Wondering what is the best CRM for B2B sales? Well we’re here to help with our guide to the best CRMs for both small businesses and enterprises in 2022. We’ll walk you through what customer relationship management B2B software is, what its benefits are, and a list of the top CRM companies, including the outstanding features and best uses for each. Use this guide to help you find the best B2B CRM for your business.
What is a B2B CRM?
Business-to-business customer relationship management software is a sales app that provides a central interface for handling data about your interactions with business clients. B2B sales software can include data from marketing, sales, customer service and customer success management interactions. CRM data can be stored, retrieved, analyzed, applied and synced with data from other apps. For example, in your CRM you can store contact information, results of prospecting attempts, sales meeting schedules and notes from sales appointments.
The best CRMs often include sales team features that allow sales managers to manage data about representatives and customers. For instance, a sales manager might use a CRM app to call up a list of qualified prospects and assign the hottest opportunities to a list of available sales representatives with top closing rates.
Today’s leading CRMs tend to be cloud-based. A cloud-based CRM can be accessed anywhere and more easily synced with data from other apps, such as marketing, customer service and customer success apps.
Why Do I Need B2B CRM Software?
Using a CRM software app provides several valuable benefits to B2B companies, including:
- Ability to manage all of your customer relationships from one place
- Easy access to customer contact data and notes
- The capability of analyzing prospecting opportunities so you can prioritize your top prospects
- Delivery of crucial customer data to sales representatives to support higher closing rates and upsells
- Accessibility to cloud data from mobile devices, so that customer data is available to sales representatives in the field no matter where they are
- Integration with other areas of your business for seamless coordination between your sales department and other relevant departments, such as marketing and customer service
These benefits help make CRM apps one of the most critical technology tools for B2B sales teams.
The Five Best CRMs for B2B Businesses in 2022
Many CRM apps are available for B2B businesses of all sizes – from small to large enterprises. We consider these some of the best CRM software solutions for companies:
- Zoho CRM
- SAP Sales Cloud
- Salesforce CRM
- Microsoft Dynamics 365
- HubSpot CRM
Below is a more detailed CRM comparison of these providers, including what makes each provider distinctive and what types of businesses and business applications they’re best suited for.
1. Zoho CRM
Business software provider Zoho offers a CRM app as one of their core product lines. Zoho CRM supports both general-purpose and industry-oriented CRM applications. It uses a personalized interface to manage data from all customer channels, including phones, live chat, email and social media. Repetitive tasks, such as lead nurturing, can be automated to save time.
Zoho CRM includes real-time reporting analytics and AI tools to assist with tasks such as identifying which leads are most likely to close. It integrates with many other popular apps, including Zoho’s business suite apps.
Zoho CRM’s distinctive features include coding-free lead generation web forms and a mass mail feature offered at lower prices than some competitors. Zoho CRM is suitable for businesses of all sizes.
2. SAP Sales Cloud
Enterprise software provider SAP offers a SAP Sales Cloud app with CRM features. In contrast to SAP’s on-premises CRM solutions, SAP Sales Cloud provides a cloud-based interface that delivers a unified view of all customers and customer interactions for a seamless offline and online mobile experience.
Automation features and integration with apps such as Microsoft Outlook and Gmail streamline tasks like lead generation and appointment setting. AI tools support sales forecasting and let teams score and prioritize sales opportunities. Mobile tools assist with tasks like optimized route planning for sales teams on the go.
SAP is geared toward enterprise users and is most efficient for small teams that need a full-featured CRM. Teams that need less feature-rich CRMs may find other options more affordable.
3. Salesforce CRM
Sales software provider Salesforce offers CRM tools specialized for sales teams, marketing teams, customer service, eCommerce and other applications. Salesforce combines tools for managing contact information, tracking sales opportunities, forecasting sales, automating sales activity, selling on the go and analyzing revenue trends for sales teams.
Salesforce solutions range from all-in-one sales and support apps for individual users to unlimited packages for enterprise users. It is best-suited for larger teams that need core CRM functionality without necessarily requiring the full functionality of a solution such as SAP.
4. Microsoft Dynamics 365
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 enterprise resource planning suite includes a sales package with CRM features. It uses artificial intelligence to personalize selling based on customers’ channel preferences, improve sales efficiency with contextual customer information, and coach sellers with behavioral insights into implementing best practices and growing revenue. Tools help sales teams prioritize leads, collaborate between team members to close sales, focus on revenue-producing activities, and optimize customer interactions based on customer sentiment.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is geared toward enterprise users and can be costlier than solutions designed for smaller businesses. It includes on-premise, hybrid and cloud options. It is well-suited for teams that require integration with other Microsoft software products.
5. HubSpot CRM
Marketing software provider HubSpot includes a sales hub with CRM features in its product suite. It is designed for marketing and sales teams, customer service teams, operational managers and business owners.
HubSpot CRM bundles tools for managing sales pipelines and sales teams with marketing and customer service functions tools. Sales tools include communication tools for lead generation and sales appointments, such as Facebook Messenger integration, live chat, email templates and meeting scheduling tools. For team collaboration, HubSpot integrates with Slack. There are also tools to assist with processing payments.
HubSpot CRM is geared toward small- to medium-sized businesses. HubSpot’s free package tier is one of the most robust available at the freemium entry-level. For premium price points, other tools offer a fuller range of features.
Combine B2B CRM with Customer Success Software to Maximize Your Sales
B2B CRMs let you manage your business customers’ sales, marketing and customer service data from a central interface. This makes it easy to access data, capitalize on sales opportunities and manage sales teams. Leading B2B CRM providers include Zoho, SAP, Salesforce, Microsoft and HubSpot.
Choosing the right CRM for your business is a big decision, and you should consider all factors, including price, offerings and user experience, before landing on one. Another essential factor to consider is integrations. A CRM alone doesn’t give you a full 360 view of everything you need to know about your customers or the ability to take action based on the insights your data provides. To get the most out of your CRM, you need to supercharge your CRM with a customer success platform that can automate best practices for onboarding, engaging and retaining customers. The best customer success platforms support integrations with leading CRM tools, allowing you to leverage your CRM data and maximize sales from subscription renewals and upsells.
Totango’s customer service platform supports integrations with all of the leading B2B CRM tools covered above and other top apps you rely on to grow your business. Get to know Totango’s many offerings by starting with us for free here.
