Today there seems to be an endless list of options when it comes to contact management software. When looking for the right solution, businesses consider each option, if it aligns with their goals, and whether or not it’ll enhance their sales efforts. Whether you’re a small business owner seeking to streamline your customer interactions or a sales professional aiming to optimize your outreach strategies, this guide will walk you through the top contact management software solutions and how they enable you to unlock new levels of productivity, efficiency, and success.
What is contact management software?
Contact management software is a powerful tool designed to efficiently organize and streamline the management of customer information and interactions. In today’s fast-paced business landscape, maintaining a strong relationship with customers is paramount, and this is where contact management software proves invaluable. This software consolidates various aspects of customer data, including names, contact details, purchase history, and communication logs, into a centralized system, enabling businesses to access and utilize this information effortlessly.
At its core, contact management software serves as a digital repository for storing and retrieving customer data. It allows businesses to track customer interactions, such as emails, phone calls, and meetings, in a systematic manner. By maintaining a comprehensive record of customer interactions, businesses gain insights into customer preferences, needs, and behaviors, which can inform personalized marketing and sales strategies.
Furthermore, contact management software enhances communication efficiency by providing features such as email integration, task management, and scheduling capabilities. It enables businesses to send targeted emails, set reminders for follow-ups, and efficiently manage appointments, ensuring that no important customer interaction slips through the cracks.
What are the benefits of contact management software?
Contact management software offers a range of benefits that greatly contribute to the success and efficiency of businesses. These include:
- Centralized customer data: With contact management software, businesses can consolidate all customer information in one centralized location, eliminating the need for scattered spreadsheets or manual records and ensuring that crucial data is easily accessible and up-to-date. By having a comprehensive view of customer details, businesses can provide personalized and targeted experiences, leading to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Efficient organization and retrieval: Contact management software enables efficient organization and retrieval of customer data. Businesses can categorize contacts based on various criteria such as demographics, purchase history, or engagement levels. This categorization simplifies searching and sorting, allowing businesses to quickly find relevant customer information when needed. This level of efficiency saves time and effort, giving sales teams the bandwidth to focus on nurturing customer relationships and closing deals.
- Streamlined communication: Contact management software facilitates streamlined communication by integrating various communication channels like emails, phone calls, and social media interactions. This integration ensures that all interactions are recorded and accessible, enabling teams to respond promptly and provide consistent messaging. As a result, businesses can deliver personalized, timely, and relevant communications to customers, fostering engagement and driving sales.
- Task management and automation: With contact management software, businesses can create tasks, set reminders, and schedule follow-ups, ensuring that no important interaction or opportunity is missed. Automation features can automate repetitive tasks like sending follow-up emails or assigning tasks to team members which saves time and reduces the chances of oversights.
- Performance insights and analytics: Contact management software provides valuable performance insights and analytics. Businesses are able to track key metrics such as lead conversion rates, customer engagement levels, and sales pipeline status. By leading with this data-driven approach, businesses can identify trends, measure the effectiveness of sales and marketing efforts, and make informed decisions to improve sales performance.
How to choose the best contact management software
When selecting a contact management software solution for your business, several factors should be considered to ensure a successful implementation.
- Features and functionality: Evaluate the features and functionality offered by different solutions. Consider your specific business needs and identify the features that align with your requirements. For example, do you need robust email integration, task management capabilities, or mobile accessibility? Prioritize the features that will best support your business processes and help you achieve your goals.
- Scalability and customization: Consider the scalability of the software and its ability to adapt to your growing business needs. Will the contact management software accommodate your expanding customer base and increasing data volume? Additionally, assess the level of customization available. Can you tailor the software to your unique workflows and preferences? Flexibility and scalability are crucial to ensure that the software remains a valuable asset as your business evolves.
- User interface and ease of use: A user-friendly interface is vital for the successful adoption and utilization of contact management software. Evaluate the intuitiveness and simplicity of the software’s user interface. Is it easy to navigate and understand? Consider the learning curve for your team members and assess whether the software provides adequate training and support resources. Opting for a user-friendly solution will minimize resistance to change and enable your team to quickly harness the software’s benefits.
- Integration and compatibility: Assess the compatibility of the contact management software with your existing systems and tools. Determine whether it integrates seamlessly with your CRM, email clients, marketing automation platforms, or other essential software. Integration capability ensures smooth data flow and avoids duplicate entries or data inconsistencies, saving time and reducing manual efforts.
- Security and data privacy: Safeguarding customer data is paramount. Evaluate the security measures implemented by the contact management software. Does it utilize encryption protocols, role-based access controls, or data backup mechanisms? Ensure that the software adheres to industry standards and regulations to protect sensitive customer information and maintain data privacy.
The best contact management software for 2023
There are a variety of contact management software options on the market. These are our picks for 2023.
- ActiveCampaign
- HubSpot CRM
- Freshworks
- Zoho Contact Manager
- Pipedrive
- Nimble
- Keap (formerly Infusionsoft)
ActiveCampaign
G2 Rank: 4.5/5 stars
ActiveCampaign stands out as one of the top-notch contact management software options available today, offering a comprehensive suite of features and a user-friendly interface.
Some of these features that help ActiveCampaign stand out include:
- Personalized automation: ActiveCampaign excels in automating personalized customer journeys. It allows businesses to create intricate automation workflows based on customer behaviors, ensuring timely and relevant interactions that nurture the lead and drive conversions.
- Advanced email marketing: The software’s powerful email marketing tools enable businesses to create and send targeted campaigns with ease. ActiveCampaign provides drag-and-drop email builders, pre-built templates, and advanced segmentation options. These features empower businesses to deliver tailored messages to specific customer segments, resulting in higher open rates, click-through rates, and overall campaign effectiveness.
- CRM and sales automation: ActiveCampaign integrates customer relationship management (CRM) functionalities, allowing businesses to manage leads and track sales pipelines seamlessly. The software provides pipeline management, deal tracking, and task automation. By consolidating customer data and sales processes, ActiveCampaign enables efficient sales management and helps businesses close deals faster.
ActiveCampaign is a great choice for businesses that value personalized and automated customer interactions. It’s particularly suitable for small to mid-sized businesses that seek advanced marketing automation and a user-friendly interface that makes it accessible to users with varying levels of technical expertise. ActiveCampaign empowers solopreneurs, marketing teams, and sales-driven organizations to streamline customer management, boost engagement, and drive business growth.
What languages does ActiveCampaign support?
ActiveCampaign fully supports 14 different languages outside of English. Some of these languages include Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, French, and Polish.
ActiveCampaign also partially supports Danish, Finnish, Simplified Chinese, Turkish, and Vietnamese.
Which currencies does ActiveCampaign accept?
ActiveCampaign accepts the US Dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), and Brazilian Real (BRL).
What is the entry-level pricing for ActiveCampaign?
ActiveCampaign’s Lite plan starts at $29 per month, paid annually. With this plan, you get all the powerful email marketing and marketing automation features paired with 24/7 chat support, inline forms and form builder, site and event tracking, and access to API and webhooks. No matter what plan you choose, ActiveCampaign has some attractive perks that make it stand out.
Some of these features include:
- Accelerated onboarding
- Contact migration
- Chat and ticket support
- Customer enablement workshops
- Video tutorials
HubSpot CRM
G2 Rank: 4.4/5 stars
HubSpot CRM has established itself as one of the top contact management software solutions, highly regarded for its robust features and user-friendly interface. It offers a comprehensive set of tools that cater to businesses of all sizes, helping them effectively manage customer relationships and drive growth.
- All-in-one platform: HubSpot CRM stands out with its all-in-one platform that integrates contact management, marketing automation, sales pipeline tracking, and customer service functionalities. This holistic approach provides businesses with a unified view of their customer interactions and enables seamless collaboration between marketing, sales, and customer support teams.
- Customizable dashboards: A standout feature of HubSpot CRM is its customizable dashboards. Users can personalize their dashboards with the specific metrics, reports, and analytics that matter most to their business. This empowers teams to monitor performance, track key metrics, and make data-driven decisions, all within a visually intuitive and tailored interface.
- Free and scalable: HubSpot CRM offers a free version that provides robust contact management features. This makes it an attractive option for small businesses and startups looking to optimize their customer management processes without incurring additional costs. Furthermore, HubSpot CRM is scalable, catering to businesses of all sizes, from solopreneurs to large enterprises, allowing them to grow and expand their CRM capabilities as their needs evolve.
HubSpot CRM is suitable for businesses that value an integrated approach to customer management, seeking a versatile solution that combines contact management with marketing automation and sales tracking. With its list of impressive features, HubSpot CRM empowers businesses to build stronger customer relationships and drive sustainable growth.
What languages does HubSpot CRM support?
HubSpot software serves multiple languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean, and more.
What currencies does HubSpot CRM accept?
HubSpot accepts various currencies to accommodate users from different countries. Here are some of the currencies that are accepted:
- US Dollar (USD)
- Euro (EUR)
- British Pound (GBP)
- Canadian Dollar (CAD)
- Australian Dollar (AUD)
Users can update a HubSpot account to use their company’s primary currency. If a company does business in multiple currencies, they’ll be able to add currencies to their account and set an exchange rate compared to their primary company currency to more accurately track the amount of their deals.
What is the entry-level pricing for HubSpot CRM?
HubSpot breaks down its pricing depending on company size. The entry-level pricing for individuals and small teams is $18 per month for up to 1,000 contacts. This plan, called the Starter Plan, gives users access to essential marketing tools to engage and convert leads. Users can also remove HubSpot branding from landing pages, email marketing, forms, and live chat.
For businesses and enterprises looking for entry-level pricing, HubSpot offers the Professional plan starting at $800 per month for up to 2,000 contacts. Users will have all the perks of the Starter plan plus teams, social media, campaign reporting, custom reporting, and omnichannel marketing automation.
See more details and up-to-date pricing on HubSpot’s pricing page.
Does HubSpot CRM integrate with ActiveCampaign?
Although Mailchimp does not integrate with ActiveCampaign, ActiveCampaign offers free migration services. Click here to learn more.
Freshworks
G2 Rank: 4.5/5 stars
Freshworks is recognized as one of the top contact management software options, offering features that enhance customer management and streamline business operations.
Some of the standout features include:
- 360-degree customer view: Freshworks provides a comprehensive 360-degree view of customer interactions, consolidating customer data from various touchpoints. This holistic view enables businesses to understand customer behavior, preferences, and history, empowering them to deliver personalized experiences and build stronger relationships.
- Omnichannel communication: A standout feature of Freshworks is its omnichannel communication capabilities. It integrates multiple communication channels, including email, phone, live chat, and social media, into a unified platform. This allows businesses to engage with customers seamlessly across different channels, ensuring consistent and efficient communication.
- Customization and automation: Freshworks offers robust customization and automation features. Businesses can tailor the software to their specific workflows and requirements, creating customized fields, forms, and reports. Additionally, automation capabilities help streamline repetitive tasks and workflows, saving time and improving productivity.
Freshworks caters to businesses of all sizes, particularly popular with customer-centric businesses that prioritize personalized customer interactions and efficient communication across multiple channels.
What languages does Freshworks support?
Currently, Freshworks CRM supports 12 languages including English, German, Dutch, French, Br, Portuguese, LATAM Spanish, EU Spanish, Swedish, Japanese, EU Portuguese, Italian, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.
What currencies does Freshworks accept?
Freshworks CRM supports 150+ currencies. For a full list of supported currencies, any interested must request a trial or demo. See more information here.
What is the entry-level pricing for Freshworks?
The Growth plan is Freshworks CRM’s entry-level pricing that starts at $15/mo billed annually. This plan offers CRM automation to help growing sales teams avoid repetitive work and includes built-in chat, email, and phone, AI-powered contact scoring, and up to 2,000 bot sessions/month.
For more details, visit Freshworks’ pricing page.
Does Freshworks integrate with ActiveCampaign?
Yes, Freshworks integrates with ActiveCampaign. By integrating the tool, you’ll have the power to automatically sync marketing information like email data, site and event tracking, and form submissions with your CRM contacts to contextualize your deals.
To learn more, visit the ActiveCampaign and Freshworks integration page.
Zoho Contact Manager
G2 Rank: 4/5 stars
Zoho is regarded as one of the best contact management software solutions available today with a range of features that facilitate efficient customer management.
Some of these features include:
- Custom fields and tags: Zoho stands out with its flexibility in customizing fields and tags. Users can easily create custom fields to capture specific customer data and organize contacts with tags. This level of customization allows businesses to adapt the software to their unique workflows and tailor it to their specific needs.
- Relationship mapping: A standout feature of Zoho is its relationship mapping functionality. It enables users to visualize and map relationships between contacts, helping businesses identify key connections and better understand the network of individuals associated with their customers. This feature aids in fostering strategic partnerships, nurturing referrals, and optimizing networking efforts.
- Mobile accessibility: Zoho offers robust mobile accessibility through its mobile app. Users can access and manage contacts, update information, and engage with customers on the go. This mobile flexibility empowers sales teams and professionals who require real-time access to customer data while in the field or on business trips.
Zoho primarily caters to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) seeking a feature-rich yet user-friendly contact management solution. It’s a great choice for SMBs looking for customization options and relationship mapping features to effectively manage customer relationships and maximize networking opportunities.
What languages does Zoho Contact Manager support?
Zoho supports 17 different languages including Chinese, Danish, French, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Europe), Dutch, German, Swedish, Russian, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, English, Czech, Turkish, Polish, and Korean.
What currencies does Zoho Contact Manager accept?
Zoho accepts a wide range of currencies including but not limited to the US Dollar (USD), Swiss Franc (CHF), Euro (EUR), Indian Rupee (INR), Korean Won (KRW), Mexican Peso (MXN), Australian Dollar (AUS), Swedish Krona (SEK), and more.
For an up-to-date list of accepted currencies, see this page.
What is the entry-level pricing for Zoho Contact Manager?
Zoho’s entry-level plan starts at $14 per user/month billed annually. It’s aimed at businesses looking to automate and optimize their sales cycle and gives access to a variety of features including sales forecasting, email insights, multiple pipelines, tasks, calls, and events, advanced filters, and scoring rules.
See full pricing plan details on the Zoho pricing page.
Does Zoho Contact Manager integrate with ActiveCampaign?
Yes. With the ActiveCampaign extension for Zoho, you can sync users, choose fields to be synced, and track your contacts’ campaign activity all from within Zoho.
For more details, please visit the ActiveCampaign and Zoho integration page.
Pipedrive
G2 Rank: 4.2/5 stars
Pipedrive is a popular contact management software solution renowned for its user-friendly interface and powerful features. It offers a range of capabilities that enable businesses to efficiently manage customer relationships and sales pipelines, making it a top choice for many organizations.
These capabilities include:
- Visual sales pipeline: A standout feature of Pipedrive is its visual sales pipeline, which provides a clear and intuitive overview of ongoing deals and their stages. This visual representation allows users to track and manage their sales process seamlessly, ensuring that no opportunity falls through the cracks. By visualizing the pipeline, businesses can identify bottlenecks, prioritize leads, and make informed decisions to optimize sales performance.
- Activity tracking and reminders: Pipedrive offers robust activity tracking and reminders, enabling users to stay organized and on top of their customer interactions. Users can schedule follow-up tasks, set reminders, and track communication history within the software. This feature ensures that important activities are not overlooked, helping businesses maintain timely and meaningful engagements with their prospects and customers.
- Sales analytics and reporting: Pipedrive provides powerful sales analytics and reporting capabilities, offering insights into key sales metrics, deal performance, and team productivity. Users can generate customizable reports, track conversion rates, and identify trends to optimize sales strategies.
Pipedrive caters to sales-focused teams and organizations that prioritize pipeline management and deal tracking. The software empowers businesses to streamline their sales efforts, improve sales visibility, and achieve greater sales effectiveness.
What languages does Pipedrive support?
Pipedrive is available in 22 languages including English, French, German, Portuguese, (BR), Spanish (América Latina), Spanish (España), Chinese (繁體中文), Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese (日本語), Korean(한국어), Latvian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Turkish, and Ukrainian.
What currencies does Pipedrive accept?
Pipedrive is available in all major currencies and several minor currencies.
See additional information on this page.
What is the entry-level pricing for Pipedrive?
Pipedrive starts at an entry-level price of $14.90 a month, billed annually. This plan has features like lead, deal, contact, calendar, and pipeline management, seamless data import, 400+ integrations, and 24/7 multi-language support.
See all features and plans on Pipedrive’s pricing page.
Does Pipedrive integrate with ActiveCampaign?
Yes. When you integrate Pipedrive with ActiveCampaign, you’ll be able to continuously update and create deals with information based on actions prospects take across all their interactions with your team. Plus, you can track when a prospect visits a specific page of your site, opens an email, or fills out a demo form all inside ActiveCampaign (which will automatically migrate into Pipedrive).
See additional details on the ActiveCampaign and Pipedrive integration page.
Nimble
G2 Rank: 4.5/5 stars
Nimble has garnered a reputation as one of the top contact management software solutions available today, praised for its intuitive interface and comprehensive feature set.
The functionality that makes Nimble an attractive choice includes:
- Social media integration: Nimble automatically pulls in social media profiles and engagement history, allowing businesses to gain valuable insights into customers’ online activities and interests. This integration enables personalized and targeted interactions, helping businesses build stronger relationships and engage with customers on their preferred social channels.
- Contact enrichment and data synchronization: Nimble offers robust contact enrichment capabilities, automatically populating contact profiles with detailed information from various sources. Additionally, it ensures data synchronization across multiple platforms and devices, keeping contact information up-to-date and consistent. These features minimize manual data entry and maintenance, saving time and improving data accuracy.
- Relationship insights and engagement tracking: Nimble provides valuable relationship insights by consolidating contact interactions, including emails, meetings, and social media engagements. This comprehensive view allows businesses to track engagement levels, identify opportunities, and prioritize follow-ups. By understanding customer interactions and preferences, businesses can deliver personalized experiences, foster loyalty, and drive sales.
Nimble primarily caters to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that are looking to improve relationship-building and social media engagement. It is well-suited for professionals and sales teams looking for easy-to-use contact management software that integrates seamlessly with social media platforms.
What languages does Nimble support?
Nimble is only available in English.
What currencies does Nimble accept?
Nimble accepts the US Dollar (USD) and a “variety of currencies for international users to choose from.” Please visit their Help Center for a full list.
What is the entry-level pricing for Nimble?
Nimble’s entry-level pricing starts at $24.90 per user/month billed annually. With this plan, you’ll have access to 25,000 contact records, unlimited email message syncing, 1,000 custom fields, unlimited saved search segments, and much more.
See all features and plan details on the Nimble pricing page.
Does Nimble integrate with ActiveCampaign?
Yes. By integrating Nimble with ActiveCampaign, you’ll be able to update contact information across both platforms for better alignment and a comprehensive view of your customers. The integration also allows users to automatically create a new deal or update an existing one in Nimble based on a prospect’s actions on your website.
Find all details on the ActiveCampaign and Nimble integration page.
Keap (formerly Infusionsoft)
G2 Rank: 4.2/5 stars
Keap, formerly known as Infusionsoft, is a contact management software solution with a handful of features that streamline customer management and boost business growth.
Some of these features include:
- CRM and marketing automation: A standout feature of Keap is its integration of customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation functionalities. This powerful combination allows businesses to manage customer data, track interactions, and automate personalized marketing campaigns. Businesses can segment contacts, send targeted emails, and track customer behavior, ensuring timely and relevant communication that enhances engagement and drives conversions.
- Lead scoring and qualification: Keap offers lead scoring and qualification capabilities, enabling businesses to prioritize and focus their efforts on high-value leads. The software assigns scores based on predefined criteria and streamlines the lead nurturing process, allowing businesses to identify the most promising prospects and allocate resources effectively.
- E-Commerce integration: Keap provides seamless integration with e-commerce platforms, allowing businesses to manage their online sales and customer data in one centralized system. The software enables businesses to automate order processing, track customer purchases, and deliver personalized follow-ups. This integration facilitates a cohesive and streamlined customer experience, fostering customer loyalty and driving repeat sales.
Keap is a top choice among small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking a comprehensive contact management solution with integrated CRM and marketing automation capabilities. With its CRM and marketing automation features and lead scoring capabilities, Keap helps businesses achieve sustainable overall growth.
What languages does Keap support?
Keap supports the following languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Brazilian, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Arabic, and Swedish.
What currencies does Keap accept?
Keap customers in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America can easily accept payments in over 135 currencies including the US Dollar (USD), British Pound (GBP), and Australian Dollar (AUS).
What is the entry-level pricing for Keap?
Currently, Keap offers two plans with entry-level pricing starting at $159 a month. This Pro plan allows up to 1,500 contacts, two users, and functionality like email marketing, sales and marketing automation, and automated lead capture.
Find all plan details on Keap’s pricing page.
Does Keap integrate with ActiveCampaign?
Although Keap does not integrate with ActiveCampaign, ActiveCampaign offers free migration services. Click here to learn more.
