Customers are vital to any business. But if their questions are not answered quickly or their orders fail to come on time, they will look elsewhere. So one of the most important objectives of every business is to effectively manage contacts with clients. In this article, we will talk about the advantages of using contact management software (CMS) to improve communications, making for happier customers.
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Top 5 CMS to consider for your business
I have curated a list of the five best contact management software in the market. We will go through them one by one.
- HubSpot CRM.
- Zoho CRM.
- Agile CRM.
- Freshsales.
- Insightly.
The first of the CRM applications listed below is free, while three others have free versions with limited features.
Editor’s note: Are you a web developer or designer? Check out these free tools to help manage your sites and clients.
What is CRM software?
You might have heard the term Customer Relationship Management (CRM). CRM is a wider concept where we manage not only the contact information but also the entire life cycle of a customer.
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You can see that CRM is the soul of business operations. But what is CRM software? CRM software takes care of the contact management part of the CRM, like storing and maintaining the customer’s information in the centralized database.
A good CRM system will serve up the right customer’s information to the right person at the right time so each one gets the fast, efficient service they want and deserve. The result? Fewer complaints, more loyal customers.
Now let’s take a look at five such systems.
1. HubSpot CRM
HubSpot CRM helps you to organize, track and nurture your leads.
HubSpot CRM is free for up to 1 million contacts.
This makes it a good option for small businesses to start with a CRM application. It also automates tasks and is easy to learn.
Features
Pricing: Free.
Reporting and analytics: You can visualize the entire sales funnel right on the dashboard. Interactions are stored in a timeline for better visualisation.
Ease of use: Good user interface that is easy to learn for new users.
Tools: Comes with free tools for live chat, team email and bots. Includes a universal inbox where all teams can view, manage and reply to the customer.
Automation: Tracks customer interactions automatically across different mediums, including email, social media etc.
2. Zoho CRM
This CRM is actually made in India and used by reputable companies like Amazon India.
Features
Pricing: All plans are paid, although you can try it for 15 days before committing. Details
Multichannel support: Enables you to connect with customers in real time across email, phone, live chat and social media.
Artificial intelligence: Zoho’s AI bot, Zia, learns about your business and offers predictions on trends, anomalies and conversions.
Reporting and analytics: Zoho supports a strong interface for reporting and analytics. You can also create dashboards to analyse key performance indicators.
Sales and marketing automation: Automates routine tasks like the assignment of leads, sending follow-up emails, storing customer data and tracking marketing campaigns.
3. Agile CRM
Agile CRM is an all-in-one CRM that can automate sales, marketing and service in one application. It is a cloud-based mobile-ready application.
Features
Pricing: Free for up to 50,000 contacts and 10 users. You’ll need to pay for more features. Details
All-in-one CRM: Provides various features across sales, marketing and service management.
Automation: Automates workflows including email marketing, email tracking, ticket labelling, canned responses etc.
Reports and analytics: Provides contact-level and web-traffic analytics.
4. Freshsales
Freshsales is the next-generation CRM application, offering AI (artificial intelligence) capabilities for lead scoring.
Features
Pricing: Free for 30 days, Freshsales’ four plans offer more features as the plan cost increases. Details
Automation: Automation features include auto lead assignments, lead scoring and email delivery.
Reporting: Customized reports, including revenue analytics, sales activity and trendline reports.
Mobile App: Mobile app keeps you connected and making sales on the go.
5. Insightly
Insightly is a popular CRM that helps you in building strong relationships with customers, accelerating sales and streamlining business processes.
Features
Pricing: Free plan for up to 2 users. Anything above that costs. Details
Mobile app: Has Android and iOS apps that scan business cards for data entry and provides updated information on the move.
Reporting: Strong business intelligence capabilities that help users create data visualisations, dashboards and reports.
Project management and delivery: Helps track milestones, manage the process and integrate with external systems for timely delivery to the customer.
Automation: Automatically directs incoming leads to the right person. You can also create your own complex workflow automation.
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What to look for in Contact Management Software
Integrating a CRM application into your team process takes time and energy, so you want to choose one that will work for you.
Here are a few things to look for as you’re weighing your options:
- Initial setup should be simple.
- Cost per user, as well as any upgrade cost, should be competitive.
- It should be easy to use across platforms, from desktop to mobile.
- Reporting capabilities should be robust enough to provide insights about customer behaviour.
- It should have live chat built-in.
Take your time to choose the right contact management software and teach everyone on your team how to use it. Any improvement in the customer’s experience will pay off in more (and more loyal) customers.
Grow your business with a CRM application
For any business with more than a handful of customers, Contact Management Software is the key to success. These applications help us in delivering excellent customer service and understanding customer behaviour for proactive planning.
Now, what are you waiting for?
Start managing your contacts with these applications and experience the surge in your conversion rates.
