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With so many different customer relationship management (CRM) software available, figuring out which is right for you is tough. You know you want software to help you strengthen your customer relationships, improve customer service, and increase sales, but you need to figure out which software is best. In this post, I'll help you make this choice easier by sharing my insights on the best customer relationship management software to manage interactions with your current and future customers, based on my personal CX experience.

What is Customer Relationship Management Software?

Customer relationship management (CRM) software are tools designed to manage and analyze all customer interactions throughout the entire customer lifecycle with the end goal of strengthening business relationships, improving customer retention, and increasing sales. Key features include a contact database, an interaction tracking log, workflow automation, lead tracking and management tools, and integrations with other software systems to help you optimize your operations.

Using CRM software offers numerous benefits, including improved service and customer satisfaction, improved customer retention, and more efficient business operations. CRM systems also support better data-driven decision-making by collecting data to give you a deeper understanding of your customers' needs so you can satisfy them effectively.

Overviews of the 10 Best Customer Relationship Management Software

Here’s a brief description of each customer relationship management software to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.

CRM software with customizable templates for different customer relation needs

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats)
Visit Website
Rating: 4.7/5

monday.com is a cloud-based platform you can use to manage tasks and projects. It has Kanban boards to visually assess projects, KPIs, and metrics to help you keep projects on track and resolve customer issues quickly. It also has a customizable dashboard allowing you to view real-time data to provide insights into how your company is performing to help you implement action plans to assess critical issues.

monday.com is the best CRM software for you if your company has unique CRM requirements because it allows the customization of templates you can use to cater to your business needs. Whether you need a template for your marketing activities, contacts, or sales leads, monday.com has one you can customize, ensuring it will be a snug fit for your needs. It also has a customer onboarding template to help start your customers on their customer journey.

monday.com integrates with Microsoft Teams, Dropbox, Zoom, Google Drive, Adobe Creative Cloud, Zapier, and other productivity tools.

monday.com has a free forever plan, but its paid version starts at $10/user/month, and they offer a 14-day free trial.

CRM software to help you engage customers in multiple channels using one platform

  • 15-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $14/user/month
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Rating: 4/5

Zoho CRM is a customer experience platform that allows you to engage customers throughout their entire life cycle. It uses artificial intelligence to learn from customer interactions to provide useful suggestions like the best time to contact customers or predict business trends. Zoho CRM has an analytics feature that uses data across your entire organization to provide you with an impact analysis of business decisions, helping you minimize risks and increase your potential for success.

Zoho CRM is the best CRM for you if you want the ability to handle all customer interactions in different channels using one platform because of Zoho CRM’s omnichannel engagement feature. Using Zoho CRM, you can engage customers and provide them with exceptional customer service experience whether they prefer to receive communications through live chats, emails, phone calls or through their social media accounts. You can also use Zoho CRM to personalize communications helping you nurture and qualify leads.

Integrations include Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Zapier, Zendesk, and ServiceNow.

Zoho CRM pricing starts at $14/user/month, and they offer a 15-day free trial.

CRM software with help desk functionality for resolving customer issues

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $45/month
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Rating: 4.4/5

HubSpot CRM is a customer service platform that combines critical functions like sales, marketing, and operations. You can use HubSpot’s content management system to build your website’s content, ensuring a seamless digital experience for customers. It has a workflow automation feature to help provide customers with efficient services while reducing the workload of your employees and giving them more time to focus on critical tasks and projects.

Issue resolution is one of the most critical aspects of customer service, and HubSpot is the ideal CRM for you if you want one with help desk functionality. You can use HubSpot’s ticketing feature to manage and prioritize critical tickets that significantly affect customer satisfaction. HubSpot also has an extensive knowledge base that customers can use to resolve simple and common issues resulting in fewer tickets for your customer support team to resolve.

HubSport CRM pricing starts at $45/month/2 users. They also offer a 14-day free trial as well as a freemium plan with limited features.

CRM software with robust reporting capabilities for managing KPIs

  • Free plan available
  • From $26/user/month (min 5 seats) (billed annually)
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Rating: 4.5/5

Scoro is a work management software with billing and project management capabilities. To generate sales opportunities, you can use Scoro to get a detailed view of customers, including their preferences and interaction history. It also has a sales forecasting feature to help you check if your team is on track toward meeting their goals and determine if you need to adjust your goals or implement an action plan to help your sales reps.

Scoro is the best CRM solution to save time generating detailed reports because of its robust reporting functionality. You can use Scoro to generate reports that you can share with team members, your leadership team, and stakeholders. Scoro’s reporting feature can help you analyze KPIs and metrics that will help you improve services and increase customer satisfaction.

Scoro integrates with other productivity tools, including Basecamp, Slack, Asana, QuickBooks, Google Analytics, PayPal, and Stripe.

Scoro pricing starts at $28/user/month, and they offer a 14-day free trial.

Sales CRM with voice and text messaging capabilities to help you stay in touch with customers

  • Free trial + free demo
  • From $19/user/month
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Rating: 4.2/5

Zendesk Sell is a sales CRM with email marketing tools to run marketing campaigns efficiently, like unlimited email templates and bulk emailing features. With the help of Zendesk Sell’s marketing automation features, you can help provide your salespeople with the right tools to help them process more leads and increase sales. It also has a mobile app version that works on Android and iOS devices so your sales and marketing teams can access the software while on the field.

Zendesk Sell is the best sales CRM platform if you want one with a text messaging feature allowing you to assist customers easily. You can use Zendesk Sell to record customer conversations to guide you in future interactions. Zendesk Sell also has a voice-calling feature you can use to get in touch with existing and prospective customers.

Zendesk Sell integrates with other e-commerce and CRM tools like Microsoft Outlook, Shopify, Returnly, and Dropbox.

Zendesk Sell pricing starts at $19/user/month.

Sales CRM you can use to automate your marketing efforts

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $169/month
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Rating: 4.2/5

Keap is a marketing and sales automation platform with CRM features to help manage customers and increase sales. Its CRM analytics feature allows you to gain valuable insights into how you can use sales data to develop smart business decisions. You can also use Keap to generate sales reports to track sales and find trends to improve your marketing strategy.

Keap is the best CRM solution if you need help in automating your marketing strategy. It has automation features that can lead to a higher conversion rate and increased revenues. It lets users automate lead capture and follow-up, making it ideal for small businesses and start-ups with limited human resources because business owners can devote their time to other business aspects.

Keap also captures critical data like customer behavior, preferences, and likelihood to buy, giving you a better idea of converting leads into clients.

Keap pricing starts at $169/month, and they offer a 14-day free trial.

CRM software with an extensive contact management feature

  • 30-day free trial
  • From $25user/month (Essentials), or $150/user/month (Enterprise)

Salesforce Sales Cloud is a customer relationship management software you can use to strengthen customer relationships to increase sales. It uses customer activity data to give you insights on sales opportunities you can explore. Salesforce Sales Cloud can help you save time by automating repetitive tasks like tracking activities and sending email alerts to customers.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is the best customer relationship management software for you if you want one with a robust contact management feature giving you access to critical customer information including existing cases, past interactions, customer survey results and purchase history. This CRM system gives you access to all information you need to successfully interact with customers because you know what they want and those you need to avoid during interactions.

Salesforce Sales Cloud also lets you see what customers are saying about your products and services on their social media accounts, giving you valuable insights about their issues and how you can proactively engage them to address their concerns.

Salesforce Sales Cloud pricing starts at $25/user/month, and they offer a free 30-day trial.

Sales CRM with team collaboration features to boost your marketing efforts

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $19/user/month

Nutshell is a CRM and sales automation software you can use to design and execute a sales process that works for your company. It has a pipeline management feature to help you view your leads and assess how to best close deals. Nutshell also acts as a contact management tool to store all customer information like contact details, purchase history, call notes, and previous conversations so your team can access them when needed.

Nutshell is the best software for you if you’re looking for team collaboration tools to augment your CRM strategy. With Nutshell, you can bring other team members to conversations with customers ensuring that customers receive the proper support during their entire customer lifecycle.

Nutshell can also boost your lead generation efforts because it allows the importation of contact information and leads from any source, including Office 365, LinkedIn, G Suite, QuickBooks, and even your phonebook or calendar.

Nutshell integrates with other CRM tools like Mailchimp, Reply, Skype, RingCentral, etc.

Nutshell pricing starts at $19/user/month, and they offer a free 14-day trial.

CRM software that can help you simplify your ticketing process

  • 14-day free trial + free plan available
  • From $18/user/month
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Rating: 4.4/5

Freshdesk is an omnichannel CRM software you can use to take care of the customer service side of your business, whether concerns on your website or messages on your social media channels. You can use Freshdesk to launch your business’ contact center to attend to customers who prefer to communicate using phone calls. Freshdesk has a messaging feature to respond to messages from your website chat, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage, and others using a centralized platform.

Freshdesk is the best customer relationship management software that allows you to manage customer tickets efficiently because of its ticketing feature. It allows you to convert any customer issue into a ticket, assigning it to a customer service agent for a quick resolution. You can create and save canned responses to save time when responding to common issues. It also allows you to merge tickets about the same issue to conserve human resources.

Freshdesk allows the integration of other productivity tools like Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Slack, Shopify, and others.

Freshdesk is a free CRM, but it has a paid version that starts at $18/agent/month, and they offer a 14-day free trial.

CRM software with a pipeline management feature to help you manage sales leads and convert them into actual sales

  • 14-day free trial
  • From $21.90/user/month
Visit Website
Rating: 4.3/5

Pipedrive is a sales CRM to help you in your marketing activities and manage your entire sales process. It has a customizable dashboard letting you gather insights on improving your company’s performance and increasing its revenues. You can use Pipedrive to create custom web forms you embed on your website, allowing you to collect crucial customer data like their names, phone number, email address, and others from potential customers to help boost your leads database.

Pipedrive is the best CRM for you if you need assistance managing your company’s sales pipeline. It provides you with a centralized platform making qualifying and prioritizing leads easier. You can use Pipedrive to manually add leads or automate their addition from different channels like your social media accounts or your website. Pipedrive also allows you to integrate a chat feature to your website, enabling you to add website visitors to your leads database.

Pipedrive integrates with other CRM tools like Google Meet, Gmail, Xero, Trello, etc.

Pipedrive pricing starts at $21.90 per user, per month, and they offer a 14-day free trial.

The Best Customer Relationship Management Software Summary Table

Tools Price
monday.com From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats)
Zoho CRM From $14/user/month
HubSpot From $45/month
Scoro From $26/user/month (min 5 seats) (billed annually)
Zendesk Sell From $19/user/month
Keap From $169/month
Salesforce Sales Cloud From $25user/month (Essentials), or $150/user/month (Enterprise)
Nutshell From $19/user/month
Freshdesk From $18/user/month
Pipedrive CRM From $21.90/user/month
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	Compare Software Specs Side by Side</h2>

Compare Software Specs Side by Side

Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.

Compare Software

Other CRM Software To Consider

Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top list.

  1. Bitrix24

    All-in-one solution with CRM, task management, and web-building capabilities.

  2. Insightly

    CRM platform for G Suite, Gmail, and Outlook users.

  3. Freshsales

    Sales CRM that automatically captures website visitor data as sales leads.

  4. Capsule

    SaaS CRM for start-ups, small teams, and individuals to manage contact details and sales information.

  5. Accelo

    SaaS sales and marketing platform that streamlines business processes through automation.

  6. GreenRope

    CRM with sales, marketing, customer support, and project management modules.

  7. Odoo

    Open-source ERP and CRM with e-commerce, billing, accounting, and project management features.

  8. ActiveCampaign

    A suite of email marketing, marketing automation, and CRM tools.

  9. Less Annoying CRM

    CRM tool for SMBs to track sales and business processes.

  10. Really Simple Systems CRM

    CRM software to help small businesses manage their sales and marketing programs.

  11. Honeybook

    Client management software for small businesses that help manage projects, send invoices, and process payments.

  12. Maximizer CRM

    Customizable CRM platform to manage customer data and track sales opportunities.

  13. Apptivo

    Cloud-based customer relationship app for creating and managing customer profiles.

  14. Copper Project

    CRM software that scraped the internet for contact information and social profiles to augment your lead management program.

  15. InfoFlo

    Online and on-premise CRM for contact management, customer support, and marketing and sales automation.

  16. Onpipeline

    Cloud-based sales CRM for sales pipeline management.

  17. Daylite for Mac

    CRM and business productivity app for Mac users.

  18. Claritysoft CRM

    CRM focused on marketing and sales automation.

Comparison Criteria

What do I look for when selecting the best customer relationship management software? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria: 

1.   User Interface (UI): Is it clean and attractive?
2.   Usability: Is it easy to learn and master? 
3.   Integrations: Is it easy to connect with other tools? Any pre-built integrations?
4.   Omnichannel: Does it allow the handling of customers from a wide variety of channels

CRM Solutions: Key Features

Each CRM software will vary in scope and specialization but here are some of the key features I look for:

  • Ticketing: allows users to assign and manage tickets to prioritize critical concerns
  • Lead generation: allows users to gather customer information from website visitors and add them to the sales pipeline
  • Communication tools: allows users access to communication tools like emails, chat messages, and phone calls in attending to customer needs
  • Help desk: has a dedicated help desk feature to help customers with their concerns
  • Automation: allows users to automate repetitive tasks to save time
  • Customer database: Keep track of who all your customers are and what actions they've taken

Related Read: Live Chat Software To Connect With Your Customers At Scale

FAQs about CRM Software

Still wondering how CRM software works? These answers to frequently asked questions should clear things up further:

What does CRM software do?

Customer relationship management systems can help companies maintain positive relationships with customers to inspire loyalty and improve retention rates. A CRM software can also help salespeople gather leads that they can cultivate to generate possible sales.

CRM comes in all sizes, from smaller programs for SMBs to larger, enterprise-focued CRM software.

Why are customer relationships important?

Maintaining an excellent relationship with customers is one of the linchpins of a prosperous enterprise. When you connect with customers on a personal level, you inspire loyalty and increase your chances of generating more sales.

According to research by Microsoft, 90% of Americans consider customer service as a deciding factor on whether or not they will do business with a company. This underscores the critical role that excellent customer relationship management software plays not just in retaining customers but in attracting new ones.

Are there different types of CRM software?

There are different types of CRM software depending on your needs. Examples are CRM software for acquiring new customers in the hopes of converting them into sales leads, while others are mainly for improving relationships with existing customers.

Running a small business? Take a look at my selections for the best CRM software for small businesses as well.

Customer Relationship Management Tools: Final Thoughts

CRM software has gone a long way from being just a means of keeping in touch with customers. Nowadays, excellent CRM software can help business owners retain existing customers while attracting new ones, resulting in a high satisfaction rating and an increase in sales figures. If you don’t have a CRM platform for your company, it’s time you get one and see for yourself the difference it can make for your company. 

If you want to learn about similar software your company can use, subscribe to The CX Lead and check out what the industry-leading experts have to say.

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