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Customer relation management (CRM) has always been the pivot of any business since it has helped companies acquire and retain customers. The advent of technology and introduction of software has made the process easier.

In fact, the CRM process has evolved from merely supporting sales and marketing strategies to increase customer engagement. The migration of the software to the cloud has proven to be a game changer.

By 2018, 62% of the CRMs are expected to be cloud-based.

Implementing a CRM has high returns on investment since it saves cost as well as time so that your team can focus on real tasks such as building strategies. Research shows that 32% of the salespeople still spend an hour or more on entering data and 40% of them still use informal means such as Excel to keep track of their leads.

A CRM, on the other hand, automates these redundant tasks.

Many companies realize the importance of CRM implementation. Owing to the increase in demand, the market is flooded with various CRMs. However, the selection of CRM is an important process that should be done after much thought and research.

An organization should opt for a CRM only after it has clearly defined its goals and objectives. Also, it should consider other factors such as ease of use, customization, and integration during the evaluation process. A CRM selected on an ad hoc basis would only end up wasting a company’s cost because it would probably have low adoption rates and would not recover the costs.

Here is a comparison of three of the best CRMs to help you with the selection process:

1. Capsule

Capsule positions itself as a simple online CRM that enables you to organize your tasks and build stronger customer relationships. With Capsule, you can store all your contacts in one place so that the entire has one view. Capsule gives a bird’s eye view of everything. You can store all emails by sending them into Capsule. You can also enrich your contact information by adding their social media links.

You can even categorize your contacts with tags so that you can search them later.

Capsule also has an interactive calendar where you can update your tasks where ever you need them, for example in front of individual contacts. You can also customize categories for your tasks and color code them accordingly.

A sales dashboard gives you an idea about opportunities. It shows your potential value and what actions you can take to achieve it. The sales pipeline dashboard shows important metrics such as conversion rate summary, important milestone summary along with forecast.

The best part about Capsule is that it allows customization. Since the sales process of every company is different, you can create custom fields, tags and alter the sales milestones and pipeline accordingly.

Capsule also integrates with multiple apps that enhance its capability. These apps range from contacts to email marketing to invoicing and accounting.

Capsule is free if you have only 2 users and you don’t need a lot of storage. The free version, however, comes with insufficient features. The professional version costs $12 per month, it gives 2GB per user and supports 50,000 contacts.

2. Insightly

Insightly is used by diverse industries including health, construction, manufacturing and real estate. The CRM promises you to accelerate sales by helping you build strong relationships with your customers. The CRM pipeline management along with workflow automation tools allow you to capture more opportunities.

Its automated lead capturing and distribution allows you to assign the right lead with the right sales rep.

You don’t need to perform repetitive tasks manually; you can create a template of the tasks and use them across multiple projects. It also supports workflow automation, which is basically setting up multi-stage workflows so that tasks happen automatically when an action is initiated. For example, the CRM may send automatic emails when a project is started.

Insightly also has an email tracking system that makes email more productive. You can connect your email account with Insightly and directly send and receive from the CRM using the templates.

You can access Insightly from anywhere through your phone. The Insightly app is available on both Apple and PlayStore, and it allows you to remain connected on the go.

Insightly pricing has various plans. Insightly is free to use for up to 2 users, but beyond that, there are three plans: Plus, Professional and Enterprise. Plus costs $29 per month per user and comes with limited features as compared to the Enterprise plan. The Enterprise is fully customizable as per the need of the organization. However, it costs $99 per month per user.

3. Salesmate

Salesmate is one of the favorite CRMs for small businesses. It has helped more than 1500 small businesses to increase their profitability. Small businesses love Salesmate because of its features and its minimalistic user interface that makes it easy to use.

It has an aesthetically appealing and intuitive sales pipeline that makes easier to spot pending tasks and priorities. To track and filter sales goals and progress all you need to do is drag and drop. You can also set revenue and sales goals for your sales team and track their progress.

Salesmate gives you better visibility of your sales pipeline so that you can identify stalled deals, get accurate forecasts and increase sales velocity throughout the process.

It also saves you from the tedious task of entering data into the system. Salesmate sifts through your emails and suggests you contacts, which makes it easier to list them in the CRM. Moreover, anything you do within the CRM such as emails and calls are automatically attached to respective deals.

Also, you don’t need to go through the internet finding information about your customers; Salesmate finds their social profiles and enriches the contacts.

Through Salesmate you can make informed decisions by estimating your revenue and optimizing your sales. The CRM shows you a clear view of the sales funnel, and its statistical analysis reveals predictive insights so that you can allocate your resources accordingly.

You can integrate multiple apps with Salesmate including the CRM WordPress plugin that allows you to build forms with customized fields.

Salesmate offers a single pricing plan, which costs $12 per month per user. This plan supports unlimited users and features.

Choosing the right CRM can be a difficult process, given the number of choices out there. However, if an organization is clear about what it has to achieve through the CRM, it can make a wise decision. Remember, when you opt for a CRM, you don’t only choose the tool but also the vendor.

Author’s Bio: Erica Silva is a blogger who loves to discover and explore the world around her. She writes on everything from marketing to technology, science and brain health. She enjoys sharing her discoveries and experiences with readers and believes her blogs can make the world a better place.

Find her on Twitter: @ericadsilva1

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