Top 6 CRM Tools in 2021

A CRM tool is a must-have for every business.

A customer relationship management tool (a.k.a. CRM) is a software that helps businesses reach their current or potential customers. Typically, a CRM tool helps your company find new customers, make them your customers, and keep them. It manages customer support, data, and profitability.

According to Gartner, the industry of CRM has the potential to reach $80 billion by 2025.

CRM is a perfect combination of marketing, sales, customer support, and feedback. If used correctly, a CRM tool has the potential to fire up your business. 

There are also separate tools that companies and businesses use to reach their customers, for example, basic tools like Outlook and Excel are being used to perform some of the tasks of CRM tools. 

According to this chart below from SelectHub, we see that people even use paper to reach their customers in 2020.

This popular use of the basic tools any computer has as default or that can be accessed online easily doesn’t mean it is the best way.

The most important thing about CRM tools is probably the combination of these basic tools into one so that you and your employees can have access to customer data and a platform to reach them. 

But to do so, you must know which CRM tool can help you on your path to building up an enhanced customer relationship management for your business.

Let’s take a look at the 6 best CRM tools I recommend in 2021:

1- HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is perhaps the best option for small businesses.

Why?

It’s free.

Well, not completely, but the free version of it is almost as good as other CRM tools. That is why HubSpot CRM is especially targeting small businesses, they are aware that they need CRM too, and they are offering a free version that you can upgrade as your business grows. With these upgrades, the tool becomes a bit pricier than, well, the free version. But hey, it is good.

The other reason why it ended up being one of the most popular CRM tools of 2019 is probably because it is really easy to use. HubSpot CRM offers cloud-based software that has all the essentials.

Nothing is perfect, and HubSpot is still improving, just like any other software. What people tend to point out about HubSpot CRM is that some features are not very in-depth. Still, the target is small businesses remember? They don’t need such sophisticated features – yet.

2- Zoho CRM

Zoho has it all.

Zoho CRM is only one of the successful software products of Zoho and the best part of having so many products is that you can link them. Through Zoho CRM, businesses can use Zoho Invoice, Zoho Calendar, Zoho Reports, and more.

If such a wide connected workflow does not interest you, then maybe the pricing will. Zoho CRM has a free trial version and the normal version costs only $12 per year/ per user. If you want to sync it to other Zoho tools, the total price adds up to around $30 a year. I don’t want to pick sides, but Zoho is probably the best in terms of pricing. 

These features are all great and all, but you will love this one. Gamification.

By letting users process customer data through a gamified UIWhat is UI? A User Interface (UI) is the medium through which a user connects with the hardware or the software. When a user interacts with a hardware or a…, Zoho puts itself in the fun-to-use category as well as easy-to-use and affordable. C’mon now, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

It has…

• Calendar/Reminder System
• Document Storage
• Email Marketing
• Internal Chat Integration
• Lead Scoring
• Marketing Automation Integration
• Mobile Access
• Quotes/Proposals
• Segmentation
• Social Media Integration
• Task Management
• Territory Management

3- Pipedrive

Built for salespeople by salespeople.

They know the deal, don’t they? Pipedrive really does seem to understand the struggles of salespeople with its intuitive user interface and many features designed not only to make the salespeople work easily but also effectively.

What attracts the most customers to Pipedrive is probably the visibility of the sales cycle. This visibility means a lot if you are seeking for effective work and wish to perform it without having to think twice. Another reason it is good is that the app works great. with the app, you can sync almost all the top-notch sales and management apps to your system and make sure it all works fine through one app. 

The catch to it is, of course, pricing. Pipedrive offers three tiers and the most basic one costs $15 a month, per user. This may look costly for a small business, but Pipedrive is constantly growing, and the features it offers can easily accommodate big businesses too, so it should not be a big problem if you are a relatively bigger company.

4- Less Annoying CRM

As the title hints a bit, it is less annoying.

Reviewers think that Less Annoying is not only a good option for small businesses but also startups. It is probably one of the best lower-cost CRM tools out there. 

Unlike HubSpot, which becomes a bit more expensive than the other tools once you upgrade, Less Annoying has one tier, and it costs $10 a month, per user. 

It doesn’t have a free version but accessing it all paying a fixed amount of money and not developing an inferiority complex just because I can’t get the best tier sound pretty good to me. Oh well.

What is more, is that Less Annoying CRM has recently redesigned their interface and it looks really good. One problem could be relearning the system if you were using the old version before since CRM tools tend to be a bit complicated. 

But no worries, Less Annoying pays great attention to customer service and you can get help easily and fast. And that is perhaps the most important thing a salesperson knows: to value the customer.

5- Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional

Yep. They changed the name.

Salesforce is known for being the top-notch of the CRM software industry. It owes its success to a lot of things, but I think the most important aspect is how customizable it is.

Salesforce offers a sea of features and you can easily customize them. And after being on the improving side of the CRM tools, it has done a lot of collaboration. You can access thousands of tools and apps such as MailChimp and Outlook.

Salesforce also embraced the technology of the future, the AI. Einstein Analytics uses AI to link your schedules and emails and overall, it not only makes work effective but makes it feel effective.

What could be bad about such a great tool? Pricing.

Salesforce offers service through tiers and the starting price is $25 a month, per user. If you want to access the very in-depth features and functions, you may have to upgrade. Since not all small businesses need such well-thought features and sometimes these features make it harder to work if you don’t need them, Salesforce may be more effective for bigger businesses.

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6- Apptivo CRM

I call it budget Salesforce.

Well, that didn’t sound as good as it should, but it really is as good as Salesforce in terms of features and customizability, and it is cheaper.

Apptivo may not be as popular as Zoho CRM or Salesforce, but this CRM underdog operates just as well as they do. It brings together many reliable apps such as Office 365, G Suite, Dropbox, and PayPal, and does so in a quite economical way. It has a free version that 3 users can use, and the paid version starts from $8 a month.

Comparing it to the other tools, Apptivo can be installed on mac or windows, on your phone, or can be used on the web. It also offers online help 24/7.

I think Apptivo is the best option for businesses in the growing stage and the look for an affordable option.

Conclusion

It is undeniable that a CRM tool improves your sales drastically and every business must have one. I tried to show you the pros and cons of these CRM tools, and it is still up to you to decide which one to use.

What I recommend you to do is to not have prejudices just after seeing a tool lacks a certain feature. Sometimes we don’t even need the feature.

Most tools offer a free trial and I recommend you try these 6 and decide according to your own experience.

Try to have fun and think sharp!

Frequently Asked Questions

👤 What is the best way to manage your relationship with customers?

Although Excel, Outlook, and Gmail are used most for customer relations, a CRM tool can help you increase your efficiency and keep things in order.

❓ What is a CRM tool?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management and a CRM tool is a software that helps businesses reach their current or potential customers.

🔧 What are the best CRM tools in 2021?

The top 6 CRM tools on the market in 2021 are Hubspot, Zoho, Pipedrive, Less Annoying CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud, and Apptivo. Make sure you read our article for detailed reviews.