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Sales managers are tasked with effectively monitoring sales activity and their team’s performance, and top CRM software is crucial to their success. Freshsales – the Freshworks’ CRM solution — is an ideal solution for sales managers. It provides robust, AI-powered analytics tools to help them build and guide the customer journey, from first contact with a lead to the close of the sale. Freshsales can help businesses conduct email marketing campaigns, manage and successfully convert leads, close deals, communicate with prospects through the channel of their choice, automate workflows and repetitive tasks, and effortlessly track quotes and invoices — all while keeping an eye on the big strategic picture and without breaking the bank.
9.3 / 10
Freshsales includes all the core CRM features businesses need to manage and support customer relationships, including contact, account and deal management, lead generation, and omnichannel client communication. While many rival CRMs we reviewed offer territory and team management, Freshsales goes a step further. It allows managers to create team-specific sales workflows, sequences, reports, tasks and appointments. It can even automatically redirect calls and chats to specific teams, ensuring smooth and relevant client conversations. Freshsales can also help managers create group-specific chats and set individual and team-level goals. These valuable tools are why we chose Freshsales as the best CRM software for sales managers.
Freshsales is a stand-alone CRM that’s part of the Freshworks company, which also offers marketing, customer success, IT management and HR platforms. It’s available in over 30 languages and supports over 150 currencies. Businesses seeking a holistic sales solution may want to consider the company’s Freshsales Suite, which encompasses CRM software, marketing services, an integrated business phone system, website tracking and email marketing, as well as social media, WhatsApp and SMS campaigns.
The Freshsales customer dashboard provides detailed information about each client. Source: Freshworks
We were impressed by Freshsales’ user-friendly interface — particularly in light of the software’s complex functionality — including AI-powered sales tools, advanced sales management features, a cloud-based phone system and a chat solution. The initial setup is quick and easy. As long as they don’t need in-depth CRM customization from the get-go, most business owners and their teams will learn the software without extensive training or voluminous instruction manuals.
Here are a few elements we felt added to the solution’s ease of use:
Freshsales is an excellent choice for first-time CRM users. However, experienced teams will also appreciate how simple it is to import data from other popular CRMs or from CSV and XLSX data files, as well as connect your favorite apps and tools.
Freshsales makes it easy to connect to your email provider, with shortcuts for Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and Zoho. Source: Freshworks
Specific CRM features are necessary for smooth operations. Fortunately, Freshsales offers all those components and more. This brings businesses numerous CRM software benefits.
Sales managers and business owners must keep a close eye on sales performance. We were impressed that Freshsales’ robust reporting functionality allows sales leaders to turn data analytics into visual dashboards to get insights into the most effective sales activities, their team’s workload, top performers, sales trends and forecasts, and much more. We appreciated the simple drag-and-drop functionality that allows managers to create custom reports and dashboards. Users can choose from numerous available widgets and report templates or create one from scratch. We particularly liked the Curated Reports feature, which provides managers with a number of pre-configured reports, including an E-commerce Marketing Journey report, which will be helpful for e-commerce businesses. We also liked that the system offers a quick tour that showcases the key reporting features and provides links to more in-depth walkthroughs.
Unlike many other CRMs that focus on individual performance, Freshsales also offers team- and territory-based reports on its Pro and higher levels — a unique feature we particularly liked. These reports give managers the essential information they need to make informed business decisions. We also appreciated how easy it is to share the reports with other team members, allowing sales managers to select the level of access.
If you’re using the Freshsales Suite, you can access an unbeatable combination of sales and marketing reports that demonstrate how well your teams work together and also identify potential productivity gaps. The sales reports offer insights into sales cycles and trends, while the marketing reports provide key metrics like campaign performance, customer behavior, and overall engagement rate.
Freshsales offers a number of curated reports developed by their in-house experts. Source: Freshworks
Many CRM platforms, including Freshsales, integrate communication features into their platforms instead of relying on plug-ins. We appreciate how well Freshsales has integrated omnichannel communications into its system to offer email, telephony, social media messaging, live chat, private messaging apps, chatbots and SMS marketing to users. Integrated communication tools boost productivity for sales personnel and give marketers a dedicated area where they can improve campaigns and deliver more qualified leads to your sales team.
Here’s a look at Freshsales’ omnichannel communication tools:
Freshsales allows users to include LinkedIn-specific tasks as part of sales workflows. Source: Freshworks
Sales teams spend a lot of time on the phone, so investing in a CRM with built-in calling capabilities makes sense. Some CRMs — like Freshsales and Zoho — have built-in telephony systems. Other CRM solutions rely on third-party apps for telephony functions. (Read our review of Oracle NetSuite to learn how third-party telephony works in a CRM.)
We like that Freshsales lets you either use your existing business phone number or purchase a new toll-free or easy-to-remember vanity number from one of over 90 countries. When calling, sales reps can view the contact’s information and previous interactions recorded in the CRM, so they can ensure a tailored approach and build better relationships. The integrated call-recording function, available on all plans, documents your inbound and outbound calls for future reference. You can also use these calls as examples when coaching and training your sales agents. We also liked that you can pre-record your voicemails, saving time and improving efficiency.
Freshsales’ interactive voice response (IVR) system automatically greets and routes callers based on their keypress input or voice commands. You can send incoming calls to a call queue, agent extension, voicemail or a phone tree with additional options, such as the retention department or an after-hours emergency hotline. We appreciated that Freshsales includes call-specific reports, allowing sales managers to review call metrics and evaluate individual sales reps’ performance. We also liked that you can connect Freshsales to your existing VoIP phone system via a marketplace app or a REST API connection if you prefer.
Freshsales can display your call history and allow direct dial-out. Source: Freshworks
E-commerce businesses often have trouble finding a CRM system that can handle their unique processes and needs; only a few solutions offer dedicated e-commerce features, modules and integrations. Freshsales is one of those rare exceptions. We like that you can easily communicate with customers by sending SMS, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Apple Business messages right from Freshsales, so no query remains unanswered.
We particularly liked that Freshsales has a Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) module, which allows team members to add products and documents to easily generate and send branded quotes and contracts to customers. It also includes a built-in e-signature functionality. This saves time on data entry and standardizes the process across the company. The Freshsales CPQ feature costs $19 per user per month, but one free license is available on all paid plans, so users can evaluate the functionality prior to buying. We appreciated that the quotes can also include subscriptions, which is particularly important for SaaS companies and other businesses that operate on a recurring revenue model.
Freshsales Suite users can also benefit from a customizable Shopify integration to sync customer data across the two platforms, run targeted marketing campaigns, hold live conversations, and set up chatbot flows.
The Freshsales CPQ module allows team members to add products and documents, which are used to generate and send out quotes and contracts. Source: Freshworks
We were impressed by Freddy AI, Freshsales’ artificial intelligence tool. Freddy offers an objective analysis of sales efforts and strategies to help your sales team make better business decisions. It gathers data from sales activity and engagement, chatbots, customer tracking tools, notes, sales pipelines and more to generate reports. Then, it recommends the next best steps to increase your team’s chances of successfully closing a deal. Freddy can also help generate sales emails and customer messages, as well as tailor their tone to match the overall conversation.
Freddy also learns from the data stored in your CRM to forecast deal outcomes. It uses predictive lead scoring to identify the best prospects and leads in your sales pipelines. We liked how easy it is to spot the lead’s score, with Freddy using a familiar star rating system to indicate the customer’s fit. The AI is also transparent in its lead scoring, highlighting the factors behind the rating. Freddy can also flag stalled deals with an “at risk” tag, so no potential issues slip through the cracks. However, unlike some of its competitors, Freshsales doesn’t currently offer a ChatGPT-like AI view that can pull up or summarize CRM information. While this functionality is partially available in Freshworks’ customer service product, Freshdesk, there are currently no plans to deploy it in Freshsales CRM.
Freshsales uses a transparent, AI-powered lead scoring system, using numerous factors and presenting the score as a star rating. Source: Freshworks
Automating routine, repetitive tasks frees your sales agents to focus on closing the deal and ensures consistent workflows across teams.
We were pleased to see that you can use Freshsales’ automation function to send emails at precisely the right time in the customer journey, update customer records, create tasks, and move deals through pipeline stages. You can also notify team members, managers and entire teams of important changes in the contact or deal’s status using their communication tool of choice. The function can even surface warm and cold leads for follow-up before the opportunity disappears.
We also liked the provider’s Battlecards functionality, which allows managers to create comprehensive reference materials that sales reps can use to handle customer objections, quickly provide background information, or highlight their company’s benefits as opposed to the competition. Managers can choose from multiple editable templates or create battlecards from scratch. Freshsales’ AI can help generate the materials using available CRM and online data and suggest relevant battlecards for sales reps to use in real time.
Freshsales’ battlecards are grouped into multiple categories, allowing you to easily find the needed reference materials. Source: Freshworks
Freshsales offers various service levels. We like that there’s a Free plan that includes contact, deal and task management; two-way email sync; email templates; website tracking; a mobile app; and built-in phone and chat solutions. The free tier is available for up to three users and can be a good solution for smaller businesses. A generous 21-day free trial provides access to all of the CRM’s features, including Enterprise-level functionality. Not every CRM includes a free tier and an unrestricted free trial.
The prices we’ve listed below are for annual billing; however, month-to-month billing is also available at a slightly higher monthly cost. Freshsales charges no setup or implementation fees.
Businesses that need both sales and marketing features in their CRM would benefit from choosing the Freshsales Suite. Its pricing ranges between $9 and $59 per user per month, with support for 1,000 marketing contacts and the opportunity to purchase more. Depending on the plan, Freshsales Suite comes with several email marketing campaigns, webhooks, live tracking and landing pages. Considering that the price of the Suite is the same as the individual CRM product, it can be a cost-effective solution for larger or multi-team businesses. However, given the increased number of features, implementing such a product can be more challenging and time-consuming.
We like that setting up the Freshsales CRM is a straightforward process supported by extensive online walk-throughs, in-app tutorials and interactive feature tours, and support documentation. However, the time it takes to implement and deploy the software depends on your plan, required customization level and add-ons. For instance, the Pro and Enterprise plans — which have advanced customization capabilities — will take longer to deploy than the Free or Growth plans, which have basic sales functionality.
To make onboarding and implementation easier, we recommend setting up the most basic features first, including phone numbers, email accounts, mission-critical business app integrations, and user roles and permissions. Next, set up customer data management. Migrate data from your previous CRM, if applicable, or import customer data spreadsheets to populate the contact database. Then you’ll be ready to onboard users, configure additional settings, create workflows, and fully use the CRM. We liked that Freshsales makes it easy to set up the essential features and processes by including a setup guide with helpful shortcuts, pinned to the top of the screen.
We were surprised that Freshsales doesn’t advertise the available paid onboarding services, but upon request, the company’s customer support representative was able to direct us to an account manager for additional details. The provider offers Platinum and Enterprise onboarding packages and a number of onboarding sessions that vary depending on your plan. The onboarding services are free on the Pro plan with 10 users or more and on the Enterprise plan, with a minimum of six users.
However, since all plans include 24/5 phone, email and chat support to troubleshoot CRM implementation issues, the setup process shouldn’t be daunting. The Enterprise plan gives you a dedicated account manager for personalized assistance — an investment that may be worth it for business owners concerned about whether their in-house marketing team and tech team will need setup help.
We were impressed with Freshsales’ customer support, available 24 hours a day on weekdays. Accessing the in-app chat is easy and straightforward. Unlike many other CRMs we reviewed, Freshsales connected us straight to a service agent, rather than a chatbot, within 2 minutes. However, receiving an email response from a customer service representative took somewhat longer. That said, we liked that Freshsales allows you to use the chat to request a demo, inquire about pricing, and provide feedback about the product.
Similar to other providers, all service plans include access to an extensive knowledge base with how-to guides on everything from general setup to creating multiple sales pipelines. We liked that you can pull up the required information on a specific topic straight from the app. You can also submit an online ticket for additional help, email the customer support team, or use a toll-free phone number.
Freshsales offers many features that businesses and their sales managers will find useful. However, we did identify some limitations.
When evaluating the best CRM software, we compared dozens of CRM solutions on the market. Our in-depth research included platform demonstrations, support team correspondence, hands-on trials to assess product functionality, and an analysis of each provider’s tutorials and support materials. We also took pricing into consideration. When assessing the best CRM software for sales managers specifically, we looked closely at contact and deal management, sales enablement, reporting and analytics, workflow automation, team management and collaboration, e-commerce functions, and available integrations. Our product review process was designed to help you find the right CRM for your business.
We recommend Freshworks’ Freshsales CRM for …
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