No matter what type of B2B business you are running, in today’s digital environment you have to get on board with high quality CRM software. Sales and marketing has become so globalized and competition is so fierce, that you must make maximum use of your time each day and get maximum output from each sales and marketing effort.
You can be sure that your competitors will be using CRM software to fine tune, expedite, and track their sales efforts. Without your own, your sales associates simply will not be able to compete and will lose out on winnable prospects.
Luckily, there is a wealth of CRM resources available to you. Some of these programs are extremely expensive, and although they provide great features, they may not be realistic or necessary for every small and medium-sized business.
Here are five products you really need to check out that can totally overhaul your sales capabilities and that won’t break the bank either.
Sellsy
Not only is Sellsy a fully capable and powerful CRM program, but it’s a fantastic value. Sellsy software offers all the standard CRM features, but it can also help with invoicing and expense tracking. This is great for small businesses because you can get all these functions in one platform.
For businesses who don’t have a large staff that focuses on invoicing and expenses, this can make it very easy for the sales associates to go directly from quoting and communicating with clients to invoicing them. Coming in under $31.00 a month, it’s an unbelievable value.
Work ETC
Work ETC is a CRM platform that also has some billing functionality. One of the strengths of the interface is its ease of use, but it also lets users input an amazing amount of customer information and details.
This helps sales associates keep track of the hundreds of prospects they may be juggling at one time, and with the program, sorting and grouping these contacts is simple as well.
The platform is easy to learn at first, but users will also be able to pick up the more advanced features over time. At $39 per month, this is a great CRM software that lets small businesses hit the ground running.
PipelineDeals
Though PipelineDeals does not offer as many services as other platforms, what it can do, it does extremely well. This software is incredibly easy to use and is really useful for tracking leads and prospects.
The interface is extremely intuitive and lets sales associates input all the necessary information so that they can keep track of long term communication and negotiation with potential clients.
This helps individual associates follow up and stay on target, but it’s also extremely useful if leads or prospects are handed to another salesman or shared by a team.
Even though PipelineDeals doesn’t offer many capabilities besides basic CRM recordkeeping, it only costs $15 per month and is still a great deal.
BatchBook
BatchBook calls itself a social CRM, and considering how social media is becoming an increasingly important tool for companies, this makes BatchBook a very useful platform. With this software, users can easily track their communications with clients through email, social media, and Twitter.
Knowing exactly how much you’re communicating and what your last communication was is critical to moving closer to a sale and strengthening business relationships.
A simple way to think about the interface is to call it an advanced spreadsheet. With BatchBook, you’ll be able to easily and quickly upload spreadsheets of customers, and properly uploading and categorizing different customer data is not the hassle it normally is with other programs.
Once uploaded, BatchBook offers really fantastic customization, so you can add incredible amounts of detail to customer records and keep track of all types of customer information and past communications.
This will help your sales teams stay on the ball with each customer, so that they don’t lose out on potential opportunities. Unlike other platforms that charge per use, BatchBook charges per sales contact.
For $55 a month, you can upload 10,000 contacts and give BatchBook access to an unlimited number of users. This is actually one of the best values on the market.
Infusionsoft
Though the other software platforms on this list are less known alternatives to popular CRM products, Infusionsoft already has a great reputation for being an incredibly powerful sales and marketing software.
If your company focuses on ecommerce, Infusionsoft is one of the best pieces of software for you. It offers robust tools for both email marketing and ecommerce, so companies that are doing their business online will find amazing functionality.
Organizing sales contacts and creating targeted email blasts is very easy. You can even automate some of the functions and email blasts, so that certain leads are automatically sent specific emails based on their activity on your website or their latest sales activity.
This program can save a company an incredible amount of time and vastly improve their email marketing. The only downside to Infusionsoft is its high price tag. Unlike the other platforms on this list, Infusionsoft will cost you a much larger initial investment.
The basic software package is $199 per month, and because the interface is often confusing for beginners, you’ll also have to pay for training. Still, once it has been set up, you will likely see your online revenues go through the roof.
Final Word
These are just five of the great CRM options currently on the market. All of these platforms have their own strengths and weaknesses, so depending on your business and its most critical needs, you will have to decide which program would provide the most value to you.
All CRM programs require a large investment of time and money, but the day of the rolodex is over, and businesses who don’t invest in these technologies have a hard time competing with the ones that do. We all know how the Internet has become a tremendous driver of sales and marketing.
It’s important that your business takes full advantage of the technology that’s out there, so that you can make your sales more efficient and more effective than ever.
Please comment below if you have any questions or suggestions with any part of this.
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