CRMs for a small business?
April 17, 2013 7:46 AM Subscribe
What are some great CRMs for a small business/startup with the potential to grow?
I'm the sole manager of customer support at a tech startup. We're getting to the point where we need a CRM to handle leads, sales, support, etc. Cost is not the most important factor here. Some definite perks (pie-in-the-sky style):
- able to import Gmail automatically and update a customer's record, via multiple email addresses.
- can work with Mailchimp
- can work with Zendesk, or has awesome support framework
- cloud-based and can be accessed via internet from anywhere
- great interface and is intuitive
- flexible and will allow us to add fields to a company (such as what plan they are on, etc)
Our team is small; one marketing guy, a sales guy, and me on support. We need a way to track clients through the process. Salesforce is way too much for us. I've taken a look at Insightly and Batchbook and Sugar CRM. Any recommendations? Anything we definite need?
My background is not in support so this is all new - any info is welcome!
I'm the sole manager of customer support at a tech startup. We're getting to the point where we need a CRM to handle leads, sales, support, etc. Cost is not the most important factor here. Some definite perks (pie-in-the-sky style):
- able to import Gmail automatically and update a customer's record, via multiple email addresses.
- can work with Mailchimp
- can work with Zendesk, or has awesome support framework
- cloud-based and can be accessed via internet from anywhere
- great interface and is intuitive
- flexible and will allow us to add fields to a company (such as what plan they are on, etc)
Our team is small; one marketing guy, a sales guy, and me on support. We need a way to track clients through the process. Salesforce is way too much for us. I've taken a look at Insightly and Batchbook and Sugar CRM. Any recommendations? Anything we definite need?
My background is not in support so this is all new - any info is welcome!
I'm a Salesforce Admin, and while you think it might be too much for you now, look at the big picture.
It can do workflow for orders, inventory, forecasting and service, in addition to the sales stuff.
There are a bazillion awesome aps that let it meld with all of your other stuff.
They have small Salesforce systems and the community (me included) is awesome!
At least discuss your options with a rep. If it's not right, ask them what system is the easiest to upgrade to SFDC when you've grown to a point where it makes sense.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:39 AM on April 17, 2013
It can do workflow for orders, inventory, forecasting and service, in addition to the sales stuff.
There are a bazillion awesome aps that let it meld with all of your other stuff.
They have small Salesforce systems and the community (me included) is awesome!
At least discuss your options with a rep. If it's not right, ask them what system is the easiest to upgrade to SFDC when you've grown to a point where it makes sense.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 9:39 AM on April 17, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by michaelh at 7:50 AM on April 17, 2013