Create a client file: use these 6 free software
Are you embarking on an activity requiring the management of contact data? companies? Do you want to record transactions and do not want to “invest” for the moment in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution? Are you tired of juggling the various outdated Excel files or seeing your sales rep dressing himself up with the Cardex file? Find in this article six free software to build a customer file. Small bonus: we have also listed you a software that we consider interesting for an additional cost of barely a few euros per month.
Hubspot CRM
And yes, HubSpot CRM , depending on your needs, can be used
for free, for life. The great strength of HubSpot, if you haven't read our blog
for a long time, is to be the leader in its market (and not only in the free).
HubSpot was named best CRM ahead of Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics according to
G2 and Capterra in 2018. It is the 4th best tool for a business in the world in
2020.
Beyond the fact that this CRM is complete and free for up to
1 million contacts, you can:
• Create as
many users (marketing, sales, administrators, ticket managers) as you want.
• Available
in French , you also have a very extensive knowledge base (FAQ), and support in
French.
• Its other
great strength is being able to interface with hundreds of other software on
the market (by native connectors or APIs that can be developed by partner
agencies, like us!)
• It is
linked to the forms of your site, your mailboxes
• It has a
free emailing tool up to 2000 emails / month
• You can
easily manage your prospects, centralize all contacts, follow your customer
accounts and current business (sales pipeline)
• If you
are using a business solution, there is a good chance that HubSpot can
interface: an open API and more than <500 native tools on the marketplace
Last advantage , and this is the case with many SaaS
(Software as a Service) solutions, you can upgrade your offer whenever you want
and lower your license if your volume of activity changes : adding options for
your marketing (emailing software, Hubs Marketing brick), your sales team (Hub
sales), your customer service from € 37…
To test and activate your free CRM, it's here .
Bitrix24
Basic, and in its free version, Bitrix24 allows you to:
• create up
to 12 different users, and
• gives you
access to a 5 GB drive (if you don't manage thousands of invoices, that could
possibly do the trick!)
This solution can allow you to create:
• basic
landing pages,
• a small
e-commerce site,
• you can
sends up to 1000 emails per month.
• Bitrix24
even gives you access to a project and task management tool.
• Obviously,
you can import .csv files (if you've finally taken the plunge and decided to no
longer use Excel for your client file .
Regarding contacts, transactions and company, there are no
limits , but if you want to integrate millions of lines, we advise you to
contact the publisher to discuss the most suitable paid plan, or to turn to
downright towards more “solid” solutions such as HubSpot or Salesforce, which
will better satisfy your CIO with regard to performance, security, GDPR
compliance options, etc.
You can view the different offers here .
Leadlist
Leadlist is a simple and free CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) software. It allows you to:
• manage
contacts,
• manage
opportunities,
• create basic
landing pages with GDPR compliant forms.
• You can
also create quotes and turn them into invoices.
Free ? Yes, and with no time limit. You can test as long as
you want without registering a credit card. The catch? Leadlist is free for up
to 50 contacts. Just long enough for you to be seduced by the solution, and
need to spend on a paid plan.
Many previously free or open-source software (such as
SugarCRM) have now switched to so-called freemium models: free trial or limited
free version, then switch to a paid plan for more options. However, Leadlist
differs from these because you have as much time as necessary to familiarize
yourself with the tool.
Discover the different functions here .
Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM, internationally known software can be free, but
only for up to 3 users. Beyond that, you will have to migrate to a paid offer.
However, in its free version, you benefit from practical
tools:
• lead
management,
• contact
management,
• accounts
(companies),
• transactions,
• simplified
history of contact actions.
• Zoho even
offers a widget for gmail.
On the downside?
• On the
other hand, you are limited to 150 e-mails per day in the free plan.
• You have
standard non-customizable dashboards,
• The total
storage of your files cannot exceed 1 GB.
You can compare the offers here .
Warning: If you like to get your hands dirty, the following
2 parts concern open-source software that we have selected for you. If the term
“Open -Source” does not mean anything to you, I advise you to come back to the
previous paragraphs and make your market among these four solutions.
Dolibarr
Dolibarr ERP & CRM is open source software that has
existed since 2002. Free without its
non-cloud installable version , it is particularly suitable for VSEs, SMEs,
associations and self-employed people
Like all open-source solutions, its installation does not
require special computer skills , but you still have to appreciate tweaking :
choose the most stable version for your operating system, in case of questions,
you have to go on the Francophone community portal or consult the
documentation. Otherwise, you can call on an integrator , but you lose all the
interest of a software, because any work worthy of salary, a few tens, hundreds
or thousands of euros could be requested from you for its configuration .
Beyond the functionalities of a CRM, you also have the
functionalities of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): orders, stocks,
management of employee calendars, etc.
Vtiger
Paid in the cloud version, Vtiger is free if you download it
in its Open Source form . For the support of this free version, however, you
will have to appeal to the community in English , or in German. Verstanden?
Are you bore at the office and want to add a little spice to
your daily life? You can download Vtiger Open source here (or choose to go for
a paid plan, which would be cheating. For a “Sales only” plan, count 8 € /
user.
Bonus: almost free client file software
By this we mean less than € 15 per month, or less than € 200
per year. VTiger can match this criteria if you want a simple cloud solution,
so does Zoho. Another solution, rather ergonomic and modern, Freshworks offers
Freshsales CRM at $ 12 / month if billed annually .
This formula allows you to:
• manage
your prospects,
• manage
contacts,
• manage
accounts and business.
• You also
have access to a sales pipeline (graphic),
• a
bilateral sync of your emails (CRM to professional email and vice versa),
• lead
scoring,
• access to
the Freshworks APIs.
To manage teams, have access to advanced reporting,
automation, it will be necessary to switch to the formula at 25 €, to be able
to send more than 1000 emails per day per user, and to benefit from the
enrichment of the contact sheet by social networks, at 49 €. To benefit from a dedicated
account manager and a server in Europe, count € 79 per user.