If you're a home services company, then you know that customer relationship management (CRM) software is essential for your business. CRM software helps you manage customer data and interactions, which can help increase sales and improve customer satisfaction.

In this blog post, we will compare four CRM software options: HubSpot, Builder Prime, MarketSharp, and PipeDrive.

We will discuss the features of each option and help you decide which CRM is the best fit for your business.

Why Do You Need a CRM?

If you're not familiar with CRM software, then you might be wondering why you need it for your service business. CRM software helps businesses in a number of ways, including:

• Managing customer data: CRM software gives you a central place to store all of your customer's information, including contact information, purchase history, and communication history.
• Tracking customer interactions: CRM software can help you track every interaction you have with a customer, including phone calls, emails, and meeting notes. This information can be very valuable when trying to improve your customer service.
• Increasing sales: CRM software can help you increase sales by giving you insights into your customers' buying habits and preferences. This information can help you target your marketing and sales efforts more effectively.
• Improving customer satisfaction: CRM software can help you improve customer satisfaction by giving you a better understanding of your customers' needs and expectations. This information can help you make sure that you're providing the best possible service to your customers.

Now that you know why you need CRM software, let's take a look at four CRM software options for home service businesses.

Our Top CRM Options: Understanding Our Selection Formula

With literally dozens of CRM options to choose from, we narrowed down the list based on a mix of personal usage experience, customer reviews, and the platforms' adherence to our "big 4" CRM essentials. Those are:

1) Contact Management

Top CRMs must be able to both easily sort new contacts AND import existing lists with ease. Additionally, all our choices can handle importing "dirty data." What does this term refer to? We're talking existing contact lists that (how to say this...) look messier than a college dorm room.

2) Customer Journey Tracking

The CRM you choose should enable your team to track every customer interaction, from the initial contact all the way through post-sale follow-up. As an example, imagine an individual (we'll call him Julio) clicks to read a blog post posted on your Facebook channel.

After being redirected to your website, Julio reads the blog post and decides to click another link within the article. This second click takes him to a landing page where he enters his contact information in exchange for receiving a helpful PDF guide.

Once Julio's contact information has been entered into the CRM, your team should be able to see that he arrived on the site from Facebook, read the blog post, and then downloaded the PDF.

From there, your team can decide to follow up with Julio via email or even give him a call. CRMs that lack this kind of data tracking make it difficult (if not impossible) for your team to provide a consistent, satisfying customer experience. Our choices show you the all-important customer journey.

3) Flexible Pricing

Service businesses of all sizes need a CRM. So why should there be only one price for the one-person plumber AND the 1000-employee roofing company? We've selected CRM platforms that offer a variety of pricing models, from "freemium" (free to use with paid upgrades available) all the way up to enterprise level.

Additionally, we looked for CRMs that don't require long-term contracts. Why? Because your business is constantly changing and evolving. Being locked into a CRM contract that's no longer a good fit for your business is a waste of time and money.

Finally, we only selected CRMs that offer a free trial period. This way, you can try out the CRM before you commit to anything.

4) Sales Conversion Tools

CRMs aren't just for tracking customer interactions. They should also have features that help you close more sales. That's why we only selected CRMs that offer a variety of sales conversion tools, such as:

- Lead capture forms

- Call recording

- Click to call

- VoIP integration

These are just a few of the features that can help you close more sales.

Now that we've gone over our selection criteria, let's take a look at four CRM software options for home service businesses.

Option #1: HubSpot

HubSpot is a CRM software option that offers a number of features that can be beneficial for home service businesses. We love it because the platform is truly a "swiss army knife" with all the tools you need to grow better.

Whether you want to increase leads, accelerate sales, streamline customer service, or build a powerful website, Hubspot has the tools to do it!

If we had to pick two reasons why you should go with Hubspot, they would be:

1) The Flexible Pricing

HubSpot's CRM is free to use. You can't beat that! You only have to pay if you want to use the premium features, which can be beneficial for businesses that are on a tight budget. This structure allows you to scale as your company grows without having to hop to another platform once you join the millionaire service company club.

2) Integrations

HubSpot's CRM integrates with a number of other software platforms that your business might already be using. This makes it easy to get started with the CRM without having to start from scratch!

Potential Downsides

One drawback of Hubspot is that it can be overwhelming for users who are new to CRMs. There is a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, Hubspot is an incredibly powerful CRM platform.

Learn more about all the features Hubspot offers by checking out our full guide.

Option #2: Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the most popular CRMs on the market. It's also one of the most versatile CRMs, with a number of features that can be beneficial for home service businesses.

Here are a few reasons why we think Salesforce is a great CRM option for home service businesses:

1) A Solid Track Record of Success

Salesforce is the granddaddy of customer relationship management (CRM) software. They've been in operation since 1999, so they have a lengthy list of happy customers and case studies to back up its effectiveness. Salesforce outperforms everyone else when it comes to stability and dependability.

2) A Heavy Sales Focus

Salesforce's strength is in its ability to streamline and enhance sales activities. Salespeople may keep track of their activity, follow up on prospective opportunities as they develop, and save time throughout the whole communication process with Salesforce. While marketing and customer service solutions improve every year, sales will always have the biggest bowl of soup, and Salesforce is the kitchen!

Potential Downsides

One downside of Salesforce is that it can be pricey. The CRM starts at $25 per user per month, which can add up quickly for businesses with a large team.

Option #3: Builder Prime

Builder Prime is a CRM software that helps home service companies manage customer data and interactions. Builder Prime offers a number of features that make it a good choice for CRMs, including contact management, sales tracking, and marketing automation.

Here are a few reasons why Builder Prime might be a good CRM for your home service business:

1) Ease of Use

Builder Prime is designed to be user-friendly, which makes it a good choice for businesses that are new to CRMs. The platform is easy to navigate and offers a number of helpful tutorials to get you up to speed.

2) Affordable

Builder Prime is one of the most affordable CRMs on the market. It starts at $15 per user per month, which makes it a good choice for businesses that are on a tight budget.

Potential Downsides

One downside of Builder Prime is that it doesn't offer as many features as some of the other CRMs on the market. However, it does offer the essential features that most businesses need to manage customer data and interactions.

Option #4: MarketSharp

MarketSharp is a CRM software that helps home service companies manage customer data and interactions. MarketSharp offers all the essentials a home services company needs in a CRM, including contact management, sales tracking, and marketing automation.

Here are a few reasons why MarketSharp might be a good CRM for your home service business:

1) A Focus on Customer Feedback

MarketSharp does an excellent job of seeing your company through your customers’ eyes. The platform makes it easy to set up automations, such as having the robots send an email to customers as soon as a job is finished to determine satisfaction levels.

2) Deep, Customizable Reporting

Unlock the ability to read and interpret data points to better understand what's happening with your company. Run hundreds of real-time reports; create, save and share custom reports, and have the visibility into your business you didn’t know you needed.

Potential Downsides

MarketSharp both looks and feels like it belongs in a cutscene from a Jurassic Park movie...the original film. The design language is bland and outdated and the features lack several tools you'll find in the more future-focused platforms like Hubspot.

Which CRM Should Your Services Company Choose?

Now that we've gone over the four CRM software options, it's time to decide which one is right for your business.

No matter which CRM you choose, make sure that it's a good fit for your business needs. The CRM you choose should make your life easier, not harder.

When selecting, keep our "big 4" essentials in mind. To recap, those are:

1. Contact Management
2. Customer Journey Tracking
3. Flexible Pricing
4. Sales Conversion Tools

If you're looking for a CRM that has all these features and executes them admirably, Rizen strongly recommends Hubspot. It's scalable pricing, unbeatable marketing and sales tools, and a long list of integrations make it the most complete solution.

If you're looking for a CRM that's easy to use and offers a focus on customer feedback, MarketSharp is a good option.

If you decide to go with our top pick, make sure to download this list of top Hubspot integrations to boost your lead generation!

What CRM does your home services company use? Let us know in the comments below!