Customer relationship management (CRM) implementation is the process of setting up and running CRM software. Careful planning is required to ensure the system’s setup, integrations, customization, testing, and reporting are aligned with company goals. A successful implementation involves all team members from the start as well as ongoing training to improve efficiency and user adoption….
About the Author
Chris Hawkins
Chris is a writer and business professional with 25 years of experience in a variety of roles. He has written, managed, sold, or marketed for retail, financial services, IT, publishing, and e-commerce companies. Most recently he worked at a marketing agency where he developed and sold digital marketing strategies to businesses large and small. He likes books, bikes, brews, birds, and travel. He and his wife live in an old mining town north of Denver where coyote howls and the hoots of owls still permeate the night air.
How to Use Trello as a CRM in 5 Steps
Trello is primarily a project management software, but it can be easily customized for basic CRM functionality using its kanban interface, custom fields, calendar, and Google Drive integrations. Trello allows businesses with simple sales processes a way to save money and manage both projects and prospects in one place. However, there are also affordable CRM…
6 Best Google CRMs for 2019
A Google CRM is one that integrates with Gmail and Google’s suite of apps, allowing sales teams to track conversations between Gmail and their CRM. We compared a dozen CRMs based on cost, email functionality, and customizability to find the six best platforms for a variety of business needs, arriving at the best overall CRM…
6 Best Salesforce Alternatives & Competitors 2019
Salesforce is a popular customer relationship management (CRM) tool, but it’s relatively expensive and designed to be an enterprise solution for larger businesses. We compared 20 Salesforce competitors for contact and deal management, customization, user reviews, technical support, and overall affordability to determine the six best Salesforce alternatives for small businesses, including the best overall….
6 Best Contact Management Software 2019
Contact management software stores contacts, manages sales pipelines, and sends automated emails, helping salespeople nurture customer relationships by centralizing communication. We compared a dozen platforms based on contact searchability, ease of use, and activity tracking to find the top six platforms, arriving at the best overall contact management software. Top 6 Contact Management Software 2019…
6 Best CRM for Small Business 2019
CRM software helps businesses efficiently manage relationships with customers and prospects using sales pipelines and other organizational tools. We compared more than 20 products offering a range of options to determine the six best CRMs for small businesses in terms of price, features, customization, integrations, and reporting, arriving at the best overall CRM. Top 6…
6 Best Mobile CRM Apps for 2019
Mobile CRM apps allow sales teams to manage customer relationships on the go. We looked at more than 20 applications for iOS and Android, narrowed it down to six for a variety of use cases and picked the best overall mobile CRM app. Top 6 Mobile CRM Apps 2019 How We Evaluated Mobile CRM Apps…
How to Create a CRM Strategy in 7 Steps
A customer relationship management (CRM) strategy is a company’s plan to use CRM software to help grow sales and improve customer service. It incorporates an overall business strategy with input from sales, marketing, and customer service, identifying all potential touch points that occur during the customer journey. Though marketing and customer service are involved in…
6 Best CRM for Startups 2019
The best CRM for startups should be inexpensive to start and provide plans with features that expand as your business does. These include contact management, integrations, email connectivity, multiple pipelines, basic email marketing, and advanced reporting. To determine the best, we evaluated dozens of CRMs in order to better understand how each product handled core…
7 Live Chat Best Practices to Improve Sales & Customer Service
Live chat software connects service and sales teams with website visitors in real-time, routing them to the appropriate agent using built-in tools that improve customer satisfaction and sales. When implementing live chat software, it’s important to understand best practices like integrating with third-party apps, setting up automatic triggers, programming chatbots, customizing the experience, and more….
6 Best Social CRM Platforms for 2018
Social customer relationship management (CRM) platforms combine traditional CRM software with social media management features, allowing businesses to better engage with prospects and customers online. We compared nearly 20 CRM options based on cost, ease of use and social features to find the top six social media CRM platforms, including the best overall. Top 6…
9 Ways Live Chat Can Help You Achieve First Contact Resolution
First contact resolution is a metric used by companies to measure the percentage of customer inquiries that are resolved by a service team on the first interaction, representing overall customer satisfaction. Live chat apps are sometimes used as the first point of contact to quickly solve customer inquiries on the first interaction in an efficient…
