CRM System

[Peter W.]

Hi there. We have a new start up and are looking for a low cost (but good) CRM system. Can anyone recommend one, please or tell me of your experiences? Thank you, Peter

 

[MikeKaras]

Hello. Can you please provide me with some details? For how many users do you need the system, do you have any features requirements?

From my experience, I suggest two SaaS tools you can use in your startup: Pipedrive and Salesflare both are easy to use and quite cheap.

What I can say Pipedrive offers a visual pipeline view, so it's easy to manage all of the deals.
Salesflare is a social CRM with automated features, for example, it automatically downloads prospects data from the web and social media.

By the way, I'd like to recommend picksaas.com. This is an online platform, where you can start a chat with a software consultant who will help you in finding software for your needs.

Cheers, Mike

 

[The Ecom Guy]

Sadly no one is going to be able to offer you any credible advice on this forum based on your opening post.

There are so many CRM systems out there and a bunch of them excel at completly different things.

Come back and try and explain with clarity what you are looking for in the CRM system, you must have a list of key functionality you are looking for geared towards your business needs.

 

[Aurelius]

Peter, Less Annoying CRM is great and very cheap (£7.50 per user per month).

 

[Karol B]

Hi Peter,
We use free open source yetiforce.
Worth of checking.

 

[pentel]

Another recommendation for less Annoying crm

 

[gpietersz]

How low cost (the price range is vast, so what is cheap to one person may not be cheap to another)?

How many users? How many contacts? How many pipelines? What features are required?

If you are not sure about features, tell us something about your business and what you hope to gain from using the CRM.

A few bits of generic advice from (mostly client's) experience:

1. Do not sign up to a long term contract unless you are sure its what you want.
2. If you are looking for low cost look at the pricing and how it changes with different packages.
3. Consider what extras you might need to pay for. I know people who started with free packages and unexpectedly ended up expensive ones.
4. Consider learning curves and training cost, again it can be a lot more than expected.

That said, do not get something because someone else said it was good. What is good for one person may not be good for another.

 

[tony84]

When I was looking at CRMs I quite liked Capsule CRM which is free for their basic offering. You can also sign up for plugins. I had a few requirements for ours and to get them done with the system would have been quite costly, but I liked the basic system as a whole.

We ended up going with open crm but that is more of an advanced system which can be set up for you and have extra work done to it. Probably not really what you are after.

 

[Nick Garnett]

I use HubSpot, which is free, you can pay, but there is no need to at first. It will also collect data from website forms and you can hook up your email so you can mail from within the CRM, which is a deal-breaker for me, doing all my sales communications from one place.

 

[gpietersz]

The problem with Hubspot is that if you do need any of the paid add ons it gets more expensive very quickly.

I also know people who have found getting started hard.

 

[Nick Garnett]

The problem with Hubspot is that if you do need any of the paid add ons it gets more expensive very quickly.

I also know people who have found getting started hard.

I've been using it for a long time and never needed any add ons, but they seem to be for when you become successful so they become affordable?

 

[gpietersz]

@Nick Garnett it depends. I do know people who intended to use the free version and ended up paying. It depends on the nature and size of the business as much as success.

 

[Nick Garnett]

@Nick Garnett it depends. I do know people who intended to use the free version and ended up paying. It depends on the nature and size of the business as much as success.

True

 

[Nick Garnett]

It does great stuff like when you add a lead it prefills all the company data

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

The biggest number of CRM implementations I've done for small businesses have all been Zoho, with much success. They've upped their game.

 

[gpietersz]

The biggest number of CRM implementations I've done for small businesses have all been Zoho,

How do you implement Zoho CRm? Surely they have done the implementation? Are you talking about integration or ...?

 

[Dillon Lawrence Ltd]

How do you implement Zoho CRm? Surely they have done the implementation? Are you talking about integration or ...?

I'm talking integrations with existing systems/platforms in use (ecommerce platforms for example) and setting it up on behalf of the client and implementing it within the business through training etc.

 

[loyalblue]

I use HubSpot, which is free, you can pay, but there is no need to at first. It will also collect data from website forms and you can hook up your email so you can mail from within the CRM, which is a deal-breaker for me, doing all my sales communications from one place.

^ I agree with Nick.

HubSpot is packed with a lot of great, free features you probably need. The fact that it integrates with a lot of other tools (like MailChimp) but does so in a smooth and quality manner (sorry Zoho) is also a +1.

 

[Rochus H]

Hello,

Depends on what features you're looking for. I have tested approx. ~20 CRMs a couple of years ago and stayed with HubSpot. Couldn't find a better solution for automation, such as automatically logging letters, tracking when are they opened, merging contacts etc. We even programmed automatic calls tracking with our voip provider.

Of course, HubSpot has its drawbacks (some really basic functions, such as allocating contact/company to a specific team, are not available), but the best automation level I found.

 

[marsmmmm]

We used Activecollab years ago, and it was a good, customizable online system. I can post links, but google them.

 

[Mollie Rhodes]

I personally use HubSpot. Because, it offers all the basic features like allowing you keep track of your company’s activities, including contacts and company profiles, assigning & tracking deals, and managing all of that data in a detailed dashboard. Also, another advantage is it’s completely free to use.

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

So I worked for Salesforce and Oracle CRM. The solution I usually recommend is called Workbooks for an SME. There's a completely free version and then a paying version.

The reason for recommending it is because it has tremendous functionality, all built-in. So it does 95% of what Salesforce does but with Salesforce, you have to end up buying a ton of add-ons and it gets seriously expensive very quickly. With Workbooks, it's all there from the get-go, incredibly easy to use and good pricing for an SME.

Here are their customers talking about it: