Best CRM for networking

As someone who values networking, managing connections, following up with contacts, and staying organized can be key to building lasting relationships and creating new opportunities. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system designed for networking can help you streamline these tasks by keeping track of contacts, automating follow-ups, and organizing your interactions—all in one place. With the right CRM, you can enhance your networking efforts, stay on top of important relationships, and make the most of your connections.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the best CRM options for networking, focusing on tools that will help you manage your network more effectively and build stronger, long-term relationships.

Why You Need a CRM

It's hard to leverage the network you've built without having all the information you need at hand. Details such as when you last interacted with someone, and where you met them can make a difference whether you're building a new business relationship, or following up with a contact you've known for a long time.

Challenges without a CRM

If you're unsure how having a platform can bring everything in one place for you – we've listed some challenges below that you might already be experiencing without realising.

• Disorganization: Keeping track of contacts and interactions becomes chaotic and time-consuming.
• Missed opportunities: Potential leads and follow-ups can slip through the cracks, costing you valuable business.
• Inefficient processes: Manual data entry and scattered information waste precious time and resources.
• Lack of insight: Without analytics, understanding customer behavior and preferences is challenging.
• Inconsistent communication: Irregular follow-ups and communication gaps can harm relationships and trust.

Benefits of a CRM

If you're exploring a CRM for the first time, we've put together some benefits you should expect from one that aligns with your ways of work and tech stack below.

• Centralized information: All contact details and interactions are stored in one place, making it easy to access and manage.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automated processes reduce manual tasks, freeing up time for strategic activities.
• Improved customer relationships: Personalized communication and timely follow-ups strengthen client connections.
• Better decision-making: Data-driven insights help you make informed decisions and tailor your approach.
• Increased sales: Efficient lead management and targeted outreach boost conversion rates.
• Consistent communication: Automated reminders and templates ensure regular and professional interactions.
  

How to make the most of your networking efforts with a CRM

There are a few ways you can make the most of your networking efforts with a CRM. From clarifying your goals and process, to nurturing existing business relationships, we've rounded up our top tips.

1. Map your process

Be clear on whether or not you intend to use your CRM for networking online or offline – or both. CRM tools can be helpful to outline your networking stages, from initial contact to relationship building. Define clear milestones like meeting scheduling, follow-up, and engagement tracking to ensure no opportunity slips through the cracks.

2. Notes and reminders

Some CRMs have useful features that allow you to add notes and assign reminders to yourself so you don't forget to follow-up further down the line. Our favourite way of using the notes section is to put handy tips such as the name of the event where we last met a contact.

3. Outreach and follow-up

Instead of manually sending out follow-ups, leverage your CRM's automation features to create personalized email sequences and LinkedIn messages. Set up triggers for timely follow-ups, ensuring consistent communication without manual effort.

4. Don't forget your existing contacts

Use your CRM data to identify opportunities for deeper engagement. Develop targeted campaigns to introduce new products or services, share success stories, and invite existing contacts to exclusive events, fostering stronger relationships and potential upsell opportunities.

How to evaluate and choose a CRM platform

1. Define your requirements

It's crucial to identify the key features you need in a CRM. Look for functionalities such as contact management, event tracking, and integration with social media platforms. These features will help you manage and nurture your relationships more effectively, allowing you to focus on building valuable connections.

Key features of a CRM for networking

• Automated processes: Streamlines tasks by automating repetitive workflows.
• Contact enrichment: Automatically finds Leads, Investors, Investments opportunities email addresses and contact information, enhancing efficiency.
• Structured pipeline: Tracks Leads, Investors, Investments opportunities through defined stages, ensuring process clarity and effectiveness.
• Mail merge and email sequences: Increases communication efficiency and consistency with follow-up templates and automated sequences.
• Social media integration: Seamlessly imports contacts from multiple channels to track contact information in real-time within the CRM.
• Analytics: Provides essential data analysis and predictive insights for better planning.

2. Budget considerations

Balancing cost and return on investment is essential when choosing a CRM for networking. Startups often operate on tight budgets, so look for a solution that offers flexible pricing plans or a freemium model. Ensure that the CRM provides enough value to justify its cost, helping you maximize your networking efforts without breaking the bank.

3. Selection process

Researching and choosing the right CRM vendor involves several steps. Begin by reading reviews and testimonials from other startup founders. Attend webinars or request demos to see the CRM in action. Additionally, consider the vendor’s customer support and training resources to ensure a smooth onboarding process.

4. Get a demo

From your shortlist, try out different CRM platforms to compare their features and usability to your workflow and needs. Pay attention to how each CRM handles networking-specific tasks, such as managing contacts from networking events and tracking follow-ups. Make your decision based on which platform best aligns with your networking goals and offers the most intuitive user experience. Get started with a demo of folk here.

3 tips for implementing a CRM

1. Import your data in your new CRM

Once you've chosen your CRM, the next step is to import your existing data. Most CRMs allow you to export your data as a CSV file from your current system. Importing your data ensures that you start with a comprehensive database, making your networking efforts more efficient.

2. Create your first pipeline

Creating your first pipeline is a critical step in organizing your networking activities. Customize the pipeline with statuses that reflect your networking process, such as "Initial Contact," "Follow-Up," "Meeting Scheduled," and "Partnership Established." This tailored pipeline will help you track the progress of your networking efforts and ensure that no opportunity slips through the cracks.

3. Onboard your team

Effective CRM implementation requires that your entire team is on board. Conduct training sessions to familiarize your team with the new CRM's features and best practices. Encourage them to input and update networking information regularly. A well-trained team will maximize the CRM's potential, making your networking efforts more cohesive and productive.

The 5 best CRMs for networking

1. folk

folk is a modern CRM platform for managing contacts, workflows, and relationships, offering customizable pipelines, AI-driven tools, and integrations to enhance deal management and prospecting.

Key features

• Contact enrichment: Automatically enriches contact details by finding emails and LinkedIn URLs, enabling efficient outreach without manual data entry or additional costs for email services.
• Social media integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn, Instagram, X and more track all your contact information in real time within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Mail merge and email sequences: Full email sync compatible with Gmail and Outlook including templates, and tracking features, enabling users to manage all communications directly from the CRM.
• AI-Powered features: AI tools assist in managing contacts and relationships, automating routine tasks, and suggesting actions to improve productivity.
• Integrations: folk integrates seamlessly with over 6,000 apps, including Gmail, Zapier, and Make, allowing users to centralize their workflow and reduce manual data entry.

Pros

• Ease of use: folk is praised for its intuitive interface, making it accessible even to non-technical users with quick onboarding and a minimal learning curve.
• All-in-one: folk streamlines your workflow by allowing you to import contacts from LinkedIn, automatically find their emails, reach out through customizable email sequences, and track interactions in a pipeline, eliminating the need for multiple tools and saving time and money.
• LinkedIn Integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator, track profiles within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Customizability: Personalization across custom fields, pipelines, dashboards, automation and workflows.
• Integrations: folk integrates seamlessly with over 6,000 apps, including Gmail, Zapier, and Make, allowing users to centralize their workflow and reduce manual data entry.

Cons

• Reporting: Currently lacks reporting features, but there are plans for future implementation.

Price and plans

You can try folk for free with a 14-day free trial. After that, a monthly or annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month.
• Premium: $40 per user, per month.
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month.

2. HubSpot

Hubspot CRM is a user-friendly, scalable platform offering integrated tools for managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations efficiently.

Key features

• Marketing Hub: Includes email marketing, ad tracking, landing pages, and lead generation tools, essential for capturing and nurturing potential leads and investors.
• Sales Hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting, crucial for managing investment opportunities and investor relations.
• Lead scoring: Prioritize leads with predictive scoring to identify high-potential networking opportunities and streamline follow-ups.
• Operations Hub: Syncs and automates business processes across different systems, ensuring seamless coordination and efficiency in networking activities.
• Customizable dashboard and reports: Allows users to create customized dashboards and reports to track networking metrics and gain insights into relationship-building efforts.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: The intuitive and easy-to-use interface makes it accessible for startup founders, even those with limited CRM experience.
• Comprehensive free plan: Offers a robust free version that includes essential CRM features, making it ideal for startups looking to manage networking without significant upfront costs.
• Seamless integration with marketing tools: Integrates smoothly with marketing, sales, and service hubs, creating a unified platform for managing leads, investors, and investment opportunities.
• Automation capabilities: Provides powerful automation tools for tasks like email marketing and lead nurturing, helping startups efficiently manage and grow their network.
• Customizable dashboard and reports: Allows users to create customized dashboards and reports to track networking metrics and gain insights into business performance.

Cons

• High cost at higher tiers: The pricing can become expensive as you move to higher tiers, which may be prohibitive for small businesses as they scale.
• Limited customization in free plan: The free plan and lower tiers have limited customization options, which can restrict flexibility for growing businesses.
• Complexity in advanced features: Some advanced features, such as custom reporting and workflows, have a steep learning curve and may require additional training.
• Email marketing limits: Email marketing functionality in the free plan is restricted by limits on the number of emails you can send, which can be a drawback for businesses with larger lists.
• Additional costs for add-ons: Many useful features, like advanced CRM capabilities and integrations, come as paid add-ons, increasing the overall cost.

Prices and plans

HubSpot has a free forever plan, after which there are a few plans to choose from depending on what hub you're after. The following prices are focused on their CRM suite.

• Starter: $15 per user, per month.
• Professional: $450 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $1,500 per user, per month.

3. Less Annoying CRM

Less Annoying CRM is a customer relationship management (CRM) software designed to be simple. It focuses on simplicity and ease of use, providing a straightforward platform for managing contacts, tracking leads, and staying organized.

Key features

• Unlimited contacts and companies
• Unlimited pipelines
• Email logging
• User permissions
• Mobile access

Pros

• User-friendly interface: The software is designed with simplicity in mind, making it easy for users, especially those new to CRM systems, to navigate and use without extensive training.
• Affordable pricing: Less Annoying CRM offers a straightforward pricing model with a flat monthly fee and no contracts, making it an affordable option for small businesses with limited budgets.
• Cloud-based access: Being cloud-based allows users to access the CRM from anywhere with an internet connection, providing flexibility and convenience for remote teams.
• Customer support: The company is known for its responsive and friendly customer support, offering personalized assistance without any additional cost.
• Free trial: Less Annoying CRM provides a 30-day free trial, allowing users to explore all its features and determine if it's a good fit for their business before committing financially.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Compared to more robust CRM systems, Less Annoying CRM lacks some advanced features like marketing automation, advanced analytics, and extensive customization options, which may not be suitable for larger businesses or those with more complex needs.
• Basic reporting capabilities: The reporting features are relatively simple, which may not meet the needs of businesses looking for detailed analytics and insights into their sales and customer interactions.
• Limited integrations: Less Annoying CRM offers fewer integrations with third-party apps compared to some competitors, potentially limiting its utility for businesses relying on a wide range of software tools.
• Customization constraints: The CRM has limited customization options, which might be restrictive for businesses that need a highly tailored CRM solution to fit specific workflows and processes.

Price and plans

Only one plan is available at $15 per user, per month.

4. Capsule CRM

Capsule CRM is a user-friendly customer relationship management platform designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It offers a clean, intuitive interface that helps users manage customer relationships, track sales pipelines, and organize tasks and communications efficiently.

Key features

• 30,000 contacts: Ideal for managing a large number of leads, investors, and investment opportunities.
• Key integrations: Seamlessly integrate with tools like Microsoft 365, and Mailchimp to enhance your networking efforts.
• Task management: Keep track of follow-ups, meetings, and networking tasks efficiently.
• Workflow automation: Automate repetitive tasks to focus more on building relationships and networking.
• Activity reporting: Gain insights into your networking activities and track your progress effectively.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: Capsule CRM offers a clean and intuitive design, making it easy to navigate and quickly access important networking features.
• Contact and sales management: Robust tools for managing contacts, organizing investor information, and tracking investment opportunities help maintain a clear view of your networking pipeline.
• Customization options: Customize fields, tags, and pipelines to fit your networking needs, offering flexibility in managing leads and investors.
• Integration capabilities: Integrates with popular third-party applications like G Suite, Microsoft 365, and Mailchimp, creating a seamless workflow for your networking efforts.
• Affordability: Competitive pricing with a free plan for basic needs and affordable premium options, making it accessible for startup founders and small businesses.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Lacks more advanced features such as in-depth analytics and comprehensive automation, which might be a limitation for rapidly growing businesses.
• Basic email marketing capabilities: Built-in email marketing capabilities are relatively basic, requiring reliance on third-party integrations for advanced features.
• Limited customer support: Primarily offers support through email and an online help center, lacking live chat or phone support for immediate assistance.
• No built-in phone or SMS integration: Does not have built-in phone or SMS functionality, which could be a disadvantage for businesses relying heavily on direct communication.
• Scalability concerns: While great for small to medium-sized businesses, rapidly growing companies might find the platform less scalable as they expand.

Price and plans

• Starter plan: Starts from $21 per user, per month.
• Growth plan: Starts from $38 per user, per month.
• Advanced plan: Starts from $60 per user, per month.
• Ultimate plan: Starts from $75 per user, per month.

5. Streak

Streak is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool that integrates directly with Gmail, allowing users to manage their sales pipeline and customer interactions from within their email inbox. Designed to simplify CRM tasks, Streak offers features such as email tracking, mail merge, task management, and pipeline visualization, all seamlessly embedded in Gmail’s interface.

Key features

• Advanced CRM: Ideal for tracking leads, investors, and investment opportunities with robust CRM functionalities.
• Shared pipelines: Perfect for collaborative networking, allowing team members to manage and view contacts and opportunities together.
• Email tracking and snippets: Helps in monitoring communication with leads and investors, ensuring no follow-up is missed.
• Contacts: Efficiently manage and categorize networking contacts, including leads and potential investors.
• Google Workspace integrations: Seamlessly integrates with Google Workspace, enhancing productivity and collaboration.

Pros

• Seamless Gmail integration: Streak is directly integrated into Gmail, allowing users to manage CRM activities without leaving their email inbox. This integration simplifies the user experience, especially for those already familiar with Gmail.
• User-friendly and intuitive: Because it operates within Gmail, Streak is easy to use and requires minimal training. The familiar interface makes it accessible even to those new to CRM software.
• Customizable pipelines: Streak allows users to create and customize pipelines to fit various workflows, such as managing leads, investors, and investment opportunities, offering flexibility across different networking processes.
• Email tracking and automation: Streak includes useful features like email tracking, mail merge, and automated follow-ups, which help users manage communication more effectively and improve response rates.
• Collaboration features: Streak enables real-time collaboration, allowing team members to share pipelines, emails, and notes, improving teamwork and visibility across networking efforts.

Cons

• Limited advanced CRM features: Compared to standalone CRM platforms, Streak lacks some advanced features like detailed analytics, advanced reporting, and marketing automation, which may not meet the needs of larger or more complex organizations.
• Reliance on Gmail: As Streak is tied to Gmail, it may not be suitable for businesses that use other email platforms. This dependency also means that any changes or issues with Gmail could directly impact Streak’s functionality.
• Basic mobile experience: While Streak has a mobile app, it offers a more limited experience compared to its desktop counterpart, which might be inconvenient for users who need comprehensive CRM access on the go.
• Integration limitations: Streak has fewer integrations with other software tools compared to more robust CRM systems, potentially limiting its effectiveness for businesses that rely heavily on a variety of third-party applications.
• Potential email clutter: Since Streak operates within Gmail, managing a large volume of CRM data within an email interface can lead to clutter and make it harder to maintain a clear, organized inbox.

Price and plans

• Pro: Starts from $49 per user, per month.
• Pro +: Starts from $69 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: Starts from $129 per user, per month.

Conclusion

Having the right CRM can be a game-changer for your networking efforts. Whether you choose folk for its AI-driven tools and seamless LinkedIn integration, HubSpot for its comprehensive suite of marketing and sales features, Less Annoying CRM for its simplicity and affordability, Capsule CRM for its user-friendly interface and customization options, or Streak for its direct Gmail integration, each offers unique advantages tailored to different needs and budgets. By leveraging these tools, you can streamline your networking processes, enhance efficiency, and ultimately drive growth for your startup. Don't miss the opportunity to try folk for free here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do busy networkers use as a CRM?

Networkers often utilize CRM platforms such as folk, Hubspot, Less Annoying CRM, Capsule CRM, and Streak. These tools help streamline contact management, automate workflows, and enhance networking efficiency, making them ideal for managing relationships and growing their business.

Do I need a CRM?

Yes, depending on the complexity of your process. A CRM can help manage contacts, automate tasks, and provide valuable insights, making it essential for efficiently handling networking and business relationships.

How much does a CRM cost?

CRM pricing varies widely. Basic plans can start as low as $15 per user per month, while more advanced plans can go up to $1,500 per user per month. The cost depends on the features and scalability required for your business.

Does folk’s CRM respond to networking needs?

Yes, folk’s CRM is designed to meet networking needs effectively. It offers features like contact enrichment, LinkedIn integration, customizable pipelines, and AI-powered tools, which streamline the process of managing relationships and enhance overall networking efficiency.