Small businesses and startups
often cut corners because of costs, but customer relationship management (CRM)
software is so important that these businesses should devote the time and money
to pick the right system.
CRM software can help you reach
out to more new customers in less time than manual methods like spreadsheets.
The additional time will help you nurture relationships, sell more and increase
growth.
To save money during this
process, you need to have a clear view of the software landscape and the
features you need. You may already be familiar with CRM software and know the
costs and vendors. In that case, this guide will help you decide which features
to focus on, based on your business size.
But if you’re new to CRM
software, this guide will show you what to start with and what benefits to
prioritize. Most importantly, it’ll tell you how to stick to your budget.
Here’s what we’ll help you with:
Use a Features
Checklist
Compare Alternatives
Try Workarounds
Check Out Free and Open Source Tools
Additional Tips
Compare Alternatives
Try Workarounds
Check Out Free and Open Source Tools
Additional Tips
Marketers will try and dazzle you
with promises of “half-price” or “free” features. Instead of falling for these
traps, some of which we’ve listed in this article,
focus on individual CRM software features and match them to your needs. To help
you do that, we recommend checking out this Essential
Features Checklist for CRM software.
You should also take a look at
the CRM
functionality starfish, which lists the five main arms of CRM for
enterprises—sales, marketing, customer service, digital commerce and field
service. This breakdown will help you identify the exact features you need and
some vendors who offer those features.
The essential features are
categorized into two distinct types. While essential-for-all features
are beneficial for most small businesses, essential-for-some features
fit specific use cases. Below is a quick summary of these features, which you
can match with your specific CRM software requirements.
|
Feature type
|
Feature name
|
Feature description
|
|
Essential-for-all features
|
Contact management
|
Stores customer information in
an easy-to-use and searchable interface
|
|
|
Interaction tracking
|
Collects detailed records of
any and all forms of customer interactions to analyze trends and preferences
|
|
|
Lead management
|
Surfaces leads that are most
likely to convert, so that the sales team can pitch to them better
|
|
Essential-for-some features
|
Email campaigns
|
Helps manage, launch and track
email campaigns
|
|
|
Workflow automation
|
Standardizes and automates
common business processes
|
|
|
Forecasting/reporting/analytics
|
Tracks, aggregates and
visualizes data on past performance and predicts future trends
|
Questions to ask yourself as a
business when considering features:
·
Does the software plan you subscribe to include the
essential-for-all features mentioned above?
·
Are the functionalities built-in or offered as third-party
integrations for which you have to pay extra?
·
Would buying the software as a bundle result in cost savings?
You can learn more about the
features of a specific CRM vendor by calling us at (844) 852-3639. Our
advisors will offer you a free consultation to get your CRM software purchase
journey started.
To put it simply, if plan A
fails, have plans B, C and D ready to deploy. It’s wise to be ready with
alternatives to your main software selection, especially if these scenarios
come to pass:
·
Vendor doesn’t agree to your customization or price requests
·
Employees find the solution too cumbersome to use
·
Last-minute discovery of additional costs (i.e., for license,
hardware or consultant/IT specialist)
To help you know what to expect,
in this section we’ll compare top-rated software and their alternatives that
offer similar capabilities. Here are the tools, and their alternatives, that
rank high on our FrontRunners
Quadrant for Customer Relationship Management:
Note: You can learn more about
our alternatives methodology here.
What is Pipedrive?: Pipedrive offers a centralized
visual dashboard to track the sales cycle, as well as integration with other
CRM systems reporting functionality. It can also be integrated with other CRM
systems, such as Zoho and Salesforce.
Get Price
Compare Products Pipedrive‘s
activities dashboard
Business need: Pipedrive’s dashboard
streamlines each action in the process of converting a potential deal into a
successful sale. Users can track pending actions in their pipelines with the
activity and goal feature.
Top alternatives: Salesforce,
Insightly,
Zoho CRM
and Bpm’online CRM
What is HubSpot CRM?: HubSpot is a cloud-based CRM
platform that suits both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer
(B2C) companies. The company offers the CRM solution for free, but charges
users who want to combine its CRM application with its marketing and sales
software.
Get Price
Compare Products HubSpot‘s
lead timeline
Business need: Hubspot differentiates itself
with its social media engagement offering and sales platform. Its is also known
for its tools such as the free Marketing Grader that provides metrics for SEO,
site performance, mobile readiness and security on websites.
Top alternatives: Marketo,
Salesforce
Pardot, DYL Lead Manager
and ProsperWorks CRM
What is Salesforce Marketing
Cloud?: It’s a CRM suite that offers sales management, marketing
automation, partner relationship management and customer service.
Get Price
Compare Products Sales executive dashboard in Salesforce
Business need: Given its popularity, Salesforce
is the solution to beat in the CRM software market. It offers all the core and
additional CRM functionalities as well as numerous add-ons.
Top alternatives: Microsoft
Dynamics CRM, Oracle Marketing
Cloud (formerly Eloqua), Infusionsoft
and Velocify
Once you identify the features
you need, you should decide whether your employees need access to a piece of
software’s full suite, or if you can gradually add features and users as your
business grows. Bear in mind that adding more features usually translates to
higher costs.
For small businesses, it’s wise
to spread your software budget over a couple of years so that you give ample
time for growth and can justify the ROI. Our “How to Build a
Business Case for CRM Software” article explains how you can
convince your company’s leadership to adopt CRM software or a particular CRM
feature.
Let’s look at some common small
business needs and some potential software workarounds:
Priority business need: Channel
management
WORKAROUND: This feature suits businesses
that work with various partners, resellers, distributors, wholesalers and
manufacturers in an interdependent network. Businesses that plan to expand
operations in other states or countries can use popular solutions such as Salesforce.com,
Prophet CRM
and 1CRM
to reduce operational complexities.
Priority business need: Social CRM
WORKAROUND: Social media CRM is one of the
top trends in the CRM software market. You need this feature if you operate on
a B2C model and regularly interact with customers one-on-one. Adopting social
CRM can help replace/reduce the costs of expensive traditional customer service
centers. You can give social CRM a try with free solutions such as HubSpot CRM
and Zoho CRM.
Learn more about other
workarounds for CRM software in detail by talking to our advisors at (844)
852-3639.
Many vendors provide free trials
and demo versions that allow you to test their software for a set time period,
starting from seven days to a month or even forever! This is a great way to
check the software’s feasibility to your business. But, don’t confuse free with
open source software. Here’s how you can differentiate between them:
Free CRM
software
These are limited-feature
versions of paid software that vendors offer to customers who have limited
budgets. Most vendors offer basic features up front, but usually ask you to
upgrade to a paid version for more robust features.
Pros:
·
No software cost or installation charges typical
of open source tools
·
Simple and easy to use, as most free
tools can be used without any prior training on how software operates
·
Upgrade options are available for those who
want the tool to scale as the business grows
·
Cons:
·
Functionality can be limited as free
solutions limit the number of users and features
·
Additional costs can accrue, related to
support requests, data storage and other functionality
TOP
PRODUCTS:
·
Capsule:
Offers a ticket management module along with standard CRM features to help
users resolve customer support inquiries.
·
Insightly:
Offers a free version for up to two users and integrates with multiple
third-party solutions such as Google Calendar, Gmail and Docs, as well as
MailChimp, Evernote, Box, Dropbox, QuickBooks Online and Xero.
Open source CRM
software
In open source software, the
source code is freely available and can be modified and enhanced based on a
customer’s specific business requirements. On the other hand, you will need a
dedicated IT staff that can implement and support the software, as open source
software vendors rarely provide support.
Pros:
·
No license fee as the source code is free
·
Customization of features is possible by making
changes to the source code
·
A strong user community, if available,
can help address frequently asked questions or common issues
·
Cons:
·
Service can be an issue, if you are
totally dependent on the user community
·
Software can be vulnerable to threats, unless you
have an experienced IT security team
·
High total cost of ownership (TCO), as you have
to take care of software maintenance and data management
TOP
PRODUCTS:
·
Vtiger CRM On
Demand: Relies on customer feedback to make upgrades and
improvements in its solution. It also offers a mobile app that makes working
out of office locations easy for sales reps.
·
Bitrix24:
Lets users create personalized invoices by automatically inserting client info
and sending them directly to the client’s email address.
Also, you should be aware of the
latest trends in the market so that your software gives you a competitive
advantage. We’ve discussed the hype surrounding
some CRM trends and whether or not you really need these emerging
features. And if you’re still unsure of which option to choose, talk to our
advisors at (844) 852-3639 to analyze the pros and cons for your
business.
Using the money-saving methods mentioned
above, you can reduce your expenses, both now and in the future. Here are some
more tips to help you save money while buying CRM software:
·
Check out demos and free trials: Sign up with
vendors for demos and trials so that you get a feel of how the software works.
Ask your employees to make notes during the demo that they can discuss their
feedback later with the decision makers. This will help you anticipate costs,
deployment times, disruptions to work and other such factors.
·
Look into software bundles: Go through
each and every feature at the demo stage. Ask the vendor about the integral
features as well as the add-ons. Check the costs of additional features and
make a note of features you may require at a later time.
·
Choose the best deployment option: Once you
finish the demo, assess whether you need a suite or a couple of features at a
time—whatever addresses your urgent needs. A cloud-based solution allows you to
access the software from any location, but an on-premise solution makes sense
if you’re dealing with sensitive data. Choose which option suits your business
and decide on a vendor accordingly.
While this report aims to give
you general tips on saving money when buying CRM software, you can find more
information in our detailed buyer
guide.Fill out this
short questionnaire to receive custom price quotes of different CRM
software. You can also call us at (844) 852-3639 for a free consultation
with a software advisor.
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