What CRM and Marketing Automation Systems should businesses decide on? From Fortune 500 Corporations to small companies — List of the top CRM Systems!
According to Gartner- technological research and consulting firm based in Stamford, Connecticut that conducts research on technology and shares this research both through private consulting as well as executive programs and conferences, the global CRM market size is estimated at $69 billion in 2020.
But I have heard from many people very often what is CRM and what is the use of CRM Systems. How does a company benefit from CRM, and how they do business and profit through these systems? What is the right CRM for my company, and what should my choice be?
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information.
CRM systems compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company’s website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials, and more recently, social media. They allow businesses to learn more about their target audiences and how to best cater to their needs, thus retaining customers and driving sales growth.
While researching I came across one article at TechTarget that very shortly explained the whole history and evolution of the CRM systems. From the early 1950s to the future of CRM. I have discovered that Rolodex was some kind of the primary form of CRM. Honestly, I have never heard of this before so I have decided to take a look and see what it is —
A Rolodex is a rotating card file device used to store business contact information. Its name, a portmanteau of the words rolling and index, has become somewhat genericized (usually as Rolodex) for any personal organizer performing this function, or as a metonym for the total of an individual’s accumulated business contacts. In this usage, it has generally come to describe an effect or characteristic of the small-world network of a business’s investors, board of directors, or the value of a CEO’s contacts, or in organizational structure.
But nowadays CRM systems are a completely different story. They are far more developed with great improvement and AI. Not that just they offer collecting data but they are a master at the whole process of marketing and sales, reaching your best business target audience and strategy. In one sentence improved customer relationships on the highest level.
After my own experience during the years with different CRMs, I still can not decide which is the best one. Every business has a different story and a different style. But I said to myself — wouldn't be nice to have more knowledge on which CRMs exit and how to choose one? I did market and online research to gain more knowledge and here is the list of the top CRMs according to my experience. During my research, I started looking for more sources on how to discover the right list and how many CRMs exist at all. There are so many around the globe, from bigger to smaller, from more expensive to cheaper, from more known to less known. I used www.G2.com as a good source website which provided me with massive insights into the CRM's existence.
G2.com, formerly G2 Crowd, is a peer-to-peer review site headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It was known as G2 Labs, Inc. until 2013. The company was launched in May 2012 by former BigMachines employees, with a focus on aggregating user reviews for business software.
Here is the list of more than 700 CRMs around the globe: CRM List and how to discover the best CRM Software. I have decided to take some of the most important CRMs that are used by more than 60% worldwide nowadays. Let’s take a look at them.
website: www.hubspot.com
HubSpot is an American developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. Hubspot was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in 2006.
Its products and services aim to provide tools for customer relationship management, social media marketing, content management, lead generation, web analytics, search engine optimization, live chat, and customer support.
website: www.zoho.com
Zoho Corporation is an Indian multinational technology company that makes computer software and web-based business tools. It is best known for its online office suite offering Zoho Office Suite. The company was founded in 1996 by Sridhar Vembu and Tony Thomas and has a presence in seven locations with global headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and corporate headquarters outside of Austin in Del Valle, Texas.
website: www.salesforce.com
Salesforce is one of the largest, most popular CRM platforms on the market, with a market share of almost 20%.
Salesforce, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides customer relationship management (CRM) software and applications focused on sales, customer service, marketing automation, analytics, and application development.
Founded by former Oracle executive Marc Benioff, Salesforce quickly grew into one of the largest companies in the world, making its IPO in 2004. Salesforce’s continued growth makes it into the first cloud computing company to reach US$1 billion in annual revenue by fiscal year 2009, and the world’s largest enterprise software firm by 2022.
website: https://monday.com/
Monday.com (styled in lowercase as monday.com) is a cloud-based platform that allows users to create their own applications and project management software. The product was launched in 2014 and in July 2019, the company raised $150 million, based on a $1.9 billion valuation. The company went public in June 2021 and is based in Tel Aviv, Israel.
website: www.activecampaign.com
ActiveCampaign is a software as a service (SaaS) platform for small-to-mid-sized businesses and is based in Chicago, Illinois. The company offers email marketing, marketing automation, sales automation, and CRM functionality.
website: www.pipedrive.com
Pipedrive is a cloud-based software as a service company. It is the developer of the web application and mobile app Pipedrive, a sales customer relationship management (CRM) tool. The company has more than 1,000 employees in its eight offices across Europe (Tallinn, Tartu, Lisbon, London, Prague, Dublin, Riga and Berlin) and two office in the US (New York and Florida). Its CRM is used by over 100,000 customers around the world. In 2020 Pipedrive became the fifth Estonian-founded unicorn.
website: https://www.zendesk.com/
Zendesk, Inc. is a Danish-American company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It provides software-as-a-service products related to customer support, sales, and other customer communications. The company was founded in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 2007. Zendesk raised about $86 million in venture capital investments before going public in 2014.
On November 22, 2022, Zendesk announced that it had been acquired by a group of investors led by Hellman & Friedman and Permira for approximately $10.2 billion.
website: https://www.netsuite.com/portal/home.shtml
NetSuite Inc. is an American cloud-based enterprise software company that provides products and services tailored for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) including accounting and financial management, customer relationship management, inventory management, human capital management, payroll, procurement, project management, and e-commerce software. NetSuite was founded in 1998 with headquarters in Austin, Texas. The company is widely seen as the first cloud computing software company, with its founding pre-dating that of Salesforce by about a month. Oracle Corporation acquired NetSuite for approximately US$9.3 billion in November 2016. The Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit is managed by Executive Vice President Evan Goldberg as “Oracle’s Cloud ERP for Small and Mid-sized Enterprises with the ability to scale to Fortune 500 firms.
website: https://www.freshworks.com/
Freshworks is a cloud-based customer service software company founded in 2010, in Chennai, India. Freshworks has been recognized in various industry reports, including the Forbes Cloud 100 and Gartner Magic Quadrant for Customer Engagement Center CRM.
The company provides cloud-based tools for customer relationship management (CRM) and IT service management (ITSM). As of October 2023, Freshworks has over 60,000 business clients. Among these, more than 51,000 are small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), defined as companies with no more than 250 employees.
On September 22, 2021, Freshworks became the first Indian SaaS company to be listed on Nasdaq. In its initial public offering, Freshworks raised $1.03 billion following earlier funding rounds from top-tier venture capital firms such as Accel and Google’s venture capital fund, CapitalG.
website: https://keap.com/
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft) is a private company that offers an e-mail marketing and sales platform for small businesses, including products to manage customers, customer relationship management, marketing, and e-commerce. It is based in Chandler, Arizona.
website: https://www.insightly.com/
Insightly, Inc. is a private computer technology company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company develops cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) and project management tools for small and medium-size businesses. Insightly distributes its CRM and project management tools to customers using a freemium model.
website: https://www.apptivo.com/
website: https://www.copper.com/
website: https://www.lessannoyingcrm.com/
website: www.bitrix24.com
In wrapping up, I can’t stress enough how integral CRM systems are in today’s competitive business landscape, both in the B2B and B2C sectors. Drawing from my own experience, the platforms I’ve highlighted are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the transformative power of CRMs. A quick glance at platforms listed on G2 underscores this sentiment, revealing a plethora of options tailored to diverse business needs. But beyond the specific names and rankings, it’s essential to recognize that CRM systems are not merely tools; they’re the backbone of a company’s sales and marketing strategies. Their ability to streamline operations, foster customer relationships, and drive revenue growth makes them indispensable assets. In essence, investing in a robust CRM isn’t just a good idea — it’s a pivotal step towards ensuring sustained success and growth in today’s dynamic market environment.
To underscore the significance of CRM systems, it’s essential to view them as more than mere technological solutions; they’re catalysts for business evolution. My curated list of top-performing CRM platforms, coupled with the comprehensive insights available on platforms like G2, serves as a testament to the vast array of choices available to businesses today. However, beyond the variety and functionalities lies a deeper truth: CRMs are foundational elements that bridge the gap between organizational objectives and tangible results. They empower teams, optimize processes, and most importantly, place the customer at the center of every interaction. As we navigate an increasingly interconnected business ecosystem, the role of CRM systems becomes even more pronounced, acting as the linchpin that harmonizes sales, marketing, and customer service endeavors. Simply put, for any forward-thinking enterprise aiming for scalability and customer-centricity, embracing a robust CRM solution isn’t just beneficial — it’s imperative.
