Why AgileCRM?

Originally all I wanted was a more affordable interim solution to the bigger players like Infusionsoft, which was beyond my initial budget for setup and management.

AgileCRM was recommended to me by a very experienced Internet Marketing peer that specialises in this area of customer relationship management and email automation.

After comparing specifications, different solutions, reading many reviews and trying Agile I was impressed.

I am now using both paid and free AgileCRM accounts for myself and a number of clients.

Price

You can start Agile FREE, not a trial, not an unusable version – but a workable full featured CRM free!

In fact, I am still using numerous free accounts for myself and others. This is setup is generally being used for a simple campaign and email and newsletter communications and it works perfectly.

Like most CRMs AgileCRM offers monthly subscriptions as part if the pricing plan.

The starter version is the price a couple of coffees and even up to the enterprise version is around $50USD PM. There are extras that you may pay for depending on how complex your needs are but it’s still so affordable compared with many alternate solutions out there.

The price is per user so if you only need either a single account or handful of user accounts this is still great value for a small business.

Integration

To manage the end to end solution needed for a marketing or sales funnel with a landing page, emails, scheduling there are numerous components to make it a success and this is complex enough without added stress.

It drives me crazy the amount of messing around that is required to make the different pieces of software talk to each other.

I am so into having the vendor provide me with the tools I need in the one place to minimise the distraction and disruption this so often causes and to have one simple application that works.

Plugging in solutions

There are loads of existing mainstream applications that you can directly connect to Agile. None of these are needed to make this work but enhances the capability incredibly.  It is so simple compared with many others I have tried.

I am not going to try to list all the other software that you can integrate. I was happy to find Xero, Sendgrid, Facebook, Linkedin and a number of VOIP solutions, including Skype.

Email marketing

There are numerous email marketing solutions that are available. You can upload lists or create contacts individually.  Contacts can be separated into different lists, tagged and scored according to their level of interaction with you.

Bulk Emails

Firstly, It is always important that you are compliant with the Spam Act 2003, ensure you have consent.

The Agile email system ensures that you have the appropriate unsubscribe links and record keeping that is required.

If you are planning to send any volume of emails it is recommended that you use an additional service like Sendgrid that will forward your email from a separate IP address to increase the chances of your emails getting through. It is easy to connect your Agile and send grid accounts together to allow a more streamline process.

TIP – I would recommend using a separate email address to manage your volume communication through your CRM. If you use normally use [email protected] replace it with [email protected] – it makes it easier to manage the incoming and outgoing email.

Calendar

There is a great online scheduling tool that you can connect to a Gmail or Microsoft Calendar. This is a dedication page that you can share the link to either on a webpage or you can use it in your email signature.

You can offer customers the ability to make a time with you when it suits them.  You can create a calendar for each team member or service and display on a single page. Example online calendar.

Landing pages

The ability to create landing pages within the same tool and easily manage the campaigns attached is a great addition. Example landing page.

The landing pages are not as attractive as some of the high-end alternatives but there is lots of flexibility to configure the way you want.

Support

On-boarding is constantly improving! Recently I registered a FREE account for a client and within a day or so I had an account manager on the phone asking to help me. This is in addition to the videos, webinars and other information and training available to get you started.

There are a few support options available, live chat, email and my favourite which is a skilled agent that you can schedule a time with to help you with whatever you need to get Agile up and running.

Customer Relationship Management

The number of features available here in the CRM side is incredible!  Everything you could possibly need for managing your database of customers. Tasks, scheduling, contacts, comments, follow up, scoring, as well as the ability to communicate directly from this platform through email or phone.

Downside

Nothing is perfect! It took a bit to get used to the manual SAVEs that have to be done. I’m really conscious of it now, but I did lose a bit of work when I first started.

Not all the online training is categorised well, which meant that I have watched a few videos I didn’t need to in search of my next step.

AgileCRM Fan

I am a BIG fan of AgileCRM – the inclusions, features, affordability, integration and the support have seriously impressed me and I am not using the system to its full capability. I set up my own clients with this even if they only want email capture and a newsletter and the free version because I know how awesome this will be if they choose to use it.

Disclosure

I am sharing this because I think its amazing! The link here is an affiliate link so if you buy a paid version I will get a small percentage of what you pay to subscribe. It may be enough in the free version, so definitely worth checking out.

Need more info?

If I can give you any more info on this or other marketing questions, please schedule a time in my online calendar and we can chat or email me.