Account management software helps businesses manage complex sales processes without spreadsheets. The best solutions are functions of customer relationship management (CRM) software rather than being standalone software. This is because these tools can also automate processes across multiple departments and keep track of purchasing insights and contact interactions–not just deal sizes. We’ve compared a dozen options to determine the top CRMs for account management, including the best overall.
The top CRMs for account management and their best use cases include:
- Zoho CRM: Best overall for businesses looking for an account management solution with inventory management tools
- Freshworks CRM: Ideal choice for companies wanting an affordable and customizable contact and deal management solution with predictive analytics
- Apptivo: Excellent option for retail and ecommerce businesses that want customer payment processing along with account management tools
- Zendesk Sell: Best for field-based sales teams wanting powerful mobile account management
- Bitrix24: Great fit for businesses needing account management software to manage customer projects and recurring invoicing
- Salesforce Essentials: Best choice for companies needing account management software for both sales and customer service teams
How We Evaluated the Best Account Management Software
Account management is the collective post-sales process of nurturing client relationships, retaining business, and developing opportunities. CRM software that has account management functionalities enables businesses to handle multiple contacts. It can also provide users with the overall control for defining accounts and territories. Moreover, it is important for a CRM system to possess reporting features that help users understand the value of different accounts.
We found that Zoho CRM is the best overall choice for companies looking for account management software because it offers the greatest value considering the combination of pricing, account management, and core CRM features, ease of use, and expert scores. It also comes with excellent reporting, pipeline and inventory management capabilities, robust integrations, and a mobile CRM.
The tabs below offer more insight into our evaluation process for selecting the best business account management software:
40% of Overall Score
The costs per user and any upfront costs like CRM customizations, onboarding, and maintenance fees were considered. We also factored in the availability of a free plan and monthly billing option to determine the best value for your money.
20% of Overall Score
We evaluated the overall set of CRM features, including customizable pipelines, reporting, and analytics. The quality of its contact management capabilities was one of our main deciding factors. In addition, we looked at the availability of a mobile app and third-party integrations.
15% of Overall Score
The top business account management software should not require technical skills to understand and use, and it should also have an intuitive interface. Each solution on this list was evaluated on how easy it is to set up and operate.
15% of Overall Score
Business owners looking for CRM systems for account management prefer those that come with 24/7 customer service via phone, live chat, and email. We assessed the platforms in this article to see the quality of help and support they offer to their users.
10% of Overall Score
We checked customer reviews on reputable sites to learn how satisfied their customers are. We also noted common issues that the users had. Apart from online reviews, we weighed the features that stood out, their value for the money, and their popularity to narrow down the best business account management software.
Zoho CRM: Best Overall Account Management Tool for Inventory & Invoicing
Zoho CRM
What We Like
- Customer support is available across multiple channels
- Has inventory management capabilities
- Extensive team collaboration through feeds, chat, groups, and product management features
What's Missing
- Does not offer advanced pipeline customization options
- Free plan is limited to three users
- Prediction and artificial intelligence (AI) and territory management tools are only available in top-tier plans
Zoho CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Supports three users
- Bigin for Small Business: $7 per user, per month
- Standard: $14 per user, per month
- Professional: $23 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $40 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $52 per user, per month
- Zoho CRM Plus: $57 per user, per month
- Free trial of paid plans: 15 to 30 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Zoho CRM is customizable contact relationship management software that comes with inventory and order management tools, as well as social media integrations. This software also offers a free plan and affordable paid options. These, along with multi-channel customer support, come together to make it the best overall account management tool for product sales. While it has a pipeline-centric plan for small businesses, its other tiers lack the advanced pipeline customization options available in Salesforce Essentials.
Zoho CRM Features
Zoho CRM’s lead management tab.
(Source: Zoho CRM)
- Easy to set up and operate
- Account management features include sales process automation, as well as lead, contact, and deal management capabilities
- Territory management is available in Enterprise and Ultimate plans
- SalesSignals feature gives you real-life notifications about your customer and contact activities
- Higher tiers offer Zia AI, a conversational artificial intelligence (AI) assistant that provides predictions, suggestions, and recommendations
- Analytics include charts, funnels, key performance indicators (KPIs), a target meter, an anomaly detector, customizable dashboards, and workflow reports
- Data enrichment with Twitter and Facebook, automated lead generation from social media, and social interaction tracking with leads and contacts
- Inventory management tools for products, price books, sales quotes, sales orders, invoices, vendors, and purchase orders
- Lower-tier plans offer email, live chat, and phone support during office hours, while higher-tier plans offer 24/7 support
Read our Zoho CRM review to discover how this software can benefit your growing business.
Freshworks CRM: Best CRM for Predictive Territory Management
Freshworks CRM
What We Like
- Has a simple user interface
- Robust lead scoring and territory management features
- Highly customizable fields, pipelines, and workflows
What's Missing
- The forever free startup plan lacks account management functionality
- Offers limited third-party integrations
- Does not support unlimited contacts
Freshworks CRM Pricing at a Glance*
- Growth: Starts at $19 per user, per month
- Customer-for-Life Cloud: Ranges from $35 to $149 per user, per month
- Sales Cloud: Ranges from $35 to $119 per user, per month
- Marketing Cloud: Ranges from $25 to $119 per user, per month
- Free trial: 21 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Freshworks CRM is an AI-powered CRM that provides users with tools for sales process automation like predictive contact scoring, marketing automation, chat, and dialer—all in a single solution. It also gives teams the ability to manage accounts based on user-defined territories in its higher tiered plans. This, combined with its intuitive interface and robust contact and deal management features make it an excellent option for small businesses needing account insights and territory management software.
This platform also has a CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) add-on that allows you to generate invoices, quotes, and contracts needed to maintain an up-to-date product catalog. Unfortunately, it does not offer a free option, unlike Zoho CRM and Bitrix24.
Freshworks CRM Features
Freshworks CRM’s contact landing page. (Source: Freshworks CRM)
- Easy to use and has a simple interface
- Contact and account management features include customizable lifecycle stages, marketing lists, basic segmentation, and auto profile enrichment
- Territory management based on region, business unit, or industry type
- Customized workflows, fields, and product catalog
- Email marketing campaign and tracking tools
- Create desktop and mobile responsive landing pages with a drag-and-drop builder
- Sales pipeline management and sales forecasting capabilities
- Built-in phone has inbound caller ID, call masking, call recording, conference calling, holiday routing, and voicemail features
- Freddy, an AI-powered assistant, provides insights, predictive contact scoring, and sales forecasts
- Engage with website visitors in real-time using embedded chat widget
- Mobile apps for Android and iOS
- 24/5 customer support via phone, chat, and email, plus a dedicated account manager for Enterprise users
Check out our Freshworks CRM review to know more or to find out if it is the right fit for your business.
Apptivo: Best Account Management Software With Built-in Payment Processing
Apptivo
What We Like
- Offers a free plan
- Has built-in payment processing
- Features customer loyalty tools
What's Missing
- Free plan does not include mobile apps
- Lacks customization options
- Limited third-party integrations
Apptivo Pricing at a Glance*
- Starter (Free): Supports one user
- Lite: $8 per user, per month
- Premium: $12 per user, per month
- Ultimate: $20 per user, per month
- Enterprise: Contact sales team for pricing
- Free trial: 30 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Apptivo is a cloud-based business management suite with integrated apps for lead, contact, and deal management. It also has built-in payment processing tools, making it an ideal choice for account managers who need a platform with the ability to create orders, send invoices, and collect payments—all within a CRM software.
Unlike the rest of the CRM systems in this article that offer a free plan, Apptivo’s free option does not include mobile apps. It also has limited third-party integrations, but its native apps make up for the functionalities that you might look for in other apps.
Apptivo Features
Apptivo’s contact management tab.
(Source: Apptivo Inc.)
- Easy to set up and operate
- Lead, contact, task, deal, and opportunity management
- Sales automation features include custom fields, automated workflows, custom views, and a summary dashboard
- Product catalogs included in all paid tiers
- CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) feature for Ultimate and Enterprise users
- Marketing tools include email templates, mass emails, email tracking, referral tracking, and marketing automation
- Custom reports, win/loss analysis, Kanban view, performance dashboards, and custom charts
- Mobile apps for Android and iOS
- 24/7 email and chat support, 24/5 phone support, and training support
Zendesk Sell: Best for Field Sales Account Management
Zendesk Sell
What We Like
- Robust mobile apps
- Prebuilt reports
- Variety of automation tools
What's Missing
- No free plan
- Lacks marketing tools
- Limited productivity features
Zendesk Sell Pricing at a Glance*
- Sell Team: $19 per user, per month
- Sell Professional: $49 per user, per month
- Sell Enterprise: $99 per user, per month
- Sell Elite: $199 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
*Based on annual billing. Monthly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates.
Zendesk Sell is a comprehensive sales CRM that allows users to track customer interactions and manage accounts from a unified interface. It offers a well-designed mobile app, as well as tools for voice calling, recording, and call logging make it a top choice for companies looking for a reliable field sales account management solution. What it lacks, though, are the marketing tools that are available in more robust options like Zoho CRM and Freshworks CRM.
Zendesk Sell Features
Zendesk Sell’s lead management tab. (Source: Zendesk Sell)
- Easy to set up and use
- Account management features include document storage, data imports, duplicate entry detection, and automated lead distribution
- Sales tracking functionalities include customizable sales pipelines, custom data fields and filters, lead and deal scoring, and product and price books
- Task automation, appointment setting, and calendar integration
- Email tracking, bulk email, and unlimited email templates
- Built-in dialer, call tracking and recording, and text messaging
- Customizable sales dashboards, sales forecasting, activity reports, goal tracking, performance dashboard, and advanced sales insights
- Mobile apps for Android and iOS
- Customer support via Help Center, Community, and live chat within the account portal
Read our Zendesk Sell review to know how its features and functionalities can benefit your company.
Bitrix24: Best Account Management Software for Customer Project Management
Bitrix24
What We Like
- Has a free plan and affordable paid options with multiple users
- Partner program with discount and kick-start bonus
- Offers project management features
What's Missing
- Requires technical skills to set up and use
- Customer support is available via limited channels and during office hours only
- Limited territory management capabilities
Bitrix24 Pricing at a Glance*
- Free: Supports an unlimited number of users
- Start+: $19 per month (up to two users)
- CRM+: $55 per month (up to six users)
- Project+: $55 per month (up to 24 users)
- Standard: $79 per month (up to 50 users)
- Professional: $159 (unlimited users)
*Based on annual billing. Monthly and quarterly subscriptions are also available at slightly higher rates, while two-year subscriptions come at lower rates.
Bitrix24 is a social enterprise platform with CRM, time management, communication tools, and Gantt and Kanban-style project management tools that make it a good fit for contractors, consultants, and freelancers managing account-based customer projects. However, its complex user interface is a major setback. Those looking for an alternative that’s easy to use and has more robust territory management capabilities could find Freshworks CRM more appealing.
Bitrix24 Features
Bitrix24 CRM sales and deals dashboard. (Source: Bitrix24)
- Unlimited deals, leads, contacts, and companies
- Communication tools include high definition (HD) video conferences and calls, chats, and workflow tracking
- Comes with lead acquisition, lead management, and sales automation tools
- Workload management, task templates and automation, and visual project management
- Contact center has telephony, live chat, and customizable contact forms
- Website builder allows you to build SEO-ready websites, landing pages, and online stores
- Mobile apps for Android and iOS
- Customer support is available via email and web form; live chat support is available from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm UTC+3 on weekdays for paid plan users
Go to our Bitrix24 review page for more details on its features and to see if it is a good fit for your business.
Salesforce Essentials: Best Account Management Software for Sales & Support Teams
Salesforce Essentials
What We Like
- Gives users access to all contact records and sales opportunities
- Features the most robust integration with Outlook’s desktop client
- Provides extensive tutorials and setup guides
What's Missing
- Does not offer a free plan
- Limited to 10 users per account
- No workflow automation tools
Salesforce Essentials Pricing at a Glance
- Annual billing: $25 per user, per month
- Monthly billing: $35 per user, per month
- Free trial: 14 days
Salesforce Essentials is a powerful and highly customizable sales and support CRM for small businesses that integrates with the overall ecosystem of Salesforce apps. It allows users to set up contact management, sales opportunities, mass emails, and a customer service ticketing system based on their business needs.
Unlike Zoho CRM, Apptivo, and Bitrix24, this platform does not offer a free plan. Nevertheless, its automated data capture, expansion capabilities, and large third-party app marketplace give it a competitive advantage over other small business CRM systems.
Salesforce Essentials Features
Salesforce Essentials’ opportunity management tab. (Source: Salesforce Essentials)
- Manage contacts and accounts
- Automatically sync customer data from email
- Track customer relationships and deals using sales funnels and pipelines
- Respond to customer queries and provide support via email, phone, chat, social channels, and help center
- Measure your business health using pre-built, customizable reports and dashboards
- Android and iOS apps
- Each license includes email, community, and webinar support, with an option to upgrade to 24/7 support from expert coaches
Find out how this CRM can help produce better results by checking out our Salesforce Essentials review.
