If you need to boost your lead management, CRM lead management software is the best choice. This tool lets you keep track of past leads to continue lead nurturing if you need it in the future. What’s more, it could serve as a hub for all the other aspects of your marketing, including your sales reps to your other software.
Your business deserves top-tier CRM tools for its lead management process, but there are so many options! You have to choose the right one to avoid wasting time and money and ensure yours will yield results. We will show you our recommendations for the best CRMs for lead management!
Before we share our list, we will explain what CRM does and how it could benefit your company. Then, we will go through the benefits of CRM solutions for any business size. After that, we will talk about our list of the best CRM tools for lead generation. You’ll see the features for each one, so you can find the one that matches your needs.
What is CRM?
The term stands for Customer Relationship Management, and it refers to generating leads along the sales pipeline. You might be confused because it’s similar to lead management software.
The Difference between CRM and Other Lead Management Software
The major difference between CRM and other lead management tools is how helpful they are throughout the sales process.
CRM involves the entire lead management process, helping you find quality leads, nurture leads as they go through the sales pipeline, and keep your relationship with existing users after they’ve been converted into buying customers.
Other lead management tools focus on only part of your sales process. For example, a lead management tool may boast that it will help capture leads, but it becomes useless in lead nurturing.
CRM’s ability to assist you through the entire sale process makes it stand out among other lead software.
What Can CRM Do for My Business
CRM software manages customer relationships even after you’ve converted them from new leads. On the other hand, common lead management tools don’t do anything after that. CRM also does the following:
Collaboration hub – As we said, a CRM links all your staff and software so that they can work as a team. It provides your staff with real-time data so that they can adapt quickly.
Boosts the sales process – CRMs feed customer updates to sales reps to find more leads.
Interaction tracking – The best CRMs let you monitor staff and customer interaction.
Lead status updates – CRMs still work as lead management systems as they provide real-time updates on these opportunities.
How to find the best CRM software for your business
Before you run out and buy the first CRM on Google’s search results, you need to make sure the software will work for you. As you look through CRMs, there are few things to consider:
Identify your needs
Knowing why you need CRM is the best way to find the right CRM software for you. This way, you ensure that the features in the software meet all your sales lead management needs.
Research the features and tools for each CRM
Now that you know what features you need in your CRM, you have to research the features and tools of the software you’re interested in.
Understand Pricing
Some CRM software can be pretty costly. While the more expensive software is not necessarily the best, you should be prepared to open your wallet. Be sure to set a budget you want to adhere to.
Look for a free trial
The best way to know if you’re going to purchase the right CRM software is to take it out for a test run. See if the CRM has a free trial or demo that you can use before buying.
Make sure it integrates with other tools you’re using
Remember that your CRM has to work with the other tools in your lead management system. It doesn’t work if the CRM you buy forces you to throw away your other tools. Make sure the one you want integrates with your current system.
Ask for user experience
There’s a reason why Yelp is thriving. Knowing what others think about a service or product allows you to avoid costly mistakes, and CRM is no different. Research the user experience for each CRM software you’re considering, allowing you to buy with peace of mind.
The 7 best CRMs for the lead management process
Hubspot – Overall best CRM for lead management
SalesForce – Best CRM in affordability
Zoho – Best CRM that’s simple and low-cost
Managed Logix – Best CRM in versatility
Velocify – Best CRM for real estate and mortgage firms
DebtPayPro – Best CRM for financial services
Nutshell – – Best CRM with all the basics
Hubspot – Overall best CRM for lead management
As a well-known choice for marketing, Hubspot offers great CRM features for small and large corporations. If your brand is still growing, you’ll be glad to hear that it has free features:
Reporting dashboard – Hubspot’s CRM solution provides real-time updates from your sales pipeline. What’s more, it shows all this data on a clean dashboard.
Deal tracking – The free version allows unlimited users, and it lets you look over a million contacts with no time limit.
Pipelines management – Hubspot reports sales activity and productivity, so you can see how your team is doing.
If you want more from your CRM, you may have to pay for Hubspot’s CRM Suites. Each one provides access to five hubs: marketing, sales, service, CMS, and operations.
These hubs let you track each corresponding part of your business. Yet, the number of data you’ll get will depend on the price. The Starter Suite starts at $45 a month, allowing 1,000 contacts.
Meanwhile, the Professional Suite allows 2,000 marketing contacts and starts at $1,780 a month. The Enterprise suite costs $4,000 a month, with 10,000 contacts.
SalesForce – Best CRM in affordability
Here’s another big name in the digital marketing industry. As expected, Salesforce has a CRM, and its Sales Essentials Edition provides the following services for $25 a month:
Automatic data capture
Lead Management
Customizable Sales Process
Salesforce Mobile App
Collaboration
Smart mobile apps
Account and Contact Management
Task Management & Activity Feed
Chatter
Lightning App Builder
AppExchange
As you can see, it’s also an affordable choice for small businesses. Once your brand grows, you may upgrade to the Pro edition at $75 a month, Enterprise at $150, and Unlimited at $300.