Best Lead Management Software
Minimizes repetitive work by combining lead management with advanced automation tools
$20 - $65 per user
Web, Android, iOS
500+ apps
Visually tracks every lead with unlimited customizable sales pipelines
$19.90 - $119 per user
Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
300+ apps
Generates more leads with your preferred audience with automated segmentation and Facebook Lead Ads
$19 - $49 per user, or customized pricing
Web, Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
900+ apps
Streamlines best leads with customizable pipelines, actions and outcomes
$14 - $39 per user
Web, Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS
5,000+ apps
Offers something to fit most budgets with a Free Forever plan plus four paid plan options
$0 - $20 per user, or customized pricing
Web, Windows, Mac, Android, iOS
50+ apps
Sometimes following up on leads can feel like speed dating. You're surrounded by people who could possibly be right for you, but you also have to weed out the ones who aren't a good fit. Even if you find a potential fit, you only have so much time to connect. If you get it wrong, you still have options, but you'll have to invest even more of your time. If you get it right, though, you're one step closer to success.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed when trying to turn your company's leads into clients, or you've seen your sales team struggling to figure out which lead to act on next, lead management software may be the solution you're looking for. Organizing and tracking your leads can prevent missed opportunities and help turn more leads into paying customers.
Our Top Picks For Best Lead Management Software
- Zoho CRM – Best All-In-One Lead Management Solution
- Pipedrive – Best User Interface
- ActiveCampaign – Best Advertising Tools
- noCRM – Best For Task Management
- monday.com – Best For Multiple Pricing Plans
Best Lead Management Software Reviews
Best All-In-One Lead Management Solution: Zoho CRM
Why we chose it: Zoho CRM streamlines your work in one package of sales, marketing and workflow automation tools. You won't need separate software programs to manage your leads and your clients because this one combines lead management service and customer relationship management software.
Zoho CRM offers lead management solutions, including an AI-powered sales assistant, lead scoring, email insights and more. You can automate your day-to-day sales activities and manage multiple sales funnels with all of Zoho's plans. It's highly customizable, and each plan tier gives you more control. You'll have more opportunities to reach potential customers where they hang out, whether through phone, email, social media, webinars or live chat.
Each plan is priced per user per month:
- Standard: $20
- Professional: $35
- Enterprise: $50
- Ultimate: $65
You can save up to 34 percent by paying annually, and there is a 15-day free trial available for all plans. Higher-priced plans give you access to more features, such as detailed analytics, advanced security features and customer segmentation.
Across third-party review sites, Zoho CRM received high customer satisfaction ratings. However, some users report difficulty with the onboarding process and a clunky interface. All paid plans can access Classic Support via email, phone and live chat. Responses are provided within eight hours of the initial request during business hours. You'll need to shell out for one of Zoho's paid support subscriptions for faster response times and personalized onboarding.
Best User Interface: Pipedrive
- High customer satisfaction
- Over 300 app integrations
- User-friendly interface
- 24/7 email and chat support
- Limited monthly workflow automation actions for all plans
- Phone support with Enterprise plan only
- Advertising tools as add-ons only
Why we chose it: Pipedrive's interface features a visual pipeline that makes it simple to keep track of what's going on with every lead. It has high ratings across all third-party review sites. Customers report a straightforward and user-friendly interface with easy-to-use drag-and-drop features, automatic "next action" prompts and a clear visualization of where each lead is in the pipeline.
Pipedrive is designed specifically for sales teams. All plans come with unlimited customizable sales pipelines, customizable dashboards and a sales assistant powered by machine learning. The sales assistant looks at what's worked in the past and suggests what to do next with your current leads. Higher-priced plans offer group emailing, an electronic signature tool and advanced security features.
Pipedrive doesn't offer a free plan, but you can get a 14-day free trial of any of the four paid plans:
- Essential: $19.90
- Advanced: $34.90
- Professional: $59.90
- Enterprise: $119
All plans are priced per user per month. You can save up to 25 percent off all plan prices by paying annually. Open deals, custom fields and reports are limited in number with the Essential, Advanced and Professional plans. They're unlimited with Enterprise.
Active automations aren't available with Essential, and they're limited with all other plans. All plans have over 300 app integrations and 24/7 customer support via email and live chat. If you want to get help by phone, you'll need to spend a little more to get the Enterprise plan. Pipedrive offers optional add-ons like Lead Booster to generate leads, Web Visitor to see who's on your site and how they got there, and Campaigns to set up email marketing campaigns.
Best Advertising Tools: ActiveCampaign
- Customizable pipeline stages
- Integrates with 900+ apps
- Advanced advertising tools when bundled with Marketing
- 24/7 support with all plans
- Mixed customer satisfaction
- Expensive plans
Why we chose it: ActiveCampaign Sales includes automated segmentation and Facebook Lead Ads to help you connect with customers where they are. You can bundle Sales with ActiveCampaign Marketing to access Facebook Custom Audiences, email campaigns and marketing automation that automatically engage your target clients and free up your sales and marketing teams.
ActiveCampaign offers three Sales Plans, priced per user per month:
- Plus: $19
- Professional: $49 a month
- Enterprise: customized pricing
All Sales plans feature account, pipeline, and deal management, plus lead scoring, segmentation and sales automation. You'll access over 900 app integrations and receive 24/7 chat and email support. And all plans come with site and link tracking, so you always know what your leads are up to.
With the Professional and Enterprise plans, you'll get access to Facebook Lead Ads. Enterprise comes with advanced security features like single sign-on. You can bundle ActiveCampaign's Sales and Marketing plans if you want more advertising tools and marketing automation. Bundled plans cost $93 a month for up to five users and $386 for up to 10 users. There's also a customizable Enterprise plan.
Most customers say that the software is easy to use and saves their businesses time with its automation tools. But some users complain of poor customer support and a clunky interface. If you want to test drive ActiveCampaign before committing, take advantage of its 15-day free trial.
Best For Task Management: noCRM
- Highly customizable
- Thousands of app integrations
- Affordable plans
- High customer satisfaction
- Phone support for Dream Team users only
- Limited post-sales functionality
Why we chose it: noCRM ensures that there's always a next step planned for every lead. Sales reps can manage tasks throughout the entire pipeline thanks to customizable actions and outcomes, and you won't have to worry about tasks getting missed with automatic calendar syncing.
noCRM was designed specifically for sales teams. To keep your sales reps from getting bogged down with unnecessary work, it made contact input quick and easy. Users agree that the software is user-friendly, with an intuitive interface and helpful visuals. You can customize sales pipelines to meet the specific needs of your business so that your sales reps never have to wonder what to do next.
There are three plans to choose from:
- Starter Kit: $14 per user per month, with a three-user max
- Sales Expert: $24 per user per month, with no user limit
- Dream Team: $39 per user per month, with no user limit.
You can keep more money in your pocket by paying annually, and noCRM offers a free 15-day trial.
Features used to manage contacts once they go from leads to clients, like task assignments and reminders, are only available for the Sales Expert and Dream Team plans. noCRM is primarily designed to manage leads, so if you need advanced client management tools, you'll need separate CRM software. All plans come with email and chat support. Dream Team users receive priority support, including a faster response time and phone support. Dream Team includes email tracking, sales goals tracking and some extra security features.
Best For Multiple Pricing Plans: monday.com
- Over 50 app integrations
- Five plans to choose from, including free option
- 24/7 customer support
- Highly customizable
- Minimum of three users per plan
- Premium support with Enterprise only
- Limited actions with integrated apps
- Limited automated actions
Why we chose it: monday.com offers a wide range of price points, from its Free Forever plan and three standard paid plans to the customizable Enterprise option. With plans ranging from $0 to $20 per user per month, there's a good chance you'll find something that fits your budget.
With monday.com's lead management software, you can assign leads to sales reps and track them throughout the sales pipeline. Its intuitive and customizable interface is popular with users. You'll be able to customize your notifications, automatically assign leads and integrate with over 50 apps.
monday.com offers a Free Forever plan with limited features for up to two users.
There are three paid plans available:
- Basic: $10
- Standard: $12
- Pro: $20
- Enterprise: customized pricing
All paid plans are priced per user per month and require buying at least three user seats. If you're looking to save some money, you'll get an 18 percent discount by paying annually. You can give monday.com a try with a free 14-day trial.
Based on your purchase plan, you'll be limited in how many actions you can take with integrated apps each month. Automations are available with Standard, Pro and Enterprise, but you'll be limited in how many automated actions you get monthly. All plans come with 24/7 customer support via a web form. With the Enterprise plan, you'll get premium onboarding and technical support and advanced security settings, like single sign-on and HIPAA compliance.
Other Lead Management Software We Considered
When selecting the best lead management software systems, we also considered these three systems that offer lead management solutions. They didn't make our top choices because high prices and missing features mean they won't work for many small businesses.
Insightly
- Customizable pipeline and reporting
- Over 1,000 app integrations
- No workflow customizations
- Expensive plans
- Limited custom fields
Insightly lets you track and manage leads with customizable pipelines, and you can automate workflows with the two higher-priced plans. Plans range from $29 to $99 per user per month. We didn't select it as one of our top choices because it lacks key features like customized workflows, limits custom fields and costs more than many competitors.
Less Annoying CRM
- Unlimited custom fields
- High customer satisfaction
- 30-day free trial
- No mobile app
- Lacks many advanced features
- Only one plan offered
Less Annoying CRM offers lead management that's simple to use and has high customer satisfaction ratings. It has one plan at $15 a month and offers a free 30-day trial. We didn't select it as one of the best lead management software packages because it lacks advanced features like workflow automation, an AI-powered sales assistant, call tracking and a mobile app.
Salesforce CRM
- Many advanced features
- Four plans to choose from
- Free 30-day trial
- Expensive plans
- 24/7 support only available with highest-cost plan
- Mixed customer reviews
Salesforce CRM offers account, contact, lead and opportunity management with advanced features like workflow automation, lead scoring and collaborative forecasting. Four plans are available, ranging from $25 to $300 per user per month, with add-ons available for additional costs. Salesforce is a solid choice for companies that can afford its high price point, but it didn't make our list of top lead management software solutions because its best features are inaccessible to startups and small businesses.
Lead Management Software Guide
There's much to know about lead management software before committing to one provider. To help you make the best selection for your business, we've put together this guide. Read on to learn what lead management software is, how it works and the tips you need to know to make the right choice.
What Is Lead Management Software?
Lead management software supports your sales team by organizing leads and tracking them through the sales cycle until they become clients. The software may stand alone, or it's sometimes part of broader customer relationship management (CRM) software.
Lead management software serves a number of purposes. It organizes contact info about current leads. It keeps track of actions that members of your sales team have taken with each lead — emails sent, calls made, meetings scheduled. It may prompt sales reps on which steps to take next. And many lead management software systems score and categorize leads, so you and your sales team know how to make the best use of your company's time, energy and marketing budget.
The right software also keeps your entire team on the same page. Anyone can quickly see where each lead is in the pipeline, managers know when to step in and sales reps can easily transfer workloads when going on vacation or transitioning to new roles.
Lead management can help you avoid some of the most common growth marketing mistakes, such as treating all leads equally. It can segment your leads and customize the steps your sales team will take with different segments for more personalized interactions.
How Does Lead Management Software Work?
Each lead management software system works differently, but they all have some things in common. You have several options for initially adding leads into the system. You can manually input their information or scan a business card. When scanning a business card, the software uses the information on the card to update your contact list automatically. Some programs will try to fill in missing info by searching public online databases. The software also automatically inputs lead info when users interact with your business via online forms, marketing emails and social media.
Lead management software takes the contacts who enter your system from all of these different channels and organizes them. It ensures that there aren't duplicates, and it organizes them based on how they initially made contact with your company. Many systems give you the option of having it automatically assign new leads to your sales reps. It can do this randomly or based on rules you set in advance.
Unlike traditional CRM programs, lead generation software generally makes manual input simple so that sales team members can work quickly. In-depth contact information can be added once the lead converts into a client. This saves time and increases the likelihood that busy sales reps will record real-time interactions.
Employees use lead management software to record every interaction with leads and keep track of the next steps. Some systems automatically prompt the next steps throughout the journey from initial contact to conversion. The software adds scheduled calls and meetings to team members' calendars so that nothing gets missed.
Lead management systems identify how leads are generated and make it easy for you to recognize what campaigns and marketing activities bring in the most potential customers. Some software tracks how leads interact with your company through email opens, link clicks and social media engagement.
Many programs score leads based on the interactions they have with your business. You can often customize the rules of the scoring system to be sure it rates leads appropriately for your company. It identifies qualified leads, so the sales team knows which ones to prioritize.
Some lead management software includes post-sales functions for use after a lead becomes a client. These functions may include assigning tasks, generating invoices and managing subscriptions.
Tips For Choosing A Lead Management Software Solution
There are a lot of lead management software companies to choose from. To effectively increase your business's conversion rate, it's important that you find the software that most closely meets your company's needs. Here are our top tips for choosing the right lead management software solution.
Consider Your Business Size And Sales Process Complexity
Before you can select the right lead management software for your company, you'll need a solid understanding of your business needs.
Consider:
- The size of your company
- The number of teams and team members who will be using the system
- How many leads you'll generally be tracking at any given time
Also, consider the complexity of your business's sales process. How many sales pipelines will you be working with? What type of customization do you need? You'll want a system that can handle the volume and complexity your business requires without paying for things you don't need.
Take Advantage Of Free Trials
Many lead management software companies offer free trials. Take advantage of these whenever possible. As perfect as a program sounds on paper, the only way to know if it will actually do everything you need it to is by trying it yourself.
Get a feel for how intuitive the software is and think about it from the perspectives of different team members. Will your sales team find it to be a help or a nuisance? Whenever possible, let other business members try it out and give feedback.
Have An Idea Of What Features Your Team Needs
What exactly are you hoping to gain from your lead management system? Make a list.
Decide whether you need sophisticated features like:
- Workforce automation
- Unlimited customization
- AI or machine learning-based sales assistants
- Specific app integrations
- Marketing and advertising tools
- Advanced security features
Get input from other people using the software, including your sales, customer service and marketing teams. Know what your business needs before you start shopping. This will ensure that the software you select performs how you need it to and delivers the features your business needs to continue growing.
Look For Lead Management Software Automation Tools
Automation tools deliver qualified leads, identify target audiences and streamline your business's marketing strategy. When shopping for software for lead management, look for automation tools that will cut down on repetitive tasks and increase your company's conversion rate. Depending on your business's needs, this could include assigning leads to sales reps, importing contact information, changing a lead's status, setting up email marketing campaigns and more.
Read Plenty Of Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are a great way to learn about a software system. Many companies feature reviews on their sites, which can be helpful, but don't forget to look at third-party review sites whenever possible. After all, everyone loves to toot their own horn, and you're less likely to get the more complete picture of a company from reading its chosen reviews for its own website.
User reviews give you invaluable insight into the ease of using a lead management system, issues that others have encountered within the platform and the level of customer support the company provides. Read reviews from as many different sources as possible before committing to a software program.
Compare Your Options Against One Another
Compare as many software programs as you can. Shopping around will help you find the lead management software that best meets your business's needs at the lowest possible price.
When doing a comparison, look at:
- Costs
- Features and automation tools
- User reviews
- Ability to scale
- Customer support
- Reporting functionality
How We Chose The Best Lead Management Software
When selecting the best lead management software, we looked at many factors, including:
- Plan selection: We considered the number of plan options each provider offers. Having different plans to choose from provides flexibility and increases the chance of finding your ideal set of features in one package.
- Cost: We considered the affordability of the plans offered and the range of price points. We gave higher consideration to companies that offer a range of options for different-sized budgets.
- Integrations: We compared the number of apps that each software integrates with. More integrations mean better customization and a more streamlined workflow.
- Ease: We reviewed the user-friendliness of each software's interface and how straightforward users find the onboarding process to be.
- Features: We compared the features available with each plan, such as task management and workflow automation.
- Customer satisfaction: Another factor we used to compare companies is customer satisfaction, as reported by real users across third-party review sites.
- Customer support: Getting the technical assistance you need is critical, so we examined the contact methods available for each software company and the average response times.
