CRM Platforms: Choosing the Best CRM System for Sales Reps

CRM
  

Of course, not all CRMs are created equal. Some are more helpful for marketing than sales, while others offer exceptional customer support features. That being said, what are the best CRMs for sales reps in particular? Let's dive into the answer below.

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Regular vs. Sales CRM Software

First of all, it's important to recognize a subtle but important distinction between "regular" CRM platforms and sales CRMs:

  • Regular CRMs offer a holistic view of the buyer's journey and incorporate several different roles into their platform. For example, HubSpot has a Sales Hub, as well as a hub for Marketing, Service, and CMS (Content Management System). 
  • Sales CRM software is primarily (and sometimes exclusively) used to drive sales. Sales CRMs offer a number of sales-oriented functionalities. These include features such as customer data organization, follow-up reminders, automated admin tasks, pipeline management, etc.

Either type of CRM can be useful to sales reps. Of course, some sales CRMs may have capabilities that their generalized counterparts lack. In any event, you want to make sure that your CRM system is powerful and flexible enough to support your sales process from beginning to end.

Now, let's list 8 of the best CRM options for sales reps on the market today:

1. Agile CRM

Agile is a "one-stop-shop" CRM for sales, marketing, as well as support automation. It enables sales reps to capture a 360-degree view of each documented interaction leading up to the current one (including support calls, sales appointments, website visits, marketing touchpoints, etc.). And thus gain valuable insight into the prospect's behaviors and motivations. In addition, Agile's 50+ sales automation features (including sales gamification) make it a popular choice for reps of all experience and skill levels.

2. Contactually

Contactually is an SaaS-based CRM platform specially designed for real estate agents and brokerages. It emphasizes the development of authentic relationships with clients through effective prioritization (depending on factors such as the prospect's current location in the sales cycle), as well as personal engagement. It also boasts a simple and intuitive interface.

3. Salesforce Cloud

Salesforce is one of the most popular and famous CRMs on the market today. It provides a suite of applications that fits business organizations of all sizes, from small startups to enterprise-level corporations. 

Salesforce Cloud keeps a strong focus on sales and support. It includes many powerful features that sales reps can leverage into more closed deals. This includes pipeline management, automated follow-up reminders, contact data management as well as organization, lead scoring, and so forth. 

It's important to note that the Salesforce CRM is only available as an SaaS deployment. You'll want to ensure that your company is subscribed to the plan that most closely aligns with your needs and business goals.

4. Zoho CRM

Zoho is another Cloud-based CRM platform. It provides omni-channel support capabilities across all major sales channels, including email, phone, chat, social media, as well as in-person meetings. (No smoke signals yet.)

Zoho boasts powerful AI-driven analytics, workflow automation, sales forecasting capabilities, process management, as well as many other helpful features.

5. Close.io

In terms of sales CRM platforms, Close.io has the distinct advantage of being built by salespeople, for salespeople. It is a very suitable option for SMBs that operate within strict budgetary guidelines. Its platform includes features like built-in calling, a robust "Inbox" that tracks and manages all of your reps' sales activities, as well as full team transparency (so everyone knows what's going on with each individual lead). In addition, Close.io's "Power Dialer" feature will help your reps to spend more time on the phone throughout the course of their day.

6. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is another Cloud-based sales CRM platform. It helps to streamline every sales activity that relates to the customer's journey. It also displays the current stage of progress in which each prospect is located. Pipedrive provides your sales team with full visibility into different sales pipelines. It helps individual users to stay on course by displaying details for any pending activities in the conversion process.

In addition, Pipedrive offers highly customizable reporting tools that can help sales managers not only generate helpful graphs and charts, but also track the performance of both individual reps and the team as a whole.

7. Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales

Dynamics 365 for Sales is part of Microsoft's suite of enterprise-level software applications. It is essentially a high-powered CRM platform that focuses heavily on pipeline management and relationship-building activities. It includes helpful features for sales reps and managers alike, such as project service automation, sales forecasting, reminder automation, as well as collaborative tools.

Dynamics 365 is available as a Sales Hub app (with the Enterprise licensing plan), a Sales Professional app (with the Professional licensing plan), as well as as a mobile app (optimized for field reps). It is available on all major operating systems, including iOS and Android, as well as offline.

8. HubSpot

One of the most popular options on the market today, HubSpot's CRM offers a holistic view of the buyer's journey. It helps marketers, salespeople, as well as customer support agents to engage with and nurture customers within a seamless framework. 

HubSpot's CRM embraces several operational areas. However, it does have a Sales Hub specifically dedicated to empowering your team and driving your sales. HubSpot's Sales Hub includes a visual dashboard of the entire sales funnel, along with a real-time view of any progress made by the prospect. Your reps can easily segment prospects and leads into different categories, track, organize, and refer to interactions, as well as follow up with promising leads at the right time, and through the right channel. HubSpot's CRM can even send real-time notifications when customers open up an email or perform another trigger action.

Team of sales representatives working in an office using computers with CRM systems.

Conclusion

In summary, there are a ton of sales CRM options out there for your team. Choosing the right one requires some research and forethought, but the rewards will be well worth the effort. If you'd like some expert assistance, reach out to OverGo Studio today for a free consultation.

Take advantage of our free Hubspot CRM Configuration to start modernizing your sales process. This is a limited-time offer where we will design a sales pipeline specifically for your business. Start generating more revenue and improve your close rates by building your first high-performing sales pipeline on HubSpot at no cost. Simply schedule a discovery session with our team of HubSpot experts.

A customer relationship management (CRM) platform is an important component of any sales organization's overall strategy. It helps managers to track the typical buyer's journey through each stage of the sales pipeline. It can identify any bottlenecks that could be hindering greater returns. A CRM platform also enables sales reps to target high-quality leads, examine previous customer interactions with the brand, and close deals more efficiently.