Freelancing is not for the faint of heart, but for the people who hack it; they get a flexible and quality life and are fully independent of their routine. It is tough to start as a freelancer, and progress is a challenge also.
This is the reason why most growing freelancers are turning to CRM solutions to help them manage their task, contracts, their outreach to prospects, and streamline time-consuming administrative tasks, so they can have more done with less.
Freelancers are a business of one, but a CRM solution can help them perform like a team of ten.
There are a lot of options suited to specific needs, from Gmail CRM integrations to free CRMs with mobile applications. In this article, we have compiled a list of the best CRM for freelancers that are capable, adaptable, and can scale to fit your needs;
A well-rounded CRM, Insightly has marketing and project management tools and automation for lead and opportunity management. Freelancers have an abundance of clients who could appreciate the lead profile layout.
It allows you to see your activity history with the lead and email correspondence, internal notes, related tasks, exchange files, and events.
Built-in and custom email templates allow for personalized, scheduled emails to touch base with clients or create reports. Customizable reports provide in-depth look-on data within the CRM from nearly any angle.
The best part about this CRM is that it syncs with Google Calendar and Contracts and you can add email accounts from Gmail as well as Outlook. Insightly also integrates with Office 365, Quickbooks Online, G Suite, Xero, and Dropbox among others.
HoneyBookis an excellent time-management CRM; it has some limited email automation features. You can easily send proposals with sleek-looking templates and automate what happens next.
When your client does not respond, you send a follow-up. If they do, this software sends a contract and creates a task for you or your partners. This CRM solution shines when it comes to project management as well as invoices.
This software has a mobile application that allows you to manage tasks on the go, so it is the perfect CRM solution for freelancers who work in teams. If you do not have to manage anybody but yourself, it may be overkill.
AFreelancer CRM, Plutio is quite famous among freelancers from around the world. It is available in 25 different languages. It also allows people to accept multiple currencies for payment and create invoices in those currencies.
These features make it a suitable option for freelancers whose first language is not English, who want to use a CRM in their native language, and who need to accept different currencies.
This software is not expensive. And, all plans provide access to all features except the client portal and the ability to add additional users. Moreover, with it, you can create templates for proposals and invoices.
Once you create them, you can choose them as you are developing proposals and invoices for new opportunities. Users mainly prefer Plutio because of its easy-to-use option with great features.
Zoho is known as being on the higher end of freelance CRMs. This CRM solution holds only one plan that costs you $50 per month. Don't think that it is an expensive plan because it comes loaded with great features.
Apart from the basic CRM features, this freelance CRM solution offers automation features that will save you hours. It is not limited to calculating the best time to contact each prospect and even marking incoming emails as positive or negative based on the text analysis.
Zoho is quite heavy on analytics. There are dozens of dashboards with tons of reports that allow you to see how well your strategy performs. But, many features Zoho offers are tied to website analysis, so you will miss out if you do not have one yet.
Amazing all-around CRM software, Dubsado is another good option for those who are looking for the best CRM solution for freelancers. It is great for handling basic customer relationship management and automated email campaigns.
As just these two features are not enough, Dubsado also provides you the ability to set up complicated workflows.
It will do everything for you from sending personalized email templates at cretin's times to dynamic grouping upon user actions. On top of that, it gives access to accounting and analytics. So set your financial goals and check how you perform on regular reports.
If we talk about the cost of this Freelancer CRM, it costs $35 monthly or $350 yearly which is a reasonable cost. In case, you wish to test its ability, go for an unlimited free trial. But keep it in mind that you will only be able to add 3contacts unless you upgrade to the paid plan.
An open-source platform, Bitrix24 brings a wide range of features for free. There is built-in telephony, the option to migrate your email to a Bitrix24 webmail account, an internal activity feed, a colander with sync to Google, Mac, and mobile, file storage, and many more.
This CRM solution specialized for freelancers incorporates the normal lead, contact, and deal management and also built-in invoicing and quotes, activity management, and deals reports.
Counts among the best CRMs for freelancers, Bitrix24 provides a broad range of functionality for its users, and for the most part, it succeeds. You can try the free version for up to 12 users. The paid cloud version ranges from $ 39-$199 per month, from 24 to unlimited users.
NetHuntis email automation software with basic CRM features. It exports contacts and segments them into mails lists. Mass-send personalized emails to your leads and this CRM will automatically update their status as per their response.
NetHunt'smost handy feature is that it is integrated with G Suite. The price for the basic plan is just $24 a month, so it may be worth it for you.
The most expensive plan for this CRM software costs $48 a month and grants you more workflow automation options. It is mainly useful for teams, not individuals.
One of the cheapest feature-packed CRM for freelancers, SalesMate comes with a basic plan of $12 per month. Its premium monthly plan is available for $24 every month.
With this costing, you get access to all the basic CRM features and multiple pipeline management, email, and workflow automation, and performance analytics. Both plans have hold-calling and SMS marketing features.
The best part about this freelance CRM is that all these features are completely customizable, so you can create a more convenient dashboard for you if the oneSalesMate offers are not fine enough.
Most probably, you will not change the email automation dashboard because it is optimal for a freelancer. You can easily watch all the campaigns you have going on and track performance at the same time.
Specially launched for small businesses, BatchBook is the best-suited option for freelancers. BatchBook's essential package is its base and offers partial functionality for $19.95 per month. You can easily jump from there and avail full functionality for $39.95 per month.
The essential plan provides you with contact tracking and management, with the ability to tag contacts for better organization and execution of sales outreach. It enables you to create custom fields so that you can easily personalize the system to speak the same language that you do in your daily life.
BatchBook gives you a great visual view of your sales pipeline and task automation to support you stay on top of your hottest leads. The ability to access the software from your mobile device makes it a perfect choice for the freelancer on the go.
The freelance-specific CRMs featured in this article provide great features and functionalities for busy solopreneurs of different needs and industries. Also, every freelancer is different, so is the CRM that is suitable for you.
Now you know the features a CRM can have and know your possibilities. Browse the list of our best choices for a CRM for freelancers and select the one that fits your needs as well as your budget.
