When you embarked on your journey in sales, you were undoubtedly filled with enthusiasm and optimism about your future success. However, over time, you likely discovered that closing deals is not always a walk in the park. In fact, at times, it can seem like an insurmountable challenge. You’re not alone in this struggle; countless salespeople worldwide face similar difficulties. The good news is that there’s a solution: sales pipeline software. With sales pipeline software, you can effortlessly monitor your progress and stay on top of your leads.
If you’re like most sales reps, a significant portion of your time and energy is dedicated to managing your sales pipeline. This can be a daunting task, especially without the right tools. To help you in this endeavor, we’ve compiled a list of the eight best pipeline software programs, both free and premium, to assist you in managing your sales pipeline effectively.
What Is Sales Pipeline Software?
Sales pipeline software encompasses a range of tools that companies employ to navigate, monitor, and evaluate potential customers as they progress through the various stages of a sales process. This software helps businesses keep tabs on their prospects and customers, allowing them to understand where each lead stands in the sales funnel.
Additionally, sales pipeline management software often includes features for tracking, enhancing, and reporting on the performance of sales representatives. These features might include task automation, such as sending follow-up emails or scheduling appointments. Furthermore, many software products offer capabilities to assist salespeople in closing more deals, such as customer relationship management (CRM) tools and analytics. In essence, pipeline software is an invaluable asset for any salesperson looking to boost productivity and attain elite sales status.
It’s essential to clarify the distinction between a sales pipeline and a sales funnel. A sales pipeline outlines the precise steps a salesperson must take to guide a lead towards a successful closure. It might involve scheduling a presentation, revising a proposal, or similar actions that align with the rep’s sales process. On the other hand, a sales funnel depicts where prospects are in their customer journey. It identifies whether they need product tutorials, competitor comparisons, or other information. While a pipeline represents the salesperson’s perspective on the sales process, the funnel represents the prospects’ viewpoint on their buyer’s journey.
What Sets Elite Sales Pipeline Software Apart?
Selecting the right pipeline management tool is pivotal to the success of your sales team. While there are numerous options available, here are some key factors to consider when choosing pipeline software:
- Ease of Use and Accessible Training: The software should be intuitive and user-friendly, requiring minimal training for your sales team to get started. More advanced software should offer video tutorials, online resources, and even in-person training options.
- Functionality: Your chosen software should encompass all the features required to manage and address your specific pipeline and performance challenges. If you plan to scale your business, it should possess advanced features that can grow alongside your sales team.
- Customizability: Top-tier pipeline software enables teams to customize templates, designs, documents, and other aspects of the tool. This customizability is crucial for conducting in-depth sales pipeline analysis, allowing you to add and modify metrics as needed.
- Price and Value: The software should align with your company’s budget while delivering substantial value. It shouldn’t overly strain your financial resources.
- Customer Support: In the event you encounter issues while using the software, the company should provide responsive and effective customer support. This ensures that you receive timely assistance when needed. A fair refund policy is also essential if the software fails to meet your expectations.
- Reviewed and Respected by Industry Peers: It’s advisable to consult software review and ranking platforms such as SoftwareAdvice, G2, and Capterra to gain insights from other industry professionals. Their opinions and experiences can inform your decision-making process.
By carefully evaluating these six factors, you can identify a pipeline software solution that perfectly aligns with your business needs.
The Best Free Sales Pipeline Software
1. Bruxt
Bruxt is a pipeline software that provides sales intelligence, lead enrichment, and lead generation tools tailored for sales professionals. Its flagship product is a Google Chrome email finder extension designed to discover contact information for decision-makers and company data while prospecting on platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Salesforce, and B2B company websites. In a few clicks, users can generate high-quality leads, including contact information and customer profiles. Bruxt also offers an API for integrating with your existing CMS, enhancing your database with updated customer and company profiles, and providing additional firmographics like employee headcount, annual revenue, and location.
Free version: Users receive 100 free emails and 10 mobile numbers (equivalent to lead searches) each month for one user. This includes access to email addresses, direct and business phone numbers, and company firmographics. You can employ the LinkedIn email finder on B2B company websites, Salesforce, and social media platforms to build targeted lists and import them into your database.
2. Zapier
Zapier is a cloud-based automation pipeline software that empowers users to automate repetitive tasks and create automated workflows across different applications. You can connect over 3,000 apps without any coding experience. With Zapier, you can construct Zaps, or workflows, to connect apps in a way that suits your business needs. While Zapier is not a sales-specific pipeline tool, its broad application and adaptability enable you to connect CRM, email marketing, and other sales tools. This can save salespeople time by automating actions such as lead assignment, data entry, and document generation.
Free version: The free version, known as the “Free Forever” plan, provides 100 task executions per month with up to five Zaps.
3. Pipedrive
Pipedrive is a user-friendly CRM pipeline software designed to facilitate sales pipeline management for small to medium-sized businesses. It offers a simplified interface that supports deal management, contact and lead management, email tracking, and sales reporting. The software is particularly well-regarded for its email integration capabilities and user-friendly mobile app, which allows sales reps to access crucial data while on the go.
Free version: The “Essential” plan, which is free for 30 days and then $15/user/month, offers basic CRM features such as sales pipeline tracking, email integration, and contact management.
4. Streak
Streak is a sales pipeline software built specifically for Gmail users. It allows you to organize and manage your sales pipeline directly within your Gmail inbox. The software’s integration with Gmail means that it’s easy to learn and use for salespeople who already utilize this popular email platform. With Streak, you can manage deals, schedule emails, create custom pipelines, and gain insights through reporting features.
Free version: The “Personal” plan is free and includes core features like email tracking, mail merge, and mobile access.
The Best Premium Sales Pipeline Software
1. HubSpot Sales Hub
HubSpot Sales Hub is a comprehensive pipeline software that incorporates a CRM system, email tracking, automation, sales analytics, and a host of other features. It’s designed for businesses of all sizes and supports your sales process from prospecting and lead management to deal closure. The system integrates seamlessly with HubSpot’s marketing and customer service hubs, offering a unified platform for your entire organization.
Pricing: Pricing starts at $45/user/month and goes up to $1,200/month, depending on the plan and additional features chosen.
2. Salesforce
Salesforce is one of the world’s leading CRM systems, providing comprehensive pipeline software solutions for businesses of all sizes and industries. It offers a vast array of tools for managing and automating sales pipelines, including lead management, opportunity management, and in-depth reporting and analytics. Salesforce’s customization capabilities make it suitable for businesses with highly unique sales processes.
Pricing: Pricing varies widely depending on the edition and user licenses, ranging from approximately $25/user/month for small businesses to $300/user/month for enterprises.
3. Zoho CRM
Zoho CRM is a cloud-based pipeline software that provides CRM solutions to small and midsize businesses. It offers sales automation, analytics, and forecasting tools, among other features. The software is known for its ease of use and extensive integration options. Zoho CRM is suitable for businesses seeking a cost-effective and customizable CRM solution.
Pricing: Zoho CRM offers a free plan for up to 3 users. Paid plans start at $14/user/month.
4. Freshsales
Freshsales, developed by Freshworks, is a sales CRM pipeline software built for high-velocity teams. It focuses on lead and contact management, email tracking, and workflow automation. Freshsales also integrates with other Freshworks products for a more comprehensive business software suite.
Pricing: Pricing starts at $15/user/month and goes up to $79/user/month, depending on the plan and features.
Conclusion
Managing a sales pipeline effectively is a key component of sales success. Whether you opt for a free pipeline software or choose a premium solution, there are numerous options available to suit your business needs. These software tools are designed to help you track leads, automate repetitive tasks, improve customer relationships, and close more deals. Evaluate your specific requirements and budget to select the pipeline software that aligns best with your business objectives. Whether you’re an individual salesperson or part of a larger sales team, the right software can significantly enhance your productivity and success in the field of sales.