While most businesses will need to opt for a CRM at some point, it may not be necessary for them to use a paid solution. Instead, a free CRM is often adequate for most businesses. This is because many businesses do not actually need all of the features associated with a paid CRM. With that in mind, here are some of the reasons that a business may want to use a free CRM instead of a paid one.
Limited Number of Business and Customer Contacts
Most startups or small and medium-sized businesses do not have a plethora of contacts to keep track of. While even the best free CRMs have limited functionality in this regard, this may not matter. Depending on the software solution you choose, a free CRM often allows for enough data to be uploaded for any of these types of businesses to function. Although an enterprise business may need to create more complex and customized sales pipelines [link] than a free CRM allows for, a free CRM is totally fine if your needs are simpler and more standardized in this regard.
Use of Integrated Software Solutions
Many businesses that are considering adding a CRM often use various software already for a myriad of purposes. This can include project management and communication with the likes of Slack or Trello, or email marketing and marketing automation with software like Mailchimp and Hubspot. Regardless of what software you are currently using, most free CRMs allow you to seamlessly integrate these into their own software. This means that if you already have these solutions in place, and are paying for them, then it may not make sense to pay for a CRM on top of that.
This, of course, depends on the specific needs of your business. You may find that even with this software, you still need to opt for a paid CRM to get all of the functionality that you need. However, you won’t be able to know this unless you try out a free CRM first and see if the solution is even right for you in the first place. Fortunately, most CRMs offer free trials so that you can see whether upgrading to the paid version of the software is worth if for your business or not.
In conclusion
Ultimately, most of the best free CRMs are more than adequate for most businesses that are not of the enterprise level. However, if you own and operate a business that relies on a large variety of business and sales contacts, as well as software solutions and integrations, then a paid free CRM may be the best option for you. However, with that being said, a free CRM should always be analyzed and looked at thoroughly before a paid solution is considered, no matter the size of the business. While it is impossible to know if you’ll need to pay for a CRM or not from the get-go, you will be able to determine this once you consider the above factors in conjunction with specifics needs of your business.
