Contributor, Benzinga
April 11, 2021

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems have now developed a presence in every platform. You can find CRM software specifically built and targeted at MacOS users. 

Learn more about:

  • What a CRM is
  • What are the benefits of using CRM on a macOS
  • Factors that can affect the choice of your CRM for Mac
  • The best CRM for MacOS 

What is CRM?

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems collect all the vital information of your customers from all the possible channels in a single place. A centralized database helps you to improve your business, customer experience, retention, sales process, customer satisfaction and more. 

Any CRM's goal is to give you a solid upper hand in growing your business and profits regardless of your company's size. Recently, apart from helping sales and marketing, CRM software is also focused on managing smooth and transparent relationships between team members and business collaborators.

Benefits of Using CRM in a Mac

The macOS is often associated with an easy and attractive interface. Because of its interface, the learning curve of a typical user can reduce significantly. 

CRMs are mainly used by nontechnical teams who want an easy and attractive interface to manage their work. Since macOS delivers this simplicity, one of the significant benefits of using CRM in a macOS is the ease of learning and transition.

What to Look for in CRM for MAC?

In 2021, Apple is considered to be a market leader because of the increase in its user base. But many CRM software companies still don't offer optimized tools that run on macOS. 

This means it’s important to by choosy. Consider these important factors before you sign on with a subscription to a Mac CRM. 

Integration

Before selecting a CRM for your business, the main thing to consider is its ability to integrate with other Apple services like Apple Mail, Apple Contacts and iCal, Siri and more. Transferring your existing contact into your new CRM software should be simple. Look out for the CRM that provides ease of integration.

Customization

All the businesses run differently, even the ones in the same industry. Every company has its unique sales procedures, processes, and terms. Look into a CRM which can be customized and optimized to your business needs.

Multi-platform support

You might want your CRM for macOS to also run on iPad, iPhone and iWatch, so finding the CRM supporting multiple platforms can be a critical factor. 

And situations can arise where people might want to access the CRM from a different operating system (OS). You can add this flexibility by ensuring your CRM is available across all the platforms. 

To avoid this problem, many CRMs have launched cloud and web-based solutions. Purchasing a cloud-based CRM could give you and your team unparalleled flexibility that pure macOS CRM could not.

Analytics

The main goal for investing in CRM software is to get critical reporting for you to run your business. You need to set your goals and define what you are trying to achieve using a CRM. 

Affordability

Apple creates premium consumer products, so you might find vendors charging you a premium for Mac support. Don't forget to ask the vendor if there are any hidden costs like maintenance, IT costs for setup, upgrades and user support.

You can also cut a CRM subscription cost by choosing a monthly or yearly pricing model rather than a relatively expensive 1-time charge for a perpetual license.

Customer support

Despite the streamlined Mac interface, you might still need support from your CRM vendor to answer your queries. Finding the right vendor with an excellent support service can help you in every aspect of your journey with a CRM be it issues with billing or account or even understanding the system. 

The Best CRM for Mac

Here are our picks for the best CRMs for Mac.

1. Best for Bigger Communities: HubSpot 

HubSpot is a cloud-based CRM. Cloud-based CRM gives your business better flexibility and supports multiple platforms, including macOS. 

HubSpot is a simple CRM that comes with multiple service tools within a single program. It has gained popularity because it is a collaborative system and offers easy-to-understand, consistent and smooth transitions of assignments. It's easy interface allows you to keep an eye on the sales process and effectively assign and track leads.

You can get the free version with basic tools, but you will have to pay for advanced automation and AI features. HubSpot provides you Marketing Hub plans, which cost $40 per month if you have 1,000 contacts or less. The Sales Hub Plan costs $40 per month for 2 users and costs an extra $20 for each additional user.

2. Best for Low Learning Curves: Pipedrive

A powerful iOS app for contact management and activity tracking makes Pipedrive one of the best CRMs for Mac. It’s also considerably easy-to-use and has a low learning curve. 

Pipedrive is also known as a flexible and result-oriented CRM, which allows you to create multiple sales pipelines with customizable, unique stages appropriate to a specific product or service's context. Its visual pipelines make it easier to keep track of where you are in the sales process.

You can get a Pipeline CRM plan from $12.50 to $99 per person per month with an annual subscription. You can avoid a year-long contract by paying monthly, but it increases the price a bit. 

You pay $12.50 per user per month for the Essential plan, $24.90 per user per month for an Advanced plan, $49.90 per user per month for a Professional plan, and $99 per user, per month for an Enterprise plan.

3. Best for Mac-friendly CRMs and Mail Apps: Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM has a simple user interface that can be easy to use by small companies. It provides social media features, customizable modules, and automation. Mac users will find a boost in productivity due to its Mac-friendly apps.

Zoho gives an option to businesses to purchase Zoho CRM only. You can also have additional software packages to help with IT, finance and more. 

Customization in Zoho is cost-effective compared to other software. It has data porting features that can help you migrate your data from spreadsheets and contact management software to the Zoho platform quickly.

You can get Zoho for free for 3 users. It has 4 other editions. The Standard edition costs $18 per user per month, while the Professional Edition is $30 per user per month. Enterprise Edition will set you back $45 per user, per month, and Ultimate edition is $55 per user, per month.

4. Best for Small Businesses: Agile CRM

Agile CRM connects service, marketing and sales products in one place. To maintain customer relationships for small businesses, it offers an affordable yet powerful setup. It provides a free plan for 10 users with a full-featured sales CRM.

You can add your appointment calendar into Agile CRM, and it will automate all your upcoming follow-ups and voice calls.

You can get Agile CRM in 4 different packages. The free version is available for up to 10 users, which includes 25 plus tools. 

With a 2-year contract, you can get a Starter Package for $8.99 per user per month. You can also choose a 1-year contract for $9.99 per month. For $14.99 per user per month, you can get a month-to-month plan. 

Enterprise Package is one of the most expensive Agile CRM offers. Its price ranges from $47.99 to $79.99 per user per month.

5. Best Matured Product: Salesforce

Salesforce CRM is a cloud-based and mobile-first design that provides full functionality no matter how you access it. Salesforce has designed its product for both small and large businesses.

Because Salesforce has been in the market for quite some time, you can get a mature product from them. On top of multi-platform support, it also has an excellent mobile app for iOS. 

It provides an array of 3rd-party tools to help you get the most bang for your buck. Many CRM users find Salesforce to be more secure, scalable, faster and cheaper than its competitors. It also offers training if you like. 

There is variable pricing for businesses of different sizes and types. For 10 users, Salesforce CRM with Service Cloud and Sales Cloud costs $25 per month per user.

6. Best for Team Sharing: Sugar CRM

Sugar CRM allows cross-team sharing of relevant and valuable intel by covering sales, marketing and customer service. Its advanced AI technology allows you to get your messaging right by mapping customer journeys and automating complex business processes.

You can get tools in more than 30 different languages, making it an innovative and accessible CRM option for many businesses. 

Sugar CRM also provides a free trial, unlike some of its competitors. You can also find white papers, case studies and e-book that will help you self-implement the software.

You can buy the Sugar Market package for $80 per user per month. If you have at least 10 users, you can get the Sugar Professional CX plan for $52 per user per month. 

Sugar Enterprise costs $85 per user per month, but you get access to accelerated support service-level agreements, 4 support-authorized contacts, SQL-based reporting and SugarBPM.

Make Things Happen

If you want your business to succeed, focus on building and maintaining client relationships. With the availability of cloud-based CRM now, you can leverage macOS's simplicity and still make sure that your business reaches new heights.

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