Best CRM Software for Project Management
In a Nutshell
If you’re struggling to efficiently communicate the progress of your team’s project with your clients, then a software solution that combines the features of CRM and project management is exactly what you’re looking for.
I personally tested dozens of such platforms for the purposes of this review, and arrived at five choices that I believe are the best CRM project management software solutions out there. Read on for a deep dive into the world of CRM and project management. By the time you’re done with this article, you should have a clear idea of what type of a tool you need to get your workflow and client communications in order.
5 Best CRM Software for Project Management
After thorough testing and evaluation, I’ve discovered the following tools as the best Project Management CRM software:
- Wrike – Best for task and document management
- Asana – Best CRM and dialer for small call center
- Salesforce – Best for virtual phone system
- Vtiger – Best for unified customer communications
- Monday.com – Best for inbound call centers
Best CRM for Project Management
An important part of project management is managing the relationship with your customers or clients, as well as their expectations. As you and your team continue working on any given task or project for a client, be it corporate or individual, you will need a platform to establish a reliable line of communication between your organization and the entities that make up for the majority of its revenue.
This is where CRM software comes in. Finding the right CRM project management software was a game-changer for my own first venture; it made my business processes a lot more efficient and allowed me to avoid a lot of unnecessary back-and-forth conversations with my clients, as they were able to get direct insights into my work through the CRM and project management tool.
If you’re struggling to efficiently communicate the progress of your team’s project with your clients, then a software solution that combines the features of CRM and project management is exactly what you’re looking for.
I personally tested dozens of the best CRM solutions for the purposes of this review, and arrived at five choices that I believe are the best CRM project management software solutions out there. Read on for a deep dive into the world of CRM and project management. By the time you’re done with this article, you should have a clear idea of what type of a tool you need to get your workflow and client communications in order.
What Is CRM Software?
Before getting into the various types of CRM software and discussing the specific apps, it might be worthwhile to go over the details of CRM, what it actually stands for, and why it is important for your business.
CRM stands for customer relationship management, and it’s a crucial aspect of any company’s activities, regardless of the industry you’re in or the primary methods you use to conduct business. Therefore, CRM software allows you to reach out directly to your customers, increase sales, and establish long-lasting business connections based on trust and understanding.
Aside from dealing with customer interactions, the best CRM platforms also allow you to manage, process, and organize customer data. That way, they also help businesses retain quick and easy access to important information pertaining to each one of their clients, such as account sizes, the main projects you work on for them, as well as other crucial details.
Finding a good CRM project management solution is no easy feat if you don’t know where to start looking. When reviewing different CRM systems, I set out to find a number of providers that accommodate a variety of different needs and purposes. Below, you can find a comprehensive rundown of the five best CRM project management solutions, complete with my own impressions of using the software.
Top 5 CRM Platforms for Project Management
For a simple project management webapp, Wrike packs a lot of functionality in a simple, easy-to-understand package. It’s a very customizable solution, and it can help you do just about anything with regard to CRM, from tracking and acquiring leads all the way to managing your clients’ profiles.
Why I Like It
For me, the main appeal of Wrike was its versatility. It served me very well as a simple contact and deadline tracker, but I was also able to use it as a fully-functional project management tool, as well. With Wrike, I automated updates to be sent across the entirety of my organization, organized customer folders, and identified priorities. It’s one of those all-in-one solutions that can really be molded by the user to fit their precise requirements.
Who Can Benefit
If you’re looking for a tool with comprehensive document management features and detailed reporting, you’ll get your money’s worth with Wrike.
Pros
- Easy organization of documents
- Tracking sales, leads, and customer interactions
- Advanced reporting features
Cons
- You’ll need to spend a fair bit of time with it to fully customize it to your needs
This is an example of a work management platform done right. Even if you’ve never had any experience with similar software before, you’ll be able to learn Asana in no time. This app is not only very approachable, but also highly customizable.
Why I Like It
I loved Asana’s gentle learning curve and its approachability for new users. I recommended it to a few of my teams for the purposes of this review, and we were able to integrate our workflows almost immediately after setting the software up. As I continued to use it, I was impressed with the template creation opportunities and the many ways in which Asana facilitated managing projects and onboarding new customers.
Who Can Benefit
Businesses that frequently collaborate with freelancers, external contractors, and other professionals who aren’t permanent members of their organization will get the most out of Asana. Setting up new users with limited access (i.e. guests) is incredibly easy. The same goes for giving your customers access to certain project tasks, all the while keeping other confidential information hidden away.
Pros
- Easy customizability that doesn’t compromise on features
- Seamless project collaboration
- Wealth of different, customizable templates
Cons
- Navigation can be a bit tricky sometimes
Salesforce is one of the most famous CRM project management solutions out there, for all the right reasons. It’s a comprehensive, cloud-based platform that integrates the work of pretty much all of your organization’s departments.
Why I Like It
The biggest selling point of Salesforce for me was the fact that when using it, I really felt like I didn’t really need any other software to supplement it when it came to project management, integration across teams, and task management. I also loved how it allowed me to create my own apps within its interface and deploy them to cloud or mobile. User-generated components of Salesforce can also be found on exchanges such as the AppExchange.
Who Can Benefit
Large organizations with lots of employees and dozens of clients will definitely benefit from Salesforce’s wealth of features and functionalities. While it’s true that getting to know it takes some time, but once you have a couple of trusted co-workers who are well-versed in this software, it opens up possibilities that other platforms are simply unable to match.
Pros
- Lets you intuitively manage your sales pipeline
- Endless stream of partner applications
- Built-in app builder platform
Cons
- Can feel overly complex at times
Simplicity is vTiger’s main asset. Like other tools listed in this review, it is a CRM project management solution that facilitates team collaboration across marketing, sales, and other departments.
Why I Like It
I thoroughly enjoyed using vTiger because of the intuitiveness of its various components. After tinkering around with the app’s many view options, integrations, and other features, I was able to set it up in a way that allowed my new employees to use it from the get-go, with no comprehensive training required.
Who Can Benefit
vTiger is a great app for small or medium businesses that take up an individual approach towards each and every client. With its built-in AI functions, vTiger can give you unique insights into each customer and provide you with a clear, general overview of the progress across all of your projects.
Pros
- AI feature that provides valuable insights
- Extra features such as an integrated invoicing tool or time tracker
- Clear, simple design
Cons
- Larger organizations might find it a bit limited
This CRM project management solution is a very comprehensive tool that will allow you to manage pipelines across departments, generate and track sales, leads, and customer interactions, as well as keep a tight grip on all the tasks and subtasks at your company.
Why I Like It
When I started using Monday Sales CRM, I was stunned by the design of its user interface. It managed to stuff all of its functionality in a neatly organized package that no one at my organization found confusing or unapproachable. It allowed me to customize automations and create templates that were specific to my industry, which I could then organize with an user-friendly drag-and-drop function. I also appreciated the way in which it allowed me and my team to track progress on each project in real time.
Who Can Benefit
While the Monday Sales CRM provides clear overviews and can be easily customized, it will probably be best utilized by teams that already had substantial prior experience with CRM and project management tools.
Pros
- Drag-and-drop interface
- Comprehensive task management
- Fantastic customer support
Cons
- Not a beginner-friendly platform
Different Types of CRM Software
As with virtually any kind of business-oriented software, CRM tools can be divided into a number of different categories depending on the area of activity they focus on. Below, you can find a full breakdown of the three main categories of customer relationship management programs.
Analytical
Data management and analysis are the main focus points of analytical CRM systems. They take your customer’s information and process it in accordance with your organization’s KPIs, helping you set business methodologies, monitor tasks, and integrate this data with project management features. All of this can provide you with a razor-sharp focus on steering your projects in a direction that meets your clients’ expectations to the tee.
Collaborative
CRM systems with a focus on collaboration features aim to streamline the workflow of your entire organization by simplifying the sharing of customer information between departments. They facilitate team collaboration through features such as file sharing, comments, and task management to allow your employees to better understand the context of their work and have access to the big picture when conducting client work.
Operational
This category of CRM software revolves around task creation, automation, and project management in the context of the customer’s journey. In other words, it helps streamline your organization’s work across multiple touchpoints, milestones, and customer interactions to ensure client-focused results. The best CRM project management tools allow you to take client feedback and issues they have had and automatically turn them into actionable items, as well.
Last Thoughts
A good project management CRM software is a must-have for any company that deals with numerous demanding clients on a daily basis.
When looking for such a platform, you should prioritize team collaboration functionality, task management features, and the ability to track the customer journey across multiple projects. Hopefully, my review of the best CRM project management solutions helped you narrow down your search.
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