We Tested the Best CRM Software in South Africa

You’re a growing business with many potential customers, all with different needs and interests. You juggle emails, phone calls, and notes, trying to keep track of who’s who and where they’re in the buying journey. It’s like having a million tabs open on your browser, and it’s getting close to crashing!

As a customer relationship manager in South Africa, you must be familiar with this scenario. 

This is a problem we’re determined to solve at ClickUp. With this goal in mind, we started our search for CRM software in South Africa that can transform these daily struggles into sales success stories. 

If staying ahead of the curve is your goal as well, this article can help you out. We’ve put together a list of 10 of the best CRM software available in South Africa. But before you choose, here are a few points you should consider. 

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What Should You Look for in CRM Software in South Africa? 

During our search, we tested some of the most popular CRM software. To select the software for testing, we made a checklist. 

Here are the features that we considered:

• Local compliance: Meets all compliance criteria under the local customer data protection laws
• Automation: A system that can automate your most time-consuming, repetitive tasks so your team can spend more time on high-value activities
• Mobile accessibility: Mobile-friendly solution that supports remote teams to keep the team connected and productive, no matter where they are
• Integration capabilities: Integrates effortlessly with other tools and software, such as accounting software, email marketing platforms, and e-commerce solutions
• Reporting and analytics: Provides valuable data on the sales pipeline, customer interactions, and business performance and the ability to create custom dashboards
• Customization and scalability: Adapts to diverse markets and changing regulatory landscapes
• Customer support: Offers training resources, technical support, and a knowledgeable customer success team 
• Ease of use and implementation: Doesn’t require extensive IT support to get the software up and running

If you’ve already found a CRM that meets all these criteria and want to see what it can do, check out this list of the 10 best CRM software examples and their use cases.

Now, let’s look at the CRM Software list we promised you. 

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The 10 Best CRM Software (South Africa) to Use in 2024

We carefully analyzed the available CRM software and matched it with the unique needs of South African businesses to develop this list. 

Check out our list of the top customer relationship management software options in South Africa for 2024:

1. ClickUp—Best all-in-one CRM project management system

ClickUp’s CRM Project Management Software is our top choice. ClickUp is customizable and allows you to personalize projects to match workflows, business models, and preferences. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, ClickUp makes it easy to manage every aspect of your customer interactions, from lead generation to post-sale support.

One of the standout features of ClickUp’s CRM software is its flexibility. You can customize your views to suit your specific needs, whether that’s a Kanban board for visualizing your sales pipeline or a table view for tracking key metrics like customer lifetime value and average deal size. 

You can create folders, sub-folders, and lists for each project or client. Custom Statuses such as ‘Proposal Sent,’ ‘Negotiation,’ and ‘Signed’ come in handy to track where clients are in the sales pipeline. ClickUp’s Custom Fields help sort accounts based on industry, deal size, and revenue to prioritize accounts. This level of customization ensures that you always have the information you need at your fingertips.

Its built-in time-tracking functionality helps you keep track of billable hours and analyze project performance. 

It also helps you collaborate more effectively with your team. With features like ClickUp’s Email Management, you can send and receive emails directly within ClickUp and eliminate silos and fast-track communication. This ensures that everyone is on the same page regarding customer interactions.

You can create a sales bible with ClickUp Docs to record details like pricing plans and customer information for your sales teams. It’s also useful for drafting CRM campaigns and SOPs with your team. 

Create custom documents to track client details, meeting notes, and support history, ensuring everyone can access the latest customer data. This improves communication and streamlines customer relationship management.

ClickUp Dashboards are another effective tool for enhancing CRM functions. They allow you to build high-level views of your CRM data, making it easy to track leads, manage client information, and keep track of team meetings. 

You can create a client dashboard to keep everything your clients need in one organized space, making communication and project tracking simple. Dashboards also ensure consistent and timely lead follow-up, boosting relationship marketing and sales.

Whether you’re a first-time CRM manager or someone with more experience, ClickUp offers a set of beginner-friendly CRM templates that you can easily adapt to manage customer relationship duties. 

Take, for example, the ClickUp CRM Template, which can help you manage leads, customer relationships, and sales pipelines all from a single place. It makes the entire process more efficient and organized.

Download This Template

ClickUp’s CRM Template makes it easy to get an overview of all your accounts at a glance. Whether it’s to check the account size, account plan, industry, or the next steps in managing a customer relationship, ClickUp’s CRM Template provides all the information you need in one place.

Here’s what the template can help you do:

• Attach relevant media, docs, proposals, and contracts to each customer account
• Add comments and tasks, change status, check dependencies, due dates, and priorities to stay on track with generating, nurturing, and closing leads
• View all contacts—closed, lost, qualified prospects, and unqualified prospects—in 15+ different ClickUp Views

ClickUp best features

• Manage ClickUp Tasks and ClickUp Docs and track goals and OKRs on a unified workspace
• Enable effortless communication and collaboration by integrating sales pipeline, customer communication, and follow-ups in one place and enhance productivity with ClickUp’s Chat view
• Simplify repetitive tasks such as updating deal statuses, sending follow-up emails, or assigning tasks to team members based on specific triggers through ClickUp Automations
• Work with other tools used by South African businesses like Xero and Sage accounting software and Google Workspace productivity tool

ClickUp limitations

• New users might need some time to learn and use all of ClickUp’s features

ClickUp pricing

• Free Forever
• Unlimited: $7/user per month
• Business: $12/user per month
• Enterprise: Contact for pricing
• ClickUp Brain: Add to any paid plan for $7 per member per Workspace per month

ClickUp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.7/5.0 (‎9,500+ reviews)
• Capterra:  4.6/5.0 (4,000+ reviews)

2. Salesforce—Best comprehensive CRM solution for enterprises

Salesforce is a cloud-based tool with comprehensive and collaborative CRM management. The platform surprised me with how easy it was to implement and get everyone on board. 

It can help you easily manage everything from sales to customer satisfaction across the diverse linguistic landscape. It supports all 11 official languages in South Africa for exceptional customer service!

They’ve also got an easy-to-use mobile app suitable for remote use. 

Salesforce best features

• Use automation and forecasting tools to improve sales efficiency significantly
• Use Service Cloud to manage and resolve customer issues effectively, providing excellent service and support
• Integrate Salesforce AppExchange with other apps, creating a cohesive and efficient workflow

Salesforce limitations

• High subscription costs that small businesses may not be able to afford
• Deep customization of the app can be challenging and requires technical expertise

Salesforce pricing (billed annually)

• Starter Suite: $25/user per month
• Professional: $100/user per month
• Enterprise: $165/user per month
• Unlimited: $330/user per month
• Einstein 1 Sales: $500/user per month

Salesforce ratings and reviews 

• G2: 4.5/5 (1,950+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (18,000+ reviews)

3. HubSpot—Best for inbound marketing 

HubSpot can help you integrate your marketing, sales, and customer service efforts by streamlining inbound marketing from beginning to end. 

The platform’s seamless integration with marketing tools can improve lead-generation efforts and conversion rates. HubSpot is a great tool for building and maintaining your CRM database.

HubSpot best features

• Upload, store, and organize all contacts, track their interactions, add notes, and log activities all in one place
• Set up automated email sequences and workflows that automate repetitive tasks, such as sending follow-up emails or updating contact properties 
• Set up a sales pipeline management, making it easy to track deals and monitor their progress through different stages

HubSpot limitations

• Some integrations require you to buy higher plans
• The free plan has limited functionality

HubSpot pricing

• Free
• Starter: $20/month per seat
• Professional: $100/month per seat
• Enterprise: $150/month per seat

HubSpot ratings and reviews 

• G2: 4.4/5 (11,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (4,000+ reviews)

4. monday.com CRM—Best team collaboration app

The first thing that drew me to monday.com CRM is its visually appealing user interface. It’s built to improve team collaboration and allowed me to simplify customer relationships and project management, keeping my routine tasks organized.

Given South Africa’s economic fluctuations and the impact of price sensitivity among consumers, monday.com CRM can help manage sales pipelines effectively, ensuring you can adapt quickly to changing market conditions​.

monday.com CRM best features

• Set up and adjust processes quickly with the drag-and-drop functionality 
• Send real-time updates to keep sales and marketing teams on the same page and reduce the chances of miscommunication
• Create custom automated workflows based on triggers, such as changes in task status, approaching deadlines, or new entries

monday.com CRM limitations

• It can become expensive with additional features and users. It may not be pocket-friendly for small businesses

monday.com CRM pricing 

• Free (up to 2 seats)
• Basic CRM: $15/seat per month
• Standard CRM: $20/seat per month
• Pro CRM: $33/seat per month
• Enterprise CRM: Custom pricing

monday.com CRM ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (700+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (400+ reviews)

5. Pipedrive—Best for sales pipeline management system

Pipedrive is a cloud-based CRM designed specifically for sales teams. Its highly visual sales pipeline management system is perfect for optimizing sales processes and improving the efficiency of your sales team. 

Pipedrive’s CRM software helps businesses automate administrative tasks, freeing up time for revenue-generating activities. 

What stood out for me was its email management capabilities. All my email correspondence was automatically logged and linked to the relevant deal, contact, or organization record. This saved me a lot of time and ensured nothing slipped through the cracks.

Pipedrive best features

• Easily track and manage deals through customizable stages on a visual pipeline
• Customize sales pipeline stages to match your sales process so that it could align with specific workflow and business requirements
• Automatically send reminders for follow-up tasks, such as making a call, sending an email, or scheduling a meeting based on deal stage changes or deadlines

Pipedrive limitations

• Customization options are somewhat restricted as compared to its competitors
• Lacks advanced marketing automation features, which may be a drawback for businesses looking for an all-in-one solution

Pipedrive pricing

• Essential: $14/seat per month
• Advanced: $29/seat per month
• Professional: $59/seat per month
• Power: $69/seat per month
• Enterprise: $99/seat per month

Pipedrive ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.3/5 (1,850+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (2,500+ reviews)

6. Freshsales—Best for AI-powered insights

If you want to simplify and access insightful analytics, Freshsales’s AI-based sales CRM can help. It’s an excellent choice for businesses incorporating AI into their CRM strategy to make data-backed decisions and boost conversions. 

They provide a wide range of CRM features, such as lead management, sales pipeline tracking, contact and account management, and more, all in one platform. They also offer 24×5 email and phone support included in all of their pricing plans, without any additional fees for training or implementation.

Freshsales adheres to data protection regulations, offering security features to safeguard sensitive customer information and build trust. This aligns with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), which regulates how companies collect, store, and process South African consumers’ personal information.

Freshsales best features

• Get predictive insights and suggestions for the best actions to take through Freshsales’ intelligent assistant, Freddy AI
• Automatically score leads based on customer engagement and behavior and prioritize your efforts on the most promising leads
• Track email opens, clicks, and responses in real time. This enables you to monitor customer engagement and follow up with the customer at the right time

Freshsales limitations

• Some advanced features are only available on higher plans, which may be a limitation for businesses with budget constraints
• The setup process can be complex and time-consuming, especially for beginners

Freshsales pricing

• Growth: Starts at $9/user per month
• Pro: $39/user per month
• Enterprise: $59/user per month

*Pricing details taken from an external source

Freshsales ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.5/5 (1000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (600+ reviews)

7. Oracle CRM—Best mobile CRM for large enterprises

Oracle CRM is a broad suite of applications designed to help large enterprises manage their customer interactions and business processes across various departments. 

Oracle offers a comprehensive overview of customer interactions and consolidates data to improve customer service. It’s a user-friendly software tool designed for easy adoption and navigation, ultimately increasing user engagement on the platform.

What I found most useful is how easily it integrates with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems, marketing automation platforms, and other third-party tools. This integration ensures you can stay focused at work without the hassle of juggling multiple apps. With important customer and financial info at stake, CRM-ERP integration must follow data protection rules like POPIA. It’s really important to make sure the data exchange and access are secure.

Oracle CRM’s best features 

• Track and manage leads, opportunities, and sales territories, and set sales quotas
• Conveniently access critical data, including customer records, sales opportunities, and service requests, whenever needed on its comprehensive mobile app
• Customize your CRM to the specific needs of your business, and create a CRM system that perfectly fits your workflow and requirements

Oracle CRM limitations

• Implementation and maintenance costs can be high
• Setting it up can take time and may require IT support

Oracle CRM pricing

• Custom pricing

Oracle CRM ratings and reviews

• G2: 3.7/5 (90+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.4/5 (30+ reviews)

8. Zoho CRM—Best customizable CRM system

To unite your sales, marketing, and customer service efforts, you can give Zoho CRM a try. With its comprehensive suite of tools, Zoho CRM caters to the core components of CRM. 

Their built-in tool, Blueprint, helps sales teams manage all their leads and customers without scrambling from app to app for specific details. It provides step-by-step guidance on actions to be taken at each stage of the sales pipeline. 

What I liked most about Zoho CRM is that you can redesign the app’s interface with Canvas, an editing feature. You can simply drag and drop to personalize the interface without any coding. You can arrange the lists, buttons, and fields and color them however you want. 

Zoho CRM best features

• Create custom fields and modules to capture specific customer information and manage unique business processes
• Capture, track, and nurture leads through various sales funnel stages. This ensures that no opportunity is missed and conversion rates are maximized
• Keep your sales team motivated to achieve targets with its gamification features
• Predict future sales trends and set realistic targets with its AI-led sales planning and forecasting tools

Zoho CRM limitations

• Some users may find Zoho CRM’s interface cluttered. This can lead to a steeper learning curve

Zoho CRM pricing

• Free
• Standard: $14/user per month
• Professional: $23/user per month
• Enterprise: $40/user per month
• Ultimate: $52/user per month

Zoho CRM ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.1/5 (2,600+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.3/5 (6,700+ reviews)

9. EngageBay—Best budget-friendly CRM

EngageBay is a pocket-friendly CRM system that is excellent for small businesses and startups looking for cost-effective CRM software that can grow with their business.

I tested EngageBay for its sales and email marketing features. I was able to create, send, and track email campaigns easily. You can design professional emails on the platform with drag-and-drop builders and send personalized messages for better impact. 

The integration between EngageBay CRM and Africa’s Talking, a telecommunications service provider, allows agents to tap into the platform’s extensive coverage across South Africa. They don’t need to switch between different systems to make calls and send texts—they can do all this within the EngageBay platform. 

Keep a record of unanswered calls, the average duration of calls, the quantity of calls per team member, and additional information. Use these call statistics to improve and deliver a better customer experience. 

EngageBay best features

• Get customer insights with a web analytics tool to create targeted campaigns through lead capture, scoring, and segmentation
• Facilitate the scheduling process with its built-in appointment scheduling feature that allows customers to book meetings with your sales team directly
• Build a landing page for free using a drag-and-drop function. You can also make use of templates to build customized landing pages

EngageBay limitations

• Ideal for small businesses, but it may not scale well for larger enterprises with more complex needs and higher volumes of data and interactions

EngageBay pricing

• All-in-One pack:
  • Free
  • Basic: $14.99/user per month
  • Growth: $64.99/user per month
  • Pro: $119.99/user per month
• CRM & Sales Bay
  • Free
  • Basic: $12.99/user per month
  • Growth: $49.99/user per month
  • Pro: $79.99/user per month

EngageBay ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.6/5 (300+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.7/5 (750+ reviews)

10. Mailchimp—Best for smaller businesses and e-commerce

Mailchimp is a CRM software solution that combines marketing automation, audience segmentation, and CRM functionalities into a single platform. It helps you collect and organize customer data, including contact information, purchase history, engagement metrics, etc. You can use this data to create targeted segments for your automated campaigns.  

It integrates well with ClickUp’s CRM, making it an excellent choice for businesses prioritizing email marketing in their customer management strategy. 

Mailchimp best features

• Automate email campaigns triggered by customer actions such as sign-ups, purchases, or website activity
• Map out the customer experience visually using Customer Journey Builder and automate interactions across multiple touchpoints
• Predict the best segments for targeting, maximizing your CRM campaign impact by ensuring that your messages reach the right audience 

Mailchimp limitations

• As a small-business-oriented CRM, it may have limited CRM capabilities as compared to some other CRM platforms

Mailchimp pricing

• Free
• Essentials: Starts at $13/month
• Standard: Starts at $20/month
• Premium: Starts at $350/month 

Mailchimp ratings and reviews

• G2: 4.4/5 (5,000+ reviews)
• Capterra: 4.5/5 (16,800+ reviews)

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Choose the Right Customer Relationship Management Tools for Your Needs

Finding a customer relationship management software for your specific needs that also performs well and helps your business grow can be challenging. These tools that I listed can strengthen your sales, analytics, service, and marketing teams by reducing the time spent doing repetitive or manual tasks so that they can focus on building better relationships with your customers.

ClickUp stands out as the one-stop shop for collaboration, productivity, and project management. It can help you combine all your tools into one, so you don’t have to switch between multiple tools to get things done!  

Sign up to ClickUp today and streamline your CRM processes!