Running a business in this day and age involves wearing a number of hats for a number of occasions and needs that would routinely come up while you try to meet sales targets, earn revenues and further your brand. If you read the above sentence again, you will see that we have listed three very crucial things that each and every business must do. Let us understand this in a better manner before we begin our discussion of CRM applications and alternatives to PipeDrive as well as similar platforms.
- Sales Targets: Every business would have to set a sales target because that would be the core of everything within the business and it would pretty much dictate how you use your resources and what you are working towards. The setting of a sales pipeline is the direct answer to this need and it also dictates what kind of CRM platform you would use and what PipeDrive alternatives you would have to turn to. The sales targets would have to be set in keeping with the maximum bandwidth that your resources can give you so that you can accordingly allocate some resources towards automating the sale pipeline and its tasks with the help of a good PipeDrive alternative.
- Earn Revenues: In order to understand whether or not you are meeting your sales targets, you would have to measure your revenues. This would directly point at your sales and the way you are engaging with or pitching to the customer. To earn revenues, there are a number of things that would have to be done and this does not merely stop at the conversion or the acquisition of a client or customer. There are a number of things like cross-selling, up-selling and much more that will help you build a constant stream of income from the same customers again and again, even as the reputation you build takes you forward to create new business and acquire new customers. For this too, you would need a CRM system like PipeDrive or a good alternative to PipeDrive at the very least.
- Further Your Brand: This is one of the most important things that you would have to indulge in, so that you can earn revenues and make profits in the long run with least effort. Building your brand is all about the way you are perceived by your potential customer and how well you can articulate the solutions that you offer. This requires constant engagement and many businesses may not be able to conduct the same on a routine and well-planned basis. With a proper CRM system like PipeDrive or an alternative to PipeDrive, you would be able to plan and execute targeted campaigns that will land you straight in the social media feed or the email inbox of your targeted clients so that you can build your brand standing and create a reputation that generates revenues.
In the above three things, you may have noticed that the word CRM pops up very often. What is CRM, really? CRM or customer relationship management could be a software, a system, a process or even a platform that can help you organize all the bulk of your data pertaining to the various clients and prospects so that this data is meaningfully used when you are setting the tasks in your sales pipeline. PipeDrive is one such system that can help you reach your target audience in a proper manner so that you have maximum chances of getting a conversion with all the automated functions at play.
Why should you use PipeDrive or an alternative to PipeDrive? Well, the most obvious reason would be the organization of data which could actually make things much easier and smoother for your sales and marketing teams. At the same time, they would gain the benefit of time since most of the functions in the sales pipeline would be automated by the system or the platform, for the team members to concentrate on other core tasks. This would also be beneficial in raising awareness about your brand even as the CRM system helps you display a professional front at all times.
Yet, Pipe Drive is not the only answer since it can be a tad bit expensive for most small and upcoming businesses and it also has limited features that pertain mostly to landing pages and email. Therefore, you could have a look at the other options or alternatives to PipeDrive in order to bring home the best CRM system for your business and the team behind it. Here are a few PipeDrive alternatives for you to consider:
- EngageBay: This one could easily be called the best alternative to PipeDrive because it offers an entire suite of features that can cover various channels to help reach and engage with customers. It is quite affordable and has an excellent support system that can be reached at any time.
- SalesMate: This platform is also a good PipeDrive alternative since it helps you automate your entire sales pipeline in a manner that makes the journey towards conversion that much smoother.
- FreshSales: This platform is an upcoming one that basically targets your customers through a well-structured email marketing system. This helps you get into the customer awareness with ease even as they have a number of features like tracking and more.
- Insightly: Insightly is also one of the better known PipeDrive alternatives that can help you get the job done with ease thanks to its many automated features. Yet, many users may find it a little on the expensive side.
- Nutshell CRM: This is also a well-known alternative to PipeDrive thanks to its many features for email-driven marketing automation and CRM.
In a nutshell, EngageBay would be the best option for its pricing and range of features.
