Best CRM for recruiters

As a recruiter, managing candidates, tracking communications, and organizing your hiring pipeline can quickly become overwhelming. A dedicated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for recruiters can help you stay organized by streamlining candidate information, automating follow-ups, and tracking the entire recruitment process—all from one platform. With the right CRM, you can improve candidate experience, stay on top of every interaction, and fill positions more efficiently.
In this blog post, we’ll explore the best CRM options for recruiters like you, focusing on tools that help you manage candidates, optimize workflows, and hire the best talent faster.

Why you need a CRM

Managing a recruiting agency with the right CRM in your tech stack can be challenging. Especially with multiple platforms involved, it can be hard to keep track of the candidates you need to stay on top of across multiple hiring plans. A CRM can help streamline these processes, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness.

Challenges without a CRM

Recruiters often face several challenges when managing multiple roles without a CRM. These include:

• Disorganization: Important candidate and client information scattered across various platforms.
• Missed opportunities: Failure to follow up promptly with potential candidates or clients.
• Inefficient processes: Manual data entry and tracking can be time-consuming and error-prone.
• Lack of insight: Difficulty in tracking performance metrics and understanding recruiter productivity.
• Inconsistent communication: Inability to maintain a uniform communication strategy with clients and candidates.

Benefits of a CRM

Fortunately a good CRM can help you address these challenges and provide extra benefits directly impacting business performance and outcomes.

• Centralized information: All candidate and client data stored in one accessible location.
• Enhanced efficiency: Streamlined processes reduce time spent on administrative tasks.
• Improved customer relationships: Better tracking and follow-up lead to stronger client and candidate relationships.
• Better decision-making: Access to comprehensive data and analytics informs strategic decisions.
• Increased sales: More effective management of leads and opportunities boosts revenue.
• Consistent communication: Automated communication tools ensure timely and uniform messaging.
  

How to evaluate and choose a CRM

With a lot of CRMs on the market to review, it can be hard to figure out which one will meet your requirements. To help you out with your decision making process, we've put together some tips that you can adapt to your specific requirements.

1. Define your requirements

As a recruiting agency founder, it's crucial to identify the key features you need in a CRM. Look for functionalities that streamline candidate management, job posting, and client interactions. Features like resume parsing, automated follow-ups, and robust reporting tools can significantly enhance your recruitment process. Ensure the CRM integrates seamlessly with your existing tools and platforms, such as LinkedIn, email, and job boards.

Key features of a CRM for recruiters

• Automated processes: Streamlines tasks by automating repetitive workflows.
• Contact enrichment: Automatically finds Leads, Candidates, Customers email addresses and contact information, enhancing efficiency.
• Structured pipeline: Tracks Leads, Candidates, Customers through defined stages, ensuring process clarity and effectiveness.
• Email sequences: Increases communication efficiency with follow-up templates and automated sequences.
• LinkedIn connection: Seamlessly imports potential candidates from LinkedIn and tracks contact information within the CRM.
• Analytics: Provides essential data analysis and predictive insights for better planning.

2. Budget considerations

Balancing cost and return on investment is vital when selecting a CRM. While it might be tempting to opt for the cheapest solution, consider the long-term benefits. An affordable CRM for recruiters should provide essential features without compromising on quality. Evaluate the pricing models—whether it's a subscription-based fee or a one-time purchase—and ensure it aligns with your budget while offering scalability as your agency grows.

3.Selection process

Researching and choosing the right CRM vendor involves several steps. Start by reading reviews and testimonials from other recruitment agencies. Attend webinars or demos to get a firsthand experience of the CRM's capabilities. Check the vendor's reputation for customer support and their willingness to offer customization options. A reliable vendor should also provide regular updates and improvements to their software.

4. Get a demo

Try and compare different CRM platforms specifically designed for recruiters. Use free trials or demo versions to test the CRM's usability and effectiveness in real-world scenarios. Pay attention to the user interface, ease of navigation, and the learning curve for your team. Get started with a demo of folk to see if it suits your recruitment processes.

4 tips for implementing a CRM

At this stage, it's time to get familiar with your new CRM in the shortest timeframe possible. To help you make the most of your first few weeks with your new CRM, we suggest ticking off these four things in your to-do list as soon as possible.

1. Import your data in your new CRM

Transitioning to a new CRM can be seamless if you import your existing data correctly. Start by exporting your data as a CSV file from your current CRM. Once exported, you can easily import the CSV files into your new CRM.

2. Create your first pipeline

Setting up your first pipeline is a crucial step in customizing your CRM for recruitment. Create stages that reflect your recruitment process, such as "New Application," "Screening," "Interview Scheduled," "Offer Made," and "Hired." This tailored pipeline will help you track candidates efficiently and improve your recruitment workflow.

3. Explore its integrations

Integrations are a great way to get your CRM to align with the tech stack already in your workflow. Make sure you explore the integrations your new CRM comes with so that you can use them to automate any repetitive tasks.

4. Onboard your team

Effective CRM implementation involves getting your team on board. Conduct training sessions to familiarize your recruiters with the new system, highlighting its benefits and functionalities. Ensure they understand how to use the CRM to streamline their tasks, from candidate sourcing to hiring. A well-trained team will maximize the CRM's potential and drive better recruitment outcomes.

The 5 best CRMs for recruiters

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.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator to track all your candidates within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication. With an option to import contacts either individually or as search lists.
• Mail merge and email sequences: Full email sync compatible with Gmail and Outlook, with access to 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, track conversations within folk, and use templates for quicker, streamlined communication.
• Customizability: Custom fields, pipelines, 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 attracting both candidates and clients.
• Sales hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting to streamline the recruitment process and manage candidate pipelines effectively.
• Lead scoring: Prioritize leads (candidates and clients) with predictive scoring to improve recruitment efficiency and focus on high-potential opportunities.
• Operations hub: Syncs and automates business processes across different systems, ensuring that all recruitment activities are seamlessly integrated.
• Customizable dashboard and reports: Allows recruiters to create customized dashboards and reports to track metrics and gain insights into recruitment performance.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: The intuitive interface makes it easy for recruiters to navigate and manage their tasks efficiently.
• Comprehensive free plan: Offers a robust free version that includes essential CRM features, ideal for small recruiting agencies and startups.
• Seamless integration with Marketing Tools: Integrates smoothly with marketing and sales hubs, creating a unified platform for managing candidates and clients.
• Automation capabilities: Provides powerful automation tools for tasks like email marketing and lead nurturing, helping recruiters save time and improve efficiency.
• Extensive learning resources: HubSpot Academy offers a wealth of free courses and resources to help recruiters get the most out of the platform.

Cons

• High cost at higher tiers: Pricing can become expensive at higher tiers, which may be prohibitive for small recruiting agencies as they scale.
• Limited customization in free plan: The free plan and lower tiers have limited customization options, restricting flexibility for growing recruitment agencies.
• Complexity in advanced features: Some advanced features have a steep learning curve and may require additional training for recruiters.
• Email marketing limits: Email marketing functionality in the free plan is restricted by limits on the number of emails, which can be a drawback for agencies with larger candidate lists.
• Additional costs for add-ons: Many useful features come as paid add-ons, increasing the overall cost for comprehensive recruitment functionality.

Price and plans

There are a few plans to choose from but we think the CRM suite will be most suitable. its annual subscription plans is as follows.

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

3. 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.

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Key features

• 1 sales pipeline: Easily manage and track your recruitment process from initial contact to placement.
• 30,000 contacts: Store and manage extensive candidate and client databases without worrying about running out of space.
• Workflow automation: Automate repetitive tasks and streamline recruitment workflows to save time and increase efficiency.
• Key integrations: Integrate with popular tools like G Suite, Microsoft 365, and Mailchimp to create a seamless recruitment workflow.
• Activity reporting: Gain insights into recruiter performance and track key metrics to optimize your recruitment strategies.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: Capsule CRM offers a clean and intuitive design, making it easy for recruiters to navigate and quickly access important features, reducing the learning curve.
• Contact and sales management: The platform provides robust tools for managing candidates, clients, and job leads, helping recruiters maintain a clear view of their relationships and recruitment pipeline.
• Customization options: Capsule CRM allows users to customize fields, tags, and pipelines to fit their specific recruitment needs, offering flexibility in managing data and processes.
• Integration capabilities: Capsule integrates with various popular third-party applications, creating a seamless workflow across recruitment tools.
• Affordability: Capsule CRM offers competitive pricing with affordable premium options, making it accessible for recruitment startups and small agencies.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Capsule CRM lacks more advanced features such as in-depth analytics and comprehensive automation, which can be a limitation for larger recruitment firms.
• Basic email marketing capabilities: While Capsule integrates with email marketing tools, its built-in email marketing features are relatively basic, requiring reliance on third-party integrations for advanced needs.
• Limited customer support: Capsule primarily offers support through email and an online help center, which might be a downside for recruiters who prefer immediate assistance.
• Scalability concerns: While Capsule CRM is great for small to medium-sized recruitment agencies, rapidly growing firms might find the platform less scalable as they expand.

Price and plans

Capsule's annual subscription plans are as follows.

• 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.

4. Salesforce

Salesforce is a robust CRM platform for large enterprises, offering tools for sales, marketing, service, and analytics, with extensive scalability.

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Key features

• Customization and scalability: Highly customizable and scalable, allowing recruiters to tailor the platform to specific workflows and manage significant growth.
• Artificial intelligence (AI) integration: Salesforce Einstein offers AI-driven analytics and automation, providing insights that help recruiters optimize their strategies.
• Extensive integration capabilities: Integrates with a wide range of third-party applications, ensuring seamless operation across different recruitment systems.
• Advanced analytics and reporting: Powerful analytics and reporting tools allow recruiters to gain deep insights into their data and make informed decisions.
• Mobile accessibility: A robust mobile app allows recruiters to manage their CRM on the go, with full access to all key features.

Pros

• Comprehensive feature set: Offers an extensive range of features covering all aspects of recruitment, making it a powerful tool for managing leads, candidates, and customers.
• Highly customizable: Allows recruiters to tailor the platform to their specific needs with custom fields, objects, and workflows.
• Extensive integration capabilities: Integrates with a vast array of third-party applications, enabling seamless data flow across platforms.
• Scalability: Suitable for recruitment agencies of all sizes, with the ability to grow with your business.
• Advanced analytics and reporting: Provides powerful analytics and reporting tools, allowing recruiters to gain deep insights into their data and make informed decisions.

Cons

• High cost: Can be expensive, especially for small to medium-sized recruitment agencies, with high licensing fees and additional costs for add-ons and customization.
• Steep learning curve: Requires significant time and training for users to become proficient due to its extensive feature set and complexity.
• Complex setup and customization: Initial setup and customization can be challenging and often require expert help or certified consultants, which adds to the overall cost.
• Overwhelming for small teams: The robust features may be overkill for smaller recruitment teams, leading to underutilization of the platform’s capabilities.
• Integration complexity: While offering extensive integration capabilities, integrating it with third-party applications can be complex and require technical expertise.

Price and plans

On an annual subscription, Salesforce’s Service Cloud plan is as follows.

• Starter suite: $25/user/month provides basic CRM features for small businesses.
• Pro suite: $100/user/month includes advanced tools for growing businesses.
• Enterprise plan: $165/user/month offers extensive customization and automation for large companies.
• Unlimited plan: $330/user/month provides comprehensive features for large enterprises.
• Einstein 1 Sales: $500/user/month provides AI-driven insights and advanced features for large enterprises.

5. Zoho

Zoho is a CRM system with a strong sales focus. It has journey orchestration, sales process management, and workflow automation features. There's also something for marketing teams, including event management and customer segmentation.

Key features

• Sales automation: Automates tasks like lead management, candidate tracking, and follow-up actions.
• Customizable dashboards and reports: Create and customize dashboards and reports for in-depth analytics on candidates and clients.
• Multi-channel communication: Integrates with email, phone, social media, and live chat to manage interactions with candidates and clients.
• Lead and contact management: Manages candidate and client information, tracks interactions, and segments contacts for targeted recruiting campaigns.
• Workflow automation: Automates routine tasks and processes to improve efficiency and reduce manual effort in the recruitment process.

Pros

• Affordability: Offers competitive pricing with various tiers, making it accessible to recruitment agencies of all sizes.
• Customization: Extensive customization options allow agencies to tailor the CRM to their specific recruitment needs, including custom fields and workflows.
• Integration with Zoho suite: Seamless integration with other Zoho products like Zoho Recruit and Zoho Campaigns, creating a comprehensive ecosystem for managing recruitment functions.
• Multi-channel communication: Supports email, phone, social media, and live chat, enabling agencies to manage all candidate and client interactions from a single platform.
• AI-powered features: Zia, the AI assistant, provides intelligent insights, predictive analytics, and task automation, helping to improve recruiting efficiency.

Cons

• Steep learning curve: Extensive customization options can be overwhelming for new users, requiring significant time investment to master the platform.
• Complex setup: Initial setup and configuration can be complex, particularly for agencies without technical expertise or dedicated IT resources.
• Performance issues: Occasional reports of slow performance, especially with large datasets or complex operations, can hinder productivity.
• Limited third-party integrations: While Zoho integrates well with its own suite of products, integration with third-party applications can be limited or require additional effort.
• Customization requires technical knowledge: Advanced customizations often require technical expertise, which can be a barrier for non-technical users.

Price and plans

Zoho's free plan is limited to three users. After that, more features and seats on an annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month.
• Professional: $35 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $50 per user, per month.

Conclusion

With so many candidates and hiring plans to juggle in recruitment, having the right CRM can make a significant difference in your recruitment team's efficiency and success. From folk's intuitive interface and seamless LinkedIn integration to Salesforce's comprehensive feature set and scalability, each CRM offers unique advantages tailored to different needs and budgets. HubSpot's user-friendly design and extensive learning resources make it an excellent choice for small to medium-sized agencies, while Capsule CRM's simplicity and affordability cater to startups. Zoho's customizable and affordable solutions are ideal for agencies seeking extensive automation and multi-channel communication. Ultimately, the best CRM for your recruiting agency will depend on your specific requirements, budget, and growth plans. Evaluate your options carefully, leverage free trials, and choose a CRM that aligns with your goals to optimize your recruitment process and drive better outcomes. Try folk for free now.

Need a helping hand? Use our free tool to find your perfect CRM match.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do recruiters use as a CRM?

Recruiters often use CRM platforms like folk, Hubspot, Capsule CRM, Salesforce, and Zoho. These tools help manage candidate and client data, streamline workflows, and enhance communication, making the recruitment process more efficient and effective.

Do I need a CRM?

Yes, depending on the complexity of your recruitment process. A CRM can help you manage candidate and client information, automate repetitive tasks, and improve communication, ultimately making your recruitment efforts more efficient and organized.

How much does a CRM cost?

CRM costs can vary widely. Entry-level plans may start at around $15 per user per month, while more advanced plans can go up to $500 per user per month. The cost often depends on the features and scalability you need for your recruiting agency.

Does folk’s CRM respond to recruiters needs?

Yes, folk’s CRM is designed to meet recruiters' needs effectively. It offers an intuitive interface, seamless LinkedIn integration, automated email sequences, and customizable pipelines. These features streamline the recruitment process, making it easier to manage candidates and clients efficiently.