Every business needs a way to manage its customer relationships. That’s especially true for service businesses, where maintaining long-term customer relationships leads to lasting and recurring revenue.
A good customer relationship management (CRM) platform handles all the ins and outs of tracking and managing the data of current and future customers and leads.
If you need CRM software that’s specifically designed for your niche and service model, this guide to the best CRM for service business organizations can help.Â
10 Best CRM Software for Service Businesses 2024
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Should You Look for in a CRM Platform for a Service Business?
As a service business, you need an effective way to manage your clients. That means looking for service-focused CRM systems with the following core features:
- Client data storage: All the best CRM software need a central customer database that stores your clients’ customer information and purchase history
- Customer communication: Look for CRM solutions that allow you to build custom messages for your customers, from client onboarding to long-term retention
- Project management: The CRM system you’re evaluating should allow you to easily track tasks related to your client outreach and customer journey
- Data intelligence: Your team needs comprehensive CRM reporting in the software to gain insights into your customer information and outreach campaigns so it can optimize everything from sales processes to lead management
- Flexibility: You’ll want the ability to customize your views, database, and dashboards in your CRM platform to match your business and CRM strategy
- Ease of use: The easier your team can onboard into the CRM software and start maximizing its capabilities, the betterÂ
- Internal collaboration: The CRM software should have CRM solutions designed to help your team communicate with each other in real-time as they engage with your clients
The key to finding the best CRM for service business needs is to match your preferences to the core functionality required to manage, maintain, and delight your customers.
Summarize this article for me pleaseThe 10 Best CRM Platforms for Service Businesses
If you choose the best CRM software, it will become your central client management tool. It’s where you’ll track your clients’ basic information and engagement with your business.
These 10 CRM systems can help you find the right CRM software for your needs:
1. ClickUp
ClickUp is an all-in-one project CRM platform and project management tool that lets you manage all your service customer relationships in a central location. Visualize your sales pipeline, streamline workflows, and track individual accounts, all while collaborating internally to give your customers the service and attention they deserve.
Users have access to a broad range of project management features, but make no mistake: this is a highly specialized CRM software when you need it to be. Teams in a company of any size—from a small SaaS business to a big corporation—and in every sector of the service industry can use it to maintain their customer data, optimize communications, and build broader sales and marketing campaigns.
And for any service business that’s new to this type of platform, the ClickUp CRM Template is easy to set up and comprehensive for managing leads and building the sales pipeline.
ClickUp best features
- CRM and project management integration to streamline your sales team’s workflow
- An extensive library of free CRM templates so you won’t have to start your setup from scratch
- Real-time collaboration opportunities through file sharing and Chat view
- Extensive library of integrations to connect the robust CRM system with other work management tools
ClickUp limitations
- The number of CRM features can present a learning curve for small businesses just looking for a simple CRM
- The CRM software’s mobile view and app don’t offer all the same views as the desktopÂ
ClickUp pricing
- Free Forever
- Unlimited: $7/month per user
- Business: $12/month per user
- Enterprise: Contact for pricing
ClickUp ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 4.7/5 (8,000+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.7/5 (3,000+ reviews)
2. SugarCRM
SugarCRM is a powerful CRM platform. Businesses looking to build their customer relationships can store and segment audience data, build comprehensive marketing and sales automation workflows, and centrally manage their customer service.
For service businesses, this connection between the CRM software and marketing automation can become a powerful tool. For example, using one system, you can build custom landing pages that collect and store customer data and fire personalized email campaigns based on that information.
SugarCRM best features
- An integrated self-service knowledge base that, when built out, can reduce customer service tickets
- Case tracking and dashboards help account-based sales reps and customer service departments provide more personalized interactions
- Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled predictive analytics that use historical customer data to better understand future customer behavior
- A user-friendly CRM software interface that enables businesses of all sizes to quickly gain insights into their customer data
SugarCRM limitations
- The CRM software is divided into separate solutions for marketing, sales, and customer service, all of which you’ll need to purchase separately for the full experience
- Dashboards are limited for businesses looking for the most customized audience insights
SugarCRM pricing
- Sell: $49 per user per month
- Serve: $80 per user per month
- Enterprise: $85 per user per month
- Market: $1,000 per month per 10,000 contacts
SugarCRM ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 3.8/5 (600+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 3.8/5 (400+ reviews)
3. Keap
Keap’s primary use is as small business CRM software. Its CRM capabilities intentionally focus on helping small businesses build customer relationships, cutting out bells and whistles in favor of optimizing the core functionality.
That narrow focus allows Keap to excel in most aspects of CRM software for small businesses. With its core CRM features, you can easily collect new leads, segment your lead lists, and build automated workflows to follow up with leads. You can even use this CRM system to schedule appointments with potential and new customers looking to engage your services.
Keap best features
- Pre-written emails that make it a breeze for small businesses to set up their first communications
- Integrated appointment scheduling for service businesses looking to engage their audience
- Comprehensive marketing automation options that can scale across multiple channels and timeframes
- Exceptional customer support for all Keap users, regardless of subscription or business size
Keap limitations
- Limited file sharing and attachment options for automations and customer data sheets compared with most CRM software
- Setting up its CRM capabilities is not always intuitive, especially for small businesses that are unfamiliar with CRM software
- Because it was built as small business CRM software, it may lack features that larger organizations need
Keap pricing
- Pro: $159/month for two users and 1,500 contacts. Additional users are $29/month each
- Max: $229/month for three users and 2,500 contacts. Additional users are $29/month each
- Max Classic: Contact for pricing
Keap ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 4.2/5 (1,400+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.1/5 (1,200+ reviews)
Bonus: Check out our list of the top alternatives to Keap
4. Capsule
With Capsule, businesses of all sizes can stay organized in managing their audience throughout the customer journey and sales process. A central and segmentable contact database allows you to manage your sales opportunities, while integrations with apps such as Google G Suite and Zapier integration with Zoho CRM can enhance its functionality.
Capsule’s sales pipeline management tool makes winning more sales intuitive. Meanwhile, a comprehensive analytics suite gives you the insights you need to improve your CRM over time.Â
Capsule best features
- Integrated task management for your team to track follow-ups for appointments, meetings, phone calls, and more
- An AI content assistant that helps users quickly write relevant messages to individual contacts
- A user-friendly interface that makes finding both basic and advanced features easy to locate and use
- Comprehensive sales analytics, such as sales forecasting, that help to predict future sales based on past results
Capsule limitations
- Integrations with Mailchimp and Outlook tend to include only limited customizability
- Importing external data can sometimes be inaccurate, requiring extra quality assurance checksÂ
Capsule pricing
- Free
- Professional: $18/month per user
- Teams: $36/month per user
- Enterprise: $54/month per user
Capsule ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 4.4/5 (80+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)
5. Nimble
As a CRM solution designed for integrations, Nimble shines when it connects directly to your organization’s Outlook or Gmail account. It automatically combines your contact, email history, and calendar appointments into a contact database that also includes core social media data for the full picture.
From there, users can plan and template their outreach, manage their sales pipeline, and conduct customer tracking across all channels in the customer’s journey. The email integration remains live, dynamically adding any interactions between your sales team and future customers to their custom profiles.
Nimble best features
- A unified contact management system that connects all your information in a single platform and profile
- Prospector browser extension that simplifies generating and managing your leads
- Advanced CRM technology, such as sales pipeline management, to qualify your leads and anticipate future sales
- Simple and intuitive user interface makes it the ideal CRM software for small businesses just starting out with CRM software
Nimble limitations
- Task management is limited to a simple to-do list for individual sales reps
- Lack of customization options for basic features, such as contact categorizations
Nimble pricing
- Business: $24.90/month per user
Nimble ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 4.5/5 (900+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.4/5 (1,800+ reviews)
6. Creatio
Aiming to be more than a simple sales customer relationship management tool, Creatio offers three integrated products for marketing, sales, and customer service. It’s a platform focused on the financial, manufacturing, and telecom industries, designed to create comprehensive workflows and customer onboarding streams in high-touch environments. Â
Creatio best features
- Studio, a no-code process creator for anything from automated communications workflows to customer-specific sales offers
- Templated workflows for new users to get started on the platform more quickly
- Extensive applications marketplace to connect Creatio to your other marketing, sales, and customer service toolsÂ
Creatio limitations
- Reference materials and tutorials can be outdated, which can complicate feature implementations
- Occasional technical issues and bugs
Creatio pricing
- Studio Enterprise: $25/month per user
- Sales Creatio: $25/month per user
- Marketing Creatio: $50/year per user
Creatio ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 4.6/5 (200+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.8/5 (90+ reviews)
7. HoneyBook
More than just a CRM, HoneyBook is a client workflow and onboarding platform. Use it to send invoices, sign contracts, schedule appointments, send forms, and accept payments.
Of course, it still offers basic CRM features and pipeline management tools, such as tracking inquiries and building workflow automation at the same time. Â
HoneyBook best features
- Integrated invoicing, contract, appointment, and payment features centralize the client process for excellent customer satisfaction
- Simple automation, such as automated payment and meeting reminders, can minimize the manual workload in your pipeline management
- HoneyBook AI uses predictive analytics to qualify leads, generate dynamic content, and brand your messaging
HoneyBook limitations
- Very basic email feature with limited customization that can’t always compete with more comprehensive solutions
- Limited reporting capabilities, including a lack of data visualization for high-level insights
HoneyBook pricing
- Starter: $12.80/month
- Essentials: $25.50/month
- Premium: $52.80/month
HoneyBook ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 4.5/5 (500+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.5/5 (100+ reviews)
8. Freshworks
Freshsales, the CRM platform that’s a part of Freshworks, excels when it comes to sales automation. Attract the right leads, build personalized communications, and leverage AI-enabled lead scoring to strategically focus your efforts. Advanced customer insights help you catch and react to broader trends within your audience.
Freshworks best features
- Free CRM software platform, though some key features require the more expensive Enterprise plan
- Advanced sales pipeline management with in-depth, visualized insights into every stage of the sales funnel
- Sales team members can set tasks from customer cards to build more relevant, personal, and timely follow-ups
- Automated responses to frequently asked questions can save your sales team time
Freshworks limitations
- Limited customization abilities in reporting dashboards, with a focus on generalized metrics that work across industries
- Some of the most helpful features, such as project management capabilities, are only available on the Enterprise plan
Freshworks pricing
- Free
- Growth: $15/month per user
- Pro: $39/month per user
- Enterprise: $69/month per user
Freshworks ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 4.5/5 (7,000+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.5/5 (500+ reviews)
9. Insightly
If you mostly need central contact management and simple sales automation, Insight’s streamlined sales CRM software focuses on exactly that. It can also integrate with Insightly Marketing and Insightly Service to create a comprehensive customer lifecycle management system.
Insightly best features
- Simple automation flows that can route new or newly qualified leads to the appropriate team member for follow-ups
- Custom dashboards to report on your customer interactions and most relevant KPIs in real time
- Automated task reminders keep your sales teams on schedule with outreach and follow-ups in the sales process
Insightly limitations
- Clunky sales process integrations, leading to limited in-platform functionality for basic features, such as email tracking, customer tracking, and lead automation
- Relatively high price, especially when combining the Enterprise plan with Insightly’s marketing and customer service platforms
Insightly pricing
- Plus: $29/month per user
- Professional: $49/month per user
- Enterprise: $99/month per user
Insightly ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 4.2/5 (800+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.0/5 (600+ reviews)
10. Maximizer
Maximizer is a CRM software designed for both sales teams and lead management teams. Optimized for financial and insurance advisors but applicable across service industries, it helps leaders gather the information they need to maximize their team’s effectiveness and their organization’s revenue.
Maximizer best features
- Advanced sales management features, such as sales forecasting and lead management, through actionable pipeline management
- Sales leader dashboards to view the sales team’s workload, opportunity management, and close rate
- Dedicated compliance features for the financial and insurance agency
Maximizer limitations
- User experience for pipeline management is not always intuitive, especially compared with some of the user-friendly drag-and-drop CRM services on this list
- Some advanced features, such as households, can be difficult to manage
Maximizer pricing
- Small Office: $29/month per user
- Business Plus: $49/month per user
- Insights: $89/month per user
Maximizer ratings and reviews
- G2:Â 3.9/5 (400+ reviews)
- Capterra:Â 4.0/5 (300+ reviews)
Summarize this article for me pleaseGet Started With the Best Free CRM Software for Service Businesses Today
Who said that your CRM systems should only house your contact information and some basic automation? Choose wisely, and your next tool will be able to do everything you need to manage and improve customer relationships for your small business or growing empire.
ClickUp is more than a project management tool. When you take advantage of all its features, it becomes a powerful piece of CRM software for your service business while also letting you stay on top of all your business processes.
Check out our customer relationship management software for yourself with the Free Forever Plan!
Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.
