Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

What is CRM Software?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software offers centralized tools for storing, organizing and analyzing important customer data. While worthwhile, keeping excellent data records can be time-consuming and prone to error when done manually. CRM software therefore helps to convert leads, retain existing customers, and improves internal processes. 

CRM systems, be they through integrations with other Customer Experience (CX) tools or simply as stand-alone systems, can be beneficial across departments, from marketing and sales to customer support. Centralizing all of your customer, lead, and sales data into one powerful CRM platform can streamline processes, improve lead conversions, drive sales, and help shape companywide decisions regarding new or existing business.

Key Features and Capabilities of CRM Software  

  • Customer profiling
  • Contact management
  • Calendar integration and management
  • Interaction tracking
  • Task management
  • Email integration
  • Social media integration
  • Lead management
  • Sales pipelines
  • Lead scoring
  • Lead tracking
  • Workflow automation tools
  • Document storage
  • Customer lifecycle management

Additionally, CRM platforms also integrate with other customer-focused platforms, such as customer intelligence software. With CX now being a top factor of consideration for businesses of all sizes, incorporating granular customer insights is essential to improving customer service, while also delivering timely personalized recommendations that are attuned to the needs of varying audiences.

Key Benefits of CRM Software  

  • Centralized customer data: Top CRM platforms essentially offer sales and service teams the ability to communicate with a customer via a single profile. This is done by integrating interactions from multiple communication channels, thereby delivering omnichannel communications through one unified platform – as opposed to having to toggle between multiple applications.
  • Streamlined access for sales and service teams: While centralized customer profiles contribute to smoother collaboration between teams thanks to a single-pane-of-glass interface, task management capabilities enable team members to create, assign and share tasks in order to stay on top of day-to-day duties.
  • Automation of repetitive tasks: Configuring workflows within a CRM can allow teams to automate common and mundane tasks, so precious time can be freed for more pressing responsibilities, or for tasks that require strategic attention.
  • Personalized recommendations: CRM systems, together with customer journey mapping tools, can help marketing teams deliver personalized recommendations that are carefully customized and timed to the unique needs of each customer, in order to resonate better – while also driving sales.

Have more questions about CRM software? Visit our CRM FAQs to learn more.

Top 10 CRM Software Vendors

NetSuite / SYSPRO / Salesforce Service Cloud / Monday.com / SAP S/4HANA / OnePageCRM / Oracle ERP / Maximizer / Insightly / Act!

WH Score
8.7
SugarCRM

SugarCRM

39reviews
Starting Price:$49 per user / per month
At SugarCRM, we enable companies to build extraordinary customer relationships by delivering the most innovative products and services to understand and engage with customers. 
WH Score
8.7
Aquilon Software

Aquilon Software

13reviews
Starting Price:$175 per user / per month
Aquilon Software stands out as an ideal Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution for small to mid-sized businesses, especially in the manufacturing and distribution sectors. Its key strengths include:
WH Score
8.7
Pipedrive

Pipedrive

58reviews
Starting Price:$9.9 per user / per month
Pipedrive CRM is a powerful customer relationship management software designed to help businesses streamline their sales processes and close more deals. The software is packed with features that make it easy to manage and track leads, deals, and contacts, as well as automate tasks and stay on top of...
WH Score
8.7
PipelineDeals CRM

PipelineDeals CRM

46reviews
Starting Price:$25 per user / per month
PipelineDeals is a simple and very useful CRM software available in the cloud that you can use to manage, analyze and supervise sales opportunities and transactions. The system allows you to set goals, create forecasts, keep an eye on deadlines, and generate the important reports needed by sales man...
WH Score
8.7
Aptean

Aptean

58reviews
Starting Price:N/A
Aptean Enterprise Resource Planning Software is a product of the Aptean Corporation, a company formed in 2012 after the merging of CDC Software and Consona Corp. The highly customizable ERP solution is designed on a flexible framework that incorporates finance, manufacturing, and distribution functi...
WH Score
8.6
Zendesk Suite

Zendesk Suite

389reviews
Starting Price:$49 per user / per month
Zendesk Suite is an end-to-end customer relationship platform that combines help desk, voice and CX capabilities into one powerful application. AI is a key capability at Zendesk, offering users the ability to infuse intelligent automation across a variety of areas, from customer interactions to inte...
WH Score
8.6
Creatio

Creatio

27reviews
Starting Price:N/A
Creatio (formerly Bpm’online) is a premium vendor of process-driven software for marketing, sales, and service. Today, more than 6,500 organizations manage their customer-facing processes and deliver an amazing customer experience with our solutions.
WH Score
8.6
IFS

IFS

9reviews
Starting Price:N/A
IFS is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solution designed for large and medium-sized organizations. It provides a comprehensive suite of applications for various departments within a company, including finance, supply chain, manufacturing, and human resources. IFS offers on-premise and...
WH Score
8.6
Workbooks

Workbooks

19reviews
Starting Price:$0 per user / per month
A common need in professional services firms, for large and small, is the availability of information systems that enable the organization to minimize management effort. Workbooks CRM can automate lifecycle management in an integrated and agile way. It is integrated in that it allows users to easily...
WH Score
8.6
Keap

Keap

58reviews
Starting Price:$129 per contact / per month
Keap CRM is a customer relationship management (CRM) software designed specifically for small business owners. It helps to manage customer interactions, automate workflows, and provide insights for growth. 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Topics

Learn more about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

Are CRMs part of sales or marketing?

CRMs are characteristically designed to assist sales and service teams, as agents in these departments are in the frontlines of answering customer inquiries, or attending to complaints/feedback. While marketing teams may not directly use the core functionalities of CRMs, they may find value in accessing any inbuilt reporting and analytics tools, if available.

Additionally, marketing teams can assist other teams that do actively use CRMs, by configuring custom workflows in order to automate common tasks, implement customer self-service tools, or deliver personalized recommendations directly within the CRM – based on insights derived from reporting tools.

Is a CRM a database?

CRMs are based on customer databases, all of which are connected to one another. But a CRM is more than just a collection of databases; it's an entire system, complete with an easy-to-navigate user interface that allows sales and service teams to interact with prospects/customers. Additionally, CRM systems also offer analytics across all the information in the system so that you can analyze that data to spot opportunities, issues, or trends to inform your decision making. 

What is the difference between CRM and CDP?

Although CRMs and Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are both solutions that are utilized for customer engagement and management, there are key differences between each. The main difference between CRMs and CDPs, however, lies in their core functionalities; while CRMs are systems that offer sales and service teams a set of tools to interact with customers across any channel of their choice, CDPs build centralized customer profiles by ingesting, analysing and unifying customer data from multiple channels.

Typically, CDPs connect with CRMs, so business teams can obtain deep customer insights directly into the latter, via the former. This integration then helps teams to automate tasks, customize recommendations, and contextually interact with customers – directly from the CRM interface.

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