One thing that keeps business owners up at night is finding ways to solve their clients’ pain points. That’s why 91% of companies with over 10 employees use an array of customer relationship management solutions.
The best client management software can help your customer-facing and support staff be more productive. And you don’t want to miss out on this. In 2021, the global CRM market was estimated at $46.4 billion, up from $21.7 billion. Experts believe that this will go up to $49.6 billion in 2025.
To help you take advantage of this, here’s a rundown of the best client management software solutions today.
Best Client Management Software: Side-by-Side Comparison
| Client Management Software System | Free Version | Best Feature/s |
| HubSpot CRM | Yes | Comprehensive CRM platform Prospect tracking and meeting scheduler |
| Zoho CRM | Yes | End-to-end CRM software with predictive functions |
| Honeybook | Free trial for seven days | Can manage invoices and contracts |
| Monday.com | Yes | Great for team management |
| Insightly | Yes | Has an easy-to-use interface suited for small to medium businesses |
| Zendesk | Free trial for 14 days | Ideal tool for team collaboration |
| Dynamics365 | Free trial for 30 days | Perfect for onboarding new clients |
| Pipedrive | Free trial for 14 days | Uses an AI-powered sales-assist tool |
| ProofHub | Free trial for 14 days | Optimized for remote workers |
| Salesforce | Free trial for 14 days | Uses AI technology for predictive analysis tasks |
| Keap | Free trial for 14 days | Ideal for small businesses |
| Apptivo | Yes | Offers tons of customization options |
| NetSuite | Contact sales team for quote | Optimizes customer life cycle |
| Act! CRM | Free trial for 14 days | Designed for maximum customer retention |
| Active Campaign | Free trial for 14 days | Offers a lead scoring capability |
Top 15 Client Management Software Solutions
An effective client relationship management software can generate information that will help your organization advance customer relationships. While one of its basic functions is to store customer data, it can do a lot more than act as a repository.
You can use a good client management system to keep tabs on key consumer metrics, track important customer activities, automate repetitive tasks, or serve as a communication channel. Based on these criteria, here are today’s top client management software solutions.
1. HubSpot CRM
Hubspot is a comprehensive CRM platform that businesses of all sizes can use to scale up operations. It is flexible yet cohesive and is packed full of advanced features. Despite that fact, it remains easier to use than similar platforms.
Its core functions include a meeting scheduler, email tracking and notification, and prospect tracking. Thanks to these, it is considered one of the best email client project management software solutions today. The application also comes with live chat capability, allowing you to stay connected with your customers at all times.
Consider this: Around 41% of all consumers prefer interacting with brands using live chat support. This communication channel is especially popular among millennials, 63% of whom like getting customer support through chat. With HubSpot, you have yourself covered on this front.
This client management software is pretty good on its own, but you can also integrate it with other tools. It works well with Gmail, Outlook, Office 365, and more. With the right combination, your sales team can focus most of their energy on building relationships instead of taking down notes.
Another thing you would like about HubSpot is that it has room for an unlimited number of users and data. It can also store up to a million contacts for an unlimited amount of time. All these amazing features can be yours for free. If you want to unlock more advanced functionalities, you can get one of the paid plans.
2. Zoho CRM
Zoho is another comprehensive CRM software suitable for businesses of all sizes. It provides sales automation, predictive capabilities, multichannel communication, and a long list of other features.
With this CRM tool, companies can take full control of their sales, marketing, analytics, and other business processes. It can also track lead activity and monitor customer buying preferences. You can even use it to access price lists and other important documents.
All this information is within your reach, and you don’t even have to switch applications to get them. This is true whatever device you are on. It is no wonder that more than 150,000 businesses across 180 different countries use Zoho to foster lasting customer relationships.
Zoho has a free plan that can accommodate up to three users. There are four paid plans, all of which you can try for free for 15 days.
Note that you need to integrate Zoho with other business applications to reach customers across multiple communication channels. Some of the most popular options are Google Suite, Mail Chimp, Slack, and Dropbox.
3. Honeybook
Honeybook is a client management software that can also help you oversee invoices and contracts. Using it in combination with the best invoicing software will definitely take your business to the next level. You’d be able to handle payments and update clients about the status of your business transactions.
If you own or run a small business and you work on a per-project scheme, this CRM tool is great for you. Aside from being ideal for service-based businesses, it is probably the best client management software for photographers and other freelancers.
One of the many features that make it so effective is the Proposal. Using this booking file, your clients can review the contract, sign it, and then pay for it, all in one place. It streamlines the whole process, helping you win more clients over.
You could also invite clients to schedule meetings and synchronize them with Google Calendar to avoid problems like double-booking. That is, if you don’t already use the best scheduling software.
Another cool feature that will delight your customers is the portal, where they can monitor the progress of their project. Here, they can select services, send you a message, change meeting schedules, and more. It allows you to stay connected with your clients throughout the process, from inquiry to payment.
Unfortunately, Honeybook does not have a free plan, but all of its paid plans come with a seven-day free trial.
4. Monday.com
Established in 2012, Monday.com started out as a team management solution that helped enhance workplace productivity. Now, businesses across all industries use it on top of the best productivity tools, not only to manage employee performance but also to create total transparency for customers.
That said, it is important to pay close attention to the software’s early years when it focused on team management solutions. That’s because, in a recent survey on productivity, 96% of the respondents stated that using the right technology gave their employees a better workplace environment.
Not only did this make them more productive, but it also made them safer at work. Now, imagine being able to enjoy these benefits while building a strong customer relationship at the same time. That is what you get with Monday.com.
Monday.com has a number of templates suitable for a wide range of industries. Once you sign up, you can choose one that suits your business. From there, you can manage leads, monitor pipelines, nurture customer relationships, and perform other tasks.
If you want to give this CRM tool a spin, you can get the Individual Plan, which is free. However, it only has room for up to two team members. You could also try any of the four paid plans via the 14-day free trial before making a bigger commitment.
5. Insightly
If you are a CRM tool newbie, you would love Insightly. It has an easy-to-use interface tailor-made for small to medium-sized businesses. The controls are easy to pick up, even if you do not have much experience yet. More importantly, you can get data into its system in a few quick steps.
Insightly comes with all the essential features you expect from a reliable CRM software solution. It offers marketing automation, relationship linking, lead management, and automation of workflows.
With these features, your team won’t have problems pursuing warm leads. Instead, the leads will be automatically categorized based on customer activity and sent to your sales reps.
Moreover, the linking tool is particularly useful in mapping complex customer relationships. It follows the customer throughout their purchasing journey as they communicate with sales reps and different departments.
Armed with this information, you get a clear view of your organization’s structure and how the customer interacts with its various parts. If you’re interested, you can try Insightly for free simply by creating an account. It also has three paid plans that all come with a two-week free trial.
6. Zendesk Sell
Zendesk is a cloud-based helpdesk management solution that help users build a customer portal. Zendesk Sell is its CRM tool, which the company released just a few years ago. With this update, the software solution made selling easier and simpler. Your team can collaborate better, becoming more productive and delighting more customers at the same time.
Zendesk Sell can track all interactions with current and potential customers and then generate a report on it. You can customize these reports, allowing you to get valuable insights. After this, you can use the information to improve your service and boost sales.
What’s more, the platform recently added the Reach feature, which lets you go through third-party sources for customer information. It is a powerful prospecting tool that exposes new opportunities based on certain criteria.
Finally, you can integrate Zendesk Sell with other applications, which gives you access to other functionalities. It has three pricing tiers: Team, Growth, and Professional. It does not have a free version, but it does offer a 14-day free trial for each plan.
7. Dynamics 365
If you want your sales team to make an impact right away, Dynamics 365 has you covered. It is a client management software solution that can help your reps onboard new clients faster, shortening your sales cycle.
For this reason, it is arguably the best tool for enterprises that want to get more things done in a shorter amount of time. One interesting thing about Dynamics 365 is that it uses segmented, pre-built applications you can integrate seamlessly with other useful tools. The long list of compatible apps includes Teams and Outlook.
This feature allows you to build a comprehensive client management system. As a result, you can spend more of your time and energy on building customer relationships instead of trying to make unrelated products work together.
With a shorter sales cycle, you get to close more deals and increase your profits. What’s more, you can build a stronger connection with existing customers, which means you can duplicate your success for the foreseeable future.
Dynamics 365 caters to various business areas. It has four pricing tiers for sales, two for customer data platforms, and four for customer service. It does not have a free version, but you can try one of the paid plans through a 30-day free trial.
8. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a CRM tool and pipeline management software in one. It can help you keep track of the progress of your deals by categorizing them based on stage.
You can also use this tool to organize your customer list and automatically link them to the deals they’re involved in. This way, you can have a clear view of your sales process, allowing you to focus on the right priorities.
That said, one of the things that make Pipedrive stand out is its sales-assist tool, which is powered by AI technology. Your reps can use it to receive personalized tips, increasing their chances of closing deals. This feature also provides automation recommendations, making your business processes more effective.
On top of all these, Pipedrive has other advanced features in its arsenal. For instance, it can help you keep important reports and KPIs in one place. Doing this makes it easier to make revenue forecasts and better business decisions.
Pipedrive has four pricing tiers: Essential, Advanced, Professional, and Enterprise. It does not have a free version, but it offers a 14-day free trial.
9. ProofHub
Based on statistics, around 25% of all professionals in North America will be working from home by the end of 2022. Experts believe that this figure will continue to rise in the following years.
While some organizations continue to resist this trend, it is clear that the remote work setup is here to stay. So, if you are already implementing it in your company, you are headed in the right direction. There is one more thing you should do, though—get a CRM tool tailor-made for the hybrid workplace. One of your best options is ProofHub.
ProofHub is a project planning application that lets you manage clients or teams, all from one place. It lets you use multiple languages, so people can work from anywhere in the world using the language they are comfortable with.
What makes ProofHub very effective in this situation is that it enhances team collaboration. It lets you create discussion topics, share files and comments, proofread documents, and do many other things in one place.
You can also use it to generate reports and roadmap timelines, making it easier to track project milestones. This way, you know if you are on track, and you can stay on top of things. That said, ProofHub uses a flat pricing business model, so it does not charge a per-user fee. It has two paid plans, both of which come with a 14-day free trial.
10. Salesforce
Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM software that help businesses gather customer information and track all their interactions. It is also a great tool for managing contacts, generating leads, and integrating emails.
On top of all these, it has a sales forecasting tool that can give you a real-time view of all your sales teams’ projections. This feature makes it easier for you to see who the top performers are. It also allows you to set realistic targets and make better business decisions.
When it comes to customer service, Salesforce offers a number of functionalities, including self-service portals and call center software solutions. Another cool Salesforce feature is the Einstein AI, a data analysis tool that uses customer data for predictive analysis and other applications.
This feature makes it easier to analyze client relationships and spot sales opportunities. It also reduces repetitive tasks by synchronizing your team’s email and calendar to the app, saving a lot of time.
If you want to extend its functionality, you can integrate it with many other popular apps available in the market today. Salesforce caters to different business operations, including sales, service, and marketing. Each has its own pricing plans you can try for free for 14 days.
11. Keap
Keap is arguably the best client management software for small business owners. You can use it to automate a number of processes for marketing and sales.
This app can help you generate more leads and organize your contacts automatically. It uses custom web forms you can integrate into your landing pages or social media accounts. As you can imagine, using Keap along with the best social media management tools will undoubtedly help your business grow its reach.
Another feature you will find helpful is its invoices and payments functionality. You can use it to monitor, send, and receive payments from clients through the app’s built-in billing tool. If you have regular customers, Keap can also help you set up a method for recurring payments.
When it comes to tracking your team’s performance, Keap records all sales processes in every stage of the sales funnel. Plus, it has a drag-and-drop dashboard where you can visualize key metrics more quickly. You can even assign specific tasks to specific team members through this platform.
Keap has two pricing tiers: Pro and Max. You can get a monthly or annual subscription for either one. It does not have a free plan, but it offers a 14-day free trial.
12. Apptivo
Apptivo is a comprehensive CRM tool that offers a lot of customization options. It has an intuitive interface, tons of functionalities, and affordable pricing. In short, it has everything you might be looking for in a CRM platform.
One of the many things that make Apptivo a favorite among business owners is its lead management capabilities. It lines up your tasks in a number of ways, from daily to weekly or monthly.
You can even view it as one list. This way, you will see all your completed, upcoming, or overdue tasks. As you can imagine, it helps ensure that none of your current or potential customers will fall through the cracks.
Apptivo has a helpful feature called Triggers, which allows you to customize the rules for your workflow automation. You can use specific events as a basis or set it to detect events over time. It also has a tool you can use to define a built-in logic that will determine which deals will move to the next stage.
Apptivo comes with a free version that can accommodate one user and up to eight apps. The paid plans also come with a 30-day free trial.
13. NetSuite
NetSuite is a CRM tool that comes with all the standard features you could ever want, including sales automation, forecasting, management of orders, and more. Its unique selling point is that it is designed to optimize the customer life cycle.
You can use NetSuite to get a clear view of all client interactions, allowing you to track your prospect until the deal is closed. You can also use it for quote delivery and order management, features you do not often see in CRM tools.
NetSuite allows you to simplify the entire process from quote to order, like an integrated fulfillment solution. With all these features, you could increase your team’s productivity and sell more. That said, the app’s pricing plan is not posted on its website, so you have to contact the sales team to get a quote.
14. Act! CRM
If you are looking for a tool that can help you retain existing customers, nurture business relationships, and build pipelines, you should consider Act! CRM.
It is a customer management software solution that comes with a customizable dashboard and multiple integration capabilities. You can use it to manage your documents, calendar, and communications, keeping them all in sync.
Aside from these features, you can use the software to keep a record of all your interactions with current and potential customers. You can access Act! CRM either as an on-premise or a cloud-based solution. You can try either one for free for 14 days without having to disclose your credit card details.
15. ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is another CRM platform designed to help businesses manage client relationships. It provides automation capabilities, email marketing, and other customer service tools. Some of its key features include contact management, automation of essential sales processes, sales reporting, and more.
That said, what makes ActiveCampaign truly stand out is its lead scoring function. It allows you to keep track of how potential customers are interacting with your brand. It is an important process that could help you evaluate your chances of converting them. This way, you will be able to focus your resources on the most engaged leads.
ActiveCampaign can apply this lead scoring method to individual contracts or bigger deals. What’s more, you can set it to send you a notification if a prospect’s score increases. This feature helps ensure you do not miss out on any opportunity to sell.
There are four pricing tiers available: Lite, Plus, Professional, and Enterprise. You can also try the app for free for 14 days by creating an account.
A Robust Client Management System
If you want to thrive in the current business landscape, you need to have a solid client management system in place. It helps you make stronger connections with existing and potential customers, maximizing your chances of closing deals.
That is where a reliable CRM tool comes in. With one, you can keep tabs on your clients and potential customers, allowing you to stay on top of things at all times.
Client Management Software FAQs
1. What are customer relationship management systems?
At the heart of all successful business operations is good customer relationship. However, it takes a lot of work to consistently generate positive interactions between a brand and its clients. This is where an effective customer relationship management system or CRM comes in.
CRM software is a tool that help make your interactions with clients and potential customers more meaningful. At its core, it lets you store the contact information of your customers and prospects.
More than that, it has tools that help you identify sales opportunities, document service issues, or even launch marketing campaigns. The best client management software solutions are capable of so much more.
All of these activities are designed to make the jobs of your sales agents, customer service teams, and even marketing team easier. With a more productive staff, your customers are happier, you close more deals, and you make more money.
2. What is a client management tool?
A client management tool is a software solution that helps businesses build better relationships with current and potential customers. It can include a number of capabilities, including sales management, targeted customer communications, automation, and more.
3. What is the best client management system?
Any of the CRM tools on this list can help you build a robust client management system. They can optimize business operations, enhance customer experience, and build trust between brands and clients.
4. What is the most popular CRM?
Again, you can choose any of the CRM tools on this list without having any regrets. Your choice would ultimately boil down to your unique situation and preference. That said, Salesforce, Zoho, and HubSpot are among the most popular.
5. Which is the best CRM software to choose?
Your choice of CRM tool would depend on your unique situation. Some are optimized for freelancers and small businesses, while others are more suited for enterprises.
