In a Nutshell
pros
- Dashboard with overall business visibility
- Document viewer to easily view all sales-related documentation
- Totally cloud-based. No need for desktop software.
cons
- Limited support material available
- Relatively niche CRM without Salesforce’s user community
Sage CRM at a Glance
Best For: Small businesses that want a CRM provider they can trust
Key Use: Customer management and marketing automation
Price: $69 per user per month
Free trial: No direct free trial
Overview
Sage CRM is a cloud-based platform intended for the needs of the small business sector. It features an interactive dashboard which allows users to easily visualize the sales pipeline as well as all the other features that might be expected from a mature CRM tool. Sage CRM also makes it easy to identify sales trends such as monthly sales volumes. This helps businesses to identify potential lapses in profitability at the first opportunity.
Tools for Sales Teams
Sales teams can take advantage of the following to help manage their pipeline:
- Easy visualization. The sales pipeline is the first thing presented as soon as users log in to the online environment. Color coding makes it easy to visually identify how much value is currently in each stage of the pipeline, such as top of funnel, negotiating leads, and qualified leads.
- Advanced search function to call up leads according to a myriad of criteria, including territory and segment
- Target setting to help salespeople stay accountable
- Activity view to easily track activity across the organization
- Comprehensive lead management view lets users input details including lead stage, sales territory, and assigned team.
- Users can also associate leads with campaigns, making it easy to track return on investment (ROI for marketing activities undertaken.
Tools for Customer Support Teams
Sage does not have any native customer support functionalities such as ticket receiving and tracking. However, organizations can choose to respond to customer issues raised directly through the CRM by simply using the email functionality to initiate outbound communication with them.
To do this, users can access the ‘cases’ module in order to key track of specific issues.
Tools for Marketing Teams
Sage CRM also has a number of features designed for the needs of marketing teams. This includes:
- Associating marketing campaigns with sales leads in order to keep track of ROI
- Generating marketing reports within minutes
- Comprehensive lead and opportunity tracking
- Native integration with Mailchimp for creating marketing newsletters
Customization and Integrations
Sage CRM integrates with the following cloud providers to improve the efficiency of sales and marketing operations:
- Mailchimp for email marketing
- Zapier for connecting to other products that integrate with Zapier
- Sage ERP
Additionally, many companies have developed private integrations with Sage CRM which they sell to their customers. These include:
- The Hubspot - SageCRM connector developed by Codeless Platforms
- Sage CRM - Sicon integration (in private development)
Additionally, Sage CRM allows users to customize the CRM to meet their unique business needs. For instance, users are able to customize the welcome/dashboard screen to refine the information that appears immediately after they log in.
Reporting and Dashboards
The main Sage user screen presents a dashboard overview of activity on the account, including a visual overview of the sales pipeline.
Additionally, users can create custom reports and order them into categories. This makes it easy for groups of internal users to access specifically the information they require to keep track of the performance of marketing and sales teams.
Sage CRM offers mobile apps for remote connectivity but these need to be downloaded from within the Sage Community user area. They are available to work on Android, iOS, and Windows Mobile. The apps allow users to access all the features in the web interface including inputting and accessing leads on the go. Mobile apps users are also able to associate SMS communications with leads to capture activity received on their device.
Plans and Pricing
Sage CRM subscriptions cost $69/user/month. Additionally third party integrators can set up on-premises deployments for those not comfortable with keeping all their business data in the cloud.
While the pricing puts Sage CRM out of the category of cheap consumer CRMs, for those that want a serious enterprise-ready tool, we think that it is not an unreasonable fee.
Ease of Implementation and Use
Sage CRM deployments should ideally be configured by a skilled IT manager with knowledge of cloud infrastructure. The tool allows users to create granular access controls ensuring that only the right users have access to sensitive internal data.
Additionally, Sage offers a comprehensive guide for administrators which include detailed recommendations as to database maintenance plans to keep the system running at its best.
Customer Services
Sage CRM offers customer service via email to customers of all its products, including CRM. Additionally, Sage Support Central offers a comprehensive suite of material designed to help users get the most of the solution—including support documentation, video tutorials, and a community forum called Sage City.
Between all the various contact methods available, users should have no trouble in getting in touch with the right resource to solve their issue.
What Users Say About Sage
“Sage CRM gives us the ability to track sales activity across the team. We can follow any new sales leads or opportunities, and manage the sales process. That’s the most important thing for us.”
Nick Ryan / General Manager of Marketing and Sponsorship / Nissan
“The configuration ability of the Sage CRM solution enables us to adapt to the specificities of each country, and specifically to their local client relation and working methods.”
Shaun Summers / Global Sales Tools Manager / Veolia Water Technologies
“We believe that we’re now one of the leaders in the industry in providing critical information to clients. This helps us to win new business and enhance our service to existing clients.”
Simon Adcock / Managing Director / ATEC Security
Bottom Line
Sage may not be the cheapest provider on the market, but it’s a full fledged CRM trusted by some of the world’s leading brands. It’s certainly one to consider.
