Less Annoying CRM offers customer relationship management (CRM) with a primary focus on small to midsize businesses (SMB), including startups, at a starting price of $15 per user per month. CRM also manages customer data. It caters specifically to the requirements of smaller businesses and is the solution that we’ve found to be the most cost-effective overall. Its user interface is uncluttered and easy to use, and its feature set is extensive, and it offers excellent platform support.
Less Annoying CRM is an option that should be seriously considered by businesses that are looking for a customer relationship management (CRM) and lead management (LM) solution that is not only inexpensive but also highly effective and can get them up and running in a short amount of time. Its user-friendliness is comparable to that of Insightly CRM, which is an example of a cutting-edge and user-friendly web-based solution. It can be configured to work with a variety of workflows, much like Insightly CRM can. The Editors’ Choice picks Apptivo CRM, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM all have more extensive features and expanded reporting capabilities than Less Annoying CRM does.
Pricing and Configuration
The objective of Less Annoying CRM is to reduce complexity, and the pricing structure of the product reflects this goal. There is only one plan, and the cost is $15 per user per month for that plan. The plan comes with an unlimited number of contacts. You are not required to enter any payment information in order to take advantage of the fully functional 30-day trial that is very simple to access. Only Zoho CRM, with its all-inclusive Zoho One licensing scheme, is available at a lower price than Less Annoying CRM, which we found to be the most affordable option among our roundup of CRM solutions. In contrast to Zoho One, which requires all employees of a company to subscribe to the plan in order for the company to use the service, Less Annoying CRM does not make such demands.
The fact that Less Annoying CRM is one of the less expensive options we’ve tried doesn’t take away from the fact that setting it up is more like working with a concierge. As soon as I had completed the registration process, I was sent a warm welcome email from the head of the customer service department, along with some helpful hints. The first was an invitation to watch the instructional beginners guide, the second was to schedule a live demo, and the third was links to social media accounts and a bimonthly newsletter to keep me updated on features and improvements. In the first step, the invitation was to watch the instructional beginners guide. I like that Less Annoying CRM provides new users with a variety of ways to become familiar with the product before they start using it. Aside from the brief video guides, it is also possible to speak with a member of the support staff or even schedule a demonstration of the software.
Since the time of our previous review, Less Annoying has been revised and updated. The primary navigation bar can now be found on the left-hand side of CRM’s user interface. A second menu that is unique to each page contains a list of options that are specific to that page. The content of the page is located in the final section, which is the largest one.
After the box for conducting an all-encompassing search, you will see tabs labeled Workspace, Contacts, Calendar, Reports, and Settings. One can access a plethora of contact and self-help options by clicking on the Quick link to Help. You quickly get the impression that customer support and assisting users in problem resolution are extremely high on the priority list of Less Annoying CRM.
Contacts and Businesses
When using Less Annoying CRM, you can add a new contact by clicking on the Add a new contact or Add a new company button that is located in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
If you click on either of those links, a pop-up window will appear that allows you to enter information about a contact. When you add information about a company, a company contact and a connection between the person and the company are automatically created. Although it might appear to be a pointless feature, those who are responsible for data entry will find that it is extremely helpful. In the unlikely event that another business with the same name already exists, the contact information will be associated with the previous business.
In addition, you can choose to connect your Google account or upload a spreadsheet. The support team for Less Annoying CRM is available to assist you in the importation of contacts or any other data you may require assistance with. When you have finished uploading a spreadsheet, you will need to double check that the fields are mapped appropriately (for example, title versus job title). If you collect information that doesn’t already match one of the fields in Less Annoying CRM, you might also need to create some custom fields to store it.
The built-in calendar is convenient, and it can store events and tasks associated with contacts, such as a meeting or a phone call, as well as a portion of your workday or activity that takes place outside of work. When you create a lead, you have the convenient option of adding a follow-up task directly from the record itself. You can also integrate your calendar from Google Workspace and delegate events and tasks to other people using this feature.
When you have finished adding a contact, you will be taken to that contact’s profile page, which contains all of the information about that person that you might require. The Activity Feed is the most important part of this page because it displays a record of your previous interactions with each contact. It is possible to add new leads, tasks, and even files from your personal computer when using Less Annoying CRM.
You can search for contacts or companies by their names, email addresses, phone numbers, or any other information that you input into the Find a Contact tab, which is located on the top ribbon. You can view your entire contact database by clicking the link that says “View All Contacts and Companies.” Even though the entries are displayed in alphabetical order, you can sort them in a variety of different ways to meet the requirements of a small or medium-sized business.
When you click on the name of a specific contact, you will be taken to that person’s contact page; however, the rest of the contact list will slide off to the right of the page, making it simple to navigate between each contact page without losing your place on the list. Taking this approach is preferable to having to open a number of separate tabs or web pages in order to switch between different contacts.
Existing users of Less Annoying CRM may become confused as a result of some significant alterations brought about by the redesign of the software, which helped to make the experience more user-friendly and contemporary. In addition to modifying the user interface and the orientation of the menus, the developers of Less Annoying CRM renamed a number of important components. For instance, the feature that was formerly known as a customer’s History has been rebranded as the Activity Feed. It is simple to overlook this particular aspect, in addition to the many others that are similar. Before diving into the solution and making a commitment to this CRM solution, it is in your best interest to watch all of the videos in the Beginner’s Guide that are included in the demo.
If you prefer to communicate with your contacts through email, Less Annoying CRM will create a unique email address for you to use so that you can keep track of the messages exchanged. You have to make a mental note to copy that custom email when you send outgoing emails, and when you receive emails, you have to remember to forward them to the custom email address. If you compose an email from within the application, there is a function that will immediately insert the user’s custom email address into the BCC: field. Attachments to emails are additionally logged in the activity feed by the software.
Lead Management
Pipelines, which are a form of workflow tracking offered by Less Annoying CRM, are the means by which you can keep tabs on and manage various processes, including leads. These pipelines provide you with an easy to use, albeit somewhat restricted, set of lead management tools that will function most effectively for relatively small organizations or groups.
You will first be presented with a pipeline, in which you will be able to classify leads as either active (representing prospects and qualified leads) or closed (sale won or lost). Both of these categories have room for additional classes to be added.
Through the use of the pipeline windows, you are able to add notes and tasks. You also have the option of creating individualized fields for your pipeline, such as text boxes, drop-down menus, checklists, numeric fields, or date fields. The fields that you create for the pipeline will not be reflected on the records of individual leads; however, they will show up when you click the button that says “pipeline” that is located on the record. Other preprogrammed pipelines manage the tracking of projects, office procedures, customer service, and the onboarding process for newly hired clients. You also have the option of constructing pipelines from the ground up. (The company offers assistance in developing your pipeline if you find yourself at a standstill.)
You can also have multiple active pipelines, such as one for leads and one for after-sales services. For example, you could have one pipeline for leads and one for after-sales services. You can easily re-assign a lead from the contact page. For example, if you want to pass a lead off to a salesperson or some other user, you can do so. Email or text message notifications will be sent to the newly registered user. On the other hand, it would be helpful if the app itself featured some kind of notification system.
The capability of attaching multiple leads to a single contact is useful in a variety of contexts, such as when a travel agent is working on booking multiple trips for a client or when a salesperson is trying to sign up a client for multiple services.
Reports and Assistance
When you have finished populating your account with leads and contacts, Less Annoying CRM will begin to automatically create straightforward reports based on each pipeline. The levels of importance assigned to leads and contacts are represented via color coding. The reports display only active contacts and leads by default; however, you can filter the results in a variety of different ways. You have the ability to filter by leads that are associated with a specific user, inactive contacts, all high-priority leads, as well as other criteria. You can also arrange them in a specific order based on a variety of criteria. In conclusion, reports can be printed or exported if necessary. Integration with Mailchimp, in addition to Google, is available through Less Annoying CRM, and it allows for the tracking of email marketing and campaigns.
However, despite the fact that the reporting capabilities of Less Annoying are straightforward and easy to understand, we found them to be overly simplistic. During the time that you are allowed to try out the service for free, you should devote some of your attention to investigating this particular area. Tools such as Freshsales CRM offer a little more customizability in the reporting and dashboarding department while still preserving that small-business-oriented ease of use in their software.
Less Annoying CRM provides customer service via phone and email (9 a.m to 5 p.m. Central Time). It’s a nice touch that each account has a coach assigned to it, complete with a direct email address and phone number. In addition, you will discover walkthroughs, articles, videos, and various other forms of self-service documentation.
Integrations with well-known SMB applications such as Google, MailChimp, and Microsoft Office have been developed by the Less Annoying CRM team. Because the integration in Less Annoying CRM pushes contacts, names, and email addresses to and from Mailchimp, users are spared the inconvenience of having to manually update their mailing lists. When emails are sent using the Mailchimp integration, Less Annoying CRM will log a copy of each email sent to the recipient’s record on the CRM system.
The software works with a variety of other services in addition to its integration with Google and Mailchimp. These services include Billing (for billing), Fonreach (for call logging), MyRepChat (for text messaging), and Simplii (for VoIP), among others.
Small and medium-sized businesses will value Less Annoying CRM’s mobile solution because it does not require downloading yet another app and instead functions directly with the mobile browser on your smartphone. The application is able to display the Workspace section on a screen that is less than its full size while still making the Navigation and Page Menu buttons easily accessible. If you are already familiar with the desktop version of Less Annoying CRM, figuring out how to use it on your mobile device should not be difficult. It is possible to save a shortcut to Less Annoying CRM on mobile devices running Google Chrome. This shortcut functions in a manner similar to that of a mobile application and is simple to access.
Bottom Line
Less Annoying CRM is an exceptional customer relationship management tool. It assists small and medium-sized businesses in maintaining visibility into their sales and business processes while also facilitating communication with key contacts. It does not burden the user with an excessive number of features, and the low monthly cost and free support make it accessible to even the most modest of businesses.
Less Annoying is one of the most cost-effective customer relationship management (CRM) solutions that we evaluated, and it offers a surprising amount of flexibility and performance, both of which add some additional value for small businesses and startups.
Pros
- The newly redesigned interface is easier to understand and use.
- Multiple lines of assistance and support are available.
- Excellent implementation of a mobile website.
Cons
- With the new interface, current users will have a bit of a learning curve to get used to it.
- Too primitive reporting features without addons
