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Not all CRMs are created equal, and automation is a symbol for the future. That is why automation features are on the rise for optimal functionality within organizations across the globe. Basic CRMs may be ideal for early leveling up stages, but incorporating automation makes a huge difference in not only your quality of customer interactions, but also the productivity of your employees. The automation clad CRMs listed below serve to help you focus on the more important factors of business by offering a variety of unique solutions. This article is designed to help showcase the dynamic offerings of each one.
The Top 8 Best CRM Software for Automation
- Bonsai – Best for Automating Tasks And Projects
- Affinity – Best for Deal Flow
- Salesforce – Best for Resources
- Insightly – Best for Smaller Scale Businesses
- Method CRM – Best for Quickbooks Integration and Field Work
- Keap – Best Dynamic Duo
- ActiveCampaign – Best for Email Automation
- Freshsales – Best for Sales
1. Bonsai – Best for automating tasks and projects
Pricing: Starts from $24 per month
Automation is the key for all businesses to save time, money, and effort. While there are many tools for this aim, one such platform is Bonsai. It has been designed to help you automate your projects and tasks for seamless communication and timely delivery of your projects.
For example, the project organization features will help you fill various projects with tasks, payments, documents, and much more. This will allow everyone working on the project to have access to what needs to be done. You also have the option of inviting other people to work on a certain project or task.
Such ease and accessibility will guarantee that your tasks are done within the time frame and with due diligence. So, if you want a tool that automates projects and tasks, then you need to opt for Bonsai. There is a free trial of seven days to help you understand how the platform works.
Key Features:
- Task lists
- Task templates
- Set email reminders and due dates
- Track the hours employees work on a task or project each day
- Add notes to the task
- Invite other people to collaborate on the project
Reasons To Buy:
- There are endless templates that will help you work on projects
- You can keep track of everything from the project rate to the contact details of everyone involved
- Employees can work together and remain efficient
Reasons To Avoid:
- It might take some getting used to if you are using it for the first time
2. Affinity – Best for Deal Flow
PRICING: starts at $125 per month for small teams. Prices vary for enterprise sized teams.
Affinity provides advanced tools that make it easy to automate deal flow interactions. With a focus on boosting connections and building your network, Affinity will organize all past, current and even future clientele with its mutual connections feature. There is also full transparency within your team as you will be able to monitor their connections and workflow that gets updated in real time.
KEY FEATURES:
- Automatic data entry and sync.
- Relationship intelligence feature to ensure the right approach and connection between employees and clients.
- One-click pipeline management and analytics.
REASONS TO BUY:
- Email integration to further enhance connections.
- Enterprise grade security to protect exclusive networks and confidentiality.
- Smart triggers feature improves and optimizes workflow.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Some of the features could use some improvement in terms of functionality.
- The UI can take up a lot of energy, some have said even on powerful computers.
3. Salesforce – Best for Resources
PRICING: Varies based on your business needs and scale. A free trial is available.
Since 1999, Salesforce has been a CRM leader. With that said, the software is no stranger to modern concepts such as automation. This CRM has implemented the feature in some of the most important functions in a business: sales and marketing, making it a top contender. Now, not only can you use it to max out your workflow, you can treat it as a resource hub as well with its tutorial and live events offering.
KEY FEATURES:
- Automated workflow processes so you can focus on tasks more worth your time.
- B2B marketing automation.
REASONS TO BUY:
- Fully integrated with Slack and other communication platforms.
- Customer and team programs to stay up to date on the latest trends and brush up on new skills.
- Many praise how customizable it is.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Some complain that it is dated.
- It can be expensive.
4. Insightly – Best for Smaller Scale Businesses
PRICING: With many different categories, pricing starts at $29 per month for the CRM component and increases from there.
Insightly pride themselves on being relationship based, not transactional. They know each business is unique, and so are their customers. Knowing this, Insightly gives you all the right tools to customize to your liking as many times as you’d like until you have found your own secret sauce to success. The best part is Insightly makes this all too easy to achieve. From a feature-rich free offering, to various tools to gain customer feedback, your business potential is limitless.
KEY FEATURES:
- Sales and workflow automation that allows you to make the most of business opportunities.
- Intuitive and unified marketing automation.
- Sophisticated integration designer with no coding required.
REASONS TO BUY:
- Comprehensive reporting.
- Ideal for project organization.
- Uses task assignment and keeps new and old leads warm.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Not ideal for B2B.
- Some prefer the previous “Basic” version over their new update due to the elimination of some helpful features and functions.
- Free version is strictly limited.
5. Method CRM – Best for Quickbooks Integration and Field Work
PRICING: Starts at $25 per user per month and goes up to $74.
Fully maximize the way your business handles customer information and revenue with Method CRM’s Quickbooks integration. Further, this 100% customizable platform allows you to curate the perfect all in one workspace that meshes with the entire team. The automation possibilities are endless.
KEY FEATURES:
- Save you and your team’s time by routing service routes in bulk to be shared via calendar directly to everyone’s phone. No checking at the office.
- Automated drag and drop workflows to stop leads from slipping through the cracks.
- Quickbooks integration ensures your customer and accounting data remain separate and clutter free.
REASONS TO BUY:
- People love the customer service and support teams.
- The customizability is also highly praised.
- Speedy pipeline management.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Some say the interface is difficult to look at and presents a learning curve.
- The customization features can sometimes be seen as a double edge sword.
6. Keap – Best Dynamic Duo
PRICING: Varies from $59-$199 per month once you evaluate how many contacts and users you have. A 14 day free trial is available.
Keap is designed so that entrepreneurs can take control of the chaos in their businesses with sales and marketing automation. By keeping leads fresh and the marketing and the CRM hub all in one place, it enables businesses to send emails and monitor customer interactions, allowing you to increase sales and deliver better customer experiences. With that being said, businesses can run campaigns and have more personalized communication clients.
KEY FEATURES:
- Save up to 10 hours per week with their automated sales process formula.
- Create custom pipelines that automatically sync to the CRM.
- Ensure no sales are lost with custom reminders for e-commerce.
REASONS TO BUY:
- Easily track client profitability and duplicate email broadcasts to save time.
- User friendly campaign builds.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Email customizer is lacking in some features according to users.
- Branding isn’t the platform’s strong suit.
7. Active Campaign – Best for Email Automation
PRICING: From $9-$149 and upwards for enterprises. A 14 day trial applies.
Active Campaign is a hidden gem when it comes to email marketing. This software offers dynamic custom email templates in order to personalize customer interactions. They help you authentically grasp the concept of meaningful interactions to boost the success of your business. You can do all this without having to lift a finger or worry about your valuable customers slipping through the cracks. Active Campaign does all of the engagement for you so you can focus on more important aspects of your business.
KEY FEATURES:
- Nurture new leads as soon as they come in with custom action templates.
- Email automation.
- Advanced contact engagement tracking.
REASONS TO BUY:
- People enjoy the wide range of integrations and customizations.
- UI is user friendly and intuitive.
- Excellent customer support.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Some complain that the software can be clunky and slow to load.
- Support is not available on the weekends.
8. Freshsales – Best for Sales
PRICING: Enjoy a free version or pay from $15-$69 per user per month depending on what features your business needs.
Freshsales is an excellent salesforce automation software designed to help businesses manage leads, customer engagement, and relationships all through artificial intelligence. The platform enables organizations to customize and keep track of sales, add tags to capture and store customer information, and synchronize data across the entire life of a lead, from prospecting to contact and conversion.
KEY FEATURES:
- Automatic sales call logging.
- Eliminate calculation errors with custom pricing computation templates.
- Intelligent personal AI to help mitigate mundane tasks and sort through new leads.
REASONS TO BUY:
- Seamlessly integrate with help desks.
- Easy to use.
- Many are praising its good value.
REASONS TO AVOID:
- Reporting system can be buggy.
- Customer support is not the company’s strongest asset.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Sets Apart Automation CRMs from Regular CRMs?
The biggest difference between the two lies in their power to save you time. A CRM with basic functionality is indeed a great start to prioritizing more meaningful tasks within your company. However, as your business grows more and more, seeking out a CRM with automation features can be a game changer. Broadening your focus to automating your business more can look like:
- Creating deeper client relationships
- Erasing the need to perform repetitive and mundane tasks
- Bringing in more sales
- Making sure your team and employees are fulfilled at their work
- And much more!
Further, as the future of CRMs become clearer, some companies are becoming increasingly innovative when it comes to each new offering. It is certainly worth giving it a try.
What Are Some Essential Features of an Automation CRM?
The most basic and impactful form of automation would be in sales and marketing. Automating these two aspects of any organization can make a massive difference in how they are perceived to the public. This will undoubtedly result in a generation of an increasingly successful company.
Marketing Automation vs. CRM Automation?
Believe it or not, there is a difference between these two. Like the name suggests, marketing automation focuses solely on the marketing aspect. Whereas a strictly CRM automation feature focuses more on automating repetitive activities such as data entry. It is helpful to understand the difference between these two terms in order to help you discern what your business needs are.