Project planning can be a daunting task – but not if you use the right tools! In this blog, we’re sharing our top picks for the best free online project planning tools, so that you can take on your project with confidence.
Whether you’re a beginner looking to get started with project management software, or an experienced professional who wants to improve your workflow, these tools will help you get ahead of the curve.
By taking advantage of free online project management tools, you’ll not only save money but also time and hassle. So what are you waiting for? Give them a try today!
Top 12 Reasons Why Project Management and CRM Software Solutions Matter
Project management and CRM software solutions are essential for any business that wants to improve communication and coordination within its projects.
They provide an easy way to manage files and record, which can help to streamline the project process.
Additionally, CRM solutions are scalable, so businesses can grow as needed without compromising efficiency or control. If you’re looking to make a real impact on your projects, then a CRM project management solution is the way to go!
1. They improve communication and collaboration within a company
Communication and collaboration within a company can be greatly improved with the use of CRM software solutions (customer relationship management).
This software helps to automate communication between different team members, track dependencies and resources, and keep everyone on task.
In turn, this leads to a more efficient workflow as well as less conflictual situations. Improved communication also results in better cooperation between team members which ultimately makes for a smoother working environment overall.
2. They help to keep track of progress and deadlines
Poor project management is often the result of a lack of proper tracking and communication. A CRM system can help to address these issues by letting you track progress, milestones, and deadlines.
It also facilitates collaboration between team members as well as faster reporting. This way, everyone always has access to up-to-date information, ensuring that projects run smoothly and on time.
3. They allow for better reporting and analysis
Good project management software can help track and monitor CRM projects more effectively. This would allow for better communication, collaboration, and timely decision-making between team members.
Furthermore, it would provide transparency into finances as well as risks and resources involved in the project. All of this makes a project management solution an essential tool for businesses looking to successfully manage their CRM projects
4. They can help to streamline processes and reduce costs
CRM software has many benefits for businesses of all sizes. It can help to automate and manage business processes more effectively, reduce the costs associated with running your business, and better connect you with your customers.
In addition, a good CRM system can also help to improve decision-making and efficiency by tying all of your business data together in one place. This makes it easier to track performance and make informed decisions about future courses of action.
5. Effective project management helps to improve business efficiency and effectiveness
Project management is an essential tool for improving business efficiency and effectiveness. It ensures tasks are completed on time, to agreed-upon standards, and with the necessary resources.
In addition to this, project management helps to reduce waste by tracking all project assets and ensuring they are used in a responsible manner.
It also enables better communication between team members – leading to faster decision-making as well as improved coordination efforts within the team overall.
6. Good CRM Project Management Solutions help to manage customer relationships effectively
A good CRM project management solution is essential for managing customer relationships effectively.
It helps to keep track of all the interactions and changes that have taken place between customers and your business, as well as resolve any conflicts or complaints quickly.
This can be done through detailed reports that are useful for marketing purposes. Furthermore, a great CRM project management solution also helps businesses to plan and track their projects more efficiently.
This way they know where they stand at all times, what needs to be done next, and when everything is ready to go!
7. The right CRM Project Management Solution can help streamline the workflow and improve communication among team members
A good CRM project management solution can help to streamline the workflow and improve communication among team members.
This makes projects run smoothly and avoid any delays, while also making it easier to track the progress of a project. Additionally, collaboration is made easy by sharing files and documents between team members.
In short, a great CRM project management solution helps to manage projects more efficiently – helping everyone involved commit less time and effort in the long run!
8. A good CRM Project Management Solution can track projects, tasks, and workflows for better visibility
Having a good CRM project management solution can make your projects run smoother and more efficiently. By tracking projects, tasks, and workflows in a centralized location, you will be able to keep track of all aspects of the project.
This way, you will be able to identify any issues as they arise and resolve them quickly. It also makes it easier for team members to collaborate on projects as they are automatically aligned with one another.
A good CRM project management solution is essential if you want to stay organized and manage your projects effectively; without it, things could get messy fast!
9. Project management is crucial for successful businesses
Project management is crucial for any business to be successful. A good CRM project management system helps keep track of all the details of a project, from start to finish.
This way, you can ensure transparency and accountability for all stakeholders involved in the project. In addition to this, it facilitates communication and collaboration between team members. It also automates business processes such as purchasing and invoicing etc., which enhances efficiency by freeing up time for other tasks.
Risk management becomes easier with proper tracking since you’ll always know where your projects stand at any given point in time.
Thus, implementing a CRM project management system into your business is not only beneficial but essential – if you want to achieve success!
10. Good CRM project management solutions allow businesses to track progress, manage risks and resources effectively, and optimize the duration, cost, and quality of a project
In order to deliver quality projects on time and within budget, businesses need a good CRM project management solution.
This software helps businesses manage their projects effectively by tracking progress, risk managing them, allocating the correct resources, and monitoring the duration, cost, and quality of a project.
It also helps optimize the duration, cost, and quality of a project while keeping stakeholders informed. A good CRM project management solution is essential for any business that wants to be successful in today’s competitive market landscape.
11. The benefits that come with using CRM project management solutions are manifold: improved communication, faster decision making and smoother execution of tasks
Project management solutions offer a number of key benefits that make them ideal for business use. These include improved communication, faster decision-making, and smoother execution of tasks.
All these factors are essential to ensuring the successful completion of any project, big or small.
By using a CRM project management system, you can ensure that all team members have access to the relevant information they need at all times, cutting down on unnecessary misunderstandings and delays.
Consequently, projects run more smoothly – with less stress on everyone involved!
12. There are many different CRM project management solutions on the market, each with its own unique features and advantages
Whether you’re a small business or an established organization, there is a CRM project management solution that’s right for you.
Depending on your specific needs, some of the most popular CRM project management solutions include: – software like Asana and Trello which are free to use; – paid options such as MS Project and Act! which offer more features and functionality; – hybrid projects such as Desktime which offers users both free and premium versions.
What should a CRM include?
We know searching for and buying a CRM tool at random is not the best option. You must take a look at the different options available online and then make your decision. So, what should a CRM include? We are here to help you with the answer, make sure that the following are included in the list of features of the CRM tool of your choice:
- Contact management: The ability to store and organize contact information for all of your customers, leads, and prospects in one central location.
- Tracking: Tools for tracking leads, deals, and sales, including the ability to forecast future sales.
- Marketing automation: Features that allow you to automate the management process, taking the burden off your shoulders.
- Customer service: Features for managing and tracking customer support requests, such as a helpdesk or ticketing system.
- Analytics and reporting: The ability to generate reports and analyze data on customer interactions, sales, and marketing campaigns.
- Mobile access: Mobile app that allows you to access and update your CRM on the go.
- Customization features Customizable fields, workflows, and forms that can be tailored to your specific business needs.
- Integration: Integration with other software, such as email, calendar, and other business tools.
- Foolproof security: Data privacy and security measures to protect your customer’s data.
- Ease of use: User-friendly interface and easy navigation, making it easy for your team to use and manage.
A tool that fulfills the above-mentioned requirements should be included in your list of potential choices.
Types of CRM functions
It’s time to take a look at the different functions performed by a CRM tool to help your business. There are three main types of CRM functions:
- Operational CRM: This type of CRM focuses on automating and streamlining day-to-day business processes such as sales, marketing, and customer service. Operational CRM systems often include features like contact management, lead tracking, and campaign management.
- Analytical CRM: This type of CRM uses data and analytics to gain insights into customer behavior and preferences. Analytical CRM systems often include features such as data visualization, reporting, and predictive analytics.
- Collaborative CRM: This type of CRM focuses on improving communication and collaboration between different departments and teams within an organization. Collaborative CRM systems often include features such as team collaboration, workflow management, and knowledge management.
It’s important to evaluate your business needs and goals when choosing a CRM system to ensure it includes the right mix of CRM functions for your organization.
What are the different types of project management software?
Project management software is used to create and manage different types of projects, such as product launches, research initiatives, website development, and more.
The various types of project management software include Agile/Scrum/Kanban software, Collaboration/Communication tools, Cost and Estimation tools, Process Management Software, Resource Management Software (for personnel), Scheduling Tools (Gantt charts), Risk Analysis Tools (threats and opportunities modeling), Reporting Utilities (dashboards) and Project Planning Apps.
Each type of project management software provides its own set of features that enable users to better organize their workflow processes in order to achieve desired outcomes. Additionally, most packages integrate with popular productivity apps like Microsoft Office or Google Drive for streamlined sharing between both teams as well as clients.
Features To A Good CRM Project Management Solution
There are many crm project management solutions, but finding the one that is good and works for you is our goal here. Here are some features that a good crm project management solution needs to have;
- Easy to use: The solution should be intuitive and user-friendly, with a clear and easy-to-navigate interface.
- Data management: The solution should allow for easy and efficient data management, with the ability to store and organize customer data and project information in a centralized location.
- Team collaboration: The solution should facilitate collaboration among team members, with features such as task assignments, file sharing, and communication tools.
- Portfolio management capability: The solution should allow for portfolio-level management of multiple projects, with the ability to track and manage resources, budgets, and timelines across multiple projects.
- Customization: The solution should offer customizable features and configurations to meet the specific needs of the business and its projects.
- Sales pipeline management: The solution should include tools for managing the sales pipeline, including lead tracking, opportunity management, and forecasting.
- Data-driven reports: The solution should provide data-driven reports and analytics to help businesses make informed decisions about their projects and customer relationships.
- Third-party integrations: The solution should be able to integrate with other tools and systems used by the business, such as email clients, accounting software, and marketing automation tools.
- Visualized project management: The solution should provide a visual representation of project timelines, tasks, and resources, making it easy to understand the status of a project at a glance.
Why is nTask the best easy-to-use CRM Software?
nTask is the ultimate easy-to-use CRM software, designed to help businesses of any size manage their customer relationships and improve organizational efficiency. nTask offers a wide range of features and capabilities which make it an ideal solution for business owners who want to streamline their operations.
With nTask, users can easily track leads, manage customer accounts, schedule tasks or appointments, collaborate with team members on projects in real time, generate customizable reports for better insights into performance metrics, and create automated workflows for efficient task management.
In addition to that, its intuitive user interface makes everything easy to use even for beginners. The software also comes with enterprise-level security features that safeguard sensitive data from unauthorized access or misuse. All these benefits make nTask the best choice when it comes to easy-to-use CRM software.
Importance of CRM And Project Management
A well-organized Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system and an efficient Project Management solution can make or break any business.
With that in mind, businesses must utilize the right tools to help them manage their customer relations and projects.
From managing relationships and increasing sales pipelines to providing a clear overview of your project goals – the implementation of CRM software with project management can streamline all these processes and improve efficiency within the organization overall.
It helps organizations understand customers better and allows them to respond accordingly when needed by utilizing its sophisticated data collection capabilities.
This makes sure that businesses stay up-to-date on their customer engagement needs while also getting more insights into how their team is performing on various projects throughout different stages in real time.
3 Best CRM Software To Use in 2023
1. nTask
nTask is a CRM software that provides a comprehensive suite of tools and services for businesses to streamline their operations.
It offers advanced contact management, sales pipeline tracking, task management, and customer relationship management capabilities.
With its customizable dashboard and reporting features, users can make better decisions by gaining actionable insights into every customer interaction.
Features:
- Powerful Contact Management:
Allows users to store contacts and create relationships for easy access and retrieval.
- Sales Pipeline Tracking:
Enables users to track the progress of leads across multiple stages of the sales funnel through visual representations on the customizable dashboard.
- Task Management:
Allows users to assign tasks to individuals or teams quickly using a drag-and-drop system for easy collaboration.
- Robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System:
Provides real-time activity reports that give detailed insight into each customer communication, enabling proactive customer service.
Create your custom CRM
using nTask!
2. Salesforce
Salesforce is the world’s leading CRM platform, offering a comprehensive set of tools and services designed to help businesses scale quickly while managing operations efficiently.
It is user-friendly and ideal for both small businesses and enterprise organizations.
It provides more than 400 apps on AppExchange, allowing users to tailor the software to fit the needs of their organization seamlessly.
Features:
- Robust Reporting and Insights:
Allows users to create custom reports using accurate data from the Salesforce platform or third-party sources like Adobe Analytics and Microsoft Dynamics 365.
This provides deeper insights into how activities impact performance measures against set goals and benchmarks, enabling rapid decision-making capabilities and increasing efficiency in overall workflows and processes.
- Automated Workflows:
Streamlines combination activities using automated actions programmed in the rules engine, coupled with approval systems so that managers approve changes before releasing them into the production environment.
This prevents “rogue” changes made outside specified approval parameters from taking effect and causing potential compliance issues later.
3. Xero
Xero is a cloud-based accounting platform explicitly designed for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) looking to empower their back-office operations via automation.
It offers robust payment solutions integration options, among other capabilities, enabling firms to start and build scalable networks optimized toward best practices.
Features:
- Automated Bookkeeping Tools:
Smooths the bookkeeping process by eliminating manual entries, reducing errors significantly, and improving accuracy output levels. There are also integrated apps available on the marketplace.
- Payment Gateways Integration:
Provides seamless connectivity directly between bank accounts without requiring human intervention.
What is the difference between CRM and project management?
| Client Relationship Management (CRM) | Project Management | |
| Purpose | To manage and improve customer relationships | To manage projects and deliverables |
| Data | Collects and manages customer data, including contact information, purchase history, and customer interactions | Collects and manages project-related data, such as project timelines, task lists, and resource allocation |
| Focus | Customer focused | Project Focused |
| Functionality | Customer segmentation, lead management, sales forecasting, and marketing automation | Task management, scheduling, resource allocation, and project tracking |
| Collaboration | Enable communication between sales, marketing, and customer service teams | Enable document sharing, team chat, and project updates |
| Scope | Used across an entire organization | Used by project teams or departments |
Reasons Why Businesses Need CRM With Project Management
Businesses require both a project management system and a Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) to maintain high office productivity over time while adequately meeting customer demands.
Using these two software solutions together allows companies not only to handle individual contacts but also to ensure that projects stay on track across multiple departments simultaneously, regardless of how quickly things move within them. This eliminates confusion regarding instructions and needlessly duplicated work, saving money and valuable human resources.
Moreover, each data point collected will be consistently managed via automation, reducing the manual effort required while providing faster insights than ever before.
It enables corrective measures to be taken more quickly without the need for too much guesswork from managers who oversee everything, whether inside or outside their organization.
FAQs
1. How do I pick the best features of CRM for my firm?
When choosing a CRM system, it’s important to evaluate your business needs and goals to ensure the system fulfills the needs of your organization. Here are some steps you can take to make sure you pick the best CRM system for your firm:
1. Identify your business objectives: Determine what specific goals you want your CRM system to help you achieve, such as improving sales, customer service, or marketing efforts.
2. Identify your team’s needs: Take into account the specific needs of different departments and teams within your organization.
3. Integration: Consider if the CRM system can integrate with other software and systems you use, such as your accounting software, Marketing automation tools.
4. User-friendly Interface: Choose a CRM system with a user-friendly interface and easy navigation, making it easy for your team to use and manage.
5. Security measures: Check for data privacy and security measures the CRM system has in place, to ensure your customer’s data is protected.
The features of CRM mentioned above are some of the must-haves, make sure your CRM has all of the above so that your journey with the tool is simple and effortless.
2. Where is the importance of client management apps?
and automate various tasks related to managing client relationships. Here are a few benefits of client management apps for further clarity:
1. CRM tools allow businesses to store and organize client information in one central location, making it easy to access and update contact details, project progress, and more.
2. By automating tasks such as scheduling, invoicing, and project management, these apps can help businesses save time and increase productivity.
3. Many of these apps include features such as team collaboration, messaging, and notifications, which can help improve communication and coordination among team members and clients.
4. Better customer service: They can help businesses track customer support requests and improve their response times, leading to more satisfied customers.
5. Insightful analytics: With the data collected from the app, businesses can gain insights into customer behavior and preferences, and use that data to make informed decisions and improve the overall client experience.
6. Accessible from anywhere: With mobile-friendly interfaces or mobile apps, they enable businesses to access and update client information on the go.
Client management systems are a must-have if you are looking for ways to enhance and improve your customer relationship management process.
What are CRM Platforms?
A Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) is an integrated suite of software applications that businesses use to build successful relationships with potential and existing customers.
It includes various features such as data tracking, creating and analyzing promotional campaigns, and contact management.
Additionally, businesses can conveniently manage monthly or yearly subscriptions under one hub explicitly designed for small-to-medium enterprises.
This maximizes budget costs while adding value overall, which has never been seen before.
One significant advantage of CRM is its cloud hosting adaption, which makes it easy to use without requiring massive server allocations.
What are the three types of CRM?
There are three major categories of CRMs, Operational, Analytical, and Collaborative. Operational CRM is used for tracking sales leads, while Analytical CRM is used for gaining insights about clients. Collaborative CRM is used to support unified teamwork.
Depending on your company’s needs, you may implement just one type of CRM. However, it is highly recommended to conduct further research to determine which option is the best fit.
If none of the available options fit your company’s needs, consider checking out nTask’s feature package. This solution combines the most valuable features of each type of CRM, making it a practical option even after careful examination.
Additionally, nTask offers pocket-friendly prices and hassle-free onboarding.
Can I use Excel as a CRM?
Although Excel is widely popular because of its versatility and affordability, it may lack certain key functionalities necessary for organizing clients’ details appropriately compared to dedicated programs explicitly designed for those needs.
This is true regardless of whether we’re talking about enterprise-level strategies that have been downgraded due to budget restrictions or smaller organizations with less complex needs.
Therefore, caution should always be exercised when relying on Excel spreadsheets for managing client information. Planning phases should be given careful consideration to avoid inconvenient post-factum corrections.
If you decide to go the solo route and use Excel, it is essential to note that there may be limitations.
In such cases, it may be preferable to use purpose-built software explicitly designed for the task at hand, such as nTask. This approach can help save countless man-hours and guarantee quality results.
Conclusion
Project management software is essential for any business, as it allows you to track and manage your projects effectively.
However, finding the best software can be challenging, especially if you don’t have much experience in this area.
That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the best free online project management tools in 2023 to make your search easier. Make sure to check them out and choose the software that is best suited for your business needs!
