Without any doubt, organization in work, the ability to clearly concentrate on vital tasks as well as self-discipline are the most essential qualities of every business person. The thing is that they provide a plethora of advantages in the labor market, assist you in moving up the career ladder faster and achieve great success in business. Selecting a business management program is truly a difficult challenge. To choose the right free CRM system the first time, you need to take into account plenty of essential factors, such as:

  • the size of your business;
  • niche;
  • company needs, and all that jazz.

To make it easier for you to decide on the right platform, we have prescribed a step-by-step action plan for you.

What Does CRM Imply for Fruitful Business?

Let’s start with the fact that a CRM system constitutes a modern program that helps entrepreneurs from all over the world manage a business. It’s possible to load a customer database into it, organize transaction records, analyze the sales funnel as well as successfully monitor the completion of employee tasks. Simply put, a free CRM system can be understood as an Excel spreadsheet, but with expanded functionality since any routine tasks can be automated in it.

It comes as no secret that free CRM systems can automate and coordinate the work of almost all departments of the company. A program like Bitrix24 CRM can be really useful wherever there are customers, suppliers and employees. The platform is used by small, medium and large businesses. Most often, such systems are used where there are large amounts of data about customers, transactions, products, and the like. For instance, free CRM systems are needed by:

  • banks;
  • various online stores;
  • marketing;
  • insurance businesses;
  • IT companies;
  • engineering;
  • customer service.

How Do Free CRM Programs Function?

First of all, a businessman sets up a platform, and it executes the commands embedded in it. Teams are configured according to what processes the company has. Let’s take into account the following example: an application from a client immediately goes to the manager in one company. However, in another business project it goes to warehouse employees who check the availability of provided goods and only then transfer the application to the manager.

In most cases, sales managers have to enter information about clients and transactions themselves. Besides, their task is to change the status of applications. That is why CRM acts as a data warehouse. It is perfect to generate reports and evaluate the overall picture, that is: how many deals are currently in progress, what products have been already sold as well as how much has been paid.

Algorithm for Selecting the Best Free CRM System for a Specific Business

An effective free CRM program is chosen based on business requirements, namely the goals that the business company is going to achieve in the near future. So, depending on its goals, necessary requirements for the system are formed. To choose the right system, you should answer a series of questions, such as:

  1. What customer data should a CRM platform store?
  2. What company information would you like to update and track?
  3. What services and tools does the program need to be integrated with?
  4. What business targets does the manager want to achieve?
  5. Should the platform automatically assign tasks to managers?
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Once the answers to the above-mentioned questions are formulated, managers are free to pick out a business platform. As a rule, they select several options at once that meet the requirements and compare them: prices and tariffs, the interface evaluation and work format.

Determining Key Business Needs

At the beginning of your selection journey, just decide what types of free CRM software you really need. For most businesses, the essential categories will be:

  1. Logistics and Supply Chain. Some businesses whether they’re small, medium or large, need support when it comes to supply chain management and logistics, and great software can simplify the work.
  2. Software for Commercial Proposals. Attracting business clients and sponsors starts and ends with fruitful sales proposals. It’s logical to make use of the proposal software that can assist you in creating, submitting and then tracking the status of significant sales documents.
  3. Accounting and Finance. With trustworthy finance and accounting programs, businessmen are able to track accounts payable and receivable. More than that, it is possible to track different indicators that affect the financial business condition, generate and submit various reports to regulatory authorities. Furthermore, it helps a lot in controlling cash flow, planning revenues and expenses.
  4. Advertising and Marketing. These software solutions allow businessmen to plan and execute their campaigns. More than that, free CRM programs let them track results.
  5. Comprehensive Analytics. What matters here is that the resource planning system provides managers with a complete picture related to the performance of the business project.
  6. Sales and Lead Generation. Bitrix24 CRM supports lead generation and sales, including customer relationship management. The system helps identify and track prospects throughout the sales process.
  7. Production of Goods. There are software programs aimed at production automation. To put it in a nutshell, they’re completely tailored to this process. Such platforms take into account all the specifics of the work of manufacturing enterprises.

Basic Criteria to Help You Choose a CRM

To choose the right CRM for your company, consider the criteria below. They will allow you to find the best software for your business. The truth is, every business is characterized by different needs and it is vital to consider them when making the choice for the future of your business.

Consider the Size of Your Company

In fact, a company with 1 to 10 employees does not have the same needs as a company with 50 or 100 employees. Accordingly, a small business won’t need a pile of features since it doesn’t make sense for businessmen to pay for extra features that they’re not going to use. Meanwhile, it tends to make the interface more complex, which is exactly what entrepreneurs would like to avoid in everyday use.

Get the Best Value for Money

In fact, it is primarily to get the best price/quality ratio. So, setting a budget is essential before you start looking for the particular CRM software. Whilst setting the budget, remember that a higher price does not mean a better tool. You just need the one that meets the current and future needs of your business. Therefore, the presence of functions that are quite useless to you will just “inflate” the tool price.

Determine Your Business Needs and Goals

Take the time to determine your business needs and goals. Clearly articulate your need to find business management software that will precisely solve your problems.

Pay Special Attention to Customer Service

This stage is extremely important for selecting a solution with good customer service that will take some weight off your shoulders if necessary. To find out if they are available quickly, open to improvements or even based in your country, do not hesitate to ask them questions during your trial period or during a demonstration of the system.

Choose a Tool that Is Easy to Use

To implement software over time, it is necessary to pick out a business program that is easy to use. The fact is that a simple platform is one that you can use from the start without spending weeks training on the product. So, intuitiveness together with quick and easy handling will be real criteria whatever the size of the business and its needs.

Check Possible Integrations

When picking out CRM software, check the available integrations since choosing software that adapts to your integrations and not the other way around must be part of your selection criteria.

Select Program Type

There are two main types of free CRM software: online and server-based. The first variant is obviously more flexible and available to team members. So that you will have access to the program anywhere there is an Internet connection. It is characterized by lower installation and subscription costs.

Key Takeaways

As you can see, it is almost impossible to run a successful modern business without software that can help your company be productive and run efficiently. Nowadays, with heaps of developers working hard to create new software products and services for businesses around the world, it would be frivolous to say that choosing the right software is easy. We hope this checklist will help you make the right decision if you are choosing a free CRM for your business.