Such a thing as a free CRM?

[AB]

Recently started a new business venture and whilst Excel works ok for keeping track of leads, I'd like something cost effective to help is stay organised.

Don't mind paying in the future but right now we're trying to keep costs to a minimum.

Any ideas? Just need something simple to begin with to keep track of last contact, upload any files and perhaps set tasks for staff - I have 5 employees at the moment.

[andy-xr]

The problem you'll have is 'in the future' is always going to be next quarter.

Try Pipedrive if it's a sales related thing, there's enough info in it that you can add contacts and info, then add deals to a dashboard. It's fairly clean, it's really functional and you can use it as well on mobile as you can on desktops

[AB]

Thanks, I'll have a look at it.

A friend of mine recommended Zoho which I've taken a look at. My issue is that a couple of my guys struggle with technology so I want them to be able to keep on top of leads and opportunities in a way that I can keep track of i.e. NOT on bits of paper in their pockets.

[nyt]

I'm not an expert but I've seen SugarCRM used successfully: http://www.sugarcrm.com/feature/marketing-automati...

[andy-xr]

AB said:

Thanks, I'll have a look at it.

A friend of mine recommended Zoho which I've taken a look at. My issue is that a couple of my guys struggle with technology so I want them to be able to keep on top of leads and opportunities in a way that I can keep track of i.e. NOT on bits of paper in their pockets.

I'm using Zoho right now actually, the company I do work for use it and have heavily modified it. It's got a lot of features, many arent needed and in default mode it can be a bit WTF. The good thing is that it's free for up to 10 users, the bad thing is that you'll need to invest time and effort into getting it optimal for your use. I guess what you save in investment/billing you'll probably spend in time/resource and training. I'd still say go Pipedrive, anyone can drag and drop stuff and punch in a few key facts, but whatever fits best with your business. Both those and others have free trial periods as well, so you could do some testing.

[muppetdave]

Yup, I use and put Zoho in with a couple of clients. Fairly straightforward for our needs in terms of client notes, tracking opportunities etc. The customisation to that level isn't too onerous, but I appreciate we're not doing a great deal to it. Feels very very similar to Salesforce to me to be honest.

[Splats]

I use Base CRM. It's not free (well you get a free trial), but it's not massively expensive either and it's very simple and intuitive to use. I'd have no issue rolling it out to technophobes and as a manager you can see where all leads are in your pipeline at all times. You can also see notes, emails, phone calls, etc.

[wombleh]

I used Insightly, has tiered pricing with a free tier for lower usage. linky

[bga]

There are a few recommendations for Base & Zoho here.

We started on Zoho and used it for about 3 years. It has more functionality than most people want but the interface isn't great. We moved to Base and while it doesn't have the flexibility of Zoho it is much easier to use and people are more likely to use it.

[Dick Dastardly]

Happy to recommend Pipedrive. It's easy to use, has a great app and I think it starts at about £5 per month. I use it in two very different small businesses and both live off it.

[AB]

Went with HubSpot in the end and it seems to work for what we need.

But ultimately I'm tied in when we need more than what the free stuff can offer us.

[Ginge R]

Have a look at Capsule.

https://capsulecrm.com/

[Treemonkey]

Another vote for PipeDrive here. Functions really well for our sales team and linked with Zapier for integration with most other things.

[CAPP0]

MS Dynamics 365 starts at about £6/user/month - if you don't have too many staff it might make sense to go down a route like that then you can expand in future/by additional functionality, without having to try and migrate.