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Chris Neiger is a full-time freelance writer with more than 10 years' experience covering personal finance and investing-related topics. In addition to his work with The Ascent and The Motley Fool, he was also a writer for the BBC for three years and marketing manager for two non-profits.
Freshsales' customer relationship management (CRM) software proves that you can have feature-rich software that's uncomplicated -- and get it for a reasonable price. The CRM's design makes it easy to learn, and its ample customer support rivals more expensive competitors.
Free: --
Growth: $9/user/month
Pro: $39/user/month
Enterprise: $59/user/month
Freshsales is for companies of all sizes that want great customer relationship management software that isn't too expensive. Small businesses will appreciate Freshsales' low-cost plan, which provides plenty of features. Mid-sized and larger businesses will like Freshsales' long list of features without having to spend as much as some other leading CRMs.
Companies that have outgrown a more basic CRM will likely benefit from using Freshsales, though large companies that want optimum customization may feel a little restricted. If you're looking for a feature-rich CRM that can grow with your business and will stay within the budget, Freshsales is it.
Freshsales has impressive features that are easy to use. The CRM provides lots of customization options but doesn't feel as overwhelming as some leading platforms. Here are some of Freshsales' key features and why they're impressive.
Like other CRMs, contact management is a core feature of Freshsales. But the difference between Freshsales and many of its competitors is that this CRM blends an easy-to-use layout with robust features.
In the main overview section of each contact, you can see where they are in the sales pipeline (new, qualified, won, etc.) and other details, such as if they're part of a current deal, when they were last contacted by your company, and any notes that have been added about the contact. On the left-hand navigation, you can easily view recent conversations, files associated with the client, and other details.
One thing you'll notice right away is that Freshsales provides helpful icons to visualize the content you're looking at. This can be especially useful if your team is just starting with a CRM and needs a well-designed product.
Freshsales includes a helpful feature that assigns a score and a star rating to assess leads and whether they may be a good customer fit. For example, a contact might receive a higher score based on their job title, past contact with people in your company, and overall engagement.
You can also add positive and negative signals to make the scores more accurate and customize scoring fields based on your company's needs. For example, your company may see a significant sales uptick from people attending an annual conference. In that case, you could add a scoring signal that gives a higher score to contacts that attend that event.
Another great Freshsales feature is that you can set up automated sequences to help you and your team follow up with leads or keep up with current customers.
Freshsales provides pre-made sales automation templates you can choose from based on your objectives. For example, you can create a sales automation workflow that creates a timeline for following up with a new lead with an email, then a request to connect on social media, and a scheduled call for 10 days later.
You can also quickly create your own sequences, ensuring that you keep track of new leads and existing customers in your company's preferred cadence.
Freshsales has robust analytics and reporting features that allow for fantastic data visualization. Selecting the analytics tab will take you to a page that gives you a snapshot of how your company is doing with its sales conversions, current deals in your company's sales funnel, win/loss percentages, and revenue forecasts.
You can then click through to get more details about each metric and view the underlying data from the charts. You can also choose to view reports on categories, including deals, contacts, the effectiveness of sales activities, and revenue breakdowns.
While all CRMs have reporting and analytics, Freshsales' data visualizations exceed those of many competitors.
One of Freshsales' core CRM features is its deal management tool, which displays the current state of deals in easy-to-read cards. The cards can easily be dragged and dropped into different categories based on their position in the sales pipeline.
For example, if one of your contacts is no longer a new contact and is now a qualified lead, you can drag the contact card into the qualified section. As with many of Freshsales' dashboards, the deal management section is easy to understand, and editing information feels intuitive.
Freshsales offers extensive customer support, including email, phone, and chat support 24 hours a day, five days a week. The chat feature is especially helpful, and Freshsales says it responds to questions within a few hours during business days.
You can access Freshsales' resource center for articles and additional information on CRM features. There are also interactive walk-throughs for core features to help you understand how to use the CRM.
With Freshsales, you can choose from three paid tiers and select add-on features that can push the cost higher. Freshsales bills annually, but breaks down the pricing structure on a per-user, per-month basis.
You can sign up for a 21-day free trial to give Freshsales a test drive without providing your credit card information.
Tip: There's a free version of Freshsales that gives you access to basic CRM features for three users. You still get the same support hours, and no credit card is required.
| Features | Growth $9/user/month | Pro$39/user/month | Enterprise$59/user/month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detailed Views for Contacts, Accounts, and Deals | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Contact Lifecycle Stages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in Chat, Email, & Phone | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Email Templates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Fields | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Basic Workflows | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Advanced Workflows | -- | Yes | Yes |
| Curated Reports | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Reports | -- | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile App | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 24x5 Support | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Contact Scoring | -- | Yes | Yes |
| Sales Sequence | -- | Yes | Yes |
| Field-level Permissions | -- | -- | Yes |
| Dedicated Account Manager | -- | -- | Yes |
| Sandbox | -- | -- | Yes |
| Forecasting Insights | -- | -- | Yes |
| Custom Modules | -- | -- | Yes |
Freshsales says the Growth plan is tailored for small businesses that need sales pipeline management and want additional contact management features. With its low cost and solid features, this plan is an excellent option for smaller companies with limited budgets.
The Pro plan builds on the growth plan by offering sales sequencing and contact scoring. Growing businesses and medium-sized companies will probably want this plan, which is relatively inexpensive but offers many features.
The Enterprise plan is Freshsales' top-tier plan and includes the ability to add special permissions to the platform, maximum customization, forecasting insights, and a dedicated account manager. The plan also comes with a sandbox feature that lets you test new features and configurations without impacting your main CRM account. This plan is great for large companies with bigger budgets.
One of Freshsales' best features is that it's easy to use. I spent some time testing the CRM and found it intuitive and uncomplicated. Freshsales' use of graphics and layouts makes it easy to get started. Whether you're new to CRMs or looking for a robust system that's easier to use than other competitors, Freshsales is an excellent choice.
Freshsales is an excellent blend of an easy-to-use CRM with many features for mid- and large-sized businesses. Small businesses will love all the features for a low price, and larger companies will appreciate the analytics and basic customization options that don't break the bank. And it's hard to beat Freshsales' chat, email, and phone help for customer support, all of which come with the lowest-priced tier.
It's easy to start using Freshsales. You can sign up for a free 21-day trial without providing your credit card information. Setting up your account only takes a minute, and you can begin testing out the CRM's features right away without any need to download software.
Freshsales has interactive tutorials that walk you through learning the core features of the CRM, and all plans have 24-hour/five-days-a-week customer support access via chat, email, and phone if you have questions. There is also a resource center with articles and instructions on how to use the features.
Freshworks CRM scores high in the affordability area, with its basic version at a price that most small businesses can afford. There's also a 21-day free trial, which is a generous period of time to try out the software (and you don't have to enter any credit card information). The only downside is a steep penalty for paying month-to-month instead of annually.
Besides basic CRM features, Freshworks CRM has a few unique elements. Its lead scoring system makes it easy to see which clients are closest to a sale and should therefore get more attention. It does a good job with managing teams of salespeople, although most of those tools are only available in the higher-priced versions. And it has lots of reports to choose from so you can do a deep dive into your sales performance.
Freshworks CRM is intuitive, with a simple menu to the left of the screen that makes navigation easy, and a dashboard that puts your tasks front and center. Reports are easy to access and generate. And a lot of typically manual tasks are automated, which helps save time.
Freshworks CRM does an outstanding job when it comes to customer support, making it easy to reach the support team via phone, email, or live chat, and offering extensive self-help options like videos and articles.
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