Business means customers, and customers mean data. Today, any manager who wants to run the company well and boost the performance of the sales team can no longer ignore CRM. The need for strong customer management software is not in question; however, figuring out which CRM best suits your company’s needs can be more complicated.
In this article, we have gathered four prominent CRMs (in our opinion) currently available on the market. The objective? To give you a brief overview of each tool so that you have the right information on hand when you make your decision.
Salesforce: The Heavyweight
While the CRM landscape has grown in recent years, Salesforce is still one of the heavyweights in the industry. With several advanced features, it remains a very attractive SaaS solution for large companies or companies with specific requirements. On top of that, it has a simple interface and is fairly intuitive to use. In terms of budget, the entry point is $25 per user per month. That said, the features in this version are very limited and you will quickly have to move up to the higher tiers, starting at $75 and going up to $300 per user per month, in order to fully benefit from the software.
Also note that the range of features offered by Salesforce is rarely relevant for small and medium-sized businesses. They lead to extra costs that are often unnecessary, given the number of modules that may never be used, even though the base prices are already relatively high.
Microsoft Dynamics: For Specialists
This CRM from Microsoft is part of Office 365, and its connectivity to other Microsoft programmes, such as Excel, can be very useful. Regularly updated, Microsoft Dynamics offers a very good user experience and a wide range of features. However, this breadth comes at a price, as Microsoft’s starting price for the "Sales" module alone is $65 per user per month. Any other available modules (marketing, customer service, etc.) are treated as add‑ons and billed separately.
It should also be noted that the tool has a fairly steep learning curve and can take weeks – even months – to master. Combined with higher‑than‑average prices compared to competitors, this solution is geared more towards large organisations with in‑house specialists.
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Zoho CRM: For Limited Budgets
Zoho CRM is very easy to get started with and is designed to be accessible to as many users as possible. While the standard plan at $18 per user per month quickly shows its limits, the $45 per user per month plan offers many more features and will generally meet the needs of a small or medium‑sized business. With its aggressive pricing, Zoho CRM targets smaller companies or managers who do not wish to invest large sums in a CRM.
Zoho’s integration with other tools is quite tricky, however, and its customer service is not well‑regarded by customers. The interface, although dated in terms of design, remains quite functional.
Odoo: The Challenger
Unlike the other solutions discussed above, Odoo is first and foremost an ERP and an open-source software that offers a free plan. However, it also has a full-fledged CRM module that provides more or less advanced functionalities depending on each company’s needs. Other ERP applications within the Odoo ERP (starting from as low as $8.50 per module) can be added (marketing, e-commerce or sales) to complete the basic CRM.
This “à la carte” approach ensures that each company only pays for the features it actually needs and uses. Finally, Odoo can be hosted in the cloud or directly on the company’s servers, which adds greatly to its usability.
Need to choose between Cloud ERP and SaaS ERP? Follow our article to find out how.
Captivea Odoo Gold Partner
We have extensive experience working with business management software such as CRM systems, and being an Odoo Gold Partner makes us a top choice for your next integration project.