Can Friday CRM truly make your day?
If not, it might be time for a change!
Your CRM should grow with your business, not hold it back. When dashboards become a chore, and essential features fall short, a better solution is clearly needed.
In this article, we introduce the top three alternatives to Friday CRM, each designed to help your business grow.
What is Friday CRM?
Friday CRM is a free cloud-based CRM.
With a set of basic CRM features for small businesses, this is a popular free CRM tool for companies looking to improve their customer interactions.
Key features of Friday CRM
- Contact management: Manage customer relationships with an intuitive contact management system.
- Sales tracking: Keep an eye on your sales pipeline with the Friday CRM system.
- Lead organization: Organize your leads so you can focus on turning prospects into customers.
- Marketing automation: Automate your marketing efforts to save time and reach your customers at any time.
- Integration with Google Contacts: Sync with Google Contacts to keep all your customer information up to date.
Why should you look for Friday CRM alternatives?
As impressive as its features look, this tool may pose some challenges according to many online reviews, such as:
Cluttered dashboard
For some users, the dashboard layout feels cluttered and rather hard to navigate. Using Friday CRM can then be frustrating when you're trying to quickly access important information or reorganize your data.
Limited email integration
In terms of email marketing integrations, users can be left disappointed. Friday CRM connects only with Gmail. Do you use Outlook, or perhaps other email services? Well, you're… out of luck. If you rely on various email platforms for your business communication, Friday CRM is simply not the best solution.
Difficult report customization
Creating customized reports can be challenging with Friday CRM. If you need specific data or unique report formats, you might find yourself stuck without the insights you need to drive your business forward.
Best 3 alternatives to Friday CRM
Below, you will find our three picks – each should work great as a Friday CRM alternative for your business.
#1 - Capsule CRM
Capsule CRM is a top-tier CRM system used to keep track of business relationships and manage sales pipelines in businesses of all sizes.
Want to nurture relationships? Win more sales? Cut out the busy work? Capsule CRM does it all! What's better, you can use this award-winning CRM for free – just like Friday CRM.
Key features
- Contact management: Use Capsule CRM to store and manage contacts, and even access customer information.
- Task management: Manage and assign tasks so prospect follow-ups and client deliverables aren’t missed.
- Sales pipeline: Enjoy a visual sales pipeline that lets businesses track deals across stages.
- Customization: Meet your business requirements with custom fields, tags, and dashboards to store key data the way you need to.
- Custom lists and filters: Use filtering and list creation capabilities to segment and manage your contacts and sales data.
- Reporting and analytics: Understand your business performance in detail with reports and marketing analytics.
- Email integration: Integrate with email platforms and tools, such as Transpond, Gmail, and more.
- Integration with other apps: Connect the tool with popular apps like G Suite, Mailchimp, and Xero.
- Mobile CRM: Manage your CRM activities on the go with Capsule CRM's mobile app.
Pros of Capsule CRM
- User-friendly interface: Capsule CRM is praised for its simplicity and ease of use.
- Customization and flexibility: The platform is highly customizable, so it caters to many various business needs.
- Strong customer support: Users frequently note the responsive and helpful customer support team.
- Effective sales pipeline management: The visual sales pipeline feature is particularly appreciated for its effectiveness in managing deals and forecasting sales.
- Strong integration capabilities: Capsule CRM's seamless integration with other tools like Xero boosts its utility for businesses.
User reviews:
- Matt C.: "I've used Capsule for eight years (and continue to do so). I've used many different CRMs in my career and the main reason I love Capsule, and recommend it to others, is that it's not over-complicated and pretty effortless to use - it is used constantly in our business. I think some CRMs have gone way over the top with unnecessary functionality or overly complex processes (taking up or wasting the time of the people using them). But, Capsule is different, it allows users to have excellent visibility of tasks, great flexibility to create their own tracks and projects, and offers an efficient way to add new opportunities (use of time). I'm all for productivity and believe that Capsule helps our business be more productive."
- Jeremy H.: "Capsule has revolutionized our business, allowing us to add key company information in one place and make it available to everyone within the business. We took it on as a CRM to help manage company contacts, but it's now become an always-on product used for a project management tool, where we track projects, calls, and actions, as well as an event planner, where we have set up reminder tracks so we can ensure company events run smoothly."
- L M.: "Casule has revolutionized our task management process. Previously, as a small team, we relied on spreadsheets, which made it challenging to stay organized and on top of our manual to-do list. Switching to Capsule was easy and now everything is in one place, streamlined and organized. We also had a few sessions with one of the trainers who made sure we knew about all the different features that might be useful to us. The task and reminders feature has been particularly useful, and having all our tasks in one centralized location has made planning a breeze."
Best for
- sales teams that need tools for managing pipelines, analyzing sales data, and tracking leads.
- small to medium-sized businesses looking for a user-friendly CRM with all the necessary features that you can start using quickly.
- companies that need a CRM to integrate with other tools they use.
- businesses that rely on email marketing and communication thanks to its powerful integrations.
- organizations that need a customizable CRM system.
Try Capsule CRM free for 14 days.
Pricing
Capsule CRM offers a free plan for up to two users, so it's a budget-friendly solution for small businesses. It offers great value for a full-featured CRM solution, especially if you choose the annual plan. Take a look at Capsule CRM's pricing options.
#2 - Freshsales by Freshworks
With Freshsales CRM, a cloud-based customer relationship management solution, businesses across various industry verticals can manage their interactions with both current and potential customers.
Key features
- Contact lifecycle stages
- Personalized engagement
- Web forms
Considerations and challenges
- Integration limitations: Do you use Google Forms? Well, you might not be able to do it fully with Freshsales. It has been reported that Freshales’ web forms have trouble integrating smoothly with Google Forms.
- Poor mobile functionality: Solid mobile functionality is an absolute must these days. According to some reviews, Freshsales might not seem to keep up. This tool's mobile version may not work as well as its web version – and those who are frequently on the move may struggle with it.
- Costly upgrades: If you want to use more advanced features… get ready for a big price jump. Upgrading to a better plan means paying for a much more expensive tier. Consider your budget before taking this route!
Pricing
Choosing Freshsales might seem like a good idea at first, as it offers a free trial. Once the trial ends, though, you have to upgrade, and the cost can add up quickly – especially if you need add-ons. Before making a decision, consider what functionalities you really need versus those you want.
#3 - HubSpot CRM
HubSpot CRM is another option to consider for customer relationship management purposes. It offers features like live chat, email tracking, and meeting scheduling. Businesses that are looking to improve customer engagement and management may find it really useful.
Key features
- Sales activity tracking
- Unlimited data and contacts
- Detailed reporting
Considerations and challenges
- Lack of typical CRM features: You’d think that HubSpot is no basic tool. However, it turns out that some fundamental CRM functions, such as resending emails, are simply… not there.
- Steep learning curve: If you don’t have time to spend on figuring out the tool in and out, HubSpot CRM might not be the right platform for you. According to some reviews, it might take time to get used to the tool and learn how to leverage it.
- High prices: Compared to other CRMs, the enterprise-level pricing is quite high. User "seats" are limited even at the highest tier!
- Costly add-ons: Extra features can be very expensive, too. If you decide to use them, prepare to pay more overall, with costs adding up quicker than you think.
Pricing
HubSpot's pricing is a major hurdle for many businesses. It offers a free but very limited plan. A high-tier plan is the only way to access all the advanced features needed for a modern business. For example, small businesses or startups may not be able to afford the Professional plan, which starts at a whopping $1,600 (!) per month (!).
Are you looking for a CRM solution to replace Friday CRM – or are you in the middle of a great CRM solution hunt? Check out also:
- Agile CRM alternatives
- Simply CRM alternatives
- Less Annoying CRM alternatives
- Nimble CRM alternatives
- High Level CRM alternatives
and make your informed decision!
How to choose the best Friday CRM alternative
- Before committing to any plan, consider your team's size. Friday CRM might be great for small teams. But if you're growing fast, a CRM with more muscle might be needed. Capsule CRM, for instance, works perfectly for both small and medium-sized teams but caters to enterprises too – and can scale with your business!
- Make a list of your CRM must-haves. Is an intuitive dashboard like that of Capsule CRM a key feature? Do you want to use marketing automation features like those that HubSpot offers (but with a hefty price tag)? Write down your essentials to avoid getting lost in a sea of options.
- Most CRMs have free trials, so take them for a spin! Capsule CRM offers a 14-day free trial, so you can see whether its user-friendly interface lives up to the hype. There's nothing worse than committing to a complex tool that leaves you feeling lost.
- Does your new CRM connect with your accounting tool, email provider, or Google Suite? Verify that. Strong integrations, like Capsule CRM's with Xero, can improve your workflow rather than halt it!
Key takeaways
- Friday CRM is a solid CRM tool; however, it might not be enough for small businesses or companies seeking customization options and advanced integrations.
- In many cases, Capsule CRM can replace Friday CRM for better results.
- Think about your team’s size, the CRM features you need, and how much you can afford to spend on a new CRM.
- Test a few solutions to see which CRM system works best for your team and internal needs – before you commit!
Ready for new CRM software?
Friday CRM doesn't quite hit the mark? That's okay – there's a nice number of alternatives waiting for you.
We hope that our advice can guide you to the perfect fit for your business. Step up, improve your sales strategy, and try Capsule CRM. It's like switching to a new toothbrush – sometimes, a change is exactly what you really need.
