Barvetii Wealth Consultants: The Best Online Tools for Managing Your Business Co

ntacts
Eight affordable and easy to use CRM options to keep you organized.
Whether you work in sales, advertising, or even journalism, your business will a
lways need a way to manage projects, tasks, professional contacts, and calendar
appointments.
It's common to spread each of these tasks among your Outlook, Google Apps, or ad
dress book. But with a customer relationship management tool, you can keep all y
our information in one place and have it accessible to your colleagues.
Barvetii Wealth Consultants - There are several affordable and easy to use CRM o
ptions out there now. (Even some free, open source ones). We listed the best ser
vices here.
1. Zoho is an affordable CRM option
Features: Zoho is a full suite of Web-based business apps that are designed to c
ompete with big boys like Microsoft and Google. But Zoho is not afraid to offer
the standard set of CRM features while still integrating data from Google Apps,
Outlook, QuickBooks, and many more third party services. There's also a suite of
more than 30 Zoho apps ranging from chat to document publishing that makes Zoho
an excellent Web-based Office alternative.
• The good: Google Apps integration, affordable pricing plan, and a mobile site op
timized for iPhone.
• The Bad: Lacks connection to social media sites like LinkedIn or Twitter.
• Price: Zoho is a freemium service. The top-tier plan costs $25 per user per mont
h.
2. Free CRM isn't pretty, but it'll get the job done
Features: Free CRM will give you all the basic features such as calendars, conta
cts, and task management for free. (Up to five users). PC World rated Free CRM o
ne of the best free online business tools.
• The good: The price is right.
• The Bad: The dashboard is an eye sore, PC World says its difficult to set up.
• Price: Free for up to five users. Premium plans are available for more users and
include extra features.
3. Salesforce is one of the most popular CRMs available
Features: Salesforce has too many features and options to list here. You can sta
rt with a simple contacts manager or opt for the full suite of features that inc
ludes 24/7 support. The fact that several cheaper CRMs integrate Salesforce into
their services is further proof that this is one of the best services in the bu
siness.
• The good: Excellent interface, iPhone app, and a million dashboard tools.
• The Bad: Salesforce isn't cheap, but it's one of the best.
• Price: Starts at $5 per user per month for up to five users.
4. SugarCRM is open source and affordable
Features: SugarCRM is an open source CRM tool with an impressive mobile offering
and nice social media integration. If you have a new business, trying out the f
ree, open source version will help you manage your new list of contacts.
• The good: Twitter integration so you can view your contacts' tweets from the das
hboard, iPhone app.
• The Bad: The free edition doesn't allow access to the mobile site.
• Price: The Community Ediition offers the basic service for free. Other plans sta
rt at $360 per user per year.
5. Check out vtiger as another open source CRM option
Features: Like SugarCRM, there's a free, open source version of vtiger with all
the basic features you need: Salesforce integration, calendars, task management,
etc.
• The good: It's free!
• The Bad: The desktop application is only available on Windows and Linux.
• Price: You can also get the full-featured product for $12 per month per user..
6. We love Highrise's design
Features: The Highrise dashboard looks like a Facebook news feed. You can view t
he latest activity from your contacts in the river, or search for individual con
tacts and view their history. You can also forward e-mails to your Highrise acco
unt and it will automatically link the message to the appropriate contact.
• The good: Excellent design, iPhone app, and integrates with several other servic
es.
• The Bad: The top-tier plan only allows 40 users, so large companies may want to
stick with Salesforce.
• Price: The Basic Plan starts at $24 per month and supports up to six users.
7. BatchBook is a "social CRM"
Features: BatchBook offers a heavy focus on social media integration. You can vi
ew your contacts' Twitter, Flickr, blog, and LinkedIn updates from your dashboar
d. There's also a huge focus on tagging contacts so you can group them together
by subject.
• The good: Social media integration, works with a variety of third-party services
like MailChimp and Google.
• The Bad: Social media updates are cool, but they may not be useful for every bus
iness.
• Price: There are five plans to choose from, starting at $9.95 per month.
8. Daylite is a Mac-only CRM
Features: Daylite is a desktop application for Mac OS X and iPhone. The service
caters to industries like film, photography, and design, since many in those fie
lds already use Mac. There are also several plugins available, including one tha
t integrates with Apple's Mail desktop application. It's not cheap, but if your
business runs entirely on OS X, it's worth looking at.
• The good: Integrates with Mac OS X native applications iCal and Address Book, iP
hone app.
• The Bad: Not available for Linux or Windows, limited integration options with th
ird party services.
• Price: Bundles start at $1,499.95 for up to five users. Click here to see a full
pricing list.
Our Pick: Highrise. This CRM has an excellent user interface, affordable pricing
plans for small businesses, and can be accessed from any computer.