On the hunt for a better way to organize your contacts, manage your sales process and track your sales reps’ activity?
A customer relationship management, or CRM, tool can shore up your entire customer lifecycle. With better organization, more automation and real-time tracking, the CRM can eliminate lost sales due to lack of follow-up and lost sticky notes. It can even increase revenue by identify your most lucrative channels and most productive salespeople. And, it can increase customer lifetime value by spotting opportunities to upsell and cross-sell to your current customer base.
Ready to compare all-in-one CRM solutions?
What makes an “all-in-one CRM” different from standalone CRM software?
Unlike regular-strength CRM platforms that help businesses manage the sales side of their operations, an all-in-one CRM includes marketing functionality as well.
So, in addition to helping you organize your contacts, manage relationships throughout the customer lifecycle, and monitor your sales people, you can capture and nurture new leads into opportunities for your sales team.
An all-in-one CRM is more than just a fancy database. With built-in marketing automation and email marketing capabilities, it becomes a communication hub as well. Capture new leads online from digital marketing channels and intelligently nurture these new relationships until they indicate that they are ready to buy. Features like lead scoring and automated notifications make it simple to transition contacts from leads in the marketing funnel to new opportunities in the sales pipeline.
Different CRM platforms serve different audiences, and the features reflect that as well. Some all-in-one CRMs include a wide-swath of features - such as customer support ticketing systems and ecommerce solutions. Others are more focused and may have more targeted functionality - such a driving sales.
The all-in-one CRM was born out of the need for smaller businesses to seamlessly organize, track and communicate with their customers throughout the customer lifecycle - without sinking a ton of time and resources into integrating multiple systems and paying expensive consultants to make sure their efforts got off the ground.
That being said, the all-in-one CRM isn’t for everyone. Enterprise businesses with unique needs may be better off taking a “best of breed’ approach that ties together their favorite enterprise tools.
But if you’re like the other 30 millions SMBs in the US an all-in-one CRM might be the perfect software to fit your needs. Simple implementation, less-complexity and access to helpful onboarding and support all make all-in-one CRM software an easy choice.
Narrowing down the right all-in-one CRM for your business is no easy task. Afterall, CRM software is now the biggest software market in the world. So how do you make sure you invest in the best all-in-one CRM for your business?
The best thing you can do when searching for an all-in-one CRM is to have a strong understanding of what happens during your sales and marketing process.
Where do your leads come from? Which marketing channels are you using to reach them? How does your sales team conduct follow-up? What happens when a lead becomes a customer?
Documenting your process and seeing your touchpoints with contacts throughout the customer lifecycle can make it much simpler to decide which features are must-haves, and which features may be overkill for your team.
After all, the bulkier your CRM software, the tougher it is to implement, launch, and ensure user adoption. So opt for the features your really need, and don’t get distracted by shiny bells and whistles that may hinder your team from working efficiently in the application.
What’s the worst thing that can happen after you research, choose and implement your CRM solution?
Your sales people are still using the back of a napkin to track opportunities.
User adoption is key to a successful CRM implementation. Not only do you want the right features in place, but you want to make sure that it’s not complicated for your team to complete the tasks they need to do in the CRM.
There’s nothing more frustrating that running into an issue with your CRM and being left without support because you didn’t purchase the right package. Not only do you need to investigate CRM features, but also the support options that come along with them.
If you’re a self-starter, an online knowledgebase might be all you need. But if you and your team like a bit more guidance, phone support might be an extra consideration. Anticipating how and when you like to receive help can help you narrow the playing field when it comes to all-in-one CRM research.
Connecting with other backend systems, adding users, populating your database - setting up your CRM is not always a simple task. When comparing systems, it pays to investigate the implementation process.
Does the CRM help you with basics like bringing existing contacts into the system? Do they have a onboarding team to help you map out your processes and solidify your strategy? Will you need a third-party consultant to kickstart your success?
Implementation costs can add up quickly, so be sure to explore the implementation and onboarding process available with each CRM solution you research.
Of course price is one of the main considerations when choosing the right CRM software. While most CRM software pricing is straightforward, there are other considerations to keep in mind.
For instance, when you do your research, do you find lots of users investing in third-party consultants to help get their CRM initiatives off the ground? You might anticipate that extra cost.
Or, when looking at an all-in-one CRM that includes other major components - like a blogging tool, social media platform or invoicing software - is it more cost-effective to bundle everything in one tool, or taking a best of breed approach?
Finally, your time is worth something, too. A cheaper solution may be friendly to your budget, but if it’s not user friendly or doesn’t have great support, you may be sinking valuable time into the wrong software.
BenchmarkONE is an all-in-one CRM built for small to midsize businesses that primarily sell to other businesses, aka B2Bs.
BenchmarkONE is also a great option for marketing agencies. As a BenchmarkONE Partner, marketing agencies see substantial cost savings for their smaller clients as well as larger clients that do not need complex functionality. Saving on their tech stack makes it simpler for agencies to productize their services for these types of clients.
BenchmarkONE pricing starts at $29/mo. No startup fees are required. Live chat support and online knowledgebase are included in every plan.
Is BenchmarkONE the right all-in-one CRM for your business? Compare BenchmarkONE with other popular solutions:
Infusionsoft is a solid option for small to midsize businesses that primarily sell to consumers, aka B2Cs. If you’re looking for an all-in-one CRM that includes ecommerce tracking, Infusionsoft might be the best option for you.
Pricing starts at $199/mo. for Infusionsoft by Keap and includes a required, one-time on-boarding fee of $499.
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4.0
4.6
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4.4
How does BenchmarkONE compare?
Hubspot is the gold standard of inbound marketing tools. The feature-rich platform is ideal for enterprise businesses and marketing agencies. For small to midsize businesses, agencies with smaller clients, or even large businesses with less complex sales and marketing processes, the cost of Hubspot is often prohibitive.
You can try Hubspot for free with limited features, contact and user limits.
4.3
Can BenchmarkONE save you thousands per year?
Ontraport's feature list is quite long - so if you're looking for an all-in-one CRM that does it all, Ontraport might be worth checking out. However, like many platforms with a broad feature set, it may take your team a dedicated resources to implement and maintain Ontraport for your team.
Pricing starts at $179/mo.
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Is BenchmarkONE the right all-in-one CRM for your team?
Here's an all-in-one CRM that includes a suite of customer service tools as well. However, the breadth of GreenRope may be overkill for small businesses or companies that already have a customer service ticketing system - such as Freshdesk or Zendesk - in place.
Pricing starts at $149/mo. $399 on-boarding package is required for new accounts.
Learn why thousands of users choose BenchmarkONE to propel relationships into customers.