Bitrix24 does a good job of offering basic customer relationship management (CRM) and lead management capabilities to small and midsized businesses (SMBs) or even startups. But Bitrix24, which is free for up to 12 users and priced at $99 per month for unlimited users, also throws in some surprising software automation features, file sharing and even solid email marketing integration, too.
With its dizzying array of functions, Bitrix24 CRM has the ability to centralize all communications and collaboration for an organization of any size. Our main concern with this service is that its massive array of functions can be overwhelming. An option to add and remove features would be a big improvement since you can add and remove features with Editors' Choices Apptivo CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM.
Bitrix24 CRM Pricing
Bitrix24 CRM offers a free 30-day trial of its paid Professional plan ($99 per month for unlimited users), and you will need all 30 days to explore all the functionality this service offers. There's also a free plan including support for 12 users, 5 GB of cloud storage, and access to core CRM, task management, and document management capabilities. Communications tools, on the other hand, are completely free for unlimited users. All communication and collaboration tools within Bitrix24 CRM—activity stream, workgroups, instant message (IM) and group chats, email, telephony, mobile, employee directory, and the company structure directory—are available for free to unlimited users.
The Plus tier ($39 per month for up to 24 users) includes 24 GB of storage and includes features such as CRM record conversions, change history, and access logs, and a list view exceeding 500 records. The Standard plan ($99 per month) supports unlimited employees and external users, 100 GB of storage, and the use of your own logo. The Professional plan ($199 per month) provides unlimited online storage, work reports, time management functions, meetings and briefings, records management, and the ability to use your own domain name. $99 and $199 sounds like a lot, but those plans are for unlimited users. CRM services that cost $12 and $15 per month per employee can very quickly add up to far more.
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When you sign up with Bitrix24 CRM, you give your intranet a name and immediately see your Activity Stream. This stream feels very much like Facebook, and even gives you the option at the top of the page to create a message to display to the rest of your network. You can also upload files, events, processes, and more to share with your coworkers. Creating new users in your intranet is simple. Just look under the Company subhead, click Employees, and then click Invite User. You'll be able to designate which departments and groups each employee can access.
Users and Contacts
There is a lot to look at and learn in your new Bitrix24 CRM intranet. Before you even start to dig in, you will find a pop-up window full of introductory videos to help you acclimate to this powerful networking and CRM tool. You can watch all of these videos or you can take part in an online training course course (often provided by third-party companies such as Intreface). While the user interface (UI) feels as familiar as your Facebook page, this site can do much more than social media.
If you need to create a lead, invoice, deal, or any other record, then look to the left under the CRM subhead in the navigation panel. These links take you to pages where you can sort records by person responsible, date created, deal stage, and many other customizable filters. You can also create users, tasks, events, conversations, groups, and upload files and photos via the Create button at the top left-hand corner of the page. The variety of filters available is similar to the options offered by Zoho CRM.
Once you've created your record, it shows up in the Activity Stream of any users who have been granted access. This is where Bitrix24 CRM's collaboration functionality really kicks into high gear. From the Activity Stream, collaborators can comment on your activity, like and unfollow specific records, add favorites, or attach recipients and links. When you like a record, your co-workers get alerts that you've seen the activity. If someone interacts with a record that you created or have opted to follow, then a notification will pop up, alerting you to any new activity and letting you know if you need to take action. For example, if you've enabled time tracking for certain projects, then an administrator will have to sign off on users' timesheets.
Bitrix24 CRM offers several workflow processes as well as the ability to create your own. There are also separate spaces in your intranet for tracking deals, leads, and your sales funnel. You name it, Bitrix24 CRM can probably do it. But the number of capabilities makes for an overwhelming interface; Zoho CRM has an easier UI to get used to.
Lead Management
The newest feature additions to contact management and lead management in Bitrix24 CRM are web-based, lead-capture forms. To create a web form, you can edit an existing CRM form by using the new web form designer, to which you can add fields such as leads, deals, contacts, company, quote, or invoice to the drag-and-drop designer. You can then name the form, give it a background color and text color, and you've built the simple form. The forms are then accessible and editable from the Bitrix24 CRM Activity stream.
The company just released this feature, and will soon be rolling out five pre-designed form templates and a queue feature listing the users responsible for web form results distribution. The web forms can also be connected to Google Analytics by adding your Google Analytics ID inside the form designer. If there's a product catalog available within the company's CRM, then specific products can also be associated with the form, which can then be embedded on a web page or as a pop-up window.
When you are initially setting up, you can choose either a "Simple CRM," which is recommended for small businesses and sales departments and which moves all inbound info directly to the deals or contacts listings. Or you can choose a "Classic CRM," which starts inbound inquiries as leads (along with a separately listing) and then lets sales staff convert them to deals or contacts.
Leads are listed by company. You have a choice of either a traditional list view or a Kanban view (letting you easily move entries along your pipeline). Either can be easily filtered on a number of factors, including source and status. When you click on an entry, the company page offers first the usual contact information. Further down, you're given a series of tabs that let you either access additional data (such as activities or products) or services that you can apply to that entry, including automatically triggered rules or actions (workflow automation is available in the Standard $99 plan).
The user interface for creating automated rules or actions is very simple to understand and a number of pre-coded automations are included. For example, users who respond to a Facebook advertisement can be automatically pulled into the list of leads (Citrix can currently pull leads from Facebook and Twitter, and plan to add WhatsApp when that company releases its API). The users can also be sent an email and then be sent a follow-up in three days if there is no response. The status of the lead can also be changed automatically (or, of course, manually). And, since your company structure can be set up within Bitrix24 CRM, permissions can be instituted so that, for example, a lead cannot be converted without it being approved by a supervisor.
Bitrix24 CRM gives you choices all the way through. For example, when a lead converts, you can create a new deal along with company and contact listings. Just create it as a new deal or create a new contact listing; there are several other choices as well.
It also makes sure that planned activities, tasks, or other actions don't fall through the cracks. When you sign in, reminders pop up, and you are invited to clock in. At this point, you can see a list of your tasks and events. Leads with outstanding activities, such as follow-up calls, are also flagged. New activities can be easily added, and a Status line indicates changes. You can also indicate when you are taking a break or clocking out, which can be useful for admins who need to track staff hours.
Reporting and Third-Party Integration
Bitrix24 CRM integrates with many popular tools, such as Basecamp, MailChimp , Zoho CRM. You can choose to connect the software with your Gmail account so that you'll be notified within Bitrix24 CRM when you receive an email. However, when you click to open the email, a new window opens in your Gmail inbox. If you want to work with email directly in the portal, then sign up for a Bitrix24.com email address or you can connect your own domain.
If you need to follow up over the phone, then you can purchase credits with a credit card or PayPal to take advantage of the built-in telephony function, which feels much like Skype . When your credit balance is low, it will automatically refill with the credit card or PayPal account on file. Another handy telephony feature is that you can set phone calls to automatically be recorded and saved to the company drive. No more taking copious notes by hand while you're on the phone.
Bitrix24 CRM doesn't offer quite as many integrations as other CRM software such as Insightly CRM or Pipedrive CRM , though the company did recently add a feature called Open Channels to enable native social media integration with Facebook, Telegram, Skype, Viber, and Russian social network VKontakte. The platform is still missing integrations with a number of other popular social networks, including Twitter and Instagram. However, Bitrix24 CRM performs most of the tasks natively that other software relies on integrations to handle, such as invoicing, telephony, and timesheets. This software really doesn't need any help from the outside. Even so, if you need custom reports, you would do well to consider Salesforce instead.
Bitrix24 CRM's offers Android and iPhone apps as well. The mobile apps offer access to just about everything in your intranet, including the company drive, workflow, tasks, and even the instant messenger (IM). It's as useful as the web version and it actually feels far less intimidating.
If you find you need help wading through Bitrix24 CRM's many features (and you probably will), then you can click Support at the top of any page to access FAQs, trending topics, and a search box that will scour the knowledge base for helpful articles. If you can't find your answer there, then you can click the Contact Bitrix24 Care Support Team button at the bottom of the page to submit a support ticket. You should expect a response within 16 hours unless you subscribe to the free plan, in which case it may take up to 32 hours. The website also offers free webinars, partner assistance, and a user forum. There is no Help phone line listed on the website.
Functionality for Any Business
Bitrix24 CRM is an incredibly powerful CRM tool. Compared to other software in this space, Bitrix24 CRM is similar to Editors' Choice Apptivo in scope of functionality. It's cheaper than our other Editors' Choices Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional and Zoho CRM, though its features are just as extensive, if a bit more intimidatingly presented.
Bitrix24 CRM falls short of the customization options that make the other tools more flexible. Chances are, smaller businesses won't use every tool in Bitrix24 CRM's arsenal, and many will do just fine on the free plan. For companies that need more users and storage, the Standard and Professional plans are still very affordable for what they offer. Bitrix24 CRM is a well-thought-out CRM service that can handle just about anything you throw at it.
Bitrix24 CRM has a wide variety of lead management tools along with some handy automation features that combine to make it an excellent SMB value, though it still has a way to go in terms of software simplicity.
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