Every business needs to be more customer-centered as a strategy to stay afloat and grow not just for the present but also for the future. This is where CRM software comes in, it is an online tool that helps businesses store existing customers’ and prospective customers’ contact information.
CRM software help businesses identify sales opportunities, record service issues, and manage marketing campaigns. It also provides business owners with reliable up-to-date and accurate information about their business growth all in one location.
What is a CRM Software?
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a software technology that manages the relationships and interactions of your company or business with existing and potential customers. CRM is useful for companies of all sizes, especially for start-ups and small businesses that have teams handling several roles that include customer relationships and business growth tracking.
CRM software helps to streamline the direction of a business towards the right customers through the reliable information it gathers on them. With the right focus, business owners can channel more energy and attention to the right customers.
CRMs help to ensure that the needs of customers are met promptly. It assists in managing customer inquiries across various channels including social media platforms. It is an all-inclusive and fully integrated system that combines sales, marketing tools, customer service, and support to aid businesses. Also, running a business using any CRM software is cost-efficient.
One of the biggest perks of using the CRM system is that it takes the burden of administration off you. There are currently several available CRM software available to handle most of the customer-related roles for your business.
Features to Look Out For When Choosing A CRM Software
- Sales and Lead Management
- Integration
- Marketing
- API Calls
- Product Mobility
- Analytics and Reporting
- Advanced eCommerce
- Security
- Implementation
- Easy-to-use Interface
Benefits of CRM Software
- It improves collaboration between customers and businesses
- It enhances efficiency
- Build a strong relationship with customers
- It helps business owners stay ahead
- It increases employee involvement with customers
- It is cost-efficient.
Which is the best CRM in the market? – Best CRMs For Businesses in Canada
Like in every other developed country, many businesses in Canada also employ the use of CRM software to aid the smooth running of their businesses. To help streamline your search for CRM software that suits your business, below are the seven best CRM technologies for businesses in Canada. All prices are in CAD.
1. Pipedrive – Recommended!
Pipedrive is a fast-growing CRM choice for small and medium-sized business owners. Asides from its efficiency, it also offers the advantage of cost.
This CRM software is built on activity-based selling that makes sales more efficient. With Pipedrive, hot leads are fed directly to your pipeline every minute from your custom chatbots and web forms.
It has lead source data that tells you the origin of your leads, whether they are organic, direct, or social. You also have total visibility and control of your schedule as you can track calls, emails, and contact history when and where you need to.
You can automate repetitive tasks with Pipedrive. It can be accessed from your mobile device and integrated with sales-boosting apps. After the completion of one task or activity, it reminds you to schedule the next one. It also features a visual sales pipeline that prompts you to take action, stay organized and be in control.
Pipedrive has a reporting feature that helps you track your progress. It is compatible with Mac and Android devices. There is also a 24/7 support service via emails and chats. This CRM is highly recommended for businesses that deal with lots of sales activities and enquiries.
Key Features
- Lead Management
- Visual Sales Pipelines
- Communication Tracking
- Mobile Apps
Alongside a 30-day free trial, you can subscribe to any of its four plans which include; the essential plan at $9.90 monthly, the advanced plan at $19.90 monthly, the professional plan at $39.90 monthly, and finally, the enterprise plan at $79 also monthly. These plans are billed per user and annually.
You don’t need a credit card to get the 30-day free trial and you’d have full access.
2. HubSpot
HubSpot is a popular CRM for businesses globally. It comes highly recommended. Why? HubSpot provides you with all the necessary tools and integration your business needs to grow bigger and better. If you want to increase your leads, speed up sales, streamline customer service and develop a strong website, CRM is just what you need.
It features a marketing hub, a sales hub, a service hub, and a content management software (CMS) hub. These hubs can be used independently or can be integrated for more efficiency and productivity.
It also features an Ad management tool to monitor paid campaigns on social media platforms. There is also a live chat feature (the Hub bot) that responds to your questions instantly. You get a personalized and secure experience with HubSpot.
Key Features
- Email and Lead Nurturing
- Contact Organization and Management
- Over 300 Integrations
- Live Chat and Chatbots
- Sales Pipeline Data
It has a completely free version that allows you to upgrade per your business growth. That’s not all, you can sign up for a starter plan for as low as $50 per month or $540 annually. You can also choose to upgrade to the professional and enterprise bundles at $800 and $3,200 respectively.
3. SalesForce
Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM software that allows business owners to handle everything about their business remotely. All its users have can have access to the same information at any time. It is compatible with Linux, Android, Mac, and Windows devices.
With Salesforce, there is no need for an installation or hardware setup, and it helps keep IT costs low. This software is priced based on the number of users who access it and the kind of features needed.
Business users can build, connect and integrate apps with Salesforce. It attends to all the needs of a business including sales, analytics, customer service, marketing, etc. It also has a personalized AI system that automates all integration processes.
SalesForce is however not free. Users can only get a 30-day free trial before they’ll be required to pay $25 monthly for the essential small business solution package. If you decide to, you can choose to pay $75 or $1250 monthly per user for the sales professional and service professional package or the Pardot growth package.
4. Zoho CRM
Zoho is a sales CRM that features sales force automation which allows business owners to automate routine sales, marketing and support functions. This software helps you capture and identify leads that will convert.
It has a deal management feature that helps you close deals faster. Users also get up-to-date insights on customers and their activities. This feature allows you to connect with customers, thereby, building relationships with them.
It also features an omnichannel that enables you to have live conversations with your customers and prospects. You can also monitor what people are saying about your brand with Zoho remotely.
It really is a great CRM software with lots of features that make customer relations, sales, marketing, and growth tracking easier, faster, and more accurate. There is also a mobile edition of Zoho CRM.
Key Features
- Advanced CRM Analytics
- AI-Powered Sales Assistant
- Performance Management
- Sales Enablement
- Process management
This software is not free, though there is a 15-day free trial, after which you can choose to subscribe to any of the available packages. Subscription starts from $12 for the standard package, $20 for the professional package, $35 for the enterprise package, and $45 for the ultimate package.
These are the monthly fees but they are billed per user and annually. It also has a free edition for 3 users. There is also a new bundle called Bigin, it is a pipeline-centric CRM for small businesses and is billed at $7 (monthly) per user and annually. This makes Zoho CRM ideal for small businesses.
5. FreshWork
Previously known as Freshsale, Freshworks is a simple and easy-to-use CRM for start-ups and small businesses. It has a wide array of features and tools that is aimed at helping small businesses grow. Business owners can choose to upgrade into a higher-tier CRM plan.
With Freshworks, you can automate tasks like email campaigns and lead assignments. It allows your business or company reps to contact customers directly using the software.
It is a smart CRM software that saves time and reduces cost. It has an easy-to-use interface that drives adoption and enhances productivity. You can also customize form fields and layout, create custom views and filters, and even multiple sales pipelines.
It is not limited to these features alone, there’s also Freddy AI, an AI-powered assistant that helps you understand your customers. This CRM software makes predictions, and recommendations and delivers insights based on what it has learned from your CRM data.
Key Features
- Lead Management
- Deal Management
- Tracking and Lead Scoring
- Auto Lead Assignment
- Smartforms (web-to-lead)
It helps to boost sales productivity with real-time notifications, easy data import, and access to relevant information, all in one place. Freshworks offers a lot of these and many more but not without a price. Although you get a 21-day free trial, if you are interested in continuing, you have to pay a monthly fee of $29 for the growth plan, $69 for the pro plan, and $125 for the enterprise plan. These prices are billed annually and per user.
6. Nimble
Nimble is a simple yet powerful CRM software tool that provides users with the easiest way to manage customer relationships. One of its features allows users to organize and unify their contacts data.
You can organize your contacts into lists to make it easier to take actions like email grouping. It also features a today page that enables you to organize your pipelines, social signals, tasks, and appointment in one intuitive dashboard. There is also a nimble prospector feature that gives you access to the benefits of your CRM remotely.
With Nimble, you can plan your next move with the pipeline management feature. It allows you to stay on the top of every phase in your sales funnel along with a visual representation of your pipeline. It works with the G-suite inbox and Office 365. It can also be synced with over 160 apps.
It also has a reminder feature that helps you stay on track. It offers a wide range of integrations with third-party applications like Outlook, Gmail, and even HubSpot. These integrations, however, need to be synced to function properly.
Key Features
- Relationship Management
- Live Profiles
- Segmentation
- Reminder feature
- Pipeline management
After a 14-day free trial with no credit card requirement, you’ll be required to subscribe to the Nimble business plan for $19 monthly. This is billed per user and annually. For monthly billing, you will pay a fee of $25 per user.
7. Sage CRM
Just like Salesforce, Sage CRM is a cloud-based CRM software designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It is easy to use and fast to deploy. It is rich with features that provide you with access to customer information remotely. It helps you manage your business better with the integration of field sales, internal sales, customer care, and marketing information.
Sage CRM gives your business access to real-time data and analysis. It allows you to acquire new customers and clients while growing your business and at the same time retaining your existing customers and clients.
It features a self-service portal with which you can directly provide support to your customers. It also has an integrated telephony system that allows you to manage outgoing and incoming calls.
With Sage CRM, you can add value to users in your company and your customers by publishing solutions that will be made available to them. It features a case management tool you can use to track, create and manage customer cases.
It is low-cost and helps to manage accounts efficiently. It supports integration with third-party applications. While Sage CRM is very efficient and powerful, it doesn’t have quite a large member community.
Sage CRM’s pricing is available only on request so you would have to contact the company to get the pricing list and make your choice.
CRM is a major tool and strategy for businesses to survive especially in times like this where the world is almost completely digital. If you are a business owner in Canada, you can employ one of the aforementioned CRM software that best suits the needs of your business after careful scrutiny and consideration.
CRM will not only help your business grow but will also help you save time and money. It also helps you build and maintain relationships with your new and existing customers. CRM is surely an integrated system that every business needs.
