We believe there are better options available in this category, read below to learn what this software does well, and what they could do better. ⤵
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The CRM space is probably the largest software category in the world, just ahead of project management. That said, there's 2 types of CRM categories:
Okay, let me explain. Most software will eventually get to a point where they need to determine if they should tack on the "CRM" category to their product offering. And because a CRM at the end of the day is really just a database, most software will justify "adding it" to their toolset.
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The CRM for small + medium teams (200 or less) that are using Microsoft 365.
Pipedrive is more of a "sales-focused" CRM for small + medium teams (meaning 100 seats or less), and it's pretty good at just that.
It's a huge upgrade from trying to use a spreadsheet like Google Sheets as a CRM or a database like Airtable as a CRM, any yet flexible enough to even build out for some additional internal processes beyond just sales.
Their API is flexible and robust (we enjoy integrating it for teams), and they've been around for a while, so they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Solid recommendation if your team's tech stack revolves around Microsoft.
While Pipedrive allows you to sync in emails retroactively into the system, it only does it for the past 6 months, whereas competitors like Copper will actually go an entire year back, across everyone on your team, when a new contact is added to the CRM.
If you're using Microsoft 365 though, Pipedrive would be your best bet, as Copper doesn't work with non-Google Workspace/Gmail accounts.
If you're deeply considering Pipedrive as your CRM and your team is using Google Workspace—go check out Copper instead.
If you're heavily a sales-focused company and are using Microsoft Outlook for email, Pipedrive will actually give you one of the best experiences when it comes to a CRM.
While we might in some cases recommend HubSpot if you're a Microsoft shop, we would do so hesitantly as HubSpot gets to 5–figures per year very quickly. And that's a lot of Pipedrive seats!
We might recommend reading the Best CRM Comparison post we made which goes deeper into the positives and negatives of Pipedrive as compared to others.
A shared documentation and note taking tool that tip-toes the line of a flexible no-code platform (for teams of all sizes).
Notion positions itself as an "all-in-one" workspace tool, but that doesn't mean it's ideal for "everything."
At its core, Notion is a knowledge base or wiki, designed for documenting company processes and notes. Over time, Notion has expanded its capabilities, allowing users to link notes, create databases with formulas, and more.
Notion's versatility allows you to customize it into almost anything you need. This flexibility has led teams to use Notion as a CRM, project management tool, task manager, knowledge base, and more. However, just because Notion can be adapted for various purposes doesn't always mean it should be. We often receive feedback from teams who've tried using "Notion for everything", only to find it becoming overwhelming and messy.
If you want to use Notion, use it as a knowledge base/company wiki (or use Slite, our top pick and what we use 😉). For specific business functions like project and task management or CRM, it's usually better to opt for dedicated tools built for the job.
A huge drawback of using Notion for CRM or project management is that you're now building your system from scratch. Even with available templates, you'll find yourself investing a lot of time in learning to configure Notion and tailoring it to your processes.
In contrast, a project management tool that is developed by a team focused solely on creating the best product in that niche, will much more quickly set you up for success.
Just think about it: when you're using a project manager that was built for that function, this means that their entire team focused on building the best project manager out there. So you're already getting a tool with project management features that are useful to thousands of other businesses. While with Notion... well guess who is going to be building said features? YOU 😅
The reality is, we often hear people say "but my business is unique so I need a custom solution, which is why Notion is appealing".
After helping teams of all sizes and in many industries for over a decade, we promise you that business processes are not that unique and 95% of the time can be (and should be) mapped to the structure of existing tools.
Oh and if you're considering using Notion as a CRM, make sure to read this dedicated article as to why we don't recommend that either.
Notion offers a free tier for up to 10 guests, making it accessible if you're curious about its capabilities. Notion has a free tier for up to 10 guests, so if you're curious as to what the hype is about, you can easily sign up and start playing with it yourself. If after a day you start feeling overwhelmed, you're not alone, it's more or less a blank slate after all.
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