Mac users who have grown accustomed to Apple’s system who are seeking a new CRM system would naturally prioritize solutions that are designed to not just work on Mac — they want something designed to work seamlessly on Macs.
While this is a baseline requirement, there are other factors you should be looking for when choosing a CRM for the Mac OS, too. In this article, we’ll address this, review some CRM basics, and introduce you to some of the advantages a cloud-based CRM like monday.com can offer over native Mac software.
What does CRM mean?
CRM stands for customer relationship management. It’s the process of maintaining contact with customers, managing and tracking points of contact such as emails and phone calls, and altogether seeking to improve the strength of the relationship between company and customer.The underlying assumption here is that improved customer relationships will lead to higher customer lifetime values (LTV), happy clients, and increased revenues for the company.
A CRM app or platform is a software system designed to help companies manage those customer relationships.
What is CRM software for Macs?
CRM software for Macs is created to run natively on Mac OS so sales and marketing teams can manage customer contact information and work related to the entire sales or customer life cycle.
What’s special about Mac CRM software?
In order for a CRM tool to be effective, it needs to play nicely with whatever operating system you’re using.
Considering Windows is still the dominant platform, with 76.6% of the world’s computer user base using it, it doesn’t take much to imagine that some providers might neglect the Mac OS X platform altogether and not bother creating a dedicated Mac CRM solution.
Though there are some CRMs that are designed specifically for the Apple device user and for those users only, the majority of CRM vendors offer a product that is fit for both Mac and Windows.
Next, we’re going to take a look at both styles of Mac CRM and highlight some pros and cons of each.
Comparing the top CRM software for Macs 2022
When considering what is the best CRM software for Macs, you’ll want to consider a few basic factors to start:
- Your industry
- Your company size
- Price or budget
- Reputation: consider recommendations, user reviews, and ratings
From there, you can check out trusted sites like Capterra, Software Advice, and G2 to make an educated comparison. A few tools to compare are:
- monday sales CRM
- Bitrix 24
- Pipedrive
- Salesflare
- vcita
- Bigin by Zoho CRM
- Salesforce Sales Cloud
Are there native Mac CRMs?
There are few CRMs out there that cater specifically and solely to Mac users, but they do exist. Daylite, for example, is a CRM tool for small businesses that fits neatly into the Mac architecture and even uses a lot of the same design language as Mac OS apps.
Unfortunately, many of these offerings tend to focus more on appearing as a natively-built Mac app and integrating with other Mac tools (like iCalendar), rather than giving business owners and managers the tools they need to get work done.
Features like automation rules, integration with third-party apps, and the ability to log in and work from any device in any location tend to be lacking in these CRMs, which means they often aren’t a great fit for ambitious, growing companies.
Is a cloud-based CRM right for you?
These days, most CRM platforms are cloud-based. That means you don’t actually buy the software to download and install it on your computer. Instead, companies typically subscribe to a CRM system — via annual or monthly payments — that they can access from any web browser.
The overarching benefit here is that you can access your CRM from virtually any device, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, or Linux, as long as you have access to the internet. With a CRM that exists on your hard drive, you risk losing important data if you have a physical issue with your device.
For that reason, cloud-based CRMs are the right fit for most companies. So, which features should you be prioritizing when looking for a CRM solution?
What to look for in a CRM: 7 features
1. iOS/Mac app
If you’re in need of a CRM platform for Mac, then the first thing you’re obviously going to need to check is that the CRM application you’re looking at works on Mac.
Most modern CRMs are cloud-based, so you can access them on a web browser using any operating system, but you’ll find that some CRM providers also offer a desktop app. If you want to use this, then it’ll need to be compatible with Mac OS.
You might also want to consider choosing a CRM application with an iOS app that’ll play nicely on your mobile device, be it an iPhone or iPad.
Here’s how monday.com’s iOS looks, to give you an example.
Most CRM providers will, especially because nearly 50% of all mobile device users have iPhones, but it’s a good idea to check!
2. Customizable fields
Whether you’re looking for a simple Mac CRM software solution for contact management or a complex sales CRM for lead management and sales pipeline monitoring, you’re going to want something that allows you to customize the fields within it.
There’s nothing worse than being stuck within an arbitrary framework created by a group of developers who have no idea how your business operates. So, look for a customer relationship management software solution that affords you freedom and flexibility, ideally with intuitive drag-and-drop functionality.
3. Forms to enter contact info
When you first get started with your CRM app, you’ll need to sync all of your Mac contacts so you can easily track communications with them.
You’re probably not going to stop there, though. Chances are you’re going to keep generating new leads and customers, and you’re going to want an easy way to get their information into your CRM software. You can do this by choosing a CRM app that allows you to create custom forms, which allow your prospects to enter their information which is then plumbed into the correct fields in your CRM software.
For example, check out this custom monday.com form for managing creative requests:
This is exactly what you can do with the monday.com Work OS, and it’s a seriously smart move for anyone focusing on lead generation and marketing automation as it minimizes friction and speeds up the sales process.
4. Reporting/dashboards
Another key feature to look for when choosing a Mac CRM is the platform’s ability to report on important metrics — like the number of touches required to turn a prospect into a customer — and, importantly, to be able to display those in dashboard form.
You also might like to find a CRM that has a nice iOS app, as this will allow you to display a sales dashboard on an iPad for your team to monitor progress throughout the day.
monday Sales CRM has a range of colorful and intuitive dashboards. In fact, you can view your data in 8 different ways — enough to satisfy the preferences of any of your stakeholders.
5. Integrations
Native integrations for products and tools you’re already using can be game-changing, as this will save you a lot of time transporting data and keeping all your systems up to date.
monday.com has over 40 integrations which means it’s easy to plug anything you’re already working with directly into the platform.
6. Automation
One of the key features that Mac users should be looking out for in a CRM is a strong automation capability. This will allow your CRM app to take care of simple, repeatable tasks for you, saving you a ton of time in the long run and allowing you to focus on more valuable activities.
For example, you can set up an automation rule to send out a pre-written email every time a lead is moved from one stage in your sales pipeline to another.
7. Ability to call and email directly from the interface
Most CRMs are centered around contact management, which means they should also make it easy to, well, manage contact with your customers. In today’s environment, this means being able to simply click an email or phone number and jump straight into crafting your email or dialing the prospect from within the interface itself.
Take a look at this customer database board on monday.com, for example:
Evaluate the best CRM software for Macs wisely
To summarize, you’re really limiting your own ability to grow and develop as a business if you choose to work within a native Mac CRM.
Cloud-based CRM solutions are the best fit for most companies, as long as they offer:
- An iOS/Mac app
- Customizable fields
- Forms that allow customers to enter their contact information
- Reporting and dashboards
- Integrations with third-party software
- Easy-to-create automation rules
- The ability to call and email directly from the interface
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