Table of Contents
Whether you’re an individual consultant or lead generation specialist, tracking sales leads is an integral task for any B2C business. That’s where CRM software comes in. It helps you to organize and manage your leads and close more deals.
With so many cloud-based CRMs on the market today, it is difficult to choose which one is the best for your business. After comparing notes of my own experiences with different CRM solutions and conducting extensive research, I’ve come to a conclusion: there is no “perfect” CRM solution. The best software will depend on your business’ specific needs, but here are five CRM solutions that I think will work well for all B2C businesses.
Understanding CRM and Its Benefits for B2C Business
CRMs for B2C companies play a premium role on audience targeting in order to facilitate sales on a large scale. For example, an online shop would need the capacity to gather and aggregate data on each customer’s preferences and previous interactions with the business across hundreds or millions of consumers. Additionally, it would need dashboards that demonstrate how behavioral analytics-based segments of consumers respond to campaigns.
B2C CRM solutions assist businesses in establishing personal, and relatable connections.
- Real-time functionality: is one of the defining characteristics of the B2C ecosystem. Due to the rapid turnaround time related to selling to consumers or resolving a service problem, B2C CRM systems must provide real-time features. This may contain up-to-date statistics, alerts from customer support, and more.
- Email marketing that is robust: Keeping in touch with a small number of prospects and customers is difficult enough. Increase that figure by several zeroes and you can understand why B2C CRM requires a robust email tool. The capabilities enable businesses to send bulk emails to big lists while retaining a personalized feel, and automated processes facilitate marketing to a vast contact database.
- Support for call centers: Because B2C businesses are more likely to have large teams, the supporting CRM must connect with a contact center solution.
- Social media integration: is critical because it enables you to provide incentives to disengaged consumers and advertise alternative purchasing options to engaged customers. Additionally, you may monitor your customers’ journeys and how they engage with your business.
- Automation: B2C systems, like B2B CRMs, need automation. However, the aim of this section is to assist marketing, sales, and service teams in managing the high number of interactions and meeting demand.
- Customer service: skills are a fundamental need, although the demand is higher in business-to-consumer (B2C) systems. The software must be able to handle a greater number of requests and connect with a reporting solution and support chat solutions capable of handling the high volume.
What Makes a Good B2C CRM System
- Segmentation: You are searching for a solution that can categorize prospects and clients depending on lead quality, population or the stage of sales funnel.
- Campaign management and tracking: Do you plan straight from your CRM to create, operate and monitor the effectiveness of marketing campaigns?
- Integration: Should your CRM fit into social media, the current email system, your website and other apps seamlessly?
- Mobile compatibility: are you going to use your CRM on portable devices? Should it be available from anywhere?
- Customization: Would a basic CRM off-shelf be enough, or do you need a customized solution to suit particular requirements?
How to Choose the Best CRM Software for a B2C Business
When selecting the appropriate CRM for your B2C company, it is easy to become prey to analysis. Many alternatives with quite varied capacities are available. Follow the following steps to assess the options and choose the appropriate platform for your requirements.
Identify your objectives
What are the outcomes of investing in a CRM? What is your company’s going to need?
Before you find out what you are attempting to do, don’t start looking at software alternatives. Some comprehensive internet research will allow you to understand the basic capabilities of contemporary CRM software, and you may assess which platform best fits your needs if you specify your requirements.
Your B2C company’s requirements vary from B2B (business-to-business) to sell to business customers. You will want a system that provides ordinary customers with real-time opportunities to make fast buying choices. Instead of account administration, the system has to be focused on contact management.
Make your financial decision
How much are you prepared to invest on a B2C CRM? Prices vary considerably. Get a precise understanding of your budget so that you may reduce your choices down to those you can afford.
Decide whether you want to pay an annual charge or a monthly user fee. CRM software prices vary depending on just how many clients and channels you wish to handle and if installation, integration, training and technical support are required.
Choose a method of deployment/hosting
Next, determine if you want to go for a cloud-based CRM platform or local software on your office.
Research and create a list of suppliers
If your budget and objectives are clear, visit the web with a skeptical eye. Capterra and G2 are useful internet product reviews sites. Ask your network to suggest CRM providers, for example on LinkedIn.
You are unlikely to ever utilize advanced functionality that may distract you. Try to restrict your choices to major networks that satisfy all your requirements. Contact vendors during the shortlisting and ask them these questions:
- Are you offering training and continuous support?
- How long is the setup going to take?
- How much training is required for the system?
- Could the system be upgraded as the company grows?
- How extensively should the platform be changed to function for my company?
Demonstration request and contact references
Most suppliers would certainly be happy to show you their CRM software in-house. Get a sense of how easy or tough the product is to use and how it accomplishes what you need. Ask a technical team member to participate in the demonstration so that you may ask practical questions.
If the vendors mentioned below offer you a free trial time, even better.
Request references from suppliers and get input from those who are using the platforms you are investigating.
Decision-making
You should now have data for making a final decision. Select the B2C CRM that allows you to collect and use customer data to enhance your marketing efforts.
Finally, remember that you choose a CRM partner not just to purchase CRM software. A strong working connection with the CRM firm is essential to maximize your investment returns.
Best CRM Software
The CRM intended for B2C companies has been expanding enormously over the last several years and is excellent for consumer-driven firms. Rather than attempting to modify software intended for a different kind of enterprise, there are several special B2C CRM solutions on the market.
Here’s our finest selection.
Freshsales
For contemporary companies, Freshsales is a CRM platform created by Freshworks that provides a variety of software solutions, including project management and contact center software to customer care and conversion optimization.
Freshsales provides a strong combination of AI capabilities to assist you handle online and offline management of prospects, relationships, transactions, customers and the whole sales funnel. This is thus an excellent option for B2C companies operating in physical and digital environments.
Prices are fair and a free version having fewer features for smaller companies is available. Every Freshsales Package offers limitless contact details, so as your lists expand, you will never be pushed into a pricing plan.
Pricing
Starting from: $15.00/month
Pricing model: Free, Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Key Features
Tracking of Email
Professionals in sales ought to identify who opens and ignores their emails. This helps them understand who their product excites so that they may cultivate these prospects. Freshsales offers capabilities that allow salespeople to send mass emails on custom templates, schedule, and calendar synchronization. Linking is automatic; necessary information is transferred to contact records immediately. The system is selective in the representation of metrics, and essential information is identified in an email without such requirement for action.
Direct appeals
Freshsales is among the few technologies that support calls directly to be transferred and you wouldn’t need any firmware for the job. To monitor your conversation history you will not have to spend time transferring your information to this solution, and you can simply assign or call memos or addresses to your contacts from the app. You may also use an auto-dialer, redirect calls, utilize customized message receptions, ID calls and track the progress of the operators who attend to such calls.
Tracking of events
The capacity to monitor past interactions and utilize these to anticipate new communication is an essential function of the CRM program. Freshsales allows you to see the history of a contact as you communicate, to discover what interests them and how you offer solution. This helps you to close deals more rapidly.
Lead Management
A high-quality CRM should assist users correctly handle and nurture leads and turn them into loyal customers. Freshsales allows efficient contact management, providing a complete overview of all important information and discussions thus helping you to distinguish between pending, won and lost transactions. It uses a lead scoring algorithm based on AI, which speeds the whole lead capture process. The tool works along with a comprehensive customer vision feature that helps to make leads more sophisticated and more customized. In addition, the platform offers timely notice to ensure that appointments and responsibilities are not overseen.
Management of sales
The main aspects to be taken into account are: visual distribution pipeline, deal consistency and deal rotation. The software allows users to quickly sort and filter dates, discover stalled offers and make necessary modifications. You may utilize the easy drag-and-drop navigation solution to rapidly personalize follow-up, detect patterns, assess gains and losses, and identify performance-induced barriers.
Dashboards and Analytics Reports
It not only collects information but also allows users to quickly handle this data once it is accessible. The greatest part of Freshsales is that It provides a series of default reports which include mail reports on a clean dashboard, and more. Moreover, bespoke reports may be created for all contacts, transactions and possibilities. You may also create reports at any moment and summarize information when adjustments to your campaigns are necessary. Its simple interface provides quick access to reporting tools.
Reliable support for customers
The vendor provides the complete assistance of an experienced and skilled technical staff to address all your problems. Support for all programs is provided. Users may utilize the comprehensive knowledge base to understand how the program works, get advice on lead management, transactions, appointments, tasks, technical administrative settings and more. You may even read expert reports and learn how to do matrix analysis and import/export data. If you do not have information in the base of knowledge, you may always contact assistance via telephone, email or live chat.
Smooth inclusion
By presenting important rep chats and other information on extensive lists, Freshsales helps with your lead magnet tickets. This connection will let you understand what consumers think and anticipate renewals and sales of your product. Moreover, to address your CRM tickets you may utilize the same solution, while updating all field attributes and keeping your staff members up to date. Freshsales also works seamlessly with the Google Calendar to help you organize your activities and guarantee that no meeting or appointment is missed. Moreover, you can synchronize and monitor all planned demos and events on your mobile device. Freshsales can also link Quickbooks, Freshconnect, Freshcaller, Mailchimp, Zapier, and Xero.
Pros
- The software is sleek, easy to use and yet has strong functionality.
- It is beautifully designed and offers options to monitor how your business interacts with consumers
- The system provides considerable flexibility in the sales process
- The development team responds to customer suggestions and frequently updates the app
Cons
- Freshsales, like any other program, has many areas that may be improved. An upgrade in accessibility choices for employees may also be looked at.
CRM Zoho
Like Freshworks, Zoho provides a whole range of company administration solutions and arguably its CRM platform is the finest. Zoho CRM is designed to achieve the ideal mix between cost and strong functionality – and this is mostly successful.
First, there are several appealing features and liberal limitations in the free edition of Zoho CRM. You are covered for 5,000 entries, 1 GB of storage space and up to three accounts with basic automation capabilities and accessible e-mail marketing, which is very remarkable for a free CRM.
pricing
Starting from: $14.00/month
Pricing model: Free, Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Key Features
Sales generation
Zoho CRM automates day-to-day business tasks, including web visit leads; import business leads from a range of diverse references like direct mail, seminars and trade fairs; combine potential hot leads with appropriate sales people; turn your business leads into clients in a single click; and personalize processes to fit your business.
One of the advantages that we always see in Zoho CRM testimonials is that it allows your company to organize client accounts, such as all reports from a common data base; view them at various sites, accounts, products and status; and track their shopping history for upselling or cross-selling opportunities.
Furthermore, your company may correctly predict revenue, establish sales quotes, monitor the success of individuals and teams and personalize projected reports and dashboards.
Get data in real time
The Opportunity Tracking Tool of the solution allows your company to track where your customers are in the sales process, interaction history, deal closing and competition profile to help you produce better and effective communications. The accurate and easy-to-use Interactive Reports & Dashboards allow you to access various files and data.
Moreover, you may discover and target such inactive leads to realign consumer messages using previous data.
All essential client information can be readily accessed in a single program even with no need to search. The Comments section of this application shows the content and timing of prior discussions to make communication more logical and personal.
Social Integration
Link the Facebook and Twitter profiles of your customers to your Zoho CRM. You may classify them as leads and contacts, issue invites or even exchange remarks to connect.
Mobile Go
The Zoho Mobile Version enables you to access client information and sales data on Android, iPad and iPhone devices to keep you up to date even while on the move.
Deploy Google Apps
Google Apps like Docs, Email, Calendar, Contacts and Tasks are integrated with Zoho CRM.
Pros
- The most customizable CRM available.
- Integrate all customer/prospect interaction components.
- Workflow tools for marketing, projects, social media, customer support, email marketing, inventory management, and human resource management, among others.
- Keep track of webinar engagement.
- Additional modules to meet specific business requirements.
- Communications are particularly simple to locate.
- Keep track of your leads, transactions, and customers.
- Integrates with many other Zoho products and a variety of external platforms to provide a seamless workflow.
- API is available for the development of bespoke application integrations.
- A simple method for creating custom processes and approvals using Blueprint
Cons
- Throughout the installation process, issues will emerge for which you should consult a Zoho adviser.
- Integrating may be challenging and inconsistent.
- Certain products are not as polished.
- The AI assistant does not seem to provide any benefit.
- Internet connection is required.
- Subscription price is based on individual users rather than groups of five to ten people.
Keap
In the past, we saw Infusionsoft as a CRM for B2B companies, which is Keap’s most costly CRM package. Somewhat confusingly, Keap Grow and Keap Pro are the companies’ cheaper CRM subscriptions, and the main difference to Infusionsoft would be that you don’t have numerous online capabilities, such as checkouts and a shopping cart.
If your company primarily sells offline, then Keap’s cheaper options provide a strong and versatile CRM solution – ideal for physically active B2C companies. If you are selling your goods online, then you will undoubtedly like to consider the Infusionsoft plan, which would be a strong choice for online and offline multi-channel sales.
Pricing
Starting from: $79.00/month
Pricing model: Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Key Features
Campaign creator
The drag-and-drop interface of the campaign builder enables you to quickly create complete campaigns and reuse them without needing to go into the creation process each time. Create customized landing pages and emails in a matter of minutes, or adjust current campaigns without switching platforms or tools.
CRM
With Keap’s customer relationship management (CRM) tool, you can quickly see a prospect’s contacts and communication history, as well as customize communications. Additionally, autoresponders can be used to deliver a sequence of emails in a seamless manner.
Landing pages builder
Without the assistance of a professional or website-building expert, you may create branded landing pages using the landing page builder. Without switching between platforms, you can test pages, publish them, and integrate them on your website.
Tracking of websites
Keap can monitor what you need to learn about a campaign and consumer experience via tracking codes linked into the CRM, allowing you to make better choices. Easily see metrics such as:
- Who viewed a certain page
- Individual patterns in web surfing
- How many consumers were acquired as a result of a new campaign or strategy
- The path of a visitor after their first session to their most recent purchase
- The average time spent on a page by a client
- Statistics and reports on email
Keap gathers information across every email you send, enabling you to quickly assess the return on investment and make required changes to the email campaign. You may see analytics such as emails sent, emails read, clicks, bounces, and opt-outs in this section.
Pros
- The support staff is outstanding. Users who have queries related to the system receive a prompt and pertinent answer from the support staff.
- Email campaigns are simple to set up and provide a high degree of flexibility to fit any company.
- The interface is simple and intuitive, which contributes to a positive user experience.
- Super-integration and application programming interface (API) system that enables integration to hundreds of third-party tools.
Cons
- Keap lacks an autosave function and needs users to manually save their work. Failure to save your work may result in data loss when the program terminates.
- Keap has a plethora of capabilities, and one may quickly get caught in the feature minefield. However, by constantly utilizing the program, you will get familiar with it.
- Subscription for more contacts may be costly.
Ontraport
Ontraport provides a full CRM system that integrates automation, email campaigns, landing pages, analysis, e-commerce and a complete set of company management tools into one platform.
However, be ready to invest for all these features contained inside a single software platform. The Basic Plan covers just 1,000 connections for $79 per month, and you will get a minimum monthly rate of $297 when you have more than 2,500 contacts.
Even the $497 beginning pricing for Enterprise only calls for approximately 20,000 contacts, but remember that at that point you pay for some significant capabilities. If you’re okay with those limitations, Ontraport provides you with some of the greatest CRM and corporate management solutions available for B2C businesses, even if they’re not the cheapest.
Pricing
Starting from: $79.00/month
Pricing model: Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Basic – $79 per month
Plus – $147 per month
Pro – $297 per month
Enterprise – $497 per month
Key Features
Enhancement of customer relationships
Businesses can remain on top of their customers’ requirements and desires thanks to Ontraport’s CRM capabilities. This is accomplished by tracking consumers’ activities, purchases, and clicks over the length of a marketing campaign. Additionally, the platform enables you to send text messages to consumers to verify their purchases and to remind them of upcoming product offers and bookings.
Marketing that earns attention
Ontraport Pages enables you to create landing pages that highlight your services and goods. Even individuals with little technical knowledge may simply create a landing page using the available pre-designed icons and templates. Customizations are easy to make with a single toggle click, and design, palettes, sizes, and typefaces are all highly adjustable. Additionally, you may designate your favourite components as “favorites” so that they can be easily accessible and used when creating another landing page.
Increased earnings
Ontraport’s latest functionality, Membership Sites, enables you to build a membership site without the need of third-party tools or plugins. You may anticipate a passive stream of revenue in addition to the revenue you are currently generating with our site.
Pros
- Campaign creator. The graphical campaign generator is very simple to use and has a very contemporary aesthetic.
- Ontraport’s task management is one of the features that differentiates it from other comparable automation systems.
Cons
- There is a wealth of information, but most of it is unclear and lacks sufficient examples to make things obvious.
Apptivo
Apptivo CRM is popular in the retail, hotel and travel industries with B2C businesses. It provides cheap plans with extremely limited features, so that you receive a lot in every plan which translates to value for your money.
Even the free Apptivo CRM edition provides a number of unique aspects for up to three members.
Although Apptivo’s aesthetic design may need an upgrade, this CRM provides the most important elements. Pay options begin at $10 per user, per month, and minor limitations on features seldom make you feel compelled to upgrade.
Apptivo offers an outstanding range of platform connections like PayPal, Stripe, G Suite, Microsoft 365, Dropbox, Slack and more – a fantastic combo for B2C enterprises, both physically and online.
Despite the antiquated appearance, the usability of Apptivo’s CRM is good due to its simple interface.
Don’t mistake the low demanding pricing and the plain appearance; this is a quality CRM solution.
Pricing
Starting from: $10.00/month
Pricing model: Free, Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Starts at just $10/user/month
Key Features
Capturing Leads and Tracking Sales
Apptivo CRM includes a Leads app that collects leads from prospects through online forms. Additionally, it has an unique method for extracting email addresses from addresses for improved lead creation and sales monitoring. Additionally, it supports the import of CSV files into the platform. Additionally, a productivity panel, win/loss statistics, a sales planning tool, and territory management capabilities are all included.
Management of Customers and Contacts
It allows users to quickly and simply establish a relationship from an existing client record or using existing contact information. Users may split data and target particular lists by adding leads, contacts, or customers. Duplicating records eliminates the need for double input of data and the related risk of mistake. Additionally, users may monitor numerous sale points for a single client, export and backup their data, and monitor contacts in one location with a complete 360-degree view.
Customization, conversion, integration, and mobile applications, among other services
Customization of applications and fields is possible with Apptivo as an enterprise CRM application. Additionally, an integrated system enables simple conversion of a prospect into a quotation, a project, or an invoice. Additionally, the digital CRM system interacts with Google Apps, synchronizing calendars and tasks. The Mobile CRM application is available for iPhone and Android devices and enables customers to download real-time data, interact, record conversations, and track activity.
Pros
- Even if you’re a modest customer paying less than ten dollars per month, support is great.
- Email and conversation monitoring, as well as electronically authorized quotations, are all excellent features.
- Excellent for simplifying project management for long-term projects.
- It’s beneficial for keeping contacts current and relevant.
Cons
- Subsections of the dashboard and interface are a little clumsy.
- An integrated email client is not always the most efficient choice (signatures vary, contacts may not always update correctly).
- It is not always possible to achieve optimum consistency and integration across applications.
Best B2C CRM Strategies
If you want to ensure that your CRM system is really successful for your B2C company, you must adhere to five critical best practices. We offer suggestions in this article to assist you in getting the most value out of your B2C CRM.
Establish a cross-departmental CRM strategy
Numerous companies make the error of developing their CRM strategy only for their sales department. Unfortunately, this is the incorrect course of action.
Often, leads will initiate contact with an organization by reading its blogs, sharing its social media postings, or subscribing to its newsletter. They may wait until the last minute to reach the business for product details. Having a cross-departmental CRM plan in place enables you to track leads’ movements and send them personalized marketing communications.
Automate and educate employees on how to utilize CRM systems efficiently
When we discuss CRM automation, we are not referring only about scalability. Additionally, the CRM should be in sync with the organization’s other systems. For instance, CRM could integrate with Google Calendar and Outlook, seamlessly synchronizing sales tactics and email schedules.
Similarly, chatbots and virtual assistant solutions deployed on websites should be developed to connect consumer interactions to relevant data fields and records inside the business.
After that, workers must be trained on how to utilize and administer these CRM systems. Inadequate training may result in CRM technology being a costly burden rather than an advantage.
Optimize your CRM approach for social media
With social media rapidly becoming an organization’s primary customer touchpoint, it’s critical to incorporate social networks into the CRM strategy. It aids in the development of CRM systems for tracking and monitoring the performance of popular social media keywords, hashtags, and picture tags.
CRM systems should also be utilized to access contact information, discussion histories, complaints, and other interactions that businesses have had with customers through social media in order to enhance their online response rate.
Improve the look and feel of your data fields, records, and dashboards
One approach for maximizing the effectiveness of a CRM plan is to modify the data fields on forms to gather just the necessary information. This streamlines the form and facilitates data mapping. Once integrity of data is established, generating trustworthy documents becomes simple. Now, outdated records may also be deleted, and current account records can be created and modified.
Additionally, companies may focus on revamping their CRM panels to make them more visually appealing, legible, with clear legends, and audience-specific. A/B testing the panels will assist in iteratively revising them as needed.
Successful Examples of B2C CRM Case Studies
Finally, let us examine some real-world B2C CRM use cases.
Tesco
Tesco’s Clubcard is a method for the retailer to recognize its most devoted customers. Each pound spent online or in-store earns you a point. When collected, these points may be exchanged for Tesco Clubcard ‘vouchers’ (150 points equals a £1.50 voucher).
A voucher may then be used for incentives including an evening at Cineworld with the kids (a time-honored tradition) or an afternoon at Pizza Express. Clubcard members may also earn points at Tesco petrol stations and by completing online feedback questionnaires.
What does Tesco stand to gain? Returning consumers who have made an investment in the brand and whose feedback Tesco may use to improve its ever-growing array of products.
Apple
As an example, consider Apple ID. If you’ve ever used iTunes (Apple ’s itunes), you’re already familiar with an Apple ID – and if you’ve ever purchased an Apple product, you’re also familiar with the Apple ID registration process.
These unique IDs enable device synchronization, memory of music and film choices, and personalized suggestions depending on what you’ve been viewing or listening to. It provides convenience for the user. And for Apple, it’s a continuously updated data collection that reveals just what its consumers want and enables easy, targeted marketing.
Uber
CRM is an excellent starting point – and for Uber, the ride-sharing giant’s approach is being driven by industry-leading CRM software supplier Salesforce. Salesforce enables Uber to collect data from individuals who interact with the company’s brand online. Uber can now respond quickly to consumer concerns and monitor all of its contacts with the public through an easy dashboard.
It has its own rewards program. Uber Rewards enables you to collect points whenever you ride or dine with Uber and use them for a variety of services. It’s a classic illustration as to how Uber is encouraging consumers to stick with the brand as it expands.
Amazon
If you’ve ever used Amazon (which statistics suggests you have), you know how difficult it can be to resist its customized offers, suggestions, and discounts – all of which are based on your previous purchases.
Additionally, by requiring consumers to set up an account, Amazon makes reordering very simple. Consumers who are cash-rich but short on time may pay with a click and have their products delivered to their home within 24 hours.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the best CRM software is one of the biggest decisions that you have to make as a business owner. The importance of maintaining customer relationships cannot be overemphasized, so deciding on a good CRM is quite crucial.
CRM software improves your sales process. It helps you to engage with your visitors, automate tasks, and improve customer loyalty. Many CRM solutions are custom-built but there are also a number of great CRM Software solutions that aren’t tailored specifically for B2C businesses. These 5 Best CRM Software list includes a variety of platforms that caters to B2C businesses not just in the U.S but from all around the world.
