Best CRM Software for B2B
In a Nutshell
Business-to-business Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software optimizes and nurtures associations with other enterprises. The system simplifies deal management and other complexities associated with business interactions by focusing on market dynamics. Over the years as a CRM manager, I have tested the most popular CRMs uniquely designed for business-to-business enterprises.
This article highlights the best tools to manage projects and ensure teams work more effectively.
Best CRM Software for B2B Shortlist
Here is my pick for the top five B2B CRM software from the top ten I reviewed.
- HubSpot – Best for content-rich businesses
- Salesforce – Best for growing businesses
- ClickUp – Best for project-based management
- Zoho – Best for scaling your business
- Pipedrive – Best for sales pipeline management
- Freshsales – Best B2B software for deal management
- ActiveCampaign – Best B2B CRM for email marketing
- CopperCRM – Best for contact management
- Zapier – Best B2B CRM for integrations
- Nutshell CRM – Best CRM for business meeting scheduling
Why You Need CRM Software for B2B
Without a well-executed CRM platform, your sales and marketing teams must carry out tasks manually. A single missed follow-up might result in losing a highly valued customer, while a wrong email can reduce the chances of lead scoring to zero. However, the right B2B CRM software addresses all these challenges as you put more effort into building long-lasting customer business relationships.
Here are some of the reasons why you need B2B CRM software:
Automate Repetitive Tasks
Mundane tasks such as data entry can take up most of your company’s valuable time. The best B2B CRM software has powerful workflow automation capabilities based on lead behavior and actions.
Manage Customer Data
Although spreadsheets have several benefits, B2B enterprises deal with massive amounts of data. A CRM system compiles all this information on a centralized platform for easy analysis and manipulation.
Personalized Campaigns
After collecting all the information you need about a client, a CRM can segment contacts into specific lists. This allows you to improve communication by building targeted campaigns based on lead demographics.
Top 10 Best CRM Solutions for B2B
Hubspot is a popular CRM with robust free and paid features to help businesses streamline marketing strategies and the sales process. Its custom pipelines and activity tracking ensure scalability to fit customer management needs. The recent implementation of AI into the CRM has further improved its functionality with advanced, user-friendly features.
Why I Like It
As an all-in-one platform, Hubspot CRM offers all the necessary tools for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. Its features impressed me because teams can work cohesively on the same platform to achieve their goals. When fully implemented, the B2B CRM software simplifies business-to-consumer relations with no additional costly applications.
Most Important Features for B2B
Contact Management
The Hubspot CRM database lets you store and access information about current customers and track leads while maintaining data security. This includes a detailed profile, communication history, and current deal stage. With this information, your team will quickly identify each customer’s needs and preferences, ultimately improving personalization.
Task and Activity Management
As a team leader or business owner, you can create, assign, and track tasks with a set deadline. You will also receive reminders for upcoming activities to keep your team organized and focused on their priorities. This Hubspot CRM feature allows seamless communication and collaboration between your marketing and sales teams, increasing productivity.
Email Tracking and Notifications
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to inform potential leads about your product or service. Hubspot B2B CRM software allows you to monitor what happens when these messages are sent out. With information about how leads interact with these emails, your team can respond to queries and follow up on non-performing messages.
Reporting and Analytics
Quantifying your sales efforts is vital to growing your business and adding more leads down the sales funnel. These insights will identify trends and measure your ROI with the intent of making informed decisions. It can also be shared among members to foster data-driven collaboration and transparency.
Pros
- Simplifies communications between the sales team and clients
- Better management with a focus on the security of customer data
- HubSpot CRM provides detailed insights, analysis, and reporting.
- Streamlines internal communications
- Allows scalability as your business grows
- Access to generative AI tools
Cons
- The free tier does not offer community support
- Paid plans might be too expensive for small businesses
Salesforce is cloud-based B2B CRM software designed to help B2B enterprises find more leads and connect with customers on a personalized level. The Einstein 1 app compiles customer data to integrate sales, service, marketing, and IT teams. This one-shared view of clients’ information allows businesses to deliver seamless services at scale.
Salesforce also includes artificial intelligence across all products to ensure everyone in your company has all the tools to be productive.
Why I Like It
While reviewing Salesforce, I identified a few reasons it is among the leading B2B CRM software. The first reason is that everything happens in the cloud. Remote servers handle the computing and storage, eliminating the need for a high-end machine. This also makes Salesforce accessible on mobile devices. Another reason is flexibility, letting you customize the CRM to work for you as required.
Most Important Features for B2B
Integration
Some businesses rely on customer data from different sources to streamline lead generation and collaboration. Salesforce can integrate with various systems, including marketing automation, financial management, and customer relationship management systems. This minimizes errors while giving you a holistic view of the entire process.
AppExchange
With access to pre-built applications, AppExchange offers a wide range of solutions for your business. The ever-expanding collection of over 7,000 apps assists enterprises in expanding and customizing Salesforce’s base functionalities.
Einstein Analytics
The Einstein analytics CRM tool utilizes the power of AI to scan through data to identify hidden patterns. This information is converted into actionable deal insights to facilitate accelerated decision-making and improved customer relationships.
Customization and Scalability
As your business grows, you will deal with more clients and leads. Salesforce provides customization options that allow you to tailor the software based on distinctive processes, workflows, and sales strategies. The scalable architecture also caters to expanding businesses by guaranteeing more capacity.
Pros
- Accessible from anywhere around the world
- Configuration is easier
- Integration with many platforms
- Extensive customization options
- Powerful sales analytics and reporting
Cons
- It relies on an internet connection, which should be stable for optimal performance.
- Less control over planned downtimes and upgrades
ClickUp is a project management tool designed for companies, small teams, and individuals to streamline lead intake. The software has several useful CRM tools to centralize all project-related interactions in one place. You can brainstorm ideas using whiteboards and reduce delivery times with custom templates. ClickUp is a complete work management tool that effectively integrates your favorite sales tools.
Why I Like It
While testing ClickUp, I found a powerful CRM tool to help businesses manage sales effortlessly. Departments can customize workflows to unique requirements while allowing communication for collaboration purposes. The software also empowers administrators to support various departments. They can track expenses, schedule meetings, and contribute across multiple areas.
Most Important Features for B2B
Customization
Built with over 35 CRM tools, ClickUp has several functionalities to customize how you want your sales completed. Over 50+ actions, conditions, and triggers can be tailored to your unique requirements. The templates will help you add documents, view tasks, and create checklists for the team.
Collaboration
The software makes it easy to work on projects that require several individuals. Members can send and reply to comments, invite guests, and share attachments within ClickUp. Other collaboration features include sending and receiving emails and real-time communication using the Chat function.
Reporting
ClickUp has several reporting options for you to monitor everything that is happening during the sales process. For example, you can visualize your team’s daily capacity to determine where more resources are required. Specific achievements can also represent goals or milestones to show you when crucial stages are complete.
Time Tracking
If you have time-sensitive deals, the time management feature automatically links to any device thanks to ClickUp’s global timer. It allows you to allocate resources smarter by adding time estimates and setting expectations for your team. At the end of the project, you will have access to the total time tracked with an automatic billable time for each individual.
Pros
- Packed with features for collaboration
- Intuitive and user-friendly user interface
- Wide range of sales automation and integration options
- Robust free plan
Cons
- Customization options might be too overwhelming for new users
Zoho is a flexible B2B CRM software for companies coping with expansion pressures. Its vast customization options and dedicated migration programs ensure effortless deployment and training. Customer-facing teams are empowered with personalized solutions, robust workflow automation options, and sales analytics to ensure peak performance. Zoho’s Omni-channel presence, predictive intelligence, KPIs, and segmentation will deliver a seamless customer experience for each lead.
Why I Like It
With over 15 years in the CRM industry, Zoho supports millions of businesses worldwide. After using this tool, I can confidently say it is one of the best B2B CRM for managing leads and clients. It has a quick onboarding process that allows you to migrate from your existing CRM system. I was also impressed by customer support, which was available 24/7.
Most Important Features for B2B
Journey Orchestration
Zoho CRM CommandCentre helps you create and visualize real-time intuitive client acquisition maps. Gather more information about customer preferences to orchestrate a more result-oriented customer journey. The actions can be shared across several teams and other third-party apps to represent the brand experience accurately. Reports for the different stages of the project identify loopholes where you can make enhancements accordingly.
Remote Work
Our fast-paced world requires sales and marketing alignment so that you can get the most out of your team. This means giving them the freedom to work from anywhere. Zoho’s remote work feature allows you to organize webinars or sales presentations and get reports using the B2B CRM software. Teams of up to 50 can collaborate and communicate with audio, face-to-face video, and excellent-quality screen sharing.
Predictive Sales and Intelligence
The Zoho B2B CRM software includes an AI assistant, Zia, to help manage your CRM data. Zia can automate tasks, take notes, detect anomalies, and forecast sales at your command. It also provides suggestions for automation based on a combination of repeated actions or patterns.
Analytics
As you attract more sales leads and clients, you will want to measure your sales performance and know which strategies work. Zoho CRM real-time reporting gives you information on vital metrics, including marketing campaigns, sales trends, and team performance. This information is crucial for setting achievable goals and making informed decisions.
Pros
- Zoho CRM tool has a free plan available
- Multiple integrations
- Mobile app
- Affordable pricing plans
Cons
- No integration and AI for Zoho CRM free plan
Pipedrive is a CRM with robust pipeline management capabilities for sales reps. The tool has several features to assist in marketing and the whole sales journey. The software will help you grow beyond the targets using workflow automation, functional integration, and email tracking. Although there is no free plan, available Pipedrive packages are affordable and have plenty of customization options.
Why I Like It
After extensive testing, I identified a few reasons why most businesses use Pipedrive in their sales process. Thanks to the simple yet neatly organized boards, its user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. The entire sales pipeline has also been broken down into smaller processes with drag-and-drop features. This gives you detailed information at a glance, including deals, organizations, and each step a lead goes through before making a purchase.
Most Important Features for B2B
Sales and Pipeline Deals
As its name suggests, Pipedrive’s core functionalities lie in its ability to present a visual sales pipeline, increasing the chances of lead scoring. As a CRM manager, you can access current deals, their values, and possible win probabilities. With this information, you can track leads through your sales pipeline stages. You also have an option to customize the sales cycle for teams and filter results.
Automation
Sales reps spend most of their time completing manual tasks, which may affect their ability to close deals. To address this problem, Pipedrive has several sales automation features for repetitive and mundane tasks. This includes automating the sales process for the entire team, scheduling sales calls, and email marketing. Leads can be nurtured automatically while your team focuses on closing deals..
Email and Communication Tracking
Salespeople usually find customer communication overwhelming, especially when working in groups. Pipedrive’s email and communication tracking can help your team access messages on a single CRM platform. Available features include live notifications, two-way email synch, templates, and group messaging.
Reporting and Insights
Sales performance is crucial for any business as it gives insights into what you must improve for better lead generation. Pipedrive reporting features allow you to add custom fields in your report so that you can monitor what is important. This will reveal winning patterns or areas that need more resources to avoid bottlenecks.
Pros
- Unlimited options for customizable sales pipelines
- Workflow automation is available for most plans
- AI-powered sales assistant
- Access to APIs for full customization
- Intuitive interface
Cons
- No free plan
- Limited features on lower tiers
Freshsales CRM is designed to help the sales team run more innovative campaigns and generate more leads. Using the power of Freddy AI, the software understands what customers need based on engagements and their preferred communication channels. This allows the teams to prioritize leads with the intent of converting them to clients. It also includes robust automation capabilities to boost productivity while saving time.
Why I Like It
AI is now part of our lives, and I was impressed that Freshsales has a performance-oriented Freddy AI. Apart from helping you create innovative campaigns to nurture leads, it also tracks the entire process. This gives you critical details with options to configure sales processes through Kanban views. It also improves productivity by automating most manual tasks.
Most Important Features for B2B
Communication
Freshsales allows you to engage with customers through their preferred mode of communication. You can connect your email inbox with the software and map incoming messages with the right lead. Other options include chat campaigns using custom chatbots, voice interaction with high-quality calls, and real-time support on channels like WhatsApp and Apple Business Chat.
Deal Management
From lead scoring to conversion, you can build and track sales processes for your business. This includes a custom visual sales pipeline to monitor progress, set achievable goals, and maintain your inventory with up-to-date pricing models. The CRM system also offers an option to generate and track invoices with custom templates.
Sales Intelligence
Freddy AI analyzes potential leads and assigns scores based on negative or positive signals. This information allows you to prioritize resource allocation to the most sales-ready prospects. The AI can also provide intelligent suggestions for managing calendars, setting up tasks, rescheduling meetings, and sales forecasting.
Mobile
If you prefer to close deals on the go, Freshsales CRM is compatible with smartphones and tablets. This lets you automatically associate calls with contacts, send personalized messages, or schedule and join Zoom meetings. Offline mode also gives you access to vital data without an internet connection, after which it will be synched with cloud servers.
Pros
- Customizable dashboard and sales forecasting reports
- Various automation features
- Ability to contact leads via chat, email, and phone calls
- Reliable customer support
Cons
- Most features are for businesses with dedicated sales teams
ActiveCampaign offers versatile CRM tools to help your business reach new heights. This powerful software incorporates automation in its sales pipeline to ensure all deals go through the same process. As a one-stop shop, you can manage all your contacts on a single CRM platform and strengthen communication using one-to-one emails.
Why I Like It
While working with clients, I came across ActiveCampaign, mainly advertised as an email marketing tool. I tried some of its features, and I liked their B2B CRM because it saved me a lot of time while helping drive growth. It allows you to integrate with your favorite apps and qualify more leads faster based on engagement and site activity.
Most Important Features for B2B
Email Marketing
ActiveCampaign lets you create campaigns, build newsletters, and send targeted emails to stay ahead of the curve. These include broadcast messages for everyone, triggered emails, scheduled emails, and auto-responders. To make it effortless, the software has a simple drag-and-drop designer to help you create attractive lead-scoring campaign emails.
Automation
The software allows you to automate entire customer journeys while still being in control of everything that is happening. From driving sales to finding leads, the CRM system will automate tasks so you can do more for less. Available options include AI-powered automation, triggers, event tracking, sales routing, and one-to-one personal experiences.
Integration
ActiveCampaign lets you connect with more than 940 apps to aid business operations. These can be tools to help you with analysis, share data across various platforms, and get the right content to potential leads. Once connected, you can group, sort, and keep track of all your opportunities from a single location.
Reporting
Thanks to omnichannel reporting capabilities, the software’s reporting features allow you to track metrics and uncover valuable insights. This information can instantly help you spot trends in your sales funnel, find new leads, and optimize them with actionable customer information. You can also import data from sites like Google Analytics and CData with integration.
Pros
- Plenty of integration options
- It does not require special training to use the platform
- Advanced marketing and reporting tools
- Multi-channel marketing
- Automated workflows
Cons
- No free plan
- There are few integrations on the basic tier
Copper is the best B2B CRM integrated with Google Workspace to improve sales productivity through lead management. Like other software in the market, it helps you track emails, automate tasks, and manage your contacts. Copper CRM also integrates with different tools, which allows the migration of existing data for growing businesses.
Why I Like It
Compared to other CRMs on this list, I found Copper CRM to be the only option that relies on Google Workplace to accomplish tasks. This makes it best suited for businesses that depend primarily on services from Google for business operations. Its easy-to-use design with advanced features to organize customer data and simplify complex processes.
Most Important Features for B2B
Manage Contacts
All the information you need for your sales teams can be organized in a single platform to give you a complete customer relationship history. This includes calls, emails, notes, and files shared with every contact in your database. The team will also save time on data entry through Copper’s suggestions from recent contacts.
Process Automation
Copper’s automation capabilities handle repetitive admin work, such as logging calls, planning meetings, and other simple tasks. This lets you and your team focus on more valuable processes, such as closing deals. Start by choosing the triggers, and you will be ready to automatically create tasks, change deal statuses, and update profiles.
Email and Marketing Tools
Get closer to your leads by personalizing communications. The Gmail integration feature improves the consistency of your messages for answering questions, welcoming new leads, and advertising a service. Follow-up emails can also be generated based on the account status and reaction to previous messages.
Track Deals
The software offers follow-up email templates to ensure you don’t lose your leads during sales. You can set reminders for top deals and respond to leads quickly to keep them around. The visualization feature lets you identify suitable opportunities and move them to the next stage with a simple drag and drop.
Pros
- Google Workspace compatibility
- Created with simplicity
- Customized reporting features
- Quick onboarding process
Cons
- Limitations for those working outside Google Workspace
As a regular user of Zapier, it has transformed how I work. The number of applications in its arsenal offers unlimited automation possibilities for managing tasks on various platforms. Moreover, by using the multi-step Zaps, you can automate workflows for different apps and steps.
Most Important Features for B2B
Integrations
As already mentioned, Zapier can merge several services into a single platform. For instance, the software will modify data from one service into a form that another service can use. With this feature, you can automate multiple tasks across various applications.
Zaps
Automated workflows or Zaps are created using a step-by-step builder to trigger a desired outcome. After creation, the workflow builder will inform you of any issues before the tasks are automated. Some Zaps require a single step, but more comprehensive strategies might require connected apps with multiple outcomes.
Lead Management
Hitting business targets is harder if team members work independently. Zapier enables collaboration with a single platform showing the customers’ journey. From effortless lead scoring to smooth transitions between stages, you will create an improved buying experience that attracts more leads.
Pros
- Pre-built integrations for various
- Easy to navigate
- Excellent ways to manage leads
Cons
- Limitations on the free plan
- Complex workflows require technical support
Nutshell is a reasonably priced CRM with easy-to-use tools and an intuitive interface. This software is designed for sole proprietors and small businesses that want to automate their sales processes. The developer also allows add-ons like website visitor identification and email marketing. So, whether you are migrating to a new system or moving away from manual tasks, Nutshell has everything you need and more.
Why I Like It
Despite being one of the cheapest options on this list, the Nutshell CRM has many valuable features. It includes all your desired features, including contact and sales pipeline management, a simple dashboard, and insightful tracking and reporting. I was also impressed by the attentive post-sales support that offered insightful information.
Most Important Features for B2B
Meeting Scheduler
This feature lets you plan, collect, and manage team meetings without leaving the Nutshell dashboard. Create distinctive links for Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and Google and share them with your sales group. These aim to keep your team informed and better manage customer relationships and leads.
Intelligent Forms
Intelligent web forms can collect data directly from a third-party website or email and embed it on relevant contacts. Simply design the web forms and add triggers that will automatically extract client data. This also works for new customers whose data will be added into Nutshell based on your rules.
Artificial Intelligence
Nutshell AI saves you time when you want access to customers’ information. Instead of sifting through long notes, the AI will provide an accurate summary of leads, including potential conversational starters. The generative AI can also be used as a writing assistant when creative messages or translating email content.
Pipeline Management
The flexible management features let your team view and manage leads through multiple sales pipelines. With simple drag and drop, you can mark leads as canceled, lost, or won and move potential clients to the next stage.
Pros
- Excellent data-importing tools
- Affordable pricing options
- Reliable customer support
- Robust contact management options
Cons
- No free plan
Considerations for Small Businesses vs. Large Businesses
With numerous CRMs in the market, finding one that perfectly matches your business might be complicated. This step is vital as it allows you to deal with leads and clients directly to foster growth. So, here are some factors to consider when choosing a CRM, whether it’s a small startup business or a large corporation.
Scalability
Smaller businesses are expected to grow over a certain period, so choosing a scalable CRM is crucial. You want software with flexible pricing plans and the ability to accommodate more clients while remaining valuable. For large businesses, scalability is vital for user capacity and multiple departments. This calls for an enterprise-level CRM accommodating high volumes of interactions and transactions.
Customization
The ability to modify a CRM to specific needs can make a difference for startups and small businesses. Look for CRM systems that adapt to unique sales processes and customer engagement strategies. Larger establishments require even more extensive customization options due to complex department roles. Find a customer relationship management system with features that can integrate with other applications and support lead acquisition processes.
Affordability
Sole proprietors and start-ups usually look for a cost-effective way to run their businesses. Although the best B2B CRM is important, your solution should balance features and pricing. This means choosing software with essential functionalities at a reasonable cost. If you are running a well-established company, prioritize scalability and features over the initial cost.
Conclusion
Business-to-business service providers face several challenges, including difficulty building customer relations and less control over the sales cycle. Adding the right CRM software to your tech stack brings transparency by giving your team everything they need. Thanks to my CRM experience, the tools listed above have gone through thorough evaluations. Compare their features to help you make a more educated and focused decision for your business.
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1) What is the Best CRM for B2B?There is no best B2B CRM because functionality depends on your business’s unique requirements. The key is to understand what you want for your sales team. It could be robust pipeline purposes, software with a free plan, or one that integrates with other systems.
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2) Is CRM Used for B2B?Yes, client management is crucial for B2B. It simplifies the sales cycle and allows sales teams to build long-term customer relationships. Valuable client data and sales insights from these systems also enable companies to tailor strategies.
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3) Is HubSpot Good for B2B Sales?HubSpot is one of the best B2B CRM, with plenty of valuable features, customization options, and reliable data security. However, its effectiveness for your business will ultimately depend on your unique requirements.