes Account and contact management, Opportunity tracking, Lead management, Task and event tracking, Customizable reports and dashboards, Mobile access and administration, Chatter — company social network, Outlook Side Panel and sync, Role permissions and Case management. Other features like SalesforceIQ Inbox, Sales Data and Sales Cloud Engage are available at an additional cost
- Enterprise- $125 per user per month. Includes all Professional Edition features plus Workflow automation, Enterprise territory management, Profiles and page layouts, Custom app development, Integration via web service API, Salesforce Identity, and Salesforce Private AppExchange.
- Unlimited (Unlimited CRM power and support)- $250 per user per month. Includes all Enterprise edition features plus Unlimited customizations, Unlimited custom apps, Multiple sandboxes, Additional data storage, 24/7 toll-free support, Access to 100+ admin services, Unlimited online training.
3. NetSuite
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- Pros – Delivered as an online service, NetSuite enables companies to manage all key business processes in a single system. NetSuite has an eCommerce option that will track visitor information on your company’s website and automatically import the data into the CRM software. It offers real-time access to a plethora of financial figures and reduces paperwork by pulling from a single source of data. This allows one-click sales ordering and streamlines processes between order and payment. Data entry costs and errors are reduced substantially because information can be correlated and shared.
- Cons– It doesn’t have live chat support, nor does it have a social CRM application. Another disadvantage of NetSuite that has been cited by users throughout the past few years is that the solution is not as broad and flexible as software offered by other industry leaders. Reviews seem to indicate that NetSuite offers an appealing accounting solution, but the additional enterprise functionality offered by the company may not fit every niche.
Plans and Pricing
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- Pricing available upon request. The plans and pricing really depend on the requirements of the company.
- Starting from: $129.00/month
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