5 Best CRM for Customer Service
So you want answers, and you want em’ fast. Here they are:
Quick links for the Best CRM Software
1) Best Overall 🏆
Monday.com
Customize your workflows to track all aspects of the sales cycle, from lead gen to post-sale support.
2) Good Plugins🥈
Hubspot
Hubspot is the undisputed king of full-stack marketing software. With solid CRM features.
3) Most Features 🥉
PipeDrive
A sales-focused CRM that uses AI to automate repetitive tasks and manage leads and sales.
So, you are in the market for a CRM that suits customer service.
Ideal, because in this article we have our compilation list for our top picks, and we compare the features and pricing for you.
If you just want the best choice, we’ve added that right at the top of the article as this was what is most requested by our customers. So, that’ll be the “can’t go wrong” option.
Otherwise, feel free to explore all the options we’ve reviewed on the market to find something that might fit you a little better.
Enjoy the list!
What CRM would you recommend?
In short, It’s Monday.com CRM
It’s very well rounded, well priced, feature-rich with a large community of support and a very top-notch set of tutorials for every use case. You can’t go wrong with Monday.com. It’s the software we use with our clients at our ad agency.
“🚀Try Monday.com CRM For Free, It’s my favorite webinar software to use and recommend.” -Scott Max
Monday.com is a user-friendly CRM platform that provides advanced solutions with its robust marketing tools. It allows larger companies with complex workflows to perform efficiently and produce nifty results. Monday.com has you covered for your: Service, Sales, CMS, Operations, and Marketing needs.
For more details, read our Monday.com Review.
The best CRM specifically for customer service
Customer service is an inseparable part of your business irrespective of what services you offer. It involves engaging with clients regarding problems faced by them, understanding the issue, assigning a customer representative for quick resolution and asking for feedback.
A CRM that enables quick execution of these tasks and keeps everyone updated regarding the latest advancements on a problem is the best choice for customer service. Have a look at the products below to choose the best CRM in this category:
1. Netsuite
NetSuite Customer Relationship Management software is a cloud-based CRM that offers a 360-degree view of your customers in real-time. NetSuite CRM provides a continuous flow of information across the entire customer lifecycle, from leadership to opportunity, sales order, fulfilment, renewal, up-sell, cross-sell or support.
NetSuite Features
NetSuite has developed over the recent years and was one of the first cloud-based ERP+CRM systems. It is a multi-tenant SaaS solution that helps small and medium-sized organizations grow faster with customizable workflows. NetSuite provides unmatchable visibility and control over your entire business with its cloud-based applications that improve organizational productivity.
Here are some fascinating features that make NetSuite unique:
- Enterprise Resource Planning: NetSuite provides businesses with complete control over data and resource planning. From handling financial operations to processing order-related information, you can automate all manual workflows with NetSuite’s ERP. You can increase the productivity of an organization with ERP as it provides a clear vision of each business procedure.
- Global Business Management: NetSuite’s Global business management provides unrivaled visibility into operations in real-time. It allows multi-National businesses to manage complexities due to currency differences, tax policies, and legal conformity. Such organizations need to consolidate in regional areas while adhering to the company’s essence, and GBM makes that happen.
- Sales Force Automation: NetSuite allows users to automate administrative actions and sales operations, reducing the employees’ workload. You can identify potential issues, create financial projections and track employees’ performance to get a better outlook on your business activities.
- OpenAir: NetSuite’s OpenAir optimizes resources and employee allotment according to the skills required for a particular task. OpenAir creates various scenarios for every lead to maximize revenue and improve the chances of securing an opportunity. You can automate customer engagement and let OpenAir choose the right employee for each interaction based on past work and favorable conditions.
- SuiteCommerce: NetSuite helps e-commerce businesses automatically update online orders to the back-end to manage them centrally and reduce the processing time while increasing accuracy. SuiteCommerce allows B2B and B2C websites in unifying the front-end and back-end to remove manual operations and get higher client engagement.
- Timesheet Management: NetSuite assists Project managers to review time-based tasks and recording the working hours of employees. You can view relevant information like “Start Date”, “Work Done”, and “Estimated completion time” to get an overview of performance. Moreover, you can reassign tasks through Timesheet Management to finish projects urgently.
- Project Analysis: NetSuite offers analytical tools that provide concurrent updates for every service rendered by your organization. You can track each lead individually to get a better statistical understanding of the client’s requirements. Moreover, you can share reports with colleagues through NetSuite to ensure everyone is on board with project advancement.
NetSuite Pricing
NetSuite does not offer a general subscription plan, and users have to fill in a form mentioning their requirements, business size, and budget. Once done, you’ll be contacted: by the customer executive regarding the best customizable tools for your organizational needs.
2. Salesforce
Another tool to highlight is Salesforce, quite similar in the mechanics of employment to Pipedrive, is one of the most popular CRM programs, despite having a paid subscription, recommended for large companies but not so much for entrepreneurs or SMEs. It is a program that adapts perfectly to the size of your company, with a great usability adaptable to any device and with the possibility of using it anywhere you have a network.
Salesforce Features
Salesforce is a sales, marketing, and collaboration powerhouse that lets users accomplish business tasks and share ideas smartly. It was launched: in 1999 with the idea of helping organizations build long-lasting relationships with clients and providing a seamless transition to CRM software. Salesforce has since established itself as one of the most sought-after CRM tools due to its constant strive for innovation and philanthropic values.
Here are some features offered by Salesforce that can affect your business experience positively:
- Industry-focused services: Salesforce provides tailor-made CRM services for every business, irrespective of its niche or size. It is a multi-feature platform that allows every industry to benefit from its wide range of tools. Users can select their line of business to get recommendations on services or customize their own CRM plan.
- Salesforce Sustainability Cloud: Salesforce enables the inflow of your entire business data on a single platform, making it easier to accurately analyze your carbon footprint. In today’s age, when environmental awareness is more significant than ever, Salesforce Sustainability cloud lets you conceive a detailed plan to limit carbon emissions and provide a detailed report to the energy regulatory authorities.
- Slack Collaboration: Salesforce recently acquired Slack, and users can now integrate both platforms for secured communication and collaboration purposes. Slack has a unique interface that allows users to create distinct workflows for each task and automated responses to keep clients engaged till you assign a customer representative. Moreover, it brings different subsections of a business together and facilitates sharing of ideas.
- Workplace Command Centre: Salesforce tracks employee health and ensures their well-being during the pandemic; by carefully managing work hours. It builds a strong community where your company’s employees can connect with each other and resolve issues while you can dispatch resources faster.
- Lightning Platform: Salesforce provides an app development platform with the latest technologies like blockchain and AI. Users can handle every aspect of the process and customize a mobile application that empowers the company’s ecosystem. It’s an unequaled innovative experience that streamlines IT-related tasks and lets anyone contribute towards app development.
- AppExchange: Salesforce has an inbuilt marketplace where users can integrate the additional application to get a more customized experience. It amplifies your sales experience and browsing through several applications while using external tools within a unified platform for business purposes.
Salesforce Pricing
Salesforce has a multifunctional ecosystem where you can add services based on your requirements.
Sales Cloud’s “Essentials” plan is priced: at $25/month/user, “Professional” plan is priced at $75/month/user, “Enterprise” plan costs $150/month/user and “Unlimited” plan is worth $300/month/user.
Small businesses can get a generalized subscription to enjoy Salesforce and choose from the following packages:
The “Essentials” plan is priced: at $25/month/user and can be used; by up to 10 users.
The “Sales Professional” subscription is priced: at $75/month/user.
The “Service Professional” plan is priced: at $75/month/user.
The “Pardot Growth” plan is priced at $1250/month/user and offers automation capabilities for every business.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is one of the best known CRM tools in the world, and one of the undisputed references in the field of inbound marketing. Hubspot’s CRM functionality allows you to manage all marketing and sales activities as you see fit. For example, it allows us to group by campaigns that generate detailed reports of metrics on the real return on investment in the entire conversion funnel experienced.
Hubspot Features
Hubspot is a user-friendly CRM platform that provides advanced solutions with its robust marketing tools. It allows larger companies with complex workflows to perform efficiently and produce nifty results. Hubspot has five modules: Service, Sales, CMS, Operations, and Marketing, so you can include them in the package as per your business requirements.
Here are some impressive features available on Hubspot:
- SEO Tools: Hubspot is one of the few CRM services that provide SEO-related analysis for your website’s content. Once you integrate your business website with Hubspot, it automatically scans it and recommends better optimization. Alternatively, you can paste your website’s URL and get an SEO report.
- Content creation tools: You can create new blog posts for your website and edit the existing ones by simply integrating the website with CRM. Hubspot records all comments and edits made to the original content, so you are always in touch with the changes. Moreover, you can use the editor to start a new blog and add relevant images.
- CPQ Functionality: Every business needs to create quotations for products or services to assist sales reps in negotiations. Hubspot allows you to do it inside the CRM with its “Quotes Tool”. You can add unit price, discount offers, conditions, regulations terms, or any other information that will benefit the buyer and sales process.
- Campaigns Tools: Hubspot has several relevant automation tools that enable smooth interaction with clients and organize workflow. You can make posts on social media, send customized emails and run paid search campaigns to get leads on potential customers. It is one of a kind collection with all the necessary marketing tools and a great addition for larger businesses.
- Contact Attribution Reporting: Hubspot can help your management team understand the latest trend related to customers’ sales processes and identify the sources that influenced their decision. You can customize the attribution parameters to get different insights into your business and recognize the market-making activities.
- Data Quality Automation: It allows you to automate properties like; time, date and add new automation to manage the incoming leads swiftly. Hubspot will follow all the pre-entered instructions and give a reminder every it finds a promising opportunity.
Hubspot Pricing
Hubspot offers you the option to create a customized subscription plan by adding the required services. Alternatively, you can choose from the existing bundles and get a general subscription. The “Starter” plan costs $45/month and offers fundamental marketing and sales features. The “Professional” plan starts at $1600/month with advanced marketing tools and customer service software. The “Enterprise” plan offers all available features of Hubspot and is priced: at $4000/ month, with the price set to go up to $5000/month From December 1, 2021.
4. DataCRM
DataCRM is one more of the recommended software because it allows, in an easy and simple way, to track in real time all the businesses, prioritizing activities with the help of colours and establishing workflows. In addition, it allows you to adapt to business processes and define metrics and progress indicators, as well as obtain detailed reports on performance. It has 24/7 online support and can be used from anywhere in the world.
DataCRM Features
DataCRM helps users to define acquisition, sales, and customer service processes that rationalize business operations. It’s a great tool to obtain quick results and maximize the efficacy of marketing campaigns. Businesses can record each task within DataCRM and sort pending activities according to the priority. It mitigates the risk of missing out on crucial conferences or business events and keeps you updated with any recent changes in the schedule.
Here’s a list of features that DataCRM offers:
- Managerial indicators: It is like an analysis hub inside DataCRM where you get a broader vision of what is happening commercially. You can get daily work reports of each sales rep, set reminders about future tasks, and define parameters to entertain selective solutions.
- Sales statistics: DataCRM has set up the most common sales procedures that a business goes through; while converting a lead. You can modify these junctures according to your firm’s unique requirements and group leads in similar negotiation stages. Moreover, you can also observe the commercial evaluation of each opportunity and approach it suitably.
- Sales rep metrics: It gives you the desired information regarding the sales rep allowing you to assign them the task accordingly. You can tune the indicators to find out the productivity of each sales rep and assess whether they have achieved the targets. It also provides data about sales leads created or lost: making it a promising tool for management-related activities.
- Email templates: DataCRM allows you to prepare Email templates that assist in relaying new offers to the clients deftly. Each template will be stored and available for future use. You can change the intrinsic details and reuse relevant templates to save time and effort.
- Lead modules: DataCRM allows you to access specific leads from the pipeline and add pertinent attachments. It gives the sales rep an idea about how to approach the deal and makes it easier for you to reassign a task. You can add documents of the case file to make every information accessible for trainees or new employees.
DataCRM Pricing
DataCRM offers 2 pricing options to utilize the CRM services. Also, the total cost depends on the number of users you have, with the minimum amount being 3. The “Basic” plan comes with limitations in the number of custom reports you can create, automatic tasks you can assign, storage space, and does not have an API for developers, whereas the “Pro” plan offers all available features without any restraints.
5. FreshSales
FreshSales currently has more than 10,000 satisfied customers with its refreshing interface, which offers – at a glance – everything needed on the customer flow. You will be able to have information about conversations with customers, agreements, tasks and scheduled appointments with them, as well as find out how they have interacted with the website and the product, among many other functions. In addition, it allows you to control potential customers to know when it is the key moment to impact them.
Freshsales Features
Freshsales provides a modern-day sale engagement solution to users that want to expand their business and maximize their marketing efforts. Managing leads takes up a lot of effort and hours of scouring through various sources, but Freshsales eases that with a smooth transition of Incoming leads onto the next phase.
Here are some dedicated features of Freshsales:
- Marketing Automation: Freshsales lets you set conditions to see desired customer leads and automate the marketing tasks for prompt communication. Moreover, you can create alerts for the sales team whenever there is progress in negotiations or; the clients respond positively to marketing activity. You can set up chatbots to deal with incoming inquiries and reach out to the client via Whatsapp, Gmail or other network sources with Marketing automation.
- Deals Management: Freshsales lets you manage and visualize the sales process to convert potential leads into permanent clients. You can prioritize leads that are most likely to come to fruition and analyze the conversion rate to forecast sales for similar deals in the future.
- Workflow automation: Sales process involves many repetitive tasks that are essential to the working of the company. Workflow automation handles routine operations to reduce manual dependency and boosts sales efficiency by breaking complex processes into simple ones.
- Cloud Telephony: Calling is a vital part of the sales process: to update clients about the latest advancements and offers regarding new products. With Freshsales, users can get over 90 virtual phone numbers for employees: to connect with the customers over the computer. You can create notes and record a conversation to provide full context and reassign a task without any problem.
- Freddy AI: Freshsales identifies leads and organizes them to make sales tasks easier. You can set up instructions, and Freddy AI will cohere to them while processing client information. It provides you insight into the likelihood of closing the lead; so you know what the next step should be and approach the opportunity effortlessly.
- Product CPQ: You can maintain an updated product catalog on Freshscales to give clients and the sales team a reference about intrinsic features along with pricing details. Moreover, you can track individual unit sales and see which products are in demand and what audience you should target.
Freshsales Pricing
Freshsales has 4 pricing options available for businesses looking to expand their sales through CRM. The “Free” version provides basic management services free of cost. The “Growth” plan is a CRM tool with automation that can boost your sales and prevent respective tasks; It is priced at ₹999/user if billed annually. The “Pro” subscription will help you customize the tools to your liking and increase sales revenue; It costs ₹2799/user if billed annually. The “Enterprise” plan gives you the AI forecasting to know the shortcomings and modify the strategy accordingly; It is priced at ₹4999/user if billed annually.
Importance of CRM in customer service
In today’s competitive business landscape, exceptional customer service is no longer just a differentiator; it is a necessity. The importance of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in customer service cannot be overstated, as it serves as the backbone for nurturing and maintaining strong relationships with customers. Here are several key reasons why CRM plays a crucial role in delivering outstanding customer service.
1. Centralized Customer Data Management
A CRM system centralizes all customer information in a single repository, providing customer service teams with quick access to vital data. This includes customer purchase history, communication preferences, and past interactions with the company. With this comprehensive view, representatives can engage customers with context, making each interaction more personalized and effective. Centralized data not only enhances the quality of service but also helps identify trends and patterns in customer behavior, allowing businesses to anticipate and address issues proactively.
2. Streamlined Communication
CRM tools facilitate seamless communication across various channels, ensuring that customers can reach your business through their preferred methods—be it email, phone, live chat, or social media. This multichannel presence is essential for meeting customers on their terms and providing 24/7 support if feasible. Moreover, by maintaining a record of all interactions, CRMs ensure that no customer query goes unanswered and that agents have the necessary context to resolve issues swiftly.
3. Historical Interaction Tracking
One of the standout features of CRM systems is their ability to provide a complete history of customer interactions. This historical data empowers customer service agents to bypass lengthy introductions by immediately acknowledging past issues or inquiries. Knowing the full background of a customer’s relationship with the company minimizes frustration and fosters a sense of loyalty, as customers feel valued and understood. Additionally, this information can help identify recurring issues, leading to more effective problem resolution and service improvement.
4. Enhanced Agent Productivity
In a small business environment where customer service teams may be limited in size, CRM tools can significantly enhance agent productivity. By automating routine tasks such as managing customer inquiries, tracking service requests, and generating reports, CRM systems free up agents to focus on more complex customer interactions. This increased efficiency not only improves the speed of service provided but also allows agents to handle a higher volume of queries each day, maximizing the impact of your customer service efforts.
5. Real-time Analytics and Reporting
Data-driven decision-making is vital for any customer service strategy. CRM systems provide robust analytics and reporting features that allow businesses to track key performance indicators and analyze customer interactions. This data can be used to refine service strategies, improve agent training, and optimize resource allocation, ultimately leading to enhanced customer satisfaction. Moreover, insights gained from CRM analytics can inform marketing and sales strategies, creating a cohesive approach to customer engagement across departments.
Key Features of CRM Tools for Customer Service
In today’s competitive market, exceptional customer service is vital for loyalty and repeat business. CRM tools tailored for customer service are essential for this, offering features that enhance communication and streamline processes. Here are key features:
Omnichannel Support:
Customers expect seamless interactions across channels (email, phone, chat, social media). CRM tools enable businesses to manage inquiries from multiple sources in one interface, ensuring timely and consistent responses.
Intuitive Self-Service Options:
Self-service portals with FAQs and guides empower customers to find solutions quickly, reducing inquiries and enhancing satisfaction.
360-Degree Customer View:
CRM tools provide a complete view of customer data—including purchase history and preferences—allowing for personalized service and better response to inquiries.
Automated Workflows:
Automation of tasks like ticket assignments and follow-ups increases efficiency, reduces response times, and minimizes errors for smoother service.
Proactive Customer Assistance:
Analyzing customer data enables businesses to anticipate needs and engage proactively, addressing issues before they arise.
Reporting and Analytics:
Robust analytics track performance metrics (response times, satisfaction scores), allowing businesses to identify improvement areas and adjust strategies effectively.
Why use a CRM at all?
As a business, you have to successfully manage everything and record every detail to ensure you are performing at full capacity. A CRM helps you align your marketing campaigns with sales to maximize the effect and increase revenue.
It provides analytical reports on every department that improve the company’s functioning. Moreover, A CRM enables efficient communication with clients and prospects through automated messages; to strengthen the clientele base.
Why should a customer service company use CRM?
As a business owner, you have to assess how customer service is being delivered. You cannot have every customer representative give the same services that you want. However, it is required to maintain client relations and a good reputation in the market.
The key to scaling a business is to have consistency. It means that you need to have a particular way of doing things without creating excessive processes. You can do it by adopting technology-assisted processes that showcase the way and empower your team to deliver great support, service and products.
A CRM provides you with a database, where you can put all of your customer data, from financial information to what sales opportunity you’ve had with the customer.
It allows your employees to collaborate on tasks, and even if you lose a key staff member, you’ll have every detail stored in the CRM to make the recruit’s familiar with the job.
Moreover, you can store each customer engagement to help the representatives deal with similar situations in the future.
A CRM automates data entry work and lets your employees focus on managing the client’ problems. It removes the manual processes and diminishes the risk of redundancies or mistyping errors.
CRM for customer service, A Summary
Customer service deals with issues faced by existing clients and is of fundamental importance. CRM provides real-time support to clients and sends the details to the assigned customer representative.
Netsuite offers a complete CRM solution to tackle every task and maintain quality customer support. It is our suggested pick if you’re looking for a CRM that suits customer service. Visit the website to get started.