It is difficult to imagine a modern business without a free CRM software system. In fact, companies can develop without CRM systems, function and make a profit, and companies with a CRM system can develop faster, function better and make more profits.

Importance of a Free CRM Software System for Business

For a start, CRM is an IT platform that combines customer service and some of the company’s business processes into a single system and interface. In a nutshell, the program deals with sales, marketing, personnel management and all that jazz. Meanwhile, an effective CRM platform is indispensable for sales. So, in one window, the manager receives and processes requests that come from social networks and instant messengers, from the website, by phone, and so on.

CRM with AI indicates a useful tool that helps various companies keep customer data in order and not miss requests. Besides, the platform automates business tasks, collects and analyzes information, plans as well as launches marketing activities. The system stores the entire customer base. That is why you can view contact information or the history of orders and transactions at any time.

How Does a Free CRM Software System Function?

When a user registers with a CRM system, he/she creates his/her account and populates the database with information about his/her clients, deals and projects. He/she can then use the system to manage his/her contacts, tasks and projects.

For instance, if a user would like to contact a customer, a person can find him/her in the database and send him/her a message or call. If a user would like to create a task, they can add it to their calendar or task list. If he/she wants to analyze the sales, he/she can look at the reports and graphs that the system provides.

All in all, a CRM system helps companies manage their relationships with customers, employees and partners by automating processes and providing analytics for decision-making.

How Does CRM Optimize Your Business?

Reputable free CRM software, such as Bitrix24 CRM, is a chic and quite affordable way to really reduce the cost of sales. If your company has fewer managers than competitors, but they sell better, then you can offer goods (services) at a lower price.

A high-quality program helps to significantly organize the work of managers who are located in different cities or even different countries. With its help, the platform will allow everyone to see the current sales picture and realistically imagine the situation in the company every day.

It is important to note that CRM can be integrated with a lot of other applications. That is, when the manager issues an invoice, all these changes will be automatically recorded in the accounting program. This way, the sales manager won’t have to ask an accountant to do it, and he/she won’t have to learn accounting himself/herself.

Among the most reliable CRM Bitrix24 should be highlighted. This platform streamlines the process of communication between employees and with clients. By the way, this makes it easier for managers to communicate, and easier for managers to monitor communications between managers and clients.

You can use many interesting and useful features that Bitrix24 offers and develops. One of them is the coPilot.

CoPilot in CRM

CoPilot, your personal assistant with AI, is also available in CRM. It helps employees process calls and saves valuable time on routine tasks.

For example, compare how it affects the after-call work process. Without CoPilot, you need to:

• Listen to the call recording to check all vital information.
• Find the important details, such as the payment method or delivery address.
• Enter this data in the deal form.

To make it easier, CoPilot can:

• Transcribe call recordings. Now, there is no need to waste time listening to calls. Open the transcript text and quickly find the needed information.
• Create a call summary. Read a brief description of the conversation to remember some basic details and get ready for the next call.
• Automatically complete fields in the CRM entity form using phone call data.

When Does a Company Need a Free CRM Software System?

Let's look in detail at what situations a CRM system will help, and when you should think about whether it will be useful for your business.

• large sales department;
• requests from clients come from different channels: from the website, from social networks, mail, by phone, etc;
• plenty of incoming requests;
• CRM will help set up processes in the department and collect statistics;
• CRM will assist businessmen in collecting all leads together, managers will be able to respond to clients directly from the program;
• CRM will help you collect your client base and will save the history of communication between the manager and the client in a personal card.

For some companies that have a small regular customer base with typical orders, CRM can also be useful. For instance, it can store all the essential information about the client that managers receive over time:

• the seasonality of the business;
• the full name of not only the manager
• the company’s birthday.

However, it is a good helper for other important employees, such as an accountant, a lawyer or the director’s secretary.

Is CRM Expensive?

In this case, the principle “more expensive means better” does not work. What matters here is that the functional compliance of the system with the customer’s expectations should be noted. Implementation is not cheap for an organization, but “expensive” and “inexpensive” are relative concepts.

Anyway, the vendor will definitely tell you in detail what the cost of software implementation consists of. This way, you will understand what you are paying for and how to avoid unnecessary expenses. For example, if you don’t have a warehouse, you don’t need warehouse accounting functionality, which means paying for it is the height of waste.

Nevertheless, you should not go to the other extreme and remember that “the miser pays twice.” You can choose the cheapest program, and then spend more money on improving it than if you had immediately purchased software with the necessary functionality.

Benefits of Implementing Free CRM Software

Many company management tools can be situated in one program. To cut a long story short, advanced CRM allows you to manage all components of the business, including projects, personnel, customer accounting, communications, finances, document flow, time, website, mailings, and the like. That is, the company does not need to install several programs and spend extra funds for servicing each of them. Let's briefly consider the main advantages of CRM.

• ease of implementation;
• cost savings;
• obtaining sales analytics;
• effective optimization of personnel work;
• all data is in one place.

Today, to implement CRM, it is enough to download the installation file from the developer’s website or use the boxed version of the product. At the same time, you can work with free CRM solutions right away, and employees can easily master the program as they work through an intuitive interface.

The most popular CRMs are characterized by a wide range of communications that can save you tens of thousands a year in phone call costs. In addition, CRM developers offer a wide variety of tariffs, including those available for small businesses. Moreover, a company can select a CRM only for the required number of employees or with the required functionality, thereby saving significant money. Some test versions of CRM can be used for free.

It comes as no secret that prestigious CRM allows you to automatically build sales funnels and graphs, which helps you track the progress of sales over time and notice in time those areas where adjustments are needed.

Working by means of CRM allows you to see which employees are doing what and how effective each employee is, which makes it possible to distribute work in the most optimal way, as well as automate deadline control.

Which CRM to Choose?

Before deciding on the option presented by the developer, outline exactly what you need from a CRM. Most average companies simply do not need an arsenal of additional functions and new features, and you will overpay for unused functionality. There are a number of functions that are a must when choosing a CRM and implementing it into your company’s work:

• API programming;
• customer accounting and sales management modules;
• real-time reports and analytics;
• automated business processes;
• integration with connected communication channels.

In other words, the interface is designed to set up synchronization with various applications. In the future, it is the API that will allow solving complex problems of automating the sales department. Customer accounting will allow you to save the history of communication with the client, whilst sales management modules will help you manage the sales funnel and track the process step by step.

More than that, charts, tables and graphs will be displayed according to the configured parameters. Necessary for setting tasks, as well as setting up SMS mailings, changing data and setting reminders about the approach of special events.

Special integration allows you to collect applications from mail, website, telephony and record them in the system. This completely eliminates the human factor when processing incoming orders.

Key Takeaways

Nowadays, CRM is a popular way to automate the work of a company of any size. These systems are quickly gaining recognition among entrepreneurs, mid-sized companies, and large-scale holdings with an extensive branch network. It is also worth noting that modern CRMs have become a real boon for managers seeking not only to simplify their work but also to reduce costs and improve the level of customer service, thereby overtaking their competitors.