Bianca Caballero

Sales burnout is a combination of mental and emotional stress and unhappiness that can come from a job in sales, especially where compensation is performance-based. The key to managing sales burnout is implementing proactive solutions to prevent it or reactive solutions to reduce it. These strategies can be integrated into your sales plan or managed separately. Download our free Sales Team Mental Health Kit to gauge the mental well-being of your reps and consider the following eight strategies for reducing sales burnout and keeping your employees engaged and motivated. 1. Focus on Results, Not Time It’s not uncommon to find sales reps just sitting at their desks doing nothing and waiting for the clock to hit 5 p.m. when, in fact, that should never be the case. Most sales positions are highly measurable in terms of production and efficiency. This makes them one of the few functions of a business where you can enforce a system that focuses exclusively on results and not actual hours in the office. Create a sales environment that cares about how well team members perform and not how long they’re logged in or at the office. You can do this by setting sales quotas for each sales rep to hit on a short-term basis, such as daily or weekly. Then, upon completing the required activity or sales production, a rep can have the option to be done for the day or stay to exceed requirements and generate more commission. This motivates sales employees to stay focused on hitting their activity numbers and keeps them excited to do so because they are free to leave early or able to earn more. As part of this strategy, it’s crucial to continuously monitor that activity is being completed and to set challenging-but-achievable goals. Customer relationship management (CRM) systems like have built-in reporting tools that allow you to track and view sales activity between individual reps and sales teams. 2. Create a Healthy Work/Life Balance Culture Show that your business prioritizes mental health by creating a culture that facilitates a healthy work/life balance. One way to do this is by offering sufficient paid time off (PTO) and flexible work schedules. Moreover, the organizational policies of companies offering PTO should stipulate a mandatory vacation minimum that requires employees to take a certain amount of time off throughout the year. This helps to prevent and avoid burnout. Flexibility in work hours can also extend to the workspace, such as giving employees who can do so the option to work from home on an occasional or routine basis. Creating this type of culture even helps prevent burnout caused by non-workplace situations. More time away from the office means more time with their families, other obligations, and hobbies. 3. Outsource Non-sales Activities When Possible Many activities within sales, such as research, cold calling, and sending emails, can be outsourced or contracted out. Doing so gives your reps valuable time back for the most profitable activities. Find the stages in your sales pipeline you can afford to have handled by an outside firm or freelancers. For instance, many businesses use third-party contact data providers to gather information about leads. They can then pass off a list of likely qualified leads so sales reps don’t have to spend time doing prospect research. For example, is a business-to-business (B2B) lead database service that lets you purchase contact lists for your reps to pursue. These contacts can be filtered by location, job title, and industry. There are also telemarketing and qualified lead generation services that will do cold calling on behalf of your team to set up sales appointments and demos. By taking this route, you allow your sales reps to focus exclusively on sales presentations, lead nurturing, proposals, and closing deals. Two reputable telemarketing service providers to consider are and . Quality Contact Solutions is particularly attractive because of the pricing models they offer. Clients can choose between hourly and performance-based—or a hybrid of the two. Strategic Calls is best if your business targets business-to-business (B2B) executives such as CEOs or chief finance, marketing, or technical officers. They also incorporate multiple follow-ups and call analysis to determine the next best steps. 4. Automate Your Sales Process Similar to outsourcing certain types of sales activities, automation through software tools can also be implemented to reduce the strain on your team. Many sales introduction and lead nurturing activities can be automated through activity-specific tools or features available in your CRM platform. , for instance, lets you manage email, social media, and online advertising campaigns. These campaigns can be deployed automatically, allowing you to create awareness with leads or remain connected to them. This allows your sales team to focus primarily on building relationships and closing deals. Email campaigns can also be managed in your CRM system. For example, lets you design and deploy automated email campaigns that can be sent to your leads as cold emails or a nurturing tactic. You’ll be able to see which leads opened and engaged with your emails. You can use them to drive traffic to landing pages where interested prospects send other buying signals, like filling out a web form or signing up for a free trial. Another time-consuming task that can easily be automated is phone number dialing, such as in cold calling sales campaigns. You can save your sales reps valuable time by using power dialing tools that auto-dial for you based on your preset contact list. offers built-in power dialing tools that integrate with their native CRM software . Sales reps can easily lose time scheduling appointments and managing calendars with all the back and forth required to find a mutually agreeable time slot. Tools like automate appointment scheduling and calendar management. Your rep can provide a link to Calendly to their leads via email, text, social media, or a website landing page. The prospect can then find an appointment time that works for them and schedule the meeting, and the event is automatically synced to your agents’ calendars. 5. Invest in Professional Development It’s essential to find ways to show employees that while you care about their productivity in their respective roles, you also want to help them develop and grow professionally. Investing in professional development could include putting sales reps in sales training programs, leadership courses, and executive training programs. You could also give them schedule flexibility and tuition reimbursement to pursue degrees. This gives them a chance to spend time away from their usual day-to-day sales activities while learning something new and valuable. An environment that encourages education and growth, specifically when it comes to leadership programs, motivates sales personnel. It shows them what their future may hold if they stick to their current route. It also increases employee loyalty and retention, and can be impactful in helping your business attract and hire top talent. 6. Clearly Define & Praise Sales Success Mental distress can easily be a result of employees not knowing whether or not they’re performing well. That’s why it’s key to set clear, measurable standards for the sales activities and production you expect them to complete each day, week, month, and quarter. In addition, make sure high performance is acknowledged through recognition and praise. If employees feel they are working hard and producing but not getting the recognition they deserve, they could become unmotivated. Showing praise can be done during team meetings or through software tools, such as sales gamification platforms. For example, offers sales gamification software that improves workplace satisfaction by rewarding and recognizing performance. Users can send praise in the form of “Woos” or reward high performers with gift cards. 7. Plan Company Outings A mundane work schedule day in and day out can drain a sales employee’s energy and motivation. An excellent way to change it up and have some fun with your sales team is through events outside the office, such as team-building exercises and company outings. This could be any non-work type of event, such as bowling, team dinners, paintballing, or escape room outings. Make sure these events take place during regular business hours since the purpose is to recharge your team by changing up the routine and environment. Friday afternoons are often slower times for a sales operation, so they could be the ideal time to schedule a company outing without sacrificing production. 8. Encourage Open Discussions The environment and culture you build in your sales operation directly impact whether employees feel comfortable speaking up. Essentially, you want to find ways to encourage sales reps to come forward if they are feeling burned out and want assistance. Open discussions are best facilitated through one-on-one sessions between sales reps and their coaches, mentors, or sales managers. Conduct these sessions regularly to spot sales burnout before it takes place. However, it’s also ideal to have discussions if you spot irregularities in a person, e.g., burnout symptoms such as irritation and isolation (we discuss these in more depth below). During the discussion, narrow in on the root cause of their mental fatigue or stress to implement one of the strategies to neutralize it. If you spot early signs of burnout in some reps, consult with your human resources department on how you can help them. There are also some organizations like that offer programs for maintaining and improving the mental health of your sales team. Sales Job Burnout Causes, Symptoms & Risks According to a report from Sales Health Alliance and UNCrushed, more than three-fourths of salespeople (76%) feel stressed. That shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the fast-paced, high-pressure sales environment. Click through the tabs below to learn about the causes, symptoms, and risks of sales burnout. Find out how much mental health costs your sales team’s performance by using our Sales Mental Health Cost Calculator. Bottom Line Sales burnout is an issue commonly experienced by people in sales roles. This causes turnover and a lack of team motivation, resulting in poor sales performance for the organization. It most often results from a lack of effective sales leaders or operational resources, as well as a poorly established sales culture that prioritizes time over results. Prevent sales burnout before it happens or remedy it if it occurs by incorporating these strategies and fostering a balanced culture. You can also utilize CRM software like to automate your sales process to lessen the strain on your team.

Less Annoying CRM is one of our top recommended simple customer relationship management (CRM) systems for managing leads and opportunities. We evaluated this provider, and it scored well in pricing, general features, and ease of use. It received slightly lower scores for niche features and expert ratings because it lacks built-in tools, such as those for marketing and appointment setting. It also scored lower in customer service because it does not offer a live chat service channel or 24/7 support. Less Annoying CRM is a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system that allows small businesses to manage their contacts, leads, notes, calendars, and tasks. It also comes with email logging, data import and export, and basic reporting features. This platform is best for small teams looking for a simple, low-cost CRM solution. Less Annoying CRM Deciding Factors Less Annoying CRM Alternatives If this platform doesn’t meet your business needs, below are some highly rated Less Annoying CRM competitors to consider: *Based on annual billing; monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates Less Annoying CRM pricing earned a score of 4.5 out of 5. Its pricing scheme consists of a single plan that costs $15 per user, per month for smaller teams. This package includes contact management, calendar, and task management, as well as lead and pipeline management. It does not offer an annual billing option. While there is no cap on the number of users, the provider recommends an enterprise plan with customized pricing for teams with more than 10 users. You may also request a demo or sign up for a 30-day free trial to explore the platform’s capabilities. Less Annoying CRM Features In this Less Annoying CRM review, we gave this platform a perfect score for its general features. It offers basic tools for managing your contacts, customer relationships, calendar, and tasks. You can view and edit your contacts, notes, files, tasks, events, and sales pipeline from a single screen. Your team’s events and tasks are also visible on one calendar. Moreover, you can add as many users as you want, plus you can customize the access and permission settings of each user. This platform scored 3.75 out of 5 for its specialized features. It offers tools for lead scoring, workflow automation, and field customization. It also has CRM templates for various industries, including sales, consultants, insurance agents, and nonprofits. However, it does not have built-in features for marketing and appointment management. Third-party Integrations This CRM software has native integration with Google Calendar, Google Contacts, Outlook Calendar, and Mailchimp. This means you can sync your data with these apps without paying an additional fee. You may need application programming interface (API) access to integrate your CRM with other software. Based on our review, this program got a score of 3.13 out of 5 for its customer service because of the absence of a live chat service channel and 24/7 support. It offers free email and phone support for its users from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Central Time on weekdays. In addition, it conducts employee training via phone or online meetings. You can also contact its support team using the online form on the website. For common concerns on the features and integrations of the Less Annoying CRM app, take advantage of its collections of resources and articles from its help center. If you need in-depth account reviews or demos, you may schedule a consultation with them via . Less Annoying CRM lives up to its name by providing users with a simple interface that is easy to navigate. It also comes with a short learning curve, so you don’t need to spend extra time just to train your team on how to use it. Still, it offers online resources you can refer to whenever you have questions about its features and functionalities. These are the reasons it earned a perfect score for ease of use. Most of the users who posted Less Annoying CRM reviews online love its ease of use, intuitive interface, and affordability. According to them, it provides an easy and efficient way to organize contacts and customer communications. They also find Less Annoying CRM cost to be affordable and practical. While it does not offer live chat support, users praised the quality of its customer service team, saying the support team is prompt and helpful in responding to their requests. As of this writing, it has garnered the following scores from popular review sites: Capterra: 4.8 out of 5 based on 507 reviews G2: 4.9 out of 5 based on 521 reviews Featured Customers: 4.7 out of 5 based on 1,796 reviews One of the common points for improvement users mentioned in Less Annoying CRM reviews is its lack of reporting and dashboard customization options. It currently allows you to generate basic activity and lead reports. While it lacks a mobile app, users mentioned they could easily open and navigate it from both desktop and mobile web browsers. Methodology: How We Evaluated Less Annoying CRM To evaluate this program against other CRM software, we test each system ourselves. We examined crucial areas, such as pricing, core CRM features, quality of customer support, and ease of use. We also looked at recent CRM ratings about this platform from credible review sites. Click through the tabs below for our Less Annoying CRM evaluation criteria: Bottom Line provides users with a web-based CRM with powerful contact, lead, pipeline, calendar, and task management capabilities. It is an ideal choice for individual users and small to midsize businesses needing a user-friendly, low-cost CRM solution. Try a live demo or sign up for a 30-day free trial to find out if this is the right fit for your business.

Sales training programs are courses, seminars, tutorials, certifications, or simulations designed to improve the techniques and skills of salespeople. Through videos, class lectures, workbooks, role-play, and one-on-one coaching, the best sales training programs improve your team’s sales strategies, foster high performance, and increase your company’s sales. We’ve identified the 17 best options, plus tips to help you maximize your return on investment. Below is an overview of the best sales training opportunities, including focus, price, and duration: Top Sales Training Programs & Courses Best General Sales Training Programs These sales programs are designed for newer reps who want to gain a broad knowledge of the sales realm. They are also suited for experienced reps who wish to attend refresher training courses for sales to reinforce what they already know. General sales training includes all types of sales topics, including sales communication, sales goals, and creating and delivering a sales pitch. Best Prospecting & Inbound Sales Training Programs These training programs are both for handling outbound sales prospecting as well as managing inbound sales leads. The programs include a wide variety of topics, including communicating with prospects, identifying and prioritizing high-quality prospects, setting meetings with prospects, closing deals, and tips for calling prospects. Best Sales Process Training Programs Sales process training focuses on getting leads through the sales funnel or pipeline and into purchasing positions. These training programs focus on process-related aspects such as creating an optimized sales process, streamlining sales strategies, and getting more qualified leads Best Selling Methodology Training Programs These training programs are meant to help improve sales results using the respective training methodology or specialized sales techniques for business-to-business (B2B) selling. These are more appropriate for experienced sales reps looking to add new sales methods to their knowledge base. However, they can also aid any sales rep whose sales process routinely involves identifying and overcoming prospect objections. Best Sales Management Training Programs These sales management training programs are designed for managers or executives who oversee sales teams or departments or manage sales-oriented businesses. Within these programs are learning opportunities for strategizing and running a sales operation. They also cover recruiting, onboarding, and training sales reps. Maximize the Value of Sales Training Programs Signing up and participating in sales training courses isn’t enough to gain valuable insights and improve sales performance. You and your team must come prepared and exert proven learning behaviors to maximize the training’s value. Be fully present: When attending sales training classes in person or online, ensure you and your team are fully paying attention by taking notes and participating in the conversation. Come rested, dedicate time, and minimize distractions to learn as much as possible. Be open and eager to learn: Sales training is an opportunity for reps at all levels to learn new skills and techniques that can dramatically improve performance. So, be open to the dialogue and lessons. Review any notes taken during the modules and complete the take-home materials assigned. Quickly apply what you learned: One of the best ways to retain information is to apply what you learn as soon as possible. For example, the SPIN Selling course teaches you how to use questions to better identify and fulfill prospect needs. Try using the techniques the next time you speak with a prospect. Measure results and adjust when needed: Evaluate whether or not you see improvements in the areas you want to enhance after completing sales training. If not, reinforce training through supplemental methods. These are offered by the programs in the form of videos and workbooks. You can also practice sales skills as a team through role-playing and coaching. Bottom Line The most effective sales training programs improve your team’s ability to meet and achieve sales goals, in turn increasing your company’s bottom line with more leads, conversions, and sales. You can further identify and impact areas that need improvement through specific sales topic training. Sales managers can also gain new insights into not only sales training and coaching, but also the hiring, onboarding, and retaining of talented sales professionals.

Sales follow-up can be daunting for salespeople, especially after they have made the initial contact and are now waiting for a customer to respond. However, there are data and insights that can guide you on how and when to make the next contact. Using this data as a reference helps ensure your follow-up messaging and techniques are effective. Here are 20 sales follow-up statistics you need to know in 2023. Sales Follow-up Cadence Statistics When you include a sales cadence in your sales management strategy, you provide reps with a foundation for how to follow up on customers. The following sales follow-up statistics will guide your team on the appropriate number of customer touchpoints, the right time, and the best communication channels to use when engaging with buyers. 1. The ideal sales cadence based on replies is six touches within three weeks with follow-ups spaced out three or four days apart. Takeaway: Waiting more than four days to follow up decreases your chance of getting a response. To ensure your sales emails don’t fall through the cracks, automate your email marketing campaigns based on the cadence you have established. The recipients will also be automatically removed from the send list once they reply or set a meeting with you. (Source: Yesware) 2. The best time of the day to send a sales follow-up email is from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., followed by 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Takeaway: There is a marked incline in reply and open rates after breakfast and lunch time. While it’s a good idea to test out different times to see what works best, you can schedule your follow-ups based on this data. (Source: Yesware) 3. On average, you get a 25% email reply rate if you follow up within 24 hours of the initial outreach. Takeaway: Based on this data, it pays to “strike while the iron is hot” because the reply rate drops to below 5% if you follow up one to three days after the initial outreach. Promptly after the initial outreach or a discovery meeting, send a follow-up email with a welcome or thank-you message. Show prospects you care about their needs by offering to answer any questions they might have about your company, product, or service. (Source: Yesware) Sales Follow-up Activity Statistics Sales follow-up stats that relate to rep activity provide sales team leaders with insights into behaviors that contribute to success for top performers. They also highlight the factors in sales that reps can directly control or influence. Below, we list stats involving what top performers are doing differently from average or underperforming sales reps. 4. 81.6% of salespeople who spend 4 or more hours daily on sales-related activities enjoy their job more. Takeaway: Salespeople who engage in more sales activities have greater chances of succeeding. The sense of satisfaction that they get from their job stems from this success. So, if you want to enjoy your job more, spend more time engaging in activities that help you achieve your sales quota. These activities include prospecting, creating proposals, attending sales meetings, conducting sales presentations, generating sales reports, and sending follow-up emails. (Source: Sales Insights Lab) 5. Only 7% of top sales performers pitch their services, while 19% of under-performers do so. Takeaway: Under-performers in sales tend to do a lot more pitching, while the top performers focus more on engaging their prospects in conversation. To engage your customers, find out what they need and offer a solution to their challenges. Instead of just trying to sell a product, you could recommend a certain item based specifically on what they are looking for. (Source: Sales Insights Lab) 6. It takes an average of 8 touches to generate a conversion, but top performers can do it with an average of just 5 touches. Takeaway: Better targeting, messaging, and value offers leads to more conversions. In other words, you can achieve more with less effort. Instead of blindly reaching out to 100 leads, you can narrow down your recipients to those who are most likely to make a purchase. Use your customer relationship management (CRM) software’s lead qualification and lead scoring features to automate this process. (Source: Rain Group) 7. Sales professionals spend 27% of their time actually selling, with more time on administrative & other non-selling duties. Takeaway: Conducting non-selling duties may sound counterintuitive. However, the same data also indicates that effective sellers are spending more time using technology to research their buyers before a follow-up. So, instead of blindly reaching out to decision-makers, they focus more on the prospects who are most likely to make a purchase. (Source: LinkedIn) Buyer Behavior Statistics Sales follow-up stats relating to buyer behavior help you predict how your buyers will act in certain situations. This data enables you to identify new opportunities to connect with customers before your competitors do. They also help you market your product or service more effectively by giving you a better understanding of how buyers think and make purchase decisions. Keep these stats in mind next time you make a follow-up sales call. 8. 82% of buyers will consider accepting meetings with sellers who reach out to them. Takeaway: For salespeople, it is often difficult to successfully schedule a meeting with buyers, but it is not impossible. Those who are persistent enough to follow up with their customers will eventually succeed in setting a meeting. (Source: Rain Group) 9. 71% of buyers who accept meetings want to hear from sellers during the early stages of their buying process. Takeaway: In the early stages of the buying process, buyers are still forming ideas on how to improve their business and are looking for a solution to fix a problem. Take advantage of their interest in your product or service during these stages by getting in touch with them. When drafting follow-up templates, make sure you offer them the best possible solution to their needs. (Source: Rain Group) 10. Need (75%) & budget (64%) are the top factors that contribute to whether a buyer connects with sellers. Takeaway: Buyers may not be aware that they need your offering, but they may want the benefits that your product or service can provide. This is why salespeople must educate buyers and explore ways to connect their goals to what you are offering. When it comes to budget, buyers usually say they do not have the budget for your offering. However, they would often invest in your offering when they are inspired by a good opportunity. (Source: Rain Group) 11. 61% of buyers with a pre-existing relationship with a provider are likely to connect with a rep. Takeaway: Buyers who have previously bought from your company are more likely to open their doors once again to you. Take advantage of this previous connection to continue providing them with what they need. You can also go beyond that by upselling and cross-selling. (Source: Rain Group) 12. 45% of dissatisfied customers open their doors to another provider. Takeaway: There are buyers who are actually dissatisfied with their current provider but may not know that there are better options. During follow-ups, make sure that you show them the full features and benefits of your product or service to demonstrate that a better solution exists. (Source: Rain Group) Contact Method Statistics There are customers who prefer being contacted by sales reps via phone for follow-ups. Others prefer using non-voice channels, such as email and live chat. With several types of communication channels available, it can be difficult to determine which one is best for your company. Take a look at the sales follow-up stats below to see which channels are the most preferred and used by reps and customers. 13. The top preferred contact channel of buyers is email (66%), followed by live in-person events (35%) & social networking sites (34%). Takeaway: Salespeople could schedule more of their follow-ups via email, live events, and social media. When you follow up with buyers via their preferred channel, you are most likely to elicit a positive response from them. (Source: LinkedIn) 14. Cold calling is the method of communication least preferred by buyers. Takeaway: Only 21% of buyers want to be contacted via cold calls. However, it doesn’t mean salespeople should skip it altogether. You can also use this method for follow-ups, but it is best to apply the best timing and cadence for cold call attempts to reach a prospect. (Source: LinkedIn) 15. Salespeople use email to connect with buyers 78% of the time & phone calls 70% of the time. Takeaway: Salespeople use email and phone calls the most when attempting to connect with their customers because they are the most effective. That said, it is best to plan your sales follow-ups using email and phone as your main communication channels. (Source: Rain Group) 16. Social media comments (24%) & text messages (27%) are the channels least used by salespeople in connecting with their customers. Takeaway: Only a few salespeople use social media comments and text messages to reach out to their customers because they are the least effective. You can focus on leveraging social media platforms for social selling and marketing instead of sales follow-ups. When doing follow-ups, it is best to send personalized messages via email or a phone call. (Source: Rain Group) Sales Follow-up Content Statistics The content of follow-up messages is just as important as the channel being used to deliver them. There are certain topics that can help open up doors to business-to-business (B2B) sales opportunities. Read the follow-up statistics below to gather some idea on what you should discuss with customers during your next touchpoint. 17. 68% of buyers are unlikely to connect with a seller who presents information irrelevant to their business. Takeaway: Buyers are more likely to consider connecting with a brand if sellers reach out to them with information that is relevant to their job or business. That said, a salesperson ought to do some research first about their buyer before reaching out or doing a follow-up call. You can also use the email subject line to give the buyer an idea about the topic you are presenting. (Source: LinkedIn) 18. Content with insights relevant to a business (69%) & those that include a description of a provider’s capabilities (67%) attract buyers the most. Takeaway: Buyers want to see content that includes a combination of primary research data relevant to their business and a description of what you can do for them. These are the top factors in content that can influence buyers to accept a meeting with you. (Source: Rain Group) 19. The most effective type of content is the one that is 100% customized to their situation. This is followed by best practices in their area of expertise. Takeaway: When sending follow-up content, remember that 69% of executive-level buyers are influenced by content that includes primary research data relevant to their business. In addition, 55% of this group loves to know what works and what doesn’t in their area of expertise. Top-performing sellers have more robust B2B sales when they use this messaging to connect with buyers. (Source: Rain Group) 20. Only 37% of sellers send customized content to executive-level buyers & 33% use best practices methodology in their messaging. Takeaway: Most sellers focus on client testimonials and insights on the use of their product or service. While these are the most common types of content salespeople use for this particular audience, they are not the most effective. If you want to be among the top performers, start incorporating customized content and best practices into your content for this particular audience. (Source: Rain Group) Bottom Line Top performers in sales always consider the principles and practices that work best, based on follow-up sales data. Use the data in this article as a reference when you’re planning or creating your follow-up communications and content. Keeping abreast of the latest trends helps ensure your messaging is effective and you’re giving your buyers the information they are looking for.

Open source customer relationship management (CRM) software lets organizations take a system’s source code and tailor it to their functionality and modular needs. Though it requires a higher level of technical knowledge to develop, businesses ensure the system will offer and integrate with everything they desire to fulfill their CRM objectives. We evaluated dozens of paid and free open source software and identified the top six options: : Best overall open source CRM; ideal for sales teams looking for the best lead management capabilities : Best scalable open source CRM for small businesses and startups : Great choice for teams looking for an all-in-one open source CRM solution : Top open source CRM plan for businesses wanting automation features : Excellent pick for teams wanting the most robust email and website marketing tools : Great option for nonprofit organizations and advocacy groups Not what you are looking for? Read our guide to the best CRMs for small businesses, or explore our list of the top CRM providers for startups. Best Open Source CRM Platforms Compared *Based on annual billing; monthly pricing is available at slightly higher rates **Annual billing only; pricing is based on the current exchange rate as of the date the article was written (October 2022) OroCRM: Overall Best Open Source CRM *Only monthly billing option is available is our top recommendation for open source CRM platforms because of its ease of use, excellent feature inclusions in the free version, and 24/7 customer support. It allows businesses to manage many of their sales and marketing activities, such as tasks, calls, and calendar events. A free open source version for small businesses is available to the public. It also has an Enterprise plan, adding features for managing different teams, territories, and other organizations. The easy-to-use lead and profile management capabilities stand out the most for this product. Users can organize, score, and filter out leads based on preset criteria and desired data fields. There’s also data enrichment and a full, 360-degree view of leads, accounts, and customers to see their information and interaction history. Lastly, you can track their journey through the sales pipeline and engage with leads and customers through email marketing tools. Unlike some of the other CRMs on this list, OroCRM only offers sales and marketing features in the CRM system. You must purchase separate Oro products to access other modules like ecommerce and marketplace management. is an ideal alternative with pick-and-choose apps for other business functions to go with its CRM platform. is also a solid option if you’re looking for an alternative with sales, marketing, customer service, project management, and inventory features. OroCRM Plan Summary OroCRM Features Lead management: Tools for tracking, collecting, and enriching lead and customer data as well as monitoring sales pipeline progress, and includes a 360-degree holistic view of a profile Reporting and analytics: Comprehensive insights on key performance indicators (KPIs) and performance on the CRM dashboard and reporting layouts Multi-unit overview: Ability to track multiple business units or segmented teams through territory management or multi-organization view modules Account management: Full view of customers and interaction history with merging and auto-syncing data to prevent duplicates OroCRM Customer Support OroCRM offers 24/7 support on all channels 365 days per year for Enterprise-level users. There are also plenty of online resources available to all users. These include product documentation, user guides, and access to the found on the website. Odoo: Best for CRM Scalability *Based on annual billing; monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates **One-time fees is a robust, comprehensive open source system dedicated to helping businesses fulfill finance, sales, human resources, website, customer service, and marketing functions. Users can access standout modules, including inventory management, manufacturing, and productivity assistance apps with voice-over-internet-protocol (VoIP) and approval process tools. This CRM is the best on the list for the scalability of modules and features, as businesses only pay for the modules they need and do so on a per-user, per month basis. This allows them to slowly add on what they need to fulfill their business objectives based on how many users they have at that time. Odoo only allows cloud or self-hosting options on the free plan, meaning you get the environment and infrastructure to construct your system but not the actual CRM applications to perform activities and tasks. is a better alternative that allows up to 10 users on its free plan, which includes functional apps like sales and project management. is also a good choice that offers both downloadable and cloud hosted options. Odoo Plan Summary Odoo Features Sales module: CRM, sales quotations, point-of-sale (POS), subscription management, and rental processing apps Marketing module: Marketing automation, email marketing, SMS (short message service) marketing, social marketing, event management, and survey management apps Service module: Project management, time sheet, field service management, help desk, planning, and appointment scheduling apps Website module: Website builder, ecommerce, blogging platform, community forum, learning management system (LMS), and live chat apps Finance module: Accounting, invoicing, expense management, document management, and e-signature apps Inventory & Manufacturing module: Inventory management, material requirements planning (MRP), product lifecycle management (PLM), purchase orders, maintenance, and quality management apps Human Resources module: Employee management, recruitment management, leave management, appraisals, referral program, and fleet management apps Productivity module: Group and private chat, approvals management, Internet of Things (IoT) Box, and VoIP apps Customization tool: Odoo Studio (for creating and customizing apps) Extra integrations: Additional third-party integrations with DHL, UPS, USPS, and FedEx, along with an eBay and Amazon connector and VoIP integrations Odoo Customer Support Odoo has plenty of online documentation, tutorials, and education programs developers can use to create their ideal CRM. Users can schedule one-hour appointments with experts during standard business hours. You can also access unlimited support 24/5 via live chat, email, or phone. Additional charges apply for implementation services, which include project management, business needs analysis, data import, customizations, developments, and training. Small companies with a maximum of 50 employees usually work directly with Odoo using Success Packs, detailed in the table below. Mid-size and large companies with more than 50 employees are advised to work with an Odoo partner that offers local project management services. Learn more about how this platform’s rich feature set by reading our in-depth Odoo review. Vtiger: Best All-in-one Open Source CRM *Based on annual billing; monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates is an all-in-one, open source solution for businesses looking for sales, marketing, project management, help desk, and inventory management capabilities. There are also options to only pay for what you need if you want to use one of the modular applications. For instance, if you just wanted the sales features, you could subscribe only to the Sales module for slightly less per month. This open source CRM software offers a great freemium option that includes most sales, marketing, and project management features. The paid plans start at $20 per user, monthly, and users can access an array of modular capabilities for system customization and automation of sales, marketing, and service activities. One downside of Vtiger is the work order management features that are part of the desk management app are only available on the Enterprise level plan. This feature is particularly useful for contractors who need to monitor maintenance jobs. is a better alternative with maintenance and field service add-ons for only $24 per user on a monthly basis. If you need features for managing nonprofits and political campaigns, consider using . Vtiger Plan Summary Vtiger Features Email marketing tools: List segmentation with email marketing capabilities that include an email template designer, reporting, and automated deployment Project management and team collaboration features: Full project management with tasks, milestones, and Gantt and Kanban views along with action and comments pages to collaborate with team members Help desk application: Customer service tools such as email-to-case, service level agreement (SLA) management, round-robin ticket assignment, and work order management Sales organization and automation: Contact and lead management with automated lead scoring, workflows, and document engagement Vtiger Customer Support Vtiger offers excellent customer service with 24/7 email support for free plan users. Paid plan users have access to 24/7 live chat and phone support across the globe. There’s also no shortage of online resources, such as webinars, tutorials, and e-books to assist open source developers and product users. You can also access the from its website. SuiteCRM: Best for Automation Capabilities *Annual billing only; pricing is based on the current exchange rate as of the date the article was written (October 2022) offers both free downloadable versions and paid cloud-based plans that support an unlimited number of users. This platform provides users with an ideal solution for completing, tracking, and reporting sales and marketing activities. You can store critical sales data within the system, design personas, and create marketing campaigns to engage them through email channels. The easily customizable automation features can be used to streamline the entire sales process and other workflows users want to complete automatically. You can also create condition-based data, tasks, notes, and meetings based on actions taken by a lead or contact. Users can configure email campaigns to target and retarget market segments. Plus, the CRM software offers automated reminders that send follow-ups to those you’ve sent invoices or quotes. Though advanced in features, SuiteCRM lacks usability attributes when setting up and navigating the interface. Its dashboard is not intuitive and has a tendency to lag whenever you click on a button. In addition, it is difficult to install on your own, especially if you don’t have coding experience. and are solid options for businesses that prioritize product usability. SuiteCRM Plan Summary SuiteCRM Features Sales automation features: Automated capabilities for sending quotes, completing tasks, sending emails, and logging information in the CRM system Reporting and analytics: Customizable reports and dashboards with analytics that can use data from any module Configuration Studio: Feature for customizing administrative privileges and the entire CRM platform for data fields, layouts, and modules Campaign marketing: Customer persona and segmented-based marketing, which allows for content creation, delivery, and automating of marketing tasks SuiteCRM Customer Support SuiteCRM offers 24/7 support through phone, email, and live chat. There are also robust user guides with excellent follow-along formats to learn how to operate many of the features. X2CRM: Best for Managing Marketing Campaigns *Based on annual billing; monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates gives users plenty of custom solutions for organizing contacts, leads, and opportunities. Its automation capabilities provide tons of options for types of triggers that can yield specific actions related to a record, task, or marketing campaign. These workflows are configurable through drag-and-drop as well. The marketing module of X2CRM deserves recognition for both its standard features, like email campaigns, as well as unique features, like A/B testing and visitor tracking. The email campaigns can serve long-term objectives and handle automated drip functions based on actions taken by the audience. For the website, teams can create landing pages and target content toward certain visitors, all while being able to capture leads. The most notable disadvantage of X2CRM is the high level of technical skill needed to set it up. and are the best CRM alternatives in the usability category for setting up, operating features, and navigating the interface. X2CRM Plan Summary X2CRM Features Email automation: Mass emailer designer with template storage and automated drip campaign options Website and content development: Landing page creator with website visitor tracking and the option to conduct A/B testing to optimize campaigns Workflow automation: Drag-and-drop workflow process automation with over 100 types of triggers and actions for managing records, tasks, and campaigns Quote management: Quote document designer with trackable proposals in real time with invoicing and product pricing centralization X2CRM Customer Support X2CRM has phone and email support during business hours Pacific Time. There are also plenty of user and reference guides available on the website. CiviCRM: Best for Nonprofits & Political Campaigns This open source CRM system was built as a project to help advocacy groups and nonprofits fulfill their mission. Most of the code is free to use, and lets organizations customize their modules to their needs while working in sync with , , or content management system (CMS) platforms. stands out for its features relevant to nonprofits. This includes modules for planning and executing events and campaign management for receiving and tracking donations. There’s also advocacy campaign management, which groups contributions, marketing, and events into one module, and basic CRM functionality for contact management and email marketing. Because it’s a specialty CRM system meant for advocacy groups, nonprofits, and political campaigns, this is not well-suited for traditional for-profit businesses. and are the best alternatives on this list for multifunctional management capabilities useful for a business. Consider using if you need a wide range of modular apps, such as finance, inventory management, and human resource management. CiviCRM Features Contact management: Contact overview, mapping, groups, tags, relationships, and activities with custom fields Email marketing: Email capabilities with list management as well as designing and distributing mass email campaigns Events management: Self-service registration capabilities, sign-up and attendance tracking, and promotion of events directly from the website Memberships: Component for defining, managing sign-ups, tracking, and reporting on members of an organization Accounting integrations: Back-end linking between accounting categories and the contribution pages to track account totals Case management: Case sequence tracking and management between personnel and contacts of an organization Advocacy campaigns: Modular grouping of events, mailing, and contributions into one system Contributions: Modular component that lets you accept and track donations as well as run fundraising campaigns and report results CiviCRM Customer Support The CiviCRM support system is unique because, given that it’s an open source civic project, support is given by its contributors, partners, and sponsors—as opposed to a dedicated in-house team. They technically offer 24/7 global assistance in 13 different languages depending on your specific service needs and which content management system you use. How We Evaluated Open Source CRMs for Small Business To determine the best CRMs for open source code, we looked at attributes relevant to custom designing a feature-rich CRM system, such as creating modules, customizing fields, and automating processes. Robust open source development should also allow users to manage multiple business functions like sales, marketing, projects, and customer service. Lastly, we evaluated general product characteristics such as price, ease of use, and customer support. After evaluating dozens of providers, we found that is the best overall choice as an open source option, with an overall score of 4.43 out of 5. This platform is easy to use, and offers both free open source and paid enterprise versions. In addition, it has excellent lead and profile management features with data enrichment and email marketing capabilities. The tabs below offer insight into our evaluation process of the best open source CRM tools: You May Also Like… Looking to tailor a CRM to your business but don’t have the development skills required for open source platforms? Check out our picks for the top customizable CRM options. Leverage your CRM system’s case management features to boost customer satisfaction. Follow our step-by-step guide on how to use a CRM for customer service. Looking for industry-specific CRM solutions? Check out this article to learn how to find a specialized CRM for your industry.

For business owners who run an ecommerce store, integrating customer relationship management (CRM) software with Shopify creates a seamless customer experience. The best Shopify CRM software allow you to better understand purchasing behaviors, market more effectively, and communicate with customers from your CRM through email, social media, and phone. We compared dozens of providers to find the seven best CRM-Shopify integration options based on cost, general and Shopify-specific features, ease of use, quality of support, and expert score. Check out each of the seven top Shopify-friendly CRM software platforms below and their best use cases: : Overall best choice for teams that need a CRM with omnichannel customer service tools : Best CRM for Shopify for teams wanting to build customized product sales workflows : Top choice for retailers who rely on email marketing : Best CRM that integrates with Shopify for businesses looking for multichannel engagement tools : Outstanding CRM for Shopify sellers wanting seamless access to ecommerce analytics : Best CRM for Shopify businesses that need robust marketing automation tools : Excellent choice for businesses wanting to use a single CRM platform for multiple Shopify stores Best Shopify CRM Software Compared *Pricing based on annual billing Take our quiz to find out which CRM can help your Shopify ecommerce store grow. Zendesk Sell: Overall Best Shopify CRM for Omnichannel Customer Service Communication *Pricing (per user, monthly) based on annual billing. Monthly billing is available at a higher cost. clinched the top spot in this guide because it has a dedicated app for Shopify and excellent features for lead and direct sales management. Its app helps streamline your sales reps’ work by uniting customer data from your CRM and on a single screen. This makes service more efficient because reps can access details on order information, billing, and shipping while they scroll through leads and deals. In addition, Zendesk Sell provides various omnichannel communication tools such as email, an in-app phone dialer, and SMS for convenient customer outreach. These tools are particularly useful for Shopify users who want to integrate their online store with a CRM system that offers channels that enable them to answer customer queries, facilitate requests, or address complaints while logging them in the CRM. Besides allowing users to manage diverse communication channels, Zendesk Sell also has reporting capabilities, covering several areas. These include sales forecasting, goal tracking, email campaign performance, call analytics, and agent performance. However, Zendesk Sell does not offer a free plan—unlike and . This platform also lacks the marketing tools users can get by subscribing to either or . Finally, lead scoring and workflow automations aren’t available at the lowest-cost tier, but both are available in the free version of Agile CRM. Zendesk Sell Plan Summary Zendesk Sell Key Features Prospect list building: Build targeted lead lists using industry, company size, and role, and automate outreach to leads on your lists with its integrated communications tools. Lead scoring: Define scoring formulas, such as level of engagement or job titles, to quickly prioritize which leads are most likely to convert into paying customers. Easy customer data access: Access relevant customer Shopify data such as order information, billing, and shipping within Zendesk Sell. Task automation: Create triggers to set tasks automatically and assign them to specific agents based on their expertise or availability. Shopify for Zendesk Sell: Allows sales reps to access relevant customer Shopify details such as orders, billing, and shipping to reduce context-switching. enables businesses to manage and optimize their sales processes through its excellent lead management capabilities, mobile application, and communication tools. It also has an advanced mobile CRM application and a user-friendly interface. To learn more about its features and functionalities, read our Zendesk Sell review. HubSpot CRM: Best Shopify CRM for Custom Product Workflows *Monthly pricing based on annual billing. Monthly billing is available at a higher cost. The and Shopify integration enables the creation of custom workflows by analyzing customers’ interactions with your site, products, and deals. For example, it can customize a workflow when a customer scans your online store but does not make a purchase. The system can trigger abandoned cart email nurturing, smart “calls to action” (CTAs) in content, and product-specific re-engagement ads. In addition, once you connect to HubSpot CRM, ecommerce reports will also be added to your account. This allows you to generate reports that track orders and customer engagement, such as average order value, best sellers, low-performing products, and abandoned carts. However, HubSpot CRM’s free plan lacks data-backed insights for email campaigns (unlike ). Furthermore, higher-tier plans are relatively expensive, which makes it a drawback for small businesses that are steadily growing and startups planning to scale quickly. For more budget-friendly options across pricing plans, consider using or . HubSpot CRM Sales Hub Plan Summary HubSpot CRM Key Features Email marketing: Excellent email marketing tools for users who need to send professional-looking marketing emails to expand their customer base. Task management: Set up a series of follow-up tasks to better manage multiple clients and projects. Sales and lead prospecting: See when leads visit your website in real time and determine which prospects are the most engaged so sales agents know who to prioritize. Live chat: Communicate with your Shopify store visitors in real time using live chat. Shopify integration with HubSpot CRM: Analyze Shopify data (average order value, lifetime order value, and abandoned cart recovery), segment contacts based on products, automate ecommerce campaigns, and automatically sync products, contacts, and orders from Shopify to HubSpot CRM. Upgrade your growth strategy with new tactics like abandoned cart email nurturing, smart CTAs in content, product-specific re-engagement ads, and much more. You'll also have the full capabilities of HubSpot at your fingertips to build a brand and voice that’ll help you stand out. HubSpot CRM provides you with tools for creating workflows to automate your marketing, sales, and service processes. Check out our comprehensive HubSpot CRM review to learn about other ways that this platform can help your business grow. Mailchimp: Best CRM for Shopify With Robust Email Marketing Tools *Only monthly billing option is available **Starting price for 500 contacts is one of the leading email marketing tools in the market that integrates easily with . This CRM integration helps you to market more effectively to prospects and customers using custom and prebuilt audience segments. Based on audience segmentation, you can send various types of marketing emails. These include prospect offers, new subscriber welcomes, coupons and time-limited deals, order updates, and repeat buyer rewards. Mailchimp’s email marketing tool is guided by its Customer Journey Builder, which helps users send relevant content based on customers’ actions and behavior. These are helpful when sending abandoned cart reminders to potential buyers or winning back inactive customers with promotional emails. It also allows you to create emails with personalized suggestions based on the purchase history of your customers with relevant product recommendations. Since Mailchimp is not a traditional CRM, it does not offer deal and sales pipeline management tools. Another major setback is its pricing model—the cost adds up quickly as your subscribers, contacts, and emails increase. However, with effective email marketing, your return on investment may be well worth the expense. If you want a CRM tool with fundamental CRM features, we recommend subscribing to . Meanwhile, if you need a more affordable allocation for emails and contacts, your best option is . Mailchimp Plan Summary Mailchimp Key Features Customer lifetime value: Historical data provides analysis of purchase behavior, which then allows you to create customer segments based on how likely they are to spend, enabling you to gain insights to reward VIPs or bring occasional buyers back. Contact profiles: Helps users understand their contacts on a deeper level by allowing them to check individual contact profiles and get insights from their actions—like whether they took advantage of past promotions, which devices they used, or what products they purchased. Subject line helper: An interactive tool that provides feedback on word and character count, as well as emojis and punctuation to use to help users draft catchy and effective email subject lines. Split testing: Allows you to test up to three email variations for a campaign, including elements like subject lines, images, layouts, and time and day of the week sent. Shopify integration: Features you can access through this integration include prebuilt segments, audience dashboard, drag-and-drop email templates, social post scheduling, real-time revenue reporting, A/B testing, and marketing campaigns. offers email marketing, basic contact management, surveys, and social posting functionalities. It provides a range of plans for small businesses that give them access to an extensive template library, making it easy to create professional-looking email marketing emails for their business. Learn more by reading our article on how to use Mailchimp for email marketing. Freshmarketer: Best CRM for Shopify for Multichannel Customer Engagement *Pricing (per user, monthly) based on annual billing; monthly billing is available at a higher cost. is a marketing automation suite that natively integrates with . This makes it easier for ecommerce businesses to engage with their customers using email, SMS (short message service), WhatsApp, live chat, and custom bots. You can further expand your marketing efforts using its segmented multichannel campaigns, cart abandonment reminders, drag-and-drop email templates, and predesigned landing pages. This platform seamlessly integrates with other apps within the ecosystem, such as customer service management app and sales force automation software . These integrations allow you to close the gap between your sales, marketing, and service departments. You can sync contacts between these apps in real time to help improve the tracking of customer journeys and lead conversion. Unfortunately, Freshmarketer does not have built-in tools for order management and payment processing. , on the other hand, offers customizable quotes across all plans and payment solutions for all paid plans. Meanwhile, allows you to create contracts, orders, quotes, products, and price books when you subscribe to its Professional plan at $75 per user, per month. Freshmarketer Plan Summary Freshmarketer Key Features Conversion rate optimization (CRO): Features for identifying problems, attracting quality leads, and improving website performance include personalized website sections, A/B testing, split testing, heatmaps, session replay, funnel analysis, form analytics, journey analytics, and polls and feedback. Multichannel engagement: Create personalized engagement with your subscribers using the drag-and-drop email builder, email campaigns, Subscriber Preference Center, web forms, , , , triggered messages, in-app messages, and chatbots. Automation: Automation features for a seamless experience include website tracking, transactional emails, predictive contact scoring, journey builder, custom flows, auto-resolve chat, and IntelliAssign (auto-assignment of messages to agents based on skill level). Segmentation: Features that help you understand your contacts’ behavior include marketing lists, customer segmentation, event tracking, auto-profile enrichment, and offline event tracking. Reporting and analytics: Monitor your marketing performance using standard reports, email campaign metrics, key marketing analytics, and custom reports and dashboards. Native integration: Attract, engage, and nurture your Shopify customers using Freshmarketer’s segmented campaigns, email templates, multichannel communication (WhatsApp, SMS, email, and chat), event tracking, and Shopify Playbooks. Check out our comprehensive Freshsales review to learn more about its features and how it seamlessly integrates with Freshmarketer to streamline your sales and marketing processes. Metrilo: Best Shopify CRM for Ecommerce Analytics Access *Monthly pricing based on annual billing; monthly billing is available at a higher cost. is an ecommerce CRM equipped with robust analytics tools to monitor and evaluate Shopify store performance. It does this by tracking marketing campaign performance, engagement metrics, and sales attribution. The CRM-Shopify integration allows sellers to monitor marketing channels, referrals, influencers, and coupon codes easily to better optimize their marketing spending and allocate budgets on channels that bring in the most revenue. Metrilo’s ecommerce platform includes analytics tools that provide a detailed overview of your store’s income sources, including revenue from new versus returning customers, social media leads, and country and city of purchase. The platform also offers product analysis reports so you know how your products perform in terms of views, purchases, and cart abandonment. The most significant disadvantage of Metrilo is its pricing scheme. While larger teams can make it work because of its unlimited user allocation, it can be expensive for startups and small businesses that keep costs down with per-user subscriptions. The best CRM for Shopify alternatives are and , which both allow startups and small operations to access higher tiers without breaking the bank. Another drawback is its lack of a mobile app, which is crucial for users who don’t always have desktop access. Users who are on the go and need a reliable mobile app to access their CRM data should consider . Metrilo Plan Summary Metrilo Key Features Automated product bundle suggestions: Shows which products get ordered together or instead of one another to help you create high-performing product bundles. Rich customer profiles: Shows customers’ behavior, orders, money spent, and products bought, as well as basic contact information like name, address, and location. Customer segmentation: Ability to segment users based on actions such as store site visits, interaction with specific products, coupons used, or total amount purchased. Customer retention analysis: Provides insights on which campaigns and products stimulate customer loyalty, and helps you better prepare for seasonal changes as well as cyclical ups and downs with accumulated year-on-year behavior data. Shopify integration: Metrilo’s integration with Shopify allows you to access customer profiles with orders and use other features such as visitor tracking, event tracking, cart monitoring, customer retention reports, product performance statistics, and emails, and customer segmentation. Agile CRM: Best Shopify CRM for Marketing Automation *Pricing (per user, monthly) based on annual billing; monthly billing is available at a higher cost, and bi-annual rates at a lower cost. is a CRM that integrates with Shopify that features extensive marketing automation tools to help ecommerce businesses increase sales and engage with customers. This is made easy with a drag-and-drop marketing campaign builder that lets you create multistep marketing workflows visually. The platform also allows you to schedule auto-responders and follow-up messages based on time or contact actions, while its mobile marketing tool can be programmed to send personalized SMS messages to prospects. In addition, the CRM-Shopify integration enables you to create coupons to boost sales and send surveys to collect feedback to improve your marketing results. While Agile CRM is the best CRM for Shopify users who need extensive marketing automation tools, its free plan lacks an in-app dialer, and some users don’t find its support team reliable. Users who need access to an in-app dialer for free should check out , while those who want a more reliable customer support tool should consider . Agile CRM Plan Summary Agile CRM Key Features Contact-level analytics: Analyze customer interests and web engagement patterns, such as products deleted and pages visited, and turn them into real-time activity reports. Exit-intent pop-ups: Set web rules to trigger campaigns in response to store visitors in real time and for past behavior, like sending personalized and targeted messages to your visitors the moment they are about to abandon their cart. Task management: Use a drag-and-drop Kanban board project management tool to sort tasks based on priority, due date, owner, or status. Lead behavior tracking on social: Maximize the return on investment (ROI) of your marketing automation campaigns by tracking the social behavior of leads and customers. Shopify integration: Access Agile CRM’s tools for online engagement (smart pop-ups and discount coupons), offline engagement (automated emails, personalized newsletters, and social feedback), contact-level web analytics, data sync, and Shopify event triggers. is ideal for Shopify users who need a CRM that offers a well-rounded view of customers and provides fundamental lead and deal management features. Read our Agile CRM review to learn more about the pros and cons of using this software. Salesforce: Best CRM Option for Multiple Shopify Stores *Pricing (per user, monthly) based on annual billing; monthly billing is available for Essentials only at a higher cost. **Check Salesforce’s website for more add-ons and their respective plan eligibilities. Salesforce is an advanced CRM system that allows businesses of all sizes to manage their sales, marketing, and support processes from a centralized platform. It boasts sophisticated sales tools as well as robust reporting and integration capabilities. is a connector app you can download for free from the marketplace to integrate your CRM with Shopify. The Salesforce integration with Shopify allows you to instantly import all legacy Shopify data, sync records in real time, and manage inventory from a unified platform. Best of all, you can synchronize multiple Shopify stores with a single Salesforce account. This means that you can increase productivity by managing unlimited records, products, inventory, and orders from multiple Shopify businesses from one dashboard. The most glaring disadvantages of Salesforce are its pricing scheme and ease of use. Unlike and , it does not offer a free plan option. Users intimidated by Salesforce’s higher-tier plans may consider an alternative. If you are comfortable with this level of pricing but want a solution with robust ecommerce analytics, try . Salesforce Plan Summary Salesforce Key Features Customer service features: Tools for servicing customers through email, phone, live chat, social media, and a self-service help center. Lightning App Builder: Build custom applications within the Salesforce platform using prebuilt templates and a drag-and-drop interface. Email auto sync: Email data automatically syncs with CRM to create contact profiles. Deals and opportunities: Custom visualization options for deal and opportunity management. Shopify Made Easy: This Shopify-to-Salesforce connector app automatically create orders, contacts, and accounts in Salesforce when a customer is created or updated in multiple Shopify stores. Salesforce is best for businesses looking for a highly customizable CRM solution with robust reporting and integration capabilities. Read our Salesforce review to learn out more about its features and functionalities. For smaller teams, we recommend reading our Salesforce Essentials review to explore how its advanced sales pipeline management tools and email marketing capabilities can help your organization. How We Evaluated the Best Shopify CRM CRM systems can store and analyze your customers’ shopping data and behavior, which gives you a data-backed basis for personalizing your marketing campaigns at every stage of the customer journey to make them more effective. The integration of your CRM with Shopify provides access to data-backed insights as to what your customers truly want. is our top choice for ecommerce businesses looking for the best CRM that integrates with Shopify, with an overall score of 4.68 out of 5. This is due to its smooth Shopify integration and excellent tools for lead management, direct sales management, and reporting. It also offers omnichannel communication tools, which include email, an in-app phone dialer, and SMS. On top of all these, it offers free and affordable pricing options. The tabs below offer more insight into our evaluation process for selecting the best CRM Shopify integration options: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) 1. Is Shopify a CRM? No, Shopify is not a CRM. It is a content management system (CMS) built specifically for ecommerce. This app allows users to easily build and design an online store or marketplace using its customizable themes. It also lets you receive payments from customers. 2. Does Shopify have a CRM? No, Shopify does not have a built-in CRM. However, it integrates with various ecommerce CRM solutions, such as Zendesk Sell, HubSpot CRM, and Salesforce. 3. What is the best CRM that integrates with Shopify? Based on our evaluation of dozens of providers, we have determined that is the best CRM that integrates with Shopify. Read the section about this provider in this article to know why this is our top recommendation. If you are interested in an alternative, take a look at the other options that we have included in this list. Bottom Line When selecting a CRM for Shopify, ecommerce businesses should look for a platform that creates a seamless experience for their shoppers. The integration with Shopify should help you make data-backed decisions for your marketing campaigns. That said, we recommend Zendesk Sell as the top option because it offers a dedicated app for Shopify that unites customer data from both apps. This allows all your reps to access all details on your customers and orders. Sign up for Zendesk Sell’s 30-day free trial to test how its features and capabilities can help provide a smoother customer experience.

Apptivo is one of our recommendations for the best territory management CRM software for small businesses. When we evaluated this provider, it scored high in pricing, general features, niche features, customer service, and expert scores. However, it got a lower score in ease of use because of its steep learning curve and the technical skill required to set up and use it. is a customer relationship management (CRM) system that provides business owners with a rich set of tools for managing customers and streamlining sales processes. It also offers industry-specific CRM solutions to businesses engaged in travel and hospitality, real estate, retail, and manufacturing sectors. It is best for businesses that want a free or affordable feature-rich CRM system with territory management capabilities. Apptivo Deciding Factors Apptivo Alternatives If this platform doesn’t meet your business needs, below are some highly rated Apptivo competitors to consider: *Based on annual billing; monthly pricing is also available at slightly higher rates For this Apptivo CRM review, the platform earned a perfect score of 5 out of 5. It offers a free plan with one user allocation. It also has four paid plans that start at $10 per user, per month, when billed monthly or $8 per user, monthly, when billed annually. Its paid plans include essential CRM features such as deal and opportunity management, multiple sales pipelines, workflows, and standard reporting. Get started for free or sign up for its 30-day free trial to see how this CRM system works before you commit to its paid plan. For more information on Apptivo plans, select a plan from the drop-down menu below: Apptivo Features In this Apptivo review, we gave the program a score of 4.63 out of 5 for its general features. The CRM software allows you to manage your contacts, customers, leads, opportunities, contracts, work orders, and sales territories. You can also use it to manage the information of your competitors and use it as a reference for lost deals. In addition, you can automatically create cases from customer emails, establish service level agreements (SLAs), and manage tickets. Check out this platform’s general features below: Contact and customer management Lead management Opportunity management Competitor management Contracts Work orders Cases Sales planning Territory management Contact center This CRM platform got a perfect score for its specialized features. Apptivo offers industry-specific solutions, including features for travel and hospitality, real estate, retail, manufacturing, nonprofits, and energy sectors. For these industries, Apptivo has customized templates for work orders, contracts, and territory management. Its native third-party software integrations let you sync your accounts with other software, including project management, office tools, and accounting. Apptivo’s other standout features include project management, billing and invoicing, supply chain management, marketing, product management, and HRMS. provides varying levels of customer support, depending on the support channel and plan chosen. Support is available through email (24/7) for all plans, while live chat (24/7), phone (24/5), and training support are only available in the paid plans. Users can refer to the knowledge base resources and FAQs for common questions about the app. Supplemental resources include webinars, video tutorials, and case studies on their website. Below are the available customer support offerings for each plan: scored 2 out of 5 in ease of use because of the technical skill required to set it up and operate the system. While its interface is intuitive, it also looks quite dated. It takes some time to find some important functions, such as the reporting and analytics dashboards. You can create custom fields and personalize your CRM according to your business needs. However, its deep level of customization also means that beginners would have a hard time adjusting to it. The majority of Apptivo CRM reviews we read online are positive. Many users noted that the system is confusing for first-time users, but it gets easier once they become familiar with it. Most of them chose this provider because of its modular and customizable system, as well as its affordable price point. They appreciate that it is an all-in-one CRM with features for managing their customers, contacts, orders, projects, candidates, and opportunities. Other Apptivo reviews mentioned areas that it needs to improve upon. These include the occasional spottiness of its email integration feature as well as the need for technical support when making customizations in the system. However, they also praised the company’s support team for their fast and reliable service. At the time of this publication, we noted the following Apptivo CRM reviews posted on popular user review sites: G2: 4.3 out of 5 based on 125 reviews Capterra: 4.4 out of 5 based on 659 reviews Gartner: 4.2 out of 5 based on 55 reviews App Store: 3.5 out of 5 based on 42 reviews Methodology: How We Evaluated Apptivo To evaluate this program against other CRM software, we test each system ourselves. We examined crucial areas, such as pricing, core CRM features, quality of customer support, and ease of use. We also looked at recent CRM ratings about this platform from credible review sites. Click through the tabs below for our Apptivo evaluation criteria: Bottom Line Based on our CRM review, this platform offers industry-specific features and lets you manage your customers and streamline your sales processes. Its free version is suitable for solo entrepreneurs who need reliable lead and deal management tools. However, if you’re scaling your business and need advanced CRM tools, such as sales and marketing automation, we recommend considering Apptivo’s paid versions. Get started for free or sign up for Apptivo’s free trial for 30 days before committing to a paid subscription.

HubSpot is a popular customer relationship management (CRM) system that offers small businesses a user-friendly interface, a free plan, and marketing features like email campaign tools, a webform creator, and social media integrations. However, its paid plans are expensive, and the free plan does not include features like project management or advanced analytics, making HubSpot competitors desirable to small businesses. To discover the best HubSpot alternatives, we analyzed the features HubSpot CRM lacks and other benefits, like sales automation functionality at a lower price point. We looked at dozens of platforms to arrive at the top six CRM options: : Best overall, and best HubSpot alternative with customization capabilities : Great for teams looking for a more affordable choice to HubSpot’s Sales Hub for sales management functionality : Good for small businesses wanting alternatives to HubSpot with advanced automation and analytics features : Ideal for mobile sales teams looking for a HubSpot alternative with strong telephonic features : Excellent choice for businesses looking for an easy-to-use, if not easier, alternative to HubSpot : Solid option for organizations looking for HubSpot alternatives with project management capabilities Best HubSpot Competitors Compared See fullscreen table × *Based on annual billing. Monthly pricing is available at slightly higher rates. **Premier success plan costs 30% of the subscription price and adds 24/7 phone support, developer support, training sessions, and coaching. ***For Professional and Enterprise plans of CMS (Content Management System) Hub and Operations Hub only. Take our quiz to find out which HubSpot CRM alternative can help grow your business. Freshsales: Best Overall & Best Alternative to HubSpot for Customization is a CRM similar to HubSpot that offers a free-forever plan for an unlimited number of users, but it’s mostly limited to storing contact information and performing basic communication functions with those contacts. Freshsales is significantly more affordable than when it comes to paid plans, and gives businesses more robust customization capabilities for designing data fields, sales pipelines, and user roles. Freshsales Monthly Pricing (per User) at a Glance* Free Plan: Supports unlimited users Growth: $15 Pro: $39 Enterprise: $69 Free trial: 21 days Add-ons Additional workflows: $5 Phone credits: Starts at $25 CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote): $19 *Monthly pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are available at a slightly higher rate. Freshsales Customization Capabilities Freshsales is the best HubSpot alternative for businesses looking for plenty of customization abilities in their CRM design and layout. On their lowest-priced paid plan, users can create and track custom sales activities, design custom fields for collecting information, create modules for business processes, and customize user roles and permissions. However, Freshsales doesn’t offer native social media integrations. If communicating with leads and customers via social media channels is vital to your business, consider instead. Read our full Freshsales review to learn how this software helps teams collaborate, manage deals, and reach business goals. To see how this platform compares against similar CRMs, check out our Freshsales vs Salesforce and Pipedrive vs Freshsales reviews. Pipedrive: Best Low-cost Alternative to HubSpot for Sales Tools When comparing paid subscription plans, is the most cost-effective CRM solution on our list of the best alternatives to HubSpot for small business. Additionally, even in its lowest-priced plan, Pipedrive users have access to the artificial intelligence (AI) sales assistant feature, a sales meeting scheduler, contact management capabilities, and sales deal reporting features—all for $14.90 per user, monthly. Pipedrive Monthly Pricing (per User) at a Glance* Essential: $14.90 Advanced: $24.90 Professional: $49.90 Enterprise: $99 (10-user minimum) Free trial: 14 days full access Add-ons LeadBooster (lead generation tool set): Starts at $32.50 per company, per month Web Visitors (web tracking and lead ranking): Starts at $41.00 per company, per month Campaigns (customizable email marketing campaigns): Starts at $13.33 per company, per month Smart Docs (trackable sales documents): Starts at $32.50 per company, per month** *Monthly pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are available at a slightly higher rate. **Free with a Professional or Enterprise plan subscription. Pipedrive’s Cost-effective Sales Tools Pipedrive is fairly robust when it comes to the sales tools included in its Essential package. The most valuable benefit of this plan may be that the AI sales assistant feature is also included. Using past performance and pipeline tracking, the sales assistant offers coaching tips to improve sales performance. While Pipedrive provides competitive pricing, they do not have a free plan. If a free option is essential for your business, consider as an alternative. Discover how this software enables sales teams to communicate effectively, manage deals, and grow revenue in our in-depth Pipedrive review. You can also read our Pipedrive vs Zoho CRM and HubSpot vs Pipedrive reviews to find out how it holds up in side-by-side comparisons with other similar platforms. Zoho CRM: Best HubSpot Competitor With Advanced CRM Features offers advanced tools for automating tasks and sales processes, such as workflows, lead auto-assignment, and macros (triggers for simultaneous routine activities). It is the best alternative to HubSpot for users who prioritize having these tools over HubSpot’s mass email marketing automation capabilities. Many of these automation features, specifically the capabilities for workflow management, are available on Zoho CRM’s Standard plan. Zoho CRM Monthly Pricing (per User) at a Glance* Free: Up to three users (limited features) Bigin: $7 (sales pipeline only) Standard: $14 Professional: $23 Enterprise: $40 Ultimate: $52 Zoho CRM Plus: $57 Add-ons Additional file storage: $4.60 for 5GB per month Additional data storage (Professional and up): $4 per 100MB for less than 200 users and $2 per 100MB for more than 200 users Additional data backup: $12 per request *Monthly pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are available at a slightly higher rate. Zoho CRM Advanced Features While Zoho CRM has a steeper user learning curve than , sales teams can take advantage of built-in and integrated features for orchestrating customer journeys. Plus, the platform allows you to automatically generate and nurture leads based on marketing segmentation. You can also use the AI assistant Zia to pull data, ask questions, and make advanced predictions. While Zoho CRM offers robust features and analytics, it can be cumbersome to learn all of its features, especially for non-technical users. If you’re looking for a simple CRM without much of a learning curve, consider . Read our full Zoho CRM review to explore its rich feature set and learn how it helps small businesses thrive. Check out our head-to-head comparison of this software with a competitor in our Zoho vs Salesforce review. Zendesk Sell: Best HubSpot Alternative With Built-in Phone Features HubSpot has solid email campaign tools and basic telephone features for making and tracking calls, both of which are included in its free plan. doesn’t offer a free plan, but it does provide sales teams with more advanced CRM reporting features compared to HubSpot. It also has telephonic features within the platform proportional to HubSpot due to the overall capabilities and ease of use of the telephone tools. Zendesk Sell Monthly Pricing (per User) at a Glance* Sell Team: $19 Sell Growth: $49 Sell Professional: $99 Free trial: 14 days *Monthly pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are available at a slightly higher rate. Zendesk Sell Telephonic Features Zendesk Sell telephone features include user-friendly tools for click-to-calling, call logging, call script storage, and texting communication channels. The platform also offers metrics for analyzing calls to monitor the quantity, duration, and outcomes of outgoing phone calls. While Zendesk Sell provides robust calling tools, it does not currently offer tools for managing projects within the platform. If project management features are necessary for your sales operation, consider as an alternative. Read our full Zendesk Sell review to learn how this software helps teams streamline their sales processes and close more deals. Really Simple Systems: Best HubSpot Alternative for Ease-of-Use For businesses that want a HubSpot alternative with similar usability attributes and a free-forever option, is the best choice. users find that the interface of Really Simple Systems has comparable features, and minimal buttons and tabs. Plus, it has solid user-experience design principles making the platform easy to navigate. Really Simple Systems Monthly Pricing (per User) at a Glance* Free: Up to two users Starter: $14 Professional: $30 Enterprise: $46 Free trial: 14 days Add-ons Simple Marketing: $22 per month (free on Enterprise plan with five or more users) Advanced Marketing: $55 per month Service Desk: $55 per month (free on Enterprise plan with five or more users) Customizations service: Contact provider for a customized quote *Monthly pricing is based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are available at a slightly higher rate. Really Simple Systems Usability One of the main reasons both HubSpot and Really Simple Systems are easy to navigate is that each CRM uses a single menu system. HubSpot’s menu is displayed horizontally across the top, while Really Simple Systems displays a vertical menu on the left side. Both layouts make it easy for the user to find the right button or tab to move from various web pages. Learn how this CRM system helps small businesses close more deals and collaborate effectively in our Really Simple Systems review. Bitrix24: Best HubSpot Alternative With Project Management Features While is easier to use and offers an array of marketing features for email campaigns and content management, is the best HubSpot alternative for businesses that want certain components missing from HubSpot. Some of these components include mass system customization, human resources management tools, and, most notably, project management capabilities. Bitrix24 Monthly Pricing at a Glance* Free: Unlimited users Basic: $39 (up to five users) Standard: $79 (up to 50 users) Professional: $159 (unlimited users) Add-ons Landline calling: Starts at $0.005 per minute (check all rates here) Rent local number: $4.00 to $11.00 per month Rent toll-free number (U.S. and U.K.): $6.00 per month Rent SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) connector: $49.00 per month Call transcription: 5 cents per minute *Pricing above is based on annual billing. However, you may also pay in full quarterly, annually, or biannually. Bitrix24 Project Management Tools For many users, Bitrix24 is their first choice among HubSpot competitors because of the project management tools available in the free plan―tools HubSpot doesn’t offer. Businesses with access to the project management tools included in Bitrix24 can create and view projects through Kanban or Gantt chart views, utilize task time tracking, and assign project owners. Discover how this CRM helps sales, customer service, and marketing teams collaborate to reach their business goals in our Bitrix24 review. How We Evaluated the Best Competitors to HubSpot To determine the top competitors, we evaluated CRM systems offered by companies similar to HubSpot, like an easy-to-use interface, a free CRM plan, and tools for generating and deploying mass marketing email campaigns. We also analyzed software feature gaps offered by competitors to HubSpot. Based on our evaluation, is the best alternative to HubSpot. We chose this CRM software for its user-friendly interface, free plan for an unlimited number of users, and sales pipeline customization capabilities that aren’t offered by HubSpot. The tabs below provide insight into our evaluation process for choosing the best alternatives to HubSpot: You May Also Like… Are you shopping for your first CRM? Read our comprehensive guide on how to choose a CRM that fits your business needs. Once you choose a CRM, learn how to get the most value out of your investment. Check out our in-depth guide to CRM implementation. Ready to map out your own unique sales funnel stages? Download our free sales forecast templates for small businesses.