A CRM Software is a tool which can help you to understand the expectations, behavior and needs of your customers and prospects. It is especially important if you bet on the web to expand your business. A simple mistake can cause a visitor to leave your site and go to one of your competitors. To limit this risk, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software helps businesspeople better define their business strategy, and thus increase their profits.
To succeed online these days it is fundamental to track prospects and customers: their needs, expectations, visit history, habits, and financial capacity. This allows you to not only optimize a successful relation with them but also to develop your business according to their demands. All these functions require a “Customer Relationship Management” tool, regardless paid or free crm.
How to choose the best CRM software for your business?
Below is a list of some of the best crm software programs on the internet (not in order). Each one may offer different features to meet the need of specific market. Read the list and chose the best product for your need.
Google Docs
Yes, you can make tracking tables on Google Docs. A simple spreadsheet can be used as an accounting application or order tracking to gather customer data. You can create a spreadsheet on this free tool and manipulate it at will. It is up to you to design what best suits the management of your customers.
If you are a small business entrepreneur, using Google Docs as a free CRM program is a smart decision. In addition to being free, this program will help you save your precious time learning how to use complicated products and features. Google Docs does exactly that but in a simple way. In addition, the office suite of Google Drive has the advantage of being searchable online: computer, Smartphone or tablet.
2. Outlook Customer Manager
The Outlook Customer Manager is a powerful new customer relationship management (CRM) tool built into Outlook which helps companies track their customer interactions and history.
This tool is included in Office 365 Business Premium plans. The basic Targets Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), which can then migrate to Dynamics 365 if the proposed solution on Outlook is no longer sufficient. Once Outlook Customer Manager is enabled, you can add new information on the contacts with whom you are doing business with or potential clients you are targeting.
You can also create a calendar folder to add future events with the outlook crm. This information is available on a side panel when you are viewing an email or contact card. Outlook Customer Manager also allows you to better organize your days thanks to the Today’s program features. Now you can create and see appointments and priorities within a unified interface. It works as an Outlook add-in, but it is also available on mobile.
3. SugarCRM
SugarCRM is a free CRM software program. The programming is done in PHP and based on MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle. The program range comes in five editions: Sugar Community Edition (free and downloadable), Sugar Professional, Sugar Enterprise, and Sugar Ultimate.
The main functionalities available are sales force automation, marketing campaigns, customer service, collaborative tools, and research and statistical tools. SugarCRM offers Sugar Community Edition for free, while Sugar Professional, Sugar Enterprise and Sugar Ultimate are available by annual subscription. Whatever the version, it can be set up locally or in hosted mode.
4. Vtiger CRM software
This software is primarily aimed at business-to-business and non-commercial organizations, associations, departments or subsidiaries of large companies. It is an integrated client relationship management (CRM) application easily usable in intranet or from the Internet thanks to a browser that integrates well with a pro activity during migration / evolution and scalability. Its interface is simple and intuitive.
Among other functions of this CRM software include the possibility to create product catalog, price list, dashboards, manage suppliers and prospects, and many more. This tool offers the possibility to interface with external data sources (synchronization with Thunderbird and Outlook, integration via an extension in Firefox …) and has many advantages: clear and intuitive interface, multiplatform, import-export functionality, and others.
5. EQMS Professional Edition
This is undoubtedly one of the best free CRM software products on the internet. It is a simplified version of EQMS CRM that is smart, easy and ready to use. This program has all the functionalities necessary for the efficient management of your consultant projects: e-mail marketing, autoresponder (follow-up reminder), attachment option, and others.
To use it, simply download it for free and proceed with its installation (note that 2 sextup.exe files are required). After this step, click on the EQMS icon on the desktop and insert your login info (username and password) to get started.
In conclusion, all of these programs have all the essential features to effectively manage customers and prospects. In addition to the features above, they allow the export of data from customer mailings (customer lists, letters), complete management of sales and purchases, and monitoring of regulations. You need to read and compare their features before making your choice.
