When you start shopping for CRM’s you will find them in every price range imaginable. Don’t want to spend a big chunk of change? No problem, you can find CRM’s for free. Have a big budget and need a whole lot of functionality? You can easily spend several hundred or even thousands to get exactly what you need.
So with all of this variance, where do you even start? One thing about CRM’s is it takes a time commitment to get them up and working for you and your particular business. So you don’t want to keep the switching from one to another to a minimum, whenever possible.
Answering these 3 questions will help direct you towards the correct end of the pricing scale for your needs.
1. Where are you now?
The first thing to consider is where you are today. Are you using Post-it notes, writing phone numbers on your hand, and doing everything you can just to make sure things aren’t falling through the cracks? Then you probably want to get yourself organized and get a system where all of your contacts, notes and to-do’s are all in one place.
If you are on your fourth CRM and you understand all about Marketing Automation, you will be probably looking for more of a powerhouse CRM that has every bell and whistle known to man.
Most of us are probably somewhere in between.
2. What is your team size?
What is the size of your team? Is it just you in one location? Or do you have 50 locations across the globe with 100 people at each location?
If you have a team, are you sharing contacts? Do you transfer contacts from one team member, or one location to another? Do you assign to-do’s to other team members?
3. Will you be setting up this CRM yourself – or using a consultant to help you?
Generally speaking, you will be able to set up the CRM’s all by yourself if you choose one on the lower end of the pricing scale. However, if you are looking at something like HubSpot, Keap, or SalesForce, your best bet is to get a pro consultant to help you out.
These systems are amazing and can do everything you can think of – and more. However, along with all the features and functions comes complexity and confusion for those who are not well-trained in these specific systems.
But what does that pricing scale look like… exactly?
There are many choices in the $0 – $15 range. Some of the good ones are Less Annoying CRM, Agile, and Zoho. These are great choices if you are looking to get started, save some money, and don’t need a lot of features and functions. With Less Annoying CRM if you need more functionality later you won’t be able to grow with them – which is REALLY annoying!
In the $20 – $50 range you want to look at companies like Insightly, Pipedrive, and Nutshell. These will have a few more features, better support, and generally a better user experience. AllClients fits in here. Start at $24 and then as you grow, AllClients will keep up with you as we have higher-end offerings with everything that you need (and more).
Read our feature-by-feature comparison of Insightly vs Pipedrive vs AllClients for the exact details of which one is the right choice for you.
On the top end of the pricing scale, you’ll find the big boys: SalesForce, Microsoft, and HubSpot to name a few. And don’t be fooled when you see low prices on their websites. You CAN start out with them on the cheap. But if you really want all the good stuff that comes with a CRM, it’s going to cost you big time. Like several hundred or thousands of dollars. You will want all of their add-ons, PLUS a very smart (and expensive) consultant to help you set it up and maintain it into the future.
These high-end CRM’s will give you everything. Not necessarily in an easy-to-use package, but their capabilities are impressive.
Conclusion
Back to the original question: What should YOU pay for a CRM? I hope this article will give you a better understanding of where you might fit on that pricing scale and where to look to find the right CRM for you.
At AllClients, we have never been shy about being blatantly honest about our competition. There are some great CRM’s out there and we want our customers to be as informed as possible.
AllClients fits somewhere in the middle of the pricing scale. It has the simplicity of the lower end CRM’s, but also some of the robust features you will find on the high end. Plus you will love the fact you can pick up the phone and talk to a smart support person who has the answers to your questions.
