Eighty percent of inbound leads do not convert because sales organizations lack adequate follow-up processes to stay engaged with leads. This article describes how to create a demand capture system utilizing specific software, routing rules, and defining service level agreements (SLAs) for every five minutes to follow-up with closed-won leads back into the media/advertising channels. Instead of treating your software as a panacea, configure it for maximum pipeline execution.

Stop Losing Demand with a CRM for Lead Generation

Speed equals conversion. Research proves that the likelihood of a lead converting increases by almost nine times when responding to an inbound inquiry within five minutes versus waiting for thirty (30) minutes to respond. Yet, most organizations ignore this fact. According to 44% of sales reps, they have too many other responsibilities to respond to every inbound lead in a timely manner resulting in high pipeline leakage.

If your organization does not have strict SLAs built into your system, you are wasting your marketing budget. Automation is the primary factor that separates high-performing revenue teams from failing revenue teams. By automating your early-stage lead routing and scoring, you can see an increase of at least 10% revenue growth within 6-9 months.

The best-case scenario for your organization is having your software automatically route and score the inquiry and provide the marketing department with the information so that they can respond to leads instantaneously.

The primary function of your system should be mechanical. You should eliminate all manual data entry, automatically score the intent of the leads, and put the qualified lead in front of an available sales representative in seconds.

If the software you choose does not allow for server-side tracking, immediately notify you of prospects and provide a way for you to route data in a custom manner, then you have selected the wrong software for your business.

You must create a specific internal data flow for your software prior to selecting it (see below for some examples of what this could look like). Mixing outbound target requests and inbound inquiry requests in the same funnel will skew your analytics and also confuse your sales team.

Separating Inbound and Outbound Pipelines

To develop a multi-motion architecture, separate the inbound and outbound portions of your pipeline. For example, when a prospect requests a quote via email, this should trigger an immediate phone call to the prospect.

Conversely, a database lead from an outbound target will usually take much longer to convert than an inbound lead, so you may want to create several lengthy email follow-up sequences before sending the outbound lead to the main pipeline.

Inbound and outbound target data types should be kept separate until an outbound target obviously responds to your initial contact and expresses interest in your solutions (i.e., once an outbound target has become a marketing qualified lead (MQL) or sales qualified lead (SQL)). Then, only at that time, will you want to convert them into a standard MQL or SQL by pushing them into the main pipeline.

Tracking Your Advertising Success

Lastly, deep attribution is critical to your operation. The standard pixel for tracking has become increasingly less reliable due to changes in privacy practices. Therefore, your system must provide for a method to sync your conversion events with the advertising platforms (namely, Meta and LinkedIn) using the new server-side conversion sync.

When your prospect reaches the "closed-won" stage, you must immediately push that conversion event back to the ad platform, thus teaching the advertising platform the characteristics of a paying customer, which will ultimately lower your cost of acquisition over time.

Top 20 CRM Platforms for Lead Generation

The top 20 CRM platforms for pipeline automation are below.

1. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot is the default operating system for companies focused heavily on inbound marketing. The software is designed with very robust native connections between ad clicks, landing pages, landing page forms, email sequences, and your sales pipeline. Companies using the software, after implementing automatic routing rules, have reported an increase in revenue of 10% on average within six to nine months.

Using this CRM for lead generation, you can create exact, copy/paste automation blueprints. For example, you can create a rule that triggers when your lead source is "LinkedIn Ads" and your lead score is equal to or greater than 70. When these conditions are met, the records are automatically assigned to an available representative and placed in a three-step email nurturing sequence.

The primary concern with HubSpot is its pricing model. While the basic CRM functionality of the software is free, pricing for Sales Hub Pro starts at $45 per seat/monthly. The software's pricing structure becomes complex and can quickly become prohibitive for companies paying for unused or dead data (i.e., data that will not generate a sale).

2. Salesforce Sales Cloud (Enterprise-Grade)

Salesforce is an enterprise-grade infrastructure designed to manage large, complex sales operations.

It will require a dedicated Salesforce administrator and provides unparalleled functionality to set up custom routing rules, territory management and detailed approval rules. By implementing external intent data into Salesforce dashboards, one B2B software company experienced a 40% increase in qualified pipeline.

Salesforce is not a fit if you have a small team and want a quick setup. You must configure MQL-to-SQL hand-off protocols and lead assignment rules from scratch, and the AppExchange ecosystem provides a way to connect nearly any third-party data enrichment solution available in the marketplace.

Essentials pricing starts with $25 per user/month while Enterprise Editions begin at $175 per user/month. You will also be required to incur significant costs associated with the initial setup and required implementation consulting.

3. Zoho CRM

For small and mid-market organizations seeking to be able to implement multi-channel capture without incurring the exorbitant software costs associated with enterprise solutions, Zoho provides a wealth of value.

With Zoho's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, Zia, users can score leads based on their behaviors, so they can prioritize their next calls.

In addition, companies using both Zoho and other data enrichment tools may find their lead quality increased by around 47% over time. The interface of Zoho is somewhat heavier and somewhat dated in comparison to other software, but it has exceptional functionality.

Users are able to set up automated stage gates and avoid having duplicate records corrupt their database with ease. For budget-restricted operations seeking to efficiently scale, Zoho has a free tier for up to 3 users and the Standard tier is available for only $14 per user/month.

4. Pipedrive

Pipedrive uses an activity-based sales methodology. Rather than looking at static information on the screen, Pipedrive forces the user to focus exclusively on their next required action.

The visual representation of the flow of the customer's pipeline in a Kanban board makes it easy for sales managers to identify bottlenecks that need immediate attention.

Automatic activity reminders greatly decrease the number of leads that become inactive due to lack of follow-up. The Pipedrive software is lightweight and designed for speed; therefore, it will work best for customers who are primarily action-oriented with their sales approach. The Lite tier is priced at $14 per user/month.

Pipedrive currently requires users to purchase a special add-on called LeadBooster at a fee of $32.50 per month per company to gain access to more advanced capture functionalities such as web forms and chatbots. Also, there is not the same level of native marketing automation as found in HubSpot that would require you to again use an external email software for long-term nurture campaigns.

5. Freshsales (Freshworks)

Freshsales is specifically built for teams who want all communication channels in one single window interface. Freshsales' core system includes phone, chat and email as core modules built into the platform, allowing representatives to avoid switching tabs between other applications by having Freshsales as their one-stop shop for all communication needs.

The Freshsales platform also has Freddy AI, a predictive scoring model that users report has improved their conversion rates by 20%-30% by identifying prospects that have a higher likelihood of purchasing.

Freshsales has a free tier for up to 3 users, making it very accessible. The Growth tier starts at $15/user/month. Freshsales’ core focus is on keeping the technology stack simple and consolidated for the end user and as such is probably less likely to meet the advanced server-side attribution needs of large-spend performance marketing agencies.

6. monday sales CRM

Originally built as a project management tool, monday has a very visual and fully-customizable interface. Teams that want to link their sales processes directly to the backend of operations and fulfillment often choose to use monday.

Also included with monday is powerful no-code automation blocks that allow managers to create complex routing logic without having to write a single line of code. The Basic tier of the monday platform charges $12 a month per user. The Standard tier is $17 a month per user.

This tier works well for teams who focus on having an organized view of their boards and creating tailored columns. However, due to the layout of the platform, it may not be the best fit for traditional, fast-paced, high-volume outbound sales organizations who use dialers frequently.

7. Close

Close has been developed for high-velocity, fast-paced outbound sales teams. The platform is a call-first solution with both a native Power Dialer and built-in SMS functionality. With reps using a single system, there is dramatically less downtime between cold calls and follow-ups to cold calls.

If your primary motion is to scrape lists and call in large bulk outbound blocks, then this will be the most effective tool for you. The Startup tier costs $25 monthly per user. The Growth tier is $99 monthly per user.

It is important to note that Close was not designed to be used as an inbound marketing platform. Close does not have the advanced landing page builder or ad-sync capabilities that many of the inbound marketing platforms have.

8. Keap

Keap is geared toward service businesses such as consulting firms, coaching companies, and any home service providers. Keap merges contact management with scheduling, billing, and marketing automation.

It offers users the ability to design visual campaigns that will automate the entire customer journey from initial inquiry to receiving an appointment confirmation and then billing.

This automation helps to relieve the administrative burden placed upon small business owners and allows them to do what they do best. The entry price for Keap starts at a lower point, around $159 monthly, for two users and includes 1,500 contacts.

It was initially designed as a sales pipeline tool for sales floors. However, it can also be used as a general operating system for startups, since it includes most operating systems' core features in one package.

9. ActiveCampaign

ActiveCampaign is an advanced marketing automation platform used to automate customer experience. It has its own sales module built into the platform. ActiveCampaign's specific expertise is omni-channel nurturing at scale.

If you rely on numerous complex logical processes for your email marketing automation implementation, and behavioural triggers based on email and web interactions before your representatives contact prospects by phone, then this is the right platform for you.

Sales Plus is the mid-level version of ActiveCampaign. It costs $23 per month per user, and enables you to create custom scoring systems based on how prospects engage with your emails and websites. When prospects achieve a particular score, ActiveCampaign directs these leads to an active deal status. Sales teams who rely heavily on marketing providing the majority of the customer journey before transferring a file to a salesperson will benefit greatly from this software.

10. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Sales

MS Dynamics is a large enterprise level system designed specifically to integrate seamlessly with the overall Microsoft ecosystem (Teams, Outlook, Office, etc).

This new version of Dynamics 365 has a built-in AI assistant called Copilot which reviews the history of data and recommends best next steps for your prospects based on their likelihood of converting. If you plan on running a large sales floor that crosses many countries, this will be an invaluable tool for you.

Sales Professional is the basic tier of Dynamics 365 Sales and starts at $65 per user per month. Similar to Salesforce, MS Dynamics requires dedicated administrative support to implement, and a lengthy implementation process, as well as a strict system of internal data governance.

Dynamics 365 Sales is not designed for small teams but does provide world-class data security and allows for complex alignment of organization structure to multiple locations of a company's sales floors.

11. Saleshandy CRM

From its humble beginnings as an automated cold email tool, Saleshandy has grown into a dedicated customer relationship management (CRM) platform for outbound sales teams.

As of today, the basic version of Saleshandy's CRM is offered as a free tier, while the paid outreach module is priced at $25 per user/month.

Saleshandy has developed a powerful and efficient unified timeline that brings together all of the prospect's email touches, replies and tasks. This feature has been designed to eliminate the possibility of missing important follow-ups.

Saleshandy keeps its users focused only on active conversations, instead of wasting time trying to search through hundreds of messy contact entries to find old email threads.

12. Apollo.io

Apollo's primary purpose is as a large B2B prospecting database of more than 275 million contact records, as well as intent data. It also contains built-in sequence software for sending emails out using a predefined schedule and basic pipeline management software. The Basic tier costs $49/user/month.

Most high-performance sales teams find targets using Apollo's database and use it to send out initial cold sequences. They then transfer the positive responses directly into other, more robust sales management systems such as Salesforce or HubSpot.

Lean teams that want to avoid paying for two separate software applications to manage their initial stages of outbound prospecting can rely solely on Apollo to manage this phase of their outbound process.

13. LeadSquared

LeadSquared provides the technology needed by many high-volume B2C industries, including education, healthcare and real estate. These industries all experience substantial inbound lead velocity, and require a solution that provides an easily automated geographic distribution system.

LeadSquared's Sales Pro product tier is $60/user/month. The Sales Pro product includes fully functional mobile applications that allow representatives to log visits and update records, with or without internet connectivity.

Due to their focus on fast, high-volume, and rapid territorial routing, as opposed to slow, relationship-based B2B cycles, it is designed strictly for speed.

14. Instantly (CRM module)

Instantly has become known for providing cold email scale via connecting unlimited sender accounts, and recently introduced a CRM Growth module for $37.90 per month, which allows users to manage their ensuing deal flow.

At its core, Instantly's main component, the Unibox, allows for the integration of responses from 10 - 20 different email accounts into a single interface. When a positive reply comes from an outbound prospect, the thread can instantly be turned into a tracked deal.

Instantly's Unibox is a great option for aggressive cold email campaigns that are in need of basic visibility in their CRM for lead generation, but do not require the extensive feature set of traditional systems.

15. Rework

Rework combines pipeline management with a multi-channel inbox to provide a single location for all external communication and reduce context switching, making it an efficient choice for mid-sized businesses.

In addition to reducing context switching by organizing all email, chat and task management into a single dashboard, Rework provides a strong operational bridge between companies that find entry-level tools too simple, and those that wish to avoid the administrative nightmares associated with enterprise-level software.

16. Copper

Unlike any other tool available today, Copper integrates directly into Google Workspace and is fully integrated with all aspects of Google Apps, including Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Drive.

If you are like most companies who rely on Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive to manage your entire data, the above process would save you an enormous amount of time on data entry due to the system's ability to scrape signature data as well as email history directly from Gmail, automatically populating the contact record of a person in your database.

This seamless integration removes the burden of having to perform manual updates, while providing assurance that you have the most accurate sales records. As such, it's extremely popular among network-based sales teams and service-based agencies and consultancies who spend the majority of their working hours accessed through their email.

17. Nutshell

Nutshell is designed for smaller teams and is bundled in combination with an intuitive and simple pipeline interface, along with native email marketing services.

This allows smaller businesses to bypass the challenge of needing to find an external marketing system to connect to a pipeline, and instead, use a unified system to manage both aspects of their marketing.

As a result, the company makes it incredibly easy for users to filter pipeline information in a variety of ways, and immediately send a particular segment of contacts to the email blast.

This is an incredibly user-friendly, beneficial option for small business owners who can manage their contacts and newsletters from the same dashboard, without needing to consult technical experts.

18. Insightly

The purpose of Insightly is to bridge the gap between closing a deal and actually executing it.

While it is based on the standard model of pipeline management, what makes Insightly different from most models of pipeline management is its combination of extensive project management tools and traditional pipeline management functionality.

Once a deal reaches the closed-won stage, the Insightly system automatically makes the deal record into a project, transferring all of the historical context of that deal to the fulfillment team. This continued data structure assists significantly with the onboarding of post-sale service and eliminates a common problem with dropped communication after signature.

The Insightly service is specifically designed for use by agencies, custom software development shops, and professional services that provide ongoing service to their clients immediately after the sale.

19. Folk

Folk is a smart and lightweight relationship management software application made primarily for solopreneurs, freelance professionals, and niche boutiques. Folk's minimalist notion-style design has been so successful that it makes it appealing and fast for widespread use.

Folk allows for users to quickly categorize and mass email without being constrained by rigid corporate fields and templates, creating a more open and fluid option than traditional pipeline management software.

With its easy categorization and bulk email options, and a more agile and dynamic address book-like interface, Folk enables small, "one-man-show" operators to efficiently manage and connect with their network of contacts without having to navigate through the cumbersome process of enterprise-style software.

20. Attio

Attio represents the future of working with data. Built-in features allow the user to create a customizable database built on an entirely flexible foundation.

If your business offers a product that is unique to your company, and is only interested in tracking non-standard types of data, the features within the database allow the user to define exactly how the company's data works for their specific business model.

Attio integrates directly with your email and calendar data, creating records automatically, making it an ideal CRM for lead generation for today's startups. While configuring the Attio application may require a more robust foundation of technical knowledge than older platforms, it is extremely flexible. 

Start Automating Your Sales Leads Today

Stop letting qualified prospects go cold because your sales reps rely on slow manual follow-ups. Select a platform that matches your specific team velocity, enforce strict five-minute response SLAs, and feed your closed-won data directly back into your ad networks.

Will you continue burning your advertising budget on unassigned leads, or will you build an automated system that closes deals today?