Close vs EngageBay CRM: Which is a better fit?

Todd Q.: Hi, my name is Todd and I'm an owner. I would give Close.com a rating of five. For more reviews, please click below. Prior to using Close, we were using HubSpot. The reason we switched up HubSpot is it's a little more complex to get started. There are also a lot of other packages you had to buy to make it worthwhile. So I think we ended up switching because we wanted to get started with something more quickly and not have to have such a large capital outlay to get started. We chose Close because it's a lot faster to get started with than some of the other products we had tried. It was very easy to get productive very quickly. It was easy to start simply. Then as our business needs changed or grew, Close was able to grow with us. It was easy to have more advanced searches, more advanced ways of slicing and dicing the data that we needed to find. So it just helped us get started quickly and maintain our growth moving forward. Getting started with Close was very easy. It didn't require a lot of set up, so it was very quick for us to get up and running and get productive with it quickly. I think that's a big reason why we initially went with it because it didn't require all that time and effort setting it up. It was quick to start helping us without having to spend a lot of time on it. Don't feel the need to create lots of different types of opportunities or lead statuses, that kind of thing. Just get started and as simple as you can. Then as your needs or complexities grow, only then start worrying about classifying all your leads and information into all these different buckets because I think once you use it for a while, you'll start understanding the need for those different kinds of classifications. Just don't do it too soon.

Kurt: Hi guys. My name is Kurt. I am a licensed insurance agent with American Income. I am self-employed, so it's just myself. I would give EngageBay a five-star rating. Awesome program. I've actually used multiple CRMs. I have a pretty diverse background in sales, including working as a business development manager for a company. But the most recent CRM before EngageBay was Zoho. Reality was that was just not meeting the needs of what I wanted out of it for what I was paying for between the scheduling, the calendar links, and just the overall flexibility of the program. EngageBay met those needs. I use EngageBay to do a lot of text and email communications where I'm sending out my calendar links so people can schedule directly with me. That was one of the huge features. The other feature that was really critical for me was effective tracking of my clientele, combined with just that ability to have everything there in one spot, both the marketing and the sales. When I made the decision to go with EngageBay, I had been looking at a lot of different CRM options. One of the challenges, going into life insurance sales is a new business venture for me, so I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on a CRM in the beginning, even though it's really critical to have a CRM that can grow with you as your business grows. A lot of times that means they spend a lot of money. I think, ultimately, the decision for me with EngageBay was it was inexpensive to start out and I don't see any real limitations to the growth potential with it as I've been using it. Getting started was actually really easy with EngageBay. They actually give you a checklist to go through as you log in of things to do to get it set up, so that was great. The only, I guess, real challenge with getting started is some of the features, particularly the email templates, are a little complex. They do have some good help tutorials for that as well. I did have to talk with them on chat a few times. But overall, really easy to set up. I guess thinking about advice for somebody that's going to get EngageBay, I would tell you to do your homework first and look into reviews, look into what specifically you want from a CRM. I would say of the CRMs I used, it is definitely one of the most expansive CRMs I've used in terms of its abilities to do different things. They call themselves the all-in-one suite. For me, that all-in-one feature really has been a huge benefit. It allows me to do all the different things I want with a CRM, but I would say make sure it goes deep enough in the areas that you're looking for. If you're looking for super in-depth customer tracking, this may or may not be what you want. I would say make the decisions of what you need from your CRM first.