Managing a growing sales process is complicated even for small to midsized businesses (SMBs).
For companies like this, a reliable, easy-to-understand customer relationship management (CRM) system can be crucial.
That's especially important for companies that want to focus their rapid growth on sales people and line-of-business personnel rather than back office IT staff.
Really Simple Systems (which has a free version) may not be quite as easy to operate as some of the CRM products we've covered, especially our Editors' Choice winner Zoho CRM.
But it offers a solid set of features and add-ons, including support for marketing and lead management, and fleshes that out with a laudable amount of support.
That level of support jumps right out at you because it begins from the moment you start using Really Simple Systems.
The software opens to a Welcome screen that lists a link to an introductory video, registration for a live webinar, and access to the Customer Support Hub.
The Hub provides a wealth of how-to articles, video tutorials, and an FAQ section.
There is also live chat, and clicking a question mark on the right-hand side of the screen will bring a pull-out contextual Help screen that explains the current page and leads to more information, most of which we found to be pleasantly useful.
Editions and Pricing
Really Simple Systems is one of the only CRMs out there that offers a free version.
Aside from Editors' Choice winner Zoho CRM, the only other lead management system we reviewed with a free version was Insightly CRM ($29.00 Per Month Per User at Insightly) .
You can use Really Simple System's free tier with up to two users, 100 company accounts, and 100 MB of document storage.
You are offered basic contact management and sales features, along with custom reports and the ability to customize your user interface (UI).
Support is only via email and online chat.
Once you get into the paid versions, things get serious.
The least expensive Starter version costs $14 per user per month when billed annually ($15 when billed monthly).
It offers unlimited users and 1,000 company accounts with 1 GB of document storage.
It adds phone support, an email module that syncs with your existing email, and lets you add optional marketing modules.
These modules include a Simple Marketing email module for $22 per month, or an Advanced Marketing module that adds campaign management, web forms, automated tasks, and a number of other features for $46 per month.
There are two other paid versions available.
The Professional version, which costs $30 per user per month ($33 when billed monthly), offers unlimited users, 5,000 company accounts, and 5 GB of document storage.
It also gives you access to an optional service desk module for $46 per month.
The Enterprise version, which costs $46 per user per month ($50 when billed monthly) adds advanced reporting and custom settings, along with either the Marketing module or the Service Desk module (or both if you have 10 or more users).
If you'd like to evaluate Really Simple Systems, there's a 14-day trial version that gives you access to the Professional Plan, along with the otherwise optional Advanced Marketing module.
After you've finished with the Welcome screen (which can then be either eliminated or left to come up as often as you need it), Really Simple Systems opens to the Sales Dashboard.
This is where you can observe the status of your sales, contacts, and marketing campaigns via a number of widgets, which are easily added or subtracted via a "Dashboard Options" button at the right-hand side of the screen.
On the left-hand side of the screen is the Main menu.
The top level of the menu is the Sales module, which is the main module and the one that comes with the free or Starter versions.
Click on Sales and you have access to your Dashboard, Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Tasks, and Report.
If you have the Marketing or the Service & Support add-ons, then they're also available here as is a history of your past actions.
In Really Simple Systems, the lists for Contacts (individuals) and Accounts (companies) are separate.
Each list is in grid format; you can easily choose which columns (name, phone number, source, type, etc.) you want to see via a button labeled "Columns." You can also move them around or eliminate those you don't need.
When you click on a contact or an account, you are brought to the page for that individual entry.
Interestingly, there isn't much information available in the Contacts past the basic information (address, phone number, etc.) about that individual.
The bulk of the useful data is found in the Accounts entries.
Below the general contact information for the account, there is a list of the contacts who are associated with that account.
Below that are the lists of associated tasks, activities, opportunities, linked accounts, campaign details, and documents.
While this is a very clear-cut and easy-to-understand UI, it does have its drawbacks.
Because tasks and other activities are associated with an account rather than with an individual contact, you can't make a phone call and have it automatically logged for the individual you called.
Instead, you must identify who you called from that account in your call notes, which is not an ideal situation.
Entries can be added to the Accounts and Contacts listing from a variety of sources, including emails, web forms, and other campaigns.
Campaigns are available in the optional Marketing module.
Marketing and Lead Management
Lead tracking and management features are considered part of the Opportunities area.
You create an opportunity by adding it (in the Opportunities section) to an account's individual entry.
At that point, the opportunity can be given the status of New lead, Qualified, Waiting, etc., via a drop-down menu (like most drop-down menus, these can be tweaked by the user.) You can also include a variety of data, including the source of the lead, the next step to be taken, and the probability of success.
However, while all of your information about the opportunity is available in the account's page, you can't do a search in the accounts or contacts listings for all current opportunities.
Of the two optional modules, Marketing and Service & Support, the Marketing module is of most interest to those looking for leads since it offers all of the functionality to conduct campaigns.
Really Simple System supports a variety of campaigns, including advertisements, email marketing, and seminars.
For example, emails come with standard templates for newsletters, a product release, and an article.
A feature called Web Transactions (which is available as part of the Advanced Marketing or Service & Support modules) creates web forms and collects the data from those forms.
However, unlike services such as Pipedrive CRM (Visit Site at PipeDrive) , which offers graphic representations of the forms and shows you the code you need to drop in, the Web Transactions feature presents you with a series of fill-in fields and suggests that you contact Really Simple System's support team for aid in setting it up.
Reporting and Third-Party Integration
Really Simple Systems uses its own email integration feature called MailSync to capture emails going to and from your Contacts list.
You can see them in the Activities section of your Accounts.
It works by having your email system forward received emails and copy sent emails to a specific address.
You can also synchronize your email, contacts, and calendars with Google Contacts, Microsoft Exchange, or Microsoft Outlook (Free at Apple.com) ; integrate the CRM with the Xero and Kashflow accounting apps, or request and manage API access.
The app offers two types of reports, Listing and Sales Forecast, and makes it very simple for users to add reports of their own.
Once run, reports can be output as a PDF file or saved as a data file.
While Really Simple Systems doesn't offer dedicated mobile apps for operating systems such as Android or iOS, its website uses responsive web design for smartphones and other mobile tech.
This means the web page will automatically size itself to the optimal size for whatever device is being used to access it.
Support for Client Management
Really Simple Systems offers some of the best user support around, along with a variety of features for companies that want to pull leads from emails and forms.
It's also one of the few CRMs that offers a free version to very small companies; its other versions are also reasonably priced.
The product's structure might be a little problematic for companies that want to follow client activities on an individual rather than an organizational basis.
However, if you're comfortable with the arrangement of its features, then this could be an excellent CRM, especially for SMBs and startups that are looking to grow.
Pros
Simple, intuitive user interface.
Excellent user support.
Has a range of versions, depending on need.
Built-in email integration.
View More
The Bottom Line
Really Simple Systems is an excellent CRM for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) that need an understandable user interface and strong support.
However, its lead management features are a bit limited.
Managing a growing sales process is complicated even for small to midsized businesses (SMBs).
For companies like this, a reliable, easy-to-understand customer relationship management (CRM) system can be crucial.
That's especially important for companies that want to focus their rapid growth on sales people and line-of-business personnel rather than back office IT staff.
Really Simple Systems (which has a free version) may not be quite as easy to operate as some of the CRM products we've covered, especially our Editors' Choice winner Zoho CRM.
But it offers a solid set of features and add-ons, including support for marketing and lead management, and fleshes that out with a laudable amount of support.
That level of support jumps right out at you because it begins from the moment you start using Really Simple Systems.
The software opens to a Welcome screen that lists a link to an introductory video, registration for a live webinar, and access to the Customer Support Hub.
The Hub provides a wealth of how-to articles, video tutorials, and an FAQ section.
There is also live chat, and clicking a question mark on the right-hand side of the screen will bring a pull-out contextual Help screen that explains the current page and leads to more information, most of which we found to be pleasantly useful.
Editions and Pricing
Really Simple Systems is one of the only CRMs out there that offers a free version.
Aside from Editors' Choice winner Zoho CRM, the only other lead management system we reviewed with a free version was Insightly CRM ($29.00 Per Month Per User at Insightly) .
You can use Really Simple System's free tier with up to two users, 100 company accounts, and 100 MB of document storage.
You are offered basic contact management and sales features, along with custom reports and the ability to customize your user interface (UI).
Support is only via email and online chat.
Once you get into the paid versions, things get serious.
The least expensive Starter version costs $14 per user per month when billed annually ($15 when billed monthly).
It offers unlimited users and 1,000 company accounts with 1 GB of document storage.
It adds phone support, an email module that syncs with your existing email, and lets you add optional marketing modules.
These modules include a Simple Marketing email module for $22 per month, or an Advanced Marketing module that adds campaign management, web forms, automated tasks, and a number of other features for $46 per month.
There are two other paid versions available.
The Professional version, which costs $30 per user per month ($33 when billed monthly), offers unlimited users, 5,000 company accounts, and 5 GB of document storage.
It also gives you access to an optional service desk module for $46 per month.
The Enterprise version, which costs $46 per user per month ($50 when billed monthly) adds advanced reporting and custom settings, along with either the Marketing module or the Service Desk module (or both if you have 10 or more users).
If you'd like to evaluate Really Simple Systems, there's a 14-day trial version that gives you access to the Professional Plan, along with the otherwise optional Advanced Marketing module.
After you've finished with the Welcome screen (which can then be either eliminated or left to come up as often as you need it), Really Simple Systems opens to the Sales Dashboard.
This is where you can observe the status of your sales, contacts, and marketing campaigns via a number of widgets, which are easily added or subtracted via a "Dashboard Options" button at the right-hand side of the screen.
On the left-hand side of the screen is the Main menu.
The top level of the menu is the Sales module, which is the main module and the one that comes with the free or Starter versions.
Click on Sales and you have access to your Dashboard, Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, Tasks, and Report.
If you have the Marketing or the Service & Support add-ons, then they're also available here as is a history of your past actions.
In Really Simple Systems, the lists for Contacts (individuals) and Accounts (companies) are separate.
Each list is in grid format; you can easily choose which columns (name, phone number, source, type, etc.) you want to see via a button labeled "Columns." You can also move them around or eliminate those you don't need.
When you click on a contact or an account, you are brought to the page for that individual entry.
Interestingly, there isn't much information available in the Contacts past the basic information (address, phone number, etc.) about that individual.
The bulk of the useful data is found in the Accounts entries.
Below the general contact information for the account, there is a list of the contacts who are associated with that account.
Below that are the lists of associated tasks, activities, opportunities, linked accounts, campaign details, and documents.
While this is a very clear-cut and easy-to-understand UI, it does have its drawbacks.
Because tasks and other activities are associated with an account rather than with an individual contact, you can't make a phone call and have it automatically logged for the individual you called.
Instead, you must identify who you called from that account in your call notes, which is not an ideal situation.
Entries can be added to the Accounts and Contacts listing from a variety of sources, including emails, web forms, and other campaigns.
Campaigns are available in the optional Marketing module.
Marketing and Lead Management
Lead tracking and management features are considered part of the Opportunities area.
You create an opportunity by adding it (in the Opportunities section) to an account's individual entry.
At that point, the opportunity can be given the status of New lead, Qualified, Waiting, etc., via a drop-down menu (like most drop-down menus, these can be tweaked by the user.) You can also include a variety of data, including the source of the lead, the next step to be taken, and the probability of success.
However, while all of your information about the opportunity is available in the account's page, you can't do a search in the accounts or contacts listings for all current opportunities.
Of the two optional modules, Marketing and Service & Support, the Marketing module is of most interest to those looking for leads since it offers all of the functionality to conduct campaigns.
Really Simple System supports a variety of campaigns, including advertisements, email marketing, and seminars.
For example, emails come with standard templates for newsletters, a product release, and an article.
A feature called Web Transactions (which is available as part of the Advanced Marketing or Service & Support modules) creates web forms and collects the data from those forms.
However, unlike services such as Pipedrive CRM (Visit Site at PipeDrive) , which offers graphic representations of the forms and shows you the code you need to drop in, the Web Transactions feature presents you with a series of fill-in fields and suggests that you contact Really Simple System's support team for aid in setting it up.
Reporting and Third-Party Integration
Really Simple Systems uses its own email integration feature called MailSync to capture emails going to and from your Contacts list.
You can see them in the Activities section of your Accounts.
It works by having your email system forward received emails and copy sent emails to a specific address.
You can also synchronize your email, contacts, and calendars with Google Contacts, Microsoft Exchange, or Microsoft Outlook (Free at Apple.com) ; integrate the CRM with the Xero and Kashflow accounting apps, or request and manage API access.
The app offers two types of reports, Listing and Sales Forecast, and makes it very simple for users to add reports of their own.
Once run, reports can be output as a PDF file or saved as a data file.
While Really Simple Systems doesn't offer dedicated mobile apps for operating systems such as Android or iOS, its website uses responsive web design for smartphones and other mobile tech.
This means the web page will automatically size itself to the optimal size for whatever device is being used to access it.
Support for Client Management
Really Simple Systems offers some of the best user support around, along with a variety of features for companies that want to pull leads from emails and forms.
It's also one of the few CRMs that offers a free version to very small companies; its other versions are also reasonably priced.
The product's structure might be a little problematic for companies that want to follow client activities on an individual rather than an organizational basis.
However, if you're comfortable with the arrangement of its features, then this could be an excellent CRM, especially for SMBs and startups that are looking to grow.
Pros
Simple, intuitive user interface.
Excellent user support.
Has a range of versions, depending on need.
Built-in email integration.
View More
The Bottom Line
Really Simple Systems is an excellent CRM for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) that need an understandable user interface and strong support.
However, its lead management features are a bit limited.
