Best CRM For Designers And Web Agencies

We'll define a CRM, describe how it might benefit your company, identify common phrases used in CRM systems, and recommend nine CRM options for you to employ.

When we first started my web design business, we had little experience with CRM. We would not have employed one at the time, even if we had known.

We once believed that Salesforce was the standard for all CRMs.

This software was designed for large sales teams and allowed them to keep track of all their high-end deals. A CRM could not be used to help two-person teams manage customers and potential customers.

We used Excel to keep track of all of my sales opportunities. It was simple but efficient. We could use a spreadsheet to keep track of the names and contact information (phone, email, etc.) of my contacts.

Each prospective customer was given a row. Information like personal email address, phone number, as well as notes were listed in each column.

It performed adequately.

When we started to grow, we realized this approach had issues. We started getting more calls regarding our business as a result of our effective marketing activities.

More sales leads began to come in, and these leads eventually became customers. It was clear that my spreadsheet wouldn't function.

We required a tool to manage our sales leads and evaluate the performance of various marketing avenues. Additionally, it had the capacity to oversee our interactions with our clients.

At that point, We started researching CRMs.

You can manage and keep track of your contacts with the help of a CRM. While some CRMs are more customer-focused than others, some are more sales-focused.

Others fall somewhere between the two.

A CRM seems to be essentially a database that is designed for sales and customer care. We developed an interest in a programme that would assist me in handling all of the sales leads when we started to get more of them.

We needed an app that would also help me remember what we talked about, where they were in the sales process, as well as what price We gave them.

It also allowed me to know when we should reach out to them. We wanted to be able to keep track of any information that would help me offer better customer care to my current clientele.

We wanted to be able to keep track of support requests, questions about upsells or additional services, and client birthdays so that we might send a card or present.

We wanted to be able to do more for my clients.

What Is A CRM System?

As a freelancer as well as a business owner, you have probably heard of CRMs. CRM is a word that describes the tactics, methods, and tools that a company employs to keep and expand its base of current and potential clients.

CRM systems are costly, but there is no guarantee that you will return your investment. However, statistics strongly indicate otherwise.

On average, businesses make $8.71 in revenue for every dollar spent on CRM systems!

CRM has all the information and files required to construct a customer story. A CRM system, as well as software, can be used to store this data.

Basic CRM allows your business to:

• Contacts should be imported and classified as leads, prospects, accounts, or sometimes both (we'll go over each term later).
• Each contact can be given a task.

  This resembles a to-do list (emails, calls, renewal contracts).

• Documents should be uploaded to the right account (such as invoices as well as contracts).
• Track outreach to clients and potential clients.
• You can give contacts to individuals working for your company.

A CRM System Has Many Benefits

There are several advantages to using a CRM, whether you've never done so or have been using a manual system to keep track of your leads and clients, as well as crucial sales paperwork and contracts.

These advantages consist of, but are not limited to:

1. Initiating A Pipeline

You should know which projects have been completed, which ones are ongoing, and what projects are coming up. (There may be no contract for some projects.) You may assess the financial health of your company using this data.

It also helps in determining whether you ought to begin hunting for new clients during that Month.

2. Managing Your Time

A CRM is more efficient even if you are already using a time management system in place. The system you use will depend on how effective it is at project management.

A CRM can give you a snapshot of the projects that you and your coworkers are working on. It can also show you how many design hours you have spent on each project so far (the number that was specified in the scope), as well as the next projects to work on.

3. Understanding Your Clients

A CRM provides a continuous stream of consumer information, dates, and other data, allowing you to improve marketing around some of these demographics as well as psychographics.

Based on the data in your CRM, you may also use this information to sell particular items and services to clients.

4. Improve Client Relationships

It occurs, there are times when there is such a lot of work as well as business that clients can be forgotten about.

This can be because of their scope, their spending limit, or their deadline. It might be simple for clients to overlook developing these ties since they are so preoccupied with the here and now.

CRMs can help to resolve this issue. Create tasks within your CRM to engage your clients.

5. Increase Accountability

Seeing all of your clients at once is a terrific approach for you to maintain accountability for your work and customers.

6. Enhancing Internal Communication

Make sure everyone is informed and that they are all on the same page. All team members will have access to that same CRM, which gives them powerful data that enables them to engage not just with clients but additionally with one another.

Anyone in your firm is free to take over such a client connection, thanks to this setup.

7. Create A Paper Trail

You can upload all your contracts and other crucial papers to your CRM. All of your key documents can be kept in one location, ensuring that you always have access to them.

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Other Features You Will Probably Want

There are many other CRM features that may be overlooked.

Email Marketing

With a simple CRM, email marketing is indeed not possible. A simple database is a fundamental CRM. You may add email marketing functionality to some CRMs, allowing you to send newsletters as well as promotions directly to your sales prospects.

When you purchase CRMs that contain email marketing, you receive two pieces of software.

Nevertheless, not all CRMs have excellent email marketing tools. Ultimately though, a CRM with email marketing capabilities can be very beneficial.

This enables you to manage your email subscribers, who are your "marketing leads," and turn the others into "sales prospects" or actual potential customers.

Considering your CRM/email marketing software will maintain track of every contact's history, you may access a lot of information.

It's possible that some users joined your email list for the first time after downloading your free guide or subscribing to your newsletter.

They might have responded to you by opening your promotional email as well as inquiring about your services. Every one of these contact data is trackable in your CRM.

Automated Sequences

For those who have integrated email marketing, automation sequences can be an excellent CRM function by top CRM Designers.

Automations allow you to send several emails to potential clients without having to do anything. According to this method, you first design your email series and then triggers such as they will begin receiving your emails for a certain amount of time once they subscribe to your email list or fill out a form.

The subscriber will eventually become a client. There are several uses for automation sequences. These can be used to inform subscribers about our offerings, make product pitches, or carry out automatic follow-ups with potential customers.

Automated processes can save you a tonne of time, particularly if your customer base expands over time.

Also Read: How to Design a CRM System? Actionable Tips on CRM Design

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Top CRM Tools For Web Designers And Agencies

Are you prepared to locate the ideal CRM application for your business? Here is a list of the best CRM programs for web designers as well as companies.

Examine the key attributes and cost points of each tool to choose which app is best for you.

1. Pipedrive

Ideal for teams that need an all-in-one CRM. The all-in-one sales CRM Pipedrive isn't too far off the mark. The tool from Pipedrive takes care of a lot of business requirements, like contact management as well as sales procedures.

With the user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, managing leads requires little training. According to Pipedrive, consumers' closure rates increase by 28% during the first year.

Custom stages, pipelines, workflow automation, and team performance tracking are all made simple with Pipedrive's configurable dashboards.

Pipedrive can be synced with your Google and Microsoft contacts and calendars in just a few minutes. There are also 150+ integrations available through its app marketplace.

Features:

• To help your team manage prospects from qualification to closure, use CRM for Sales.
• Automated email workflows to nurture leads with automation tools.
• You can customize your CRM to meet the needs of your team.
• Chatbots and proposal creation are just a few of the marketing features that can be used to improve customer experience.

Prices: Monthly Billing Starting at around $12.50 Per User.

2. ActiveCampaign

Suitable for teams with fewer contacts and smaller teams. A simple CRM called ActiveCampaign bases its fees on the size of your email lists.

It's a fantastic tool for smaller teams because of this. The first purpose of active campaign CRM was to automate email marketing.

It made perfect sense to include a CRM.

Features:

• Using pre-made templates, drag and drop sales automation as well as marketing automation to develop workflows.
• Landing page development and personalization are essential elements to boost Lead generation and nurture.
• Monitoring leads so that each member of your sales team is aware of the whereabouts of each Lead.
• You can increase your communication with potential clients by using SMS marketing and live chat.

Price: Start at around $9 per Month for 500 contacts, payable annually. The initial fee may vary depending on the number of contacts you need to import and get in touch with.

3. Agile CRM

Ideal for smaller budgets. Web designers who don't have a lot of money but still need a powerful tool like Agile CRM are going to love it.

For sales teams, Agile CRM offers a sizable free plan. Only when you require marketing as well as customer service capabilities are paid plans necessary.

Features:

• Software to help you improve your sales process from start to finish.
• Sales dashboard with reporting and tracking to monitor progress.
• When visiting LinkedIn and perhaps other social media sites, you can collect leads through your browser using Lead Prospector.
• You can view your calendar to ensure you don't miss any task or follow up with a prospect.

Price: Agile CRM offers a completely free plan with a maximum of around 50,000 contacts and ten users.

4. HubSpot

Best for Independent Business Owners. HubSpot is a well-known marketing company. Their CRM is free, despite the fact that they provide a number of marketing and sales capabilities.

For entrepreneurs running solo businesses that require a simple solution to maintain their contact lists, HubSpot is fantastic.

The main selling point of HubSpot CRM is its free price. Moreover, HubSpot CRM provides extra functionalities via its sales, marketing, and service hubs.

But you can buy these hubs, so make sure you budget adequately. HubSpot CRM is a fantastic tool for keeping track of emails and phone calls as well as for tracking the entire history of leads' conversions to customers.

Additionally, it aids in the growth of sales leads through integrated inbound marketing. It also has a fantastic marketplace for integrations.

HubSpot is used by thousands of agencies, large and small, because they provide support to their clients. Prior to onboarding fees, partner agencies can choose from monthly packages starting at $400.

Features:

• Pipeline management allows you to track leads at every stage of the process in real time.
• Dashboard for reporting to track your success.
• Notifications and email tracking so that you don't miss any communication.
• Chat live to make it easier to communicate with potential leads.

Pricing: HubSpot CRM is totally free to use. The two-user beginning package has a monthly cost of around $45 and is invoiced annually.

5. Zoho

Perfect for groups utilizing more Zoho products. One of the many business solutions available includes Zoho, which covers everything from customer service to accounting, project management, as well as hiring.

If your web design company uses Zoho products, integrating your CRM with them is simple. Even if your business is new to Zoho, the software is inexpensive and easy to use and can also be done by Remote CRM Designers.

Features:

• Workflow rules, Lead management, transaction management, and contact management are examples of sales tools.
• Predictive Sales to speed up the workflow and follow-up responses for your sales team.
• Marketing automation for Lead nurturing sequences, as well as segmentation.
• Collaboration among team members to keep everyone informed about the status of different prospects and projects.

Prices: User fees start at $14 per Month and are payable annually.

6. ConvertKit

For independent web designers, the best. A tool for artists is called ConvertKit. It's perfect for solopreneurs or independent web designers who wish to manage email marketing and sales lead in one location.

The major components include a shopfront for digital goods and an appealing email designer.

Features:

• As previously discussed, monetization solutions can generate extra revenue streams for web design businesses.
• Sign up for email to increase interest in your products and services.
• Automated Lead nurturing funnels that can be managed by you.
• Simple lead magnet setup for lead generation success.

Price: There is a limit of 300 contacts that can be used with ConvertKit's totally free service.

Paid plans are payable annually and start at $9 per Month. Depending on the size of your email list, prices will rise.

7. Keap

The top marketing automation system. Keap, previously Infusionsoft, has been in the CRM industry for a long time.

Small firms that want both marketing automation, as well as sales management should use this CRM platform. It offers a user-friendly interface that is accessible to every team member.

For digital agencies, Keap (previously Infusionsoft) is a fantastic all-purpose CRM. Keap stands out for more reasons than just its essential CRM features.

Additionally, it provides payments, quotations, invoices, and automated workflows. This can help you avoid having to purchase an additional payment tool and invoicing tool.

It is also less expensive than other CRMs.

Features:

• Capture leads to getting more prospects.
• Pre-made templates for following up with current and potential clients, closing sales, and reminding them to pay their invoices.
• Zapier integrations and native integrations can help you to increase your sales pipeline.
• Keap allows for seamless migration from another CRM to Keap.

Price: Up to one hundred contacts can be added to Keap's 100 percent free plan. Paid plans for one user as well as up to 500 contacts start at $40 per Month and therefore are invoiced annually.

8. Drip

Perfect for site designers who sell physical or digital products. E-commerce companies can utilize Drip as a CRM solution.

It provides lead-helping workflows and business procedures like post-purchase reminders and abandoned cart sequences.

It's a fantastic choice for website designers who provide ecommerce services, like selling digital goods or advertising branded things.

Features:

• Drag-and-drop automation and pre-built workflows to pull sales prospects move through the sales funnel.
• Pop-ups and forms can be used to increase your website's lead generation.
• You can utilize SMS marketing to increase your sales outreach outside of social media and email marketing.
• Segmentation and personalization to convert customers through connecting with specific interests

Prices: From $19 per Month for 500 Contacts.

9. Salesforce

Considering large web design businesses, the best. In the CRM sector, Salesforce is a well-liked tool. The sales CRM industry is well-known for using Salesforce as a tool.

Yet, due to its sophisticated features, bigger sales teams are more inclined to adopt it. With larger web development firms wishing to scale, this technology is advised.

Features:

• Contact management with a complete history of all interactions your team made with a lead.
• By managing your opportunities, you can keep an eye on the most crucial leads which are about to close.
• Sales reports that close business and project future revenue.
• Automate the procedure so that no manual labor is required from your team to move sales through your pipeline.

Prices: Annual billing with monthly rates starting around $25 per user.

10. Capsule

One of the most simple CRMs available. Capsule is a good option if you require tight interfaces with accounting programmes like Xero and FreeAgent.

It's a fantastic CRM for businesses as well. The capsule is adored for its capacity to manage new as well as pending transactions while maintaining ties with clients.

Price: Starting at $18/user/month.

11. Copper

CRM with a stunning look and seamless GSuite integration. For businesses that are already well-established on Google Drive, Google Mail, as well as Google Calendar, Copper is your next-best buddy.

From prospecting through closing deals to keeping your best clients, Copper's open CRM enables everyone else to stay on the same page.

A fantastic UX is Copper. In order to ensure that nothing falls through the cracks, it seamlessly captures, integrates, as well as links all project data, tasks, and invites.

Price: Starting at $19 per user per month, payable annually, for a maximum of three users.

12. Insightly

A CRM that incorporates project management, marketing, and sales functionality into one platform. A small team with two users can utilize the core CRM of Insightly for free.

The agreement covers 100,000 documents, 10GB storage, and 2,500 emails.

The following level, Insightly Plus ($29 per user every Month), offers an additional perk to agency teams: project management and task templates.

With a stronger focus on data and automation than other CRMs, Insightly is a standout.

Price: The basic CRM can be accessed by two people for free, while Insightly Plus costs $29 per Month.

This is charged yearly and excludes marketing.

13. Podio

From sales through project feedback, and there is just one workflow with integrated project management. Podio is another CRM that businesses may use to combine project and account management.

It is a CRM that was created especially for agencies, enabling them to manage their accounts, cooperate on projects, and centralize communications.

Many of your favorite apps, like Google Drive, Excel, and important accounting programs, like Freshbooks, are effortlessly integrated with Podio.

Price: The Basic plan's free task management, apps, and workspaces are available to up to five people.

Thereafter, $9 per user per Month

14. BenchmarkONE

A technology that incorporates sales, marketing, automation, and much more as part of a CRM plus more.

BenchmarkONE's Agency Partners program will ensure that you and your business are always at the forefront of their minds.

It's simple to build campaigns, raise retainers, as well as duplicate work across customer accounts with this CRM.

Talk to one of the Agency Experts to determine the best package for your business.

Price: Customized fees for agencies, including around $199/month for unlimited users, invoiced annually.

15. Freshworks CRM

This CRM is highly rated and can be used alone or in conjunction with additional Freshworks goods.

A cheap and incredibly user-friendly product family includes Freshworks CRM. Built-in phone, two different emails, AI-based lead scoring, as well as intelligent workflow automation are all included in its CRM product.

Dashboards and visual reports can also be customized.

Price: Starting at $29 per Month, billed annually.

16. Workamajig

Organizations who want to combine their project management and CRM data. The CRM software from Workamajig was created especially for digital marketing businesses.

It provides every functionality they require to take advantage of new business prospects. This CRM product is distinct because it is only available to the creative industry for creative processes.

It is the greatest CRM programme for managing all the information that matters to marketing companies. Project management software is integrated into Workamajig.

This enables teams to manage leads, confirm projects, and finish work quickly, all on one platform. Creative teams of five to 1,000 individuals can use Workamjig.

Price: $50 a month at the low end for between five and nine users. For larger groups, additional packages are available.

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Conclusion: Choose The Right CRM To Support Your Web Design Business

The key piece of software you need to manage your customers and prospects is a CRM. A CRM can be used to boost internal communication or create a pipeline to boost sales and client retention by design team or internal team.

To keep your customers and potential customers satisfied, you need a tool with all the capabilities you require.

This covers contact management, email automation, and creating sales processes or design processes.

These CRMs are the best for web designers, agencies, and freelancers. One tip When you come in for demos, avoid being distracted by shiny objects and other cool-looking features you won't use.

Instead, create a list of the must-have features you want to have in advance. When comparing CRMs, keep that list handy, and you can compare the features of different apps.

If you want to Hire CRM Designers which would be useful for your online agency, freelance venture, or design firm, please let us know.