Every SaaS needs a Customer Relationship Management platform. The best CRM for B2B SaaS tools streamline communication, improve customer satisfaction, and provide valuable insights into customer behavior. They will help you tailor your services by anticipating prospect and user needs. Investing in the right CRM will keep you competitive and provide great return. Look at a few stats:
91% of companies with more than 11 employees use a CRM.
46% of sales teams use CRM software.
Firms using a CRM increase their sales by 29% on average.
Implementing a CRM provides an average ROI of $8.71 for every dollar spent.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by choices when you’re shopping for a CRM. There are many options, and it can be hard to feel confident that you’re making the right choice for your SaaS. We’re here to lend a hand.
What CRM is Best Suited for SaaS Businesses?
Many SaaS companies face very specific challenges including a notoriously long B2B SaaS sales cycle and a complex interdepartmental decision-making process involving numerous stakeholders. When selecting a CRM, look for one that’s going to help you combat those issues with effective lead nurturing sequences, easy-to-implement workflows, and other SaaS-friendly features. At a minimum, you should expect the following features from any platform, regardless of the size of your company, your growth stage, or which vertical you operate in:
- Customer and pipeline management
- Lead scoring
- Built-in, personalized email capabilities
- Marketing support
- Application integrations
- Automation
- Analytics and reporting
CRMs are available at a wide range of price points, creating options for any company from pre-PMF to enterprise. Be aware that many popular options require high fees for the top tiers of customization and access to features or involve a steep learning curve to master all the built-in capabilities, both of which can be barriers to startups and smaller organizations. Most boast of their customizability, user-friendliness, scalability, and great customer service. View these claims with some skepticism and verify them by reading reviews and signing up for a free trial if possible.
By selecting the best CRM for SaaS to meet your company’s needs, you’ll optimize sales processes, foster long-term relationships, and ultimately drive sustainable growth. Let’s look at some options that you should consider:
HubSpot
HubSpot’s robust features and user-friendly interface make it an excellent choice for any company from pre-PMF to enterprise looking to optimize their sales and marketing efforts. HubSpot’s unique strength is a wealth of educational resources including HubSpot Academy, which provides marketing certifications, tutorials, and practical training on how to use the platform’s tools effectively. Certifications come with badges that you can add to your website and social media profiles, boosting credibility and building trust with users.
The platform offers a free tier, allowing companies to access core functionalities at no cost. Customization options are limited on the free plan but a 14-day free trial will give you the opportunity to explore advanced capabilities before committing to a subscription.
HubSpot is ideal for any size SaaS seeking a scalable CRM solution that can effectively handle customer success, sales, and marketing for both long and short sales cycles across various audience sizes, including enterprise-level clients.
Keap
Renowned for their outstanding customer support and offering advanced automation, sales pipeline management, email marketing with A/B testing, and seamless e-commerce integration, Keap is among the best CRM for SaaS options. Users can maximize the value of their subscription with a range of add-on membership plans that offer access to a dedicated Growth Strategy Manager, premium support, and weekly group coaching.
A free tier is not available, but Keap offers a 14-day free trial, allowing businesses to explore its features and assess its suitability without free from fees or commitment.
Keap is ideal for small to medium-sized SaaS companies seeking a scalable, user-friendly CRM solution with extensive automation capabilities.
Less Annoying CRM
US News and World Report’s #1 pick in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023, Less Annoying CRM has a great origin story. Its founder, a software engineer, couldn’t figure out how to set up one of the more dominant platforms, so he made one of his own. The company makes three promises to users: great customer service provided by experienced humans (no chatbots), one all-inclusive price, and a commitment to small businesses.
New users can sign up for a free, full-feature, 30-day trial. After that, one fixed monthly price includes access to all features and seats for up to 10 users.
Clearly, Less Annoying CRM is aiming for smaller, less established companies. It’s perfect for a growing SaaS seeking a straightforward, budget-friendly CRM solution that emphasizes ease of use and simplicity, making it accessible to all team members.
Freshworks
Freshworks offers a full suite of business management tools, including Freshsales, its CRM, and Freshmarketer, which manages multichannel communication across email, texting, social media, and more. Both platforms offer robust, AI-powered features that meet the needs of most SaaS organizations. It should be noted, however, that Freshsales and Freshmarketer are two distinct subscriptions, each with its own fee.
Freshworks offers a 21-day free trial, available for up to 3 users.
The platform is a great choice for small to mid-sized SaaS companies seeking an intuitive, easy-to-implement solution.
Sugar CRM
Sugar’s scalable platform offers tools for sales, marketing, and customer service that enable teams to work together in pursuit of SaaS success. With an emphasis on automation and AI-powered predictions, the software promises to reduce friction and accelerate processes for any company.
Users can choose from three levels of service. There is no free tier or free trial available.
With great mobile features, omnichannel communications, and Gmail and Outlook integrations at the top tiers, SugarCRM is a good choice for SaaS companies that are seeking a one-stop solution.
Monday CRM
Extensive integration is Monday’s strength. Its CRM is fully customizable, no-code software that operates seamlessly in conjunction with Monday’s well-known project management platform. The flexible CRM also streamlines and optimizes workflows through interfaces with many other popular services including G-Suite, Slack, and Dropbox.
Monday offers a 14-day free trial. When that ends, a range of options are available, including free plans for students and non-profits.
Companies of any size that want to the ability to create and execute follow up tasks while remaining in a single ecosystem should add Monday CRM to their consideration list.
Salesforce
Salesforce is a sophisticated, industry-dominating tool. It’s feature-rich and facilitates collaboration for SaaS sales teams. However, those many features give Salesforce a well-deserved reputation for costliness, complexity, and a steep learning curve that can pose problems for organizations just starting out.
Salesforce does not offer a free tier but does invite new users to enjoy a 30-day free trial.
The platform is ideal for large SaaS enterprises needing extensive customization and the ability to manage complex sales processes and large volumes of data.
What is the Best CRM for B2B SaaS?
Think of choosing the best CRM for a B2B SaaS a little bit like you would buying a new car. Talk to sales reps but do your homework. Read some reviews. Test drive your short list by signing up for some free trials and asking your team to take them for a spin. Finally, make the choice that you believe is the right one. The good news is that, even after you commit, you can always change your mind. If your CRM stops fitting as your company grows, you can always trade it in for another model.
Looking for more ideas to cultivate brand awareness and generate qualified leads for your SaaS? Our team of experienced specialists can help. Contact us today.
