Customer relationship management (CRM) certifications provide clients with proof you have undergone skills training, establishing expertise on specific CRM tools. They also help consultants attract new clients and open new opportunities for career advancement. We looked at several options, including their pricing and features, to provide you with the top six CRM certifications.
The top CRM certifications and their best use cases include:
- HubSpot Academy: Best overall for sales professionals looking for free HubSpot-specific credentials
- Salesforce Administrator: Recommended for sales professionals and consultants managing large sales teams that use enterprise editions of Salesforce
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Functional Consultant Associate (SFCA): Top choice for outside IT consultants and support professionals working with Material Resource Planning (MRP) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software
- NetSuite Administrator: Excellent option for consultants who build customized enterprise software deployments using NetSuite
- Zendesk Support Administrator Expert: Best for small business sales and customer support administrators who use Zendesk
- Zoho CRM Certified Accountant: Easiest to obtain certification for agencies that resell Zoho sales and marketing software to small businesses
How We Evaluated the Best CRM Certification Options
CRM certifications serve as third-party validation tools for sales and IT professionals’ skills and demonstrate expertise in operating a specific software product. The motivation for obtaining one includes career promotions or attracting new clients. When evaluating certifications, we looked for those that offer the best value for money in terms of content and features. We also examined their pricing, completion time frame, and industry recognition.
We recommend HubSpot Academy as the best overall choice for CRM certification because it offers highly recognized credentials, comprehensive online learning materials, and access to a vast network of business partner resources. Moreover, their certifications are free, making them more accessible to small businesses compared to options that offer paid training and exams.
Below are the criteria we used to evaluate the best CRM certifications:
- Industry recognition: Most of the value in a CRM certification comes from its acceptance by businesses and organizations. The certification represents a validation of your expertise in that software.
- CRM market share: CRM certifications are often sought by professionals who would like to advance their career within their existing organization or to become more marketable to other companies. The most useful certifications reflect experience with well-known CRM solutions.
- Training materials: We evaluated what certification training materials are available and whether they are proprietary to the software provider, or if there are alternatives available from third parties.
- Cost: For a certification to be valuable, it has to be affordable. Moreover, it should offer a positive return in terms of increased opportunities either in employment or consulting. We factored in the cost of training, lessons, and exams, as well as the availability of free options.
- Time to complete: We looked at the investment of time needed to finish each course and whether there are additional requirements involved that take extra time, like serving a minimum number of customers or implementations.
HubSpot Academy: Best Overall Free CRM Training & Certification
HubSpot Academy
What We Like
- All CRM courses are completely free
- Self-paced courses are easy to understand
- Lessons come with transcriptions
What's Missing
- No third-party options for learning HubSpot Academy materials
- Only available in English
- Additional practical exams require Pro or Enterprise HubSpot subscription
Key Details
- Free courses
- Has Sales, Marketing, and Service Categories
- Online lessons: Self-paced videos
- Duration: 1 to 3.5 hours per lesson
- Passing rate: 75%
HubSpot Academy nabbed the top spot in our list of CRM training and sales certification providers because of its free courses, rich content, and easy-to-follow self-paced video lessons. It offers certificate courses for Sales, Marketing, Service, Web Design, Web Development, and Data Privacy. These self-paced courses are broken down into digestible chunks of information, making them easy to understand, especially for beginners.
Unlike certifications provided by Microsoft Dynamics 365, HubSpot Academy’s learning materials cannot be accessed via third-party courses. You also need to have a Pro or Enterprise account if you want to access additional practical exams. However, these disadvantages are balanced out by its cost-free certifications. Hence, it’s an ideal choice for small agencies, solopreneurs, and freelance marketing consultants.
Courses
Here are HubSpot Academy’s certificate courses according to category:
Features & Benefits
HubSpot Academy’s home page shows an overview of the course you’re taking and a catalog of the other available courses.
- All courses and exams are online and free of charge
- Access to HubSpot CRM’s free tools
- Content types include online videos, templates, worksheets, e-books, quizzes, and exams
- Downloadable slides and transcripts
- Sales certificate courses cover contact management, inbound sales, and sales enablement
- Marketing certificate courses cover automation, contact management, content marketing, email marketing, inbound marketing, lead generation, reporting and performance, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, and web design
- Service certificate courses cover contact management and inbound service
- Duration of each course ranges from 0 to 3+ hours
- Certifications are valid for 13 to 25 months; once they expire, you will need to be recertified by taking the most current version of your course and its respective exam
Salesforce Administrator: Best for Enterprise-level Sales Professionals
Salesforce Administrator
What We Like
- Comprehensive lesson materials
- Gamified and interactive module format
- Well-suited for an administrative role
What's Missing
- Does not offer free exams
- Proctored exams are required
- Exams are extremely challenging
Key Details
- Free courses
- Online lessons: Self-paced, text-based lessons
- Exam registration fee: $200 + tax
- Exam retake fee: $100 + tax
- Duration: Approximately 68 hours (30 minutes to 6+ hours per module)
- Passing rate: 65%
- Validity: One year
The Salesforce Administrator certification is designed for individuals who have experience with Salesforce and want to get a deeper understanding of its features and capabilities. The interactive course allows you to accumulate points each time you complete a task, module, or test project. The text-based lessons are comprehensive and cover topics such as Salesforce customizations, lead management, campaign basics, and data management.
Salesforce Administrator’s exam requires a registration fee of $200 and $100 for retakers (both exclusive of taxes). You need to complete a maintenance module each year to maintain your certification’s validity. Its lessons and exams are much more advanced, making it ideal for those who aim to become a Salesforce CRM expert. Those who prefer a simpler learning program that is free of charge may find HubSpot Academy a better alternative.
Courses
Here are the modules under the Salesforce Administrator exam prep course:
- Salesforce Platform Basics
- User Management
- Identity Basics
- Data Security
- Permission Set Groups
- Security Specialist
- Data Modeling
- Lightning Experience Customization
- Lightning App Builder
- Accounts & Contacts for Lighting Experience
- Leads and Opportunities for Lighting Experience
- Products, Quotes, and Contracts
- Campaign Basics
- Lightning Experience for Sales
- Service Cloud for Lightning Experience
- Chatter Administration for Lightning Experience
- Salesforce Mobile App Customization
- AppExchange Basics
- Data Management
- Duplicate Management
- Reports and Dashboard for Lightning Experience
- Lightning Experience Report and Dashboards Specialist
- Salesforce Flow
- Business Administration Specialist
Features & Benefits
An overview of the modules under the Salesforce Administrator course.
- Courses are free
- Exam registration fee is $200 plus tax for first-timers and $100 plus tax for retakers
- There’s a free yearly maintenance module to maintain certification
- Free certification prep webinar plus coupon code for $40 discount off any $200 exam for all webinar attendees
- Trailhead Series: a gamified online tutorials for beginners and intermediate developers on how to code for the Salesforce platform
- Combination of tasks, text-based modules, and hands-on projects
- Interactive study tools and practice tests
- Trailblazer Community connects you to other Trailblazers (learners), user forums, and groups
- Verification of credentials and account linking status
- Certification is valid for one year
Visit Salesforce Administrator
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Functional Consultant Associate: Best for IT Consultants & Developers
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Functional Consultant Associate
What We Like
- Available in English and Japanese
- Third-party study guides are available
- Ideal for consultants with high-level expertise
What's Missing
- Lesson format is confusing
- Requires 2 proctored exams to be certified
- No online community support
Key Details
- Online: Free
- Instructor-led: Starts at $595
- Exam fee: $165 per exam
- Exam retake package: $230 to $265
- Third-party study guides: $25 to $100 per guide
- Microsoft Power Platform Functional Consultant
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales
- Duration: 47 minutes to 6+ hours per course
- Passing rate: 70%
- Validity: One year
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales Functional Consultant Associate (SFCA) certification is recommended for functional consultants, professionals using Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales, and developers. Aside from Microsoft Power Platform configuration, it also covers the management of leads, opportunities, quotes, orders, product catalogs, and price lists. Like Salesforce Administrator, the self-paced modules are largely text-based, and the exams are also proctored.
This certification is more expensive than Salesforce Administrator since it requires two exams that cost a total of $330. It also does not offer community-based support like the Trailblazer Community for Salesforce users. While HubSpot Academy’s content is only accessible via HubSpot, SFCA study guides are available from third-party providers at $25 to $100 each.
Courses
These are the courses required for the Microsoft Dynamics 365 SFCA certification:
- Get started using Dataverse (7 modules)
- Manage permissions and administration (2 modules)
- Create a canvas app in Power Apps (3 modules)
- Create a model-driven application in Power Apps (4 modules)
- Create a business process flow in Power Automate (4 modules)
- Automate a business process using Power Automate (5 modules)
- Get started with Power Automate buttons (5 modules)
- Use best practices to secure and govern Microsoft Power Platform environments (8 modules)
- Create and use analytics report with Power BI (6 modules)
- Create relationships, business rules, calculations, and rollups in Dataverse (3 modules)
- Create bots with Power Virtual Agents (4 modules)
- Bring artificial intelligence (AI) to your business with AI Builder (2 modules)
- Improve business performance with AI Builder (9 modules)
- Working with Dynamics 365 Sales (7 modules)
- Implement goal management in Dynamics 365 Sales and Customer Service (2 modules)
Here are the two exams you must pass to obtain this certification:
Features & Benefits
Learning the basics of Dataverse. (Source: Microsoft Dynamics 365)
- Online courses are free of charge
- Instructor-led courses (starting at $595) include hands-on app experience
- Offers up to 80% discount for verified students and beta exam participants
- Mostly self-paced, text-based modules
- Mini-quiz or knowledge check at the end of every section
- Offers college credit for certification in American Council on Education (ACE) member schools in the U.S.
- Certification is valid for one year and can be renewed online for free
Visit Microsoft Dynamics 365 SFCA
NetSuite Administrator: Best for Professional Seeking to Customize NetSuite
NetSuite Administrator
What We Like
- Offers self-paced and live online options
- Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits
- Certification is valid for 3 years
What's Missing
- Exam preparation course is expensive
- Requires two exams for certification
- Related NetSuite training courses are a pre-requisite for the exam prep course
Key Details
- NetSuite Administrator Exam Preparation Course: $1,600
- Duration: Two days
- Course formats: Online self-paced learning and group live sessions
- SuiteFoundation exam: $250 registration fee; $150 retake fee
- Administrator exam: $250 registration fee; $150 retake fee
- Validity: Three years
- Passing rate: Confidential
The NetSuite Administrator certification demonstrates a high level of expertise as an administrator, consultant, or business analyst, configuring, implementing, and maintaining Oracle’s NetSuite CRM and ERP solutions. This is the most expensive certification on this list, but the steep price is a good value for its expert-level training and three-year certification. The exam prep course costs $1,600, while the total exam registration fee is $500.
Like the Microsoft Dynamic 365 SFCA certification, NetSuite Administrator also requires two separate exams (detailed below). It does not offer free online learning materials, which HubSpot Academy and Salesforce Administrator provide. It offers paid courses and certifications for individuals. Zoho CRM, on the other hand, caters to agencies.
Course
Here are the topics included in the NetSuite Administrator Exam Preparation Course:
- Setup tasks
- Roles, permissions, and audits
- Custom forms
- Custom records
- Advanced search capabilities
- Formulas in search
- Dashboards
- CSV data import
- Workflow process automation
- Intranet
Below are the subject areas covered by the exam:
- SuiteAnalytics: Saved search and dashboard
- SuiteBuilder: Form customization, online forms, layout customization, custom fields, and custom records
- SuiteCloud Platform: SuiteFlow, SuiteBundler, and extending NetSuite
- Setup and Administration: Manage roles, supporting users worldwide, Sandbox refresh, and CSV import
- Data Security: Data access, removing users, and general details
- Working with NetSuite: Notifications, preparing for releases, and troubleshooting in NetSuite
These are the recommended prerequisites and courses for this certification:
Features & Benefits
Sample test for NetSuite Administrator Certification. (Source: NetSuite)
- Online self-paced and live group sessions
- Text-based study guide, sample test, and in-person training
- NetSuite professional network and LinkedIn Community of NetSuite Certified individuals
- NetSuite-certified logo and certificate of achievement
- Earn Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits for certification
- Certification is valid for three years and can be renewed by taking the rewritten exam once it expires; the $150 exam retake fee applies
Zendesk Support Administrator Expert: Best for Support Administrators
Zendesk Support Administrator Expert
What We Like
- Offers free exam prep course and a practice test
- Certification is valid for two years
- Training courses are available in English, French, German, and Spanish
What's Missing
- Free learning materials are not comprehensive
- Expensive exam fee
- Requires online proctored exam
Key Details
- Free practice test
- Online On-Demand Prep Course: Free
- Live Private Training: $1,000 to $1,600 per course
- Exam registration fee: $350
- Duration: 40 minutes to 4.5 hours per course
- Validity: Two years
- Passing rate: 65%
The Zendesk Support Administrator Expert certification is for individuals who want to demonstrate their expertise in managing and setting up Zendesk’s help desk and CRM software. It offers an exam prep course and practice test free of charge. However, its private training courses are expensive and cost up to $1,600. As to the overall cost, including training and exam fee, it is still cheaper than NetSuite Administrator.
Zendesk Support Administrator Expert’s two-year certification validity is longer than most of its competitors. One of the things that this provider is missing is the searchable database, which HubSpot Academy and Zoho CRM both have. Its free learning materials on customer support are also not as comprehensive as those offered by HubSpot and Salesforce, which cover sales, marketing, and service.
Courses
Below are the on-demand courses under Zendesk Support Administrator Expert certification. These prerecorded videos can be accessed for free:
- Zendesk Support Administrator Certification Practice Test (40 minutes)
- Zendesk Support for Admins, I (90 minutes)
- Zendesk Support for Admins, II (90 minutes)
There are also private company training sessions that are held live via Zoom by a Zendesk training specialist. These sessions can accommodate two to 12 participants:
- Zendesk Support for Admins, I ($1,000): 2 hours training on ticketing support
- Zendesk Support for Admins, II ($1,000): 2.5 hours training on features of Zendesk ticketing solution
- Zendesk Support for Admins, I and II ($1,600): 4.5 hours training on Zendesk Support’s key features
These are the recommended qualifications for the Zendesk Support Administrator Expert exam:
- At least three months as a Zendesk Support Administrator
- Successfully completed Zendesk Support Administrator Certification Practice Exam
- Successfully completed Support for Admins, I and Support for Admins, II
Features & Benefits
Home page for the Zendesk Support Administrator certification practice test.
- Free on-demand video lessons feature subtitles in Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, and Japanese
- Private live training sessions include PDF copies of course slides and recordings upon request
- Private training sessions can be delivered in English, Spanish, French, or German
- Certification is valid for two years; the $350 exam registration fee applies in recertification
Visit Zendesk Support Administrator Expert
Zoho CRM Certified Consultant: Easiest Sales & Marketing Certification
Zoho CRM Certified Consultant
What We Like
- Easiest CRM certification
- No courses, tests, and registration fees
- Certification does not expire
What's Missing
- No training materials
- Does not have tests to verify skills
- Lacks industry recognition
Key Details
- Free
- Designated by Zoho
- No test required
- Requires proof of at least three paid CRM consulting projects
- Certification has no expiry
Among all the options on this list, Zoho CRM Certified Consultant is the only one that does not require a course or test of skills. This title is freely designated by Zoho to individuals and organizations that have proven their capabilities in CRM management and implementation. There is also no cost attached to this designation. To become a consulting partner, you simply have to submit proof of at least three paid consulting clients to Zoho.
While this is the easiest CRM certification to obtain, it also has a lot of downsides. One is the absence of a way to measure or verify your skills because there are no lessons or tests required. It also lacks the industry recognition that HubSpot, Salesforce, and Microsoft 365’s certifications have since it does not entail rigorous training.
Despite its weaknesses, Zoho CRM’s Certified Consultant certification provides experienced CRM consultants a way to be recognized for their expertise and credibility. It also helps them gain more clients in their field by letting customers know that these consultants are capable of meeting their business needs.
Features & Benefits
Zoho CRM’s Certified Consultant Directory. (Source: Zoho CRM)
- Free of charge
- No need for training, lessons, and exams
- Certified Consultant Directory lets customers sort CRM-certified consultants according to country and experience level
- Sales commissions
- Access to Partner Portal and online forums
- Invitation to Zoho events worldwide
- Dedicated product support
- Early updates on Zoho’s new products and strategy
- Access to online training and learning materials
- Certification is valid for an indefinite period of time
Visit Zoho CRM Certified Consultant
Bottom Line
CRM certifications are a great portable proof of your expertise in managing and implementing CRM software. When looking for a training and certification provider, you must factor in the software you are using, your objectives for obtaining that designation, your budget, and the time to complete the course. Choose HubSpot Academy if you want a free certification with extensive learning materials and wide industry recognition.
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