Upfront Conclusion

The best franchise CRM right now is Salesforce and HubSpot

Making the move to a CRM platform for use by your franchise has the potential to transform its future. Whatever the business of your franchise, it’s likely that customer retention for growth is a key factor in your approach to business. It’s particularly crucial within a franchise to consolidate the many arms of your business into a centralized digital dashboard, for easy access by users across the board. The below solutions all offer helpful CRM features to streamline your commercial duties.

Top 8 Best Franchise CRMs

  1. Salesforce — Best CRM for Large Franchises
  2. HubSpot — Best CRM on a Budget
  3. Zoho — Best CRM for Small to Medium-Sized Franchises
  4. FranConnect — Best CRM for Business Growth
  5. Better Software Company — Best CRM for Small Franchises
  6. Prophet CRM — Best CRM for Email Campaigns
  7. Soffront — Best CRM for Efficiency
  8. RapidFunnel — Best CRM for New Franchises

1. Salesforce — Best CRM for Large Franchises

PRICING: From $25/month/user.

With a customer base of over four million users and growing, SalesForce is a giant in the CRM market. Its reputation and popularity render it a good option for franchises who want the assurance of strong customer support and consistent, robust software.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Sales forecasting
  • Workflow automation
  • Lead and contact management

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Powerful
  • High data capacity
  • User-friendly

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Not the most customisable
  • Large customer base compromises innovation – generic functionality
Try Salesforce

2. HubSpot — Best CRM on a Budget

PRICING: Free, premium tools available.

HubSpot offers an affordable CRM that is geared towards sales team progress and reaching targets. HubSpot software is completely free for use with up to 1,000,000 contacts and unlimited customer data capacity.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Team tracking
  • Pipeline management
  • Performance insights
  • Meeting calendar

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Value for money
  • Customisable
  • Improve customer retention

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Time consuming to implement
  • Lack of scalability
Try HubSpot

3. Zoho — Best CRM for Small to Medium-Sized Franchises

PRICING: Free for up to 10 users, paid plans from $12/month.

Zoho CRM offers comprehensive customer management at a low price point. The software is easy to learn and use, making it a good choice for SMEs who may be new to CRM.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Product configuration
  • Data analytics for sales and customer relation performance
  • Customer lifecycle reports
  • AI assistant

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Affordable
  • Easy to learn
  • Customisable

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Slow to sync with other platforms
Try Zoho

4. FranConnect — Best CRM for Business Growth

PRICING: Free demo, plan pricing on request.

Built specifically for franchises, FranConnect’s CRM platform aims to augment long-term revenue through processes of automation and digitisation. There is potential for significant business growth as a result of FranConnect’s efficient functionality.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Automated texts and emails
  • Performance monitoring
  • Appointment schedule

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Highly configurable
  • Save on labour costs
  • Simple site navigation

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Outdated interface

5. Better Software Company — CRM for Small Franchises

PRICING: On request.

For small franchises dispersed across several locations, Better provides remote workflow tracking and automation. The central hub allows users to identify trends in each business, and how this merges into overall performance.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Task delegation
  • Workflow pipeline
  • Customer contact storage

REASONS TO BUY:

  • App-based
  • Responsive customer support
  • High data capacity

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Unreliable software

6. Prophet CRM — Best CRM for Email Campaigns

PRICING: Free trial, plans from $9/month/user.

Prophet CRM focus on email marketing, via its integration with Outlook. It neatly consolidates business email, communication, calendar, and contacts on the Outlook dashboard, whilst syncing with sales data.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Embedded in Outlook
  • Sales reports
  • Task creation

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Smooths workflow
  • Several plans to choose from
  • Single interface, multitude of tools
  • Software updated quickly

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • US-based customer support potentially slow for other time zones
  • Lacks financial management

7. Soffront — Best CRM for Efficiency

PRICING: $100/month.

Soffront’s CRM package offers a robust solution to businesses struggling with disorganisation and time management. With complete control over customisation, your business could soon be saving hours each week by utilising Soffront’s diligent software. The initial flat fee might seem pricey, but Soffront assures clients of substantial ROI after a few years.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Categorise workflow
  • Schedule tasks
  • Email templates

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Birds-eye view of entire franchise
  • Boost productivity
  • Save time
  • Web-based

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Limited report capabilities
  • Some software faults

8. RapidFunnel — Best CRM for New Franchises

PRICING: From $29/month.

RapidFunnel focuses on authentic customer relationships. It’s a good choice for smaller franchises with a strong ethos and vision, who lack the means or knowledge to communicate with customers.

KEY FEATURES:

  • Multi-channel campaigns
  • Customer surveys
  • Gamification

REASONS TO BUY:

  • Competitive pricing
  • Mobile-friendly
  • Intuitive interface

REASONS TO AVOID:

  • Franchise growth would limit its efficacy
  • Takes a while to learn

Frequently Asked Questions

What should CRM add to my franchise?

Given the geographically disconnected nature of the relationship between a franchisor and franchisees, it’s most important to use a platform that ties up each strand of the business. A CRM platform should have a centralised dashboard depicting performance metrics from each location, as well as the storage of customer communication, contacts, and relationship history.

Furthermore, automation is a key term to look for in software descriptions. Automating tasks that are traditionally done manually (email responses, appointment scheduling etc) will save time and reduce labor costs. Ultimately, CRM features should boost the overall efficiency of your franchise.

Important features your CRM should include:

Most of the CRM options on the market will offer the majority of these tools. Deciding what’s important for you, and which products offer it, could help you choose the right CRM accordingly.

  • Customer communication history – have all contacts and communication, via any channel, in one place
  • Multi-channel campaigns – marketing that covers all bases
  • Task management – delegate tasks to users to boost efficiency
  • Pipeline management – tracking income end to end
  • Workflow automation – let arduous manual tasks be done for you

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