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Best CRM software

by Aaron Doud
18 replies
I needs a solution that will work well now just for me but also down the line if I have multiiple sales people working for me.

What would you suggest that has a good value now and in the future?
#crm #software
  • Profile picture of the author SpiralX
    I'd love to hear some tips for this also. Preferably something online and free. I'll keep my eyes open and post back with my findings.
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    • Profile picture of the author malia
      If you can justify the cost: infusionsoft

      otherwise highrise is great
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      • Profile picture of the author SpiralX
        Highrise looks nice but it's expensive. I was just looking at Salesforce and it's $2/month for up to 5 users. Still researching.
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      • Profile picture of the author umeedngo
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        • Profile picture of the author JVManna
          Originally Posted by umeedngo View Post

          I don't have much knowledge about the CRM .can you briefly explain what is the use CRM in terms of SEO
          A CRM is a contact database and allows you segment between customers, leads and prospects. It's great so you can store marketing and sales data within it for later marketing and follow-up.

          Infusionsoft provides a full-featured CRM for small businesses along with a deeply integrated features like email marketing, automation, salesforce automation and a shopping cart. A lot of small businesses choose Infusionsoft because it is an all-in-one solution for sales and marketing.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Here's a free online CRM I've looked briefly at before, seemed to do enough of what I wanted, but I don't really need one right now. Let's you have lots of users. Only up to 5000 records before you have to pay so if you have a lot of leads already it's probably too small.

    Just in case you're in the $1000s price range market, I've worked with quite a few Microsoft CRM reseller partners...it's clunky even though the latest version did cut down some pass through screens to reduce the number of clicks.

    I've also used salesgenie's CRM and it's OK. I wasn't paying for it, though...
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  • Profile picture of the author michaelallen
    WORKetc is great for single users and small teams, and it's easy to add users as you go. It's also really scalable as your business grows and leaves room for growth.

    There's a list of other CRM solutions out there, but WORKetc is one of the only ones that encompasses the entire lifecycle of your clients. You can pick up leads, manage your sales pipeline, win a sale, then convert it into a project or invoice. Collaborate on projects with clients and team members, manage tasks, calendars, timesheets, etc - then bill your client. WORKetc also handles support. It's all tightly integrated into one web app.

    This will probably only apply to you if you have the need to manage other aspects of your business through additional apps. When a solopreneur/business does though, they usually pick up far too many unintegrated systems and this results in a headache and a half of administrative issues, double entry, discouraged workforce, and other problems. WORKetc keeps it all central, has mobile apps for iPhone & android, and is google apps integrated.
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  • Profile picture of the author Warrior Ben
    Far and away SalesForce is the best CRM on the market and it is very easy to scale up as you build a sales team. It's only $2 a month for the basic plan, which is all you will need to start. I have used it for over a year now and couldn't be happier.

    Here is a link for the pricing and signup: Salesforce Pricing & Editions - Sales Cloud - salesforce.com (No, it is not an affiliate link, I am just an enthusiastic user!)

    -Ben
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    • Profile picture of the author ThompsonS01
      Hello all,

      I needed to improve my sales department and customer service so I decided to use CRM. I have found a good example for this purpose and with it I could add VoIP to my solution. The technology is provided by Ozeki VoIP SIP SDK. I wish to share my positive experiences about this sample.

      As I have integrated, VoIP CRM the communication can be done by using voice over IP technology. For my company it was really important because I could reduce the cost of communication.
      I integrated this VoIP technology by using a webphone. I put a webphone onto my company's website ad every customer can contact my sales representatives via that webphone.
      As I wanted to reach my customers via webphone and wanted to integrate them into a CRM I needed to consider some situation. When a webphone uses a SIP account it can be got from the webphone server. As I wanted to identify the user through the SIP account they use, I needed to ensure that the same user got the same SIP account every time. This means that the SIP account delegation cannot be made automatically but needs to be supported with a login system.
      For this purpose, the webphone has to require a login name and a password from the user who wants to use it and the SIP account is given to the webphone according to these login data. This also means that the system requires a registration from the users, but after that all the user data can be gained from the user data sheet store in a database.

      If you are interested in this CRM solutions you can read more on website of Ozeki (google this: voip-sip-sdk.com/p_450-voip-crm-webphone-voip.html).

      I hope it will be useful for you as well!

      Regards,
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    I don't like sales force, I don't like high rise, I don't like infusion soft, I don't like free CRM.

    Right now I'm working with 2 CRM's. I use VTiger for prospecting and then once they become a real lead, they go into zoho. I have over 100k records in VTiger and it just isn't easy to really monitor things but I like their built in reminders that zoho doesn't have. I also like that VTiger isn't as restricted with limits, because you install it on your own server. If you want to deal with customizations and reworking things to fit your needs it's better that way but the core of how it works is a bit complex and really could do away with 30% of the features because it just makes it more complicated.

    I have yet to find a perfect CRM for me. I want something easy... instead of this standard leads, potentials, accounts, contacts BS with a bunch of useless features for me. I just want the basics, that work very well, with built in reminders and possibly a sync with outlook and my phone.

    Sorry I'm no help. There is a huge need for a good CRM out there that simplifies everything and increases efficiency.
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  • Profile picture of the author socialbacklink
    I'm right there with nameless. I've tried several CRMs and have yet to find one I really like. I've actually thought recently about getting my dev time to build one and get into that marketplace. Huge need for sure and there really isn't much I've been happy with.
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    • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
      Originally Posted by socialbacklink View Post

      I'm right there with nameless. I've tried several CRMs and have yet to find one I really like. I've actually thought recently about getting my dev time to build one and get into that marketplace. Huge need for sure and there really isn't much I've been happy with.
      Unfortunately, everyone thinks this, which is why there is a ton of no name, crappy CRM's out there (and plenty of people trying to sell them to you). People develop one because they don't know how to use, or don't know what SHOULD be in the CRM they use, so they go make one and try to hock it. Which, is great if you have that much business that YOU need it, but if you are going to try to sell it to everyone else, they will eventually have the same thought you did "this isn't what I need, I'll go make my own and sell it" and we are back to square one. Lots of CRM's that don't do crap for the majority of us.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mwind076
    Depends on what you need from it.

    As a caller, I hate CRM's, they slow me down if someone tries to make you call from them. Just an FYI - CRM's are not for general calling. You don't put a list in a CRM so you can have someone call it through. There is no need to put someone in a CRM until they become a customer, hence the name.

    Now, once someone is a customer and I have to put them in and keep track of my own calls to them, I prefer Highrise over all the ones I have used (Salesforce, Salesgenie, Access, Zoho).

    Anyways. Salesforce blows, their format is crappy and is made to make people think they are getting what they are paying for.

    Highrise (to me) is the best for managing multiple users. You can set who has access to each record, and everyone can see a real time feed of what has been updated for the day (if it is shared with them). Very easy to use once you get the hang of it. They continuously have updates. I have one contract that I've used this for 3 years on, and it's my preferred one.

    Zoho also sucks, someone got the idea that they could make money and tried to make a CRM.

    Like I said, depends on what you want to do, and what type of info you need to keep record of. Are you setting up reminders? Do you want reminders emailed? Do you want to be able to forward outside emails sent to contacts and have them put in their CRM file?

    Just my opinion.
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  • Profile picture of the author prolink83
    I've had a lot success with leads360. Very easy and simple to use and navigate.
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  • Profile picture of the author VegasGreg
    We have been through several and still looking. But our team is now looking at and evaluating Social CRM Simplified. | Turn Communities into Customers..

    It adds social into the mix, which is huge nowadays. So far it is looking good. Anyone else look at this yet? Thoughts?
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  • Profile picture of the author georgescifo
    Originally Posted by Aaron Doud View Post

    I needs a solution that will work well now just for me but also down the line if I have multiiple sales people working for me.

    What would you suggest that has a good value now and in the future?
    I suggest SugarCRM. It is simple and technically great. Ultimately it comes with affordable prices for bigger organizations
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  • Profile picture of the author Intentional Marketing
    ZOHO.. it's FREE to start, and you can upgrade later.
    I use it for one of my companies.
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
    I was a Salesforce user for many, many years.

    This past year, we started to use Office 365 and SharePoint, and as a Cloud Partner with Microsoft we got access to Dynamics CRM.

    I am a complete and total fanatic - namely because it's built on top of the SharePoint platform, which means I can create whatever SharePoint workflow I want to correspond with any activity within the system... for example, I can already have a project manager queued up for a requirements gathering phase for a project based on a prospect hitting certain points, which means now the PM can do things like set up the necessary project sites, etc... hit the ground running the day the PO is cut.

    Plus, they've started to integrate a high level of marketing automation function, including landing page management, split testing, etc...

    I think Microsoft will quickly move towards the merger of CRM and marketing automation in ways the industry is still trying to figure out - namely because they own the workflow, document management, ECM, collaboration engine itself, SharePoint.
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  • Profile picture of the author SJJPFTW
    IMHO they all suck.

    I have tried just about every one out there and nothing 'clicks' for me if you get my drift. I have actually thought several times about getting a good one custom coded via Odesk or elance just so I could have something that works for me the way I want it to.

    If I had to recommend one to start I would probably go Zoho since it is free and you can scale up easily.
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