Regardless of whether you are starting your startup on your own or have already hired a small team, you in any case need to interact with several clients, manage everything related to them (deal results, emails, orders, contacts, etc.). This can be challenging, especially if the data needs to be shared with others in the business.
You can use good old pens and notepads, but it would be much wiser to take advantage of all the advantages of modern developments. Especially if you want to keep all your affairs in order. And that’s where good customer relationship management (CRM) software can help you. The tools of such programs, their colorful interfaces and ample capabilities will definitely interest you. Down with boring gray bases! All of them are already becoming a thing of the past, giving way to new software.
More about CRM
CRM is customer relationship management. That is, this is a special approach that allows you to increase the efficiency of managing potential and existing clients. With the help of such systems, you can conveniently process and store customer data and access it at any time.
At the moment, there are many simple free CRMs available to users. But it was not always so. CRM software was once the preserve of only the largest corporations. Now the prices for it have decreased and even novice entrepreneurs can purchase it. Some tools are completely free.
Benefits of using CRM:
- Assistance in organizing various business processes of your company (this only applies to the sales process).
- All data is available anytime and anywhere.
- The business owner gets the opportunity to monitor the work of his sales agents.
- The system allows you to get a complete picture of how the business operates.
- The program provides advanced reporting and analytics.
- Routine tasks are automated.
- The system can store files and documents (eg contracts and invoices).
- There are tools to track email opens and clicks.
- Two-way synchronization with email client and calendars (for example, Gmail or Outlook) is possible.
- Special mobile applications have been developed for some systems.
All these advantages are enough to consider CRM a truly useful tool for a startup. We’ll tell you about the five best free CRMs.
Five Best Free CRMs
We’ve studied reviews from users and experts to select the five best CRMs for you. We invite you to familiarize yourself with them.
HubSpot
HubSpot is one of the most popular systems in its category. It owns a significant share of the entire marketing automation market. HubSpot is easy to use software. It has wide functionality and a large number of contacts.
What do users get with the free version of HubSpot? Firstly, a large number of contacts (as mentioned above). Plus access to some features from the Marketing, Sales, and Services hubs. A fairly diverse set of free tools makes HubSpot a good choice for a startup with a small budget. Web forms, email marketing, ticketing, live chat, tracking, and landing pages are available for free. These tools will help you get started.
The downside to the free version is that email tracking is limited to 200 emails. The CRM platform does not allow users to add multiple email addresses to a single contact or merge different subdomains of the same company. Also, the reporting features in the free version are extremely limited. Also, if you want to scale your business using HubSpot CRM, you will have to pay a lot. The cost of paid tariff plans starts from $50 per month and when upgrading, the limit of users and contacts actually decreases. Be sure to take this into account.
Who can use HubSpot CRM? This software is designed for those who want to simplify the process of managing contacts and transactions. This is especially true for businesses with a large number of contacts, where multiple user accounts and many different functions are required.
EngageBay
This system is notable for its wide range of tools that will help in sales and marketing. In addition, it has collected a large number of positive reviews from users. They note excellent functionality despite the fact that the program interface is simple and understandable even for a beginner.
What does EngageBay’s free plan offer? Users can get a large number of features absolutely free. Features include 1,000 branded emails, segmentation, predictive scoring, web forms and popups, autoresponders, live chat, and landing pages. In addition, the free plan is available to a large number of users (up to fifteen people).
The disadvantage of the free version is the small amount of disk space (500 MB). For some this is very little. Also, users are limited to only two email sequences, and there is no workflow automation. Who will EngageBay help? It will be useful for sales and marketing departments who want to get a little bit of everything.
Bitrix24 CRM
This software earns the Best CRM Platform of 2023 badge from us. Bitrix24 was created more than ten years ago and is now the most popular CRM with an excellent free version. The official website of the product indicates that it is already used by more than 9 million organizations. Obviously, it has a lot of advantages if it is so popular.
What do users get from the free Bitrix24 CRM software? Managing customer interactions becomes much easier and more efficient. Moreover, in the free version you can work with an unlimited number of transactions, contacts, companies and users. It is also possible to send up to 1,000 emails to CRM contacts per month, and as much as 5 GB of disk space. There are some nuances regarding ease of use. Some users may find the program overloaded, since there are really a lot of items in its menu. But for some, this is, on the contrary, a plus, because an expanded set of functions provides even more opportunities.
Who will CRM Bitrix24 help? Since this system supports twelve languages, it is an excellent choice for international teams. And the advanced feature set even in the free version makes it ideal for a startup with a limited budget. Of course, you will have to spend some time getting to know the program, but it will be worth it.
Flowlu
Flowlu is the software of choice for more than 25,000 companies. Of course, it is inferior in scale to Bitrix24, but overall it is also not bad. What does the free version of Flowlu CRM software give users? The free plan includes two users, unlimited contacts and projects, 1 GB of storage space, CRM automation, invoicing and online payments. In addition, two-way synchronization with Google calendar is available. You can also add five products and services.
The free version of Flowlu CRM has a fairly wide range of features available. They will be useful for a startup and understandable for beginners.
Disadvantages of this software include the lack of built-in email marketing and the lack of integration with another service. Also, you won’t be able to add custom data fields. This deficiency can be a significant problem for many organizations.
Who will benefit from Flowlu CRM? Small and large businesses that need a powerful CRM but aren’t too interested in email marketing.
Freshsales
Freshsales CRM is part of Freshworks’ multi-product suite. It helps ensure efficient ticket sales, chatbots and automated calls. Freshsales CRM was introduced to the public in 2016 and since then has managed to gain quite a good reputation.
What’s great about the free version of Freshsales CRM? The Freshsales free plan includes an unlimited number of users, phone, email and chat support. You can also use it to create marketing routes, install chatbots on your website and make calls from the CRM platform. Another important nuance is that the business owner has access to the function of restricting access to the CRM system depending on the hierarchy of employees. There’s also a 21-day free trial to test more advanced features.
The disadvantages include a limited number of “active contacts” (no more than one hundred over the last thirty days).
Who is this software suitable for? CRM from Freshsales is an ideal product for those who need a simple and user-friendly interface with advanced functionality.
