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As small business owners, we all know how tough finding the right CRM system can be.
Plus, if you pick the wrong one, it can cost time and money that could be going back into your business.
I’m AJ—here to offer some assistance. I’ve spent the last decade growing my business, trying out dozens of CRMs (and making plenty of mistakes as I went).
I recently sold my company for a successful seven-figure exit. Since then, I’ve acquired Small Business Bonfire. My goal is to help fellow entrepreneurs get to where I am in a fraction of the time it took me.
So, let’s talk turkey. Specifically, one of my all-time favorite CRM platforms—Bitrix24. In this Bitrix24 review, we break down the impressive feature-rich platform so you don’t have to.
Let’s dive in!
Also, check out our list of the best Small Business CRM after reading!
You Can Trust Small Business Bonfire
The Small Business Bonfire team I have rated and tested thousands of business software throughout the last decade. Our goal? To help you (Bonfire Nation) start & scale your organizations. If you want to know more about how we test, please read this article here.
Bitrix24 is an all-in-one, cloud-based, open-sourced customer relationship management (CRM) platform that replaces all your SaaS (software as a service) applications.
Can we get a few more adjectives to describe this thing? Oh wait, it looks like we used them all! Jokes aside, Bitrix24 is a really powerful CRM.
Bitrix is essentially a comprehensive all-in-one platform with built-in features to help manage every aspect of your business in one convenient location.
Some features offered by the platform include:
AutomationDeal pipeline managementTeam collaboration toolsAd creationEmail templatesMarketing campaign creationContact managementWebsite builderMobile appLead management
Whew!—if that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is!
The CRM software is fantastic for small and midsize businesses (SMBs) looking to do the following:
Scale every aspect of their businessTake advantage of powerful teamwork featuresAutomate tedious tasks
It’s perfect for large enterprises with many users, as the pricing plans don’t charge per user like most CRMs.
It’s also tailor-made for remote teams, as everything is available online and can be accessed by multiple users anywhere in the world.
Bitrix24 has a ton of benefits, but it’s important to examine the downsides as well. Here are the pros and cons of the customer relationship management platform.
Great task and project management tools
Pricing is based on your entire team, not per user
Lots of powerful automation capabilities to streamline recurring tasks
Tons of tools to help foster teamwork
Fantastic marketing tools
Lead management tools to empower your sales team
A free version with a lot of utility
Clunky user-interface
Customer support is only available in paid plans
Hard to get started for beginners
We’ve touched on how feature-rich Bitrix24 is. Now, let’s narrow down who it’s best suited for.
In our opinion, Bitrix24 is best for the following:
Small businesses – Small businesses can get a ton of utility out of the free version, in addition to affordable plans that scale with your business. There are plenty of advanced features to take advantage of to empower all your teams across the board.Medium-sized companies – Midsize companies can utilize powerful tools to help segment long lists of clients, automate tedious tasks, and chat directly with teams in the platform.Large enterprises – As we mentioned, Bitrix24’s pricing is based on the plan itself, not the number of users. This means the robust CRM is essentially built to have large teams of users without breaking the bank. Plus, Bitrix24 offers everything under the sun regarding managing business development.
Even the best CRM solutions aren’t for everyone.
Here are some situations we think Bitrix24 isn’t particularly well-suited for:
Startups – Startups may find the learning curve a bit steep, as there are so many features to learn. Plus, most startups don’t need all the advanced bells and whistles that Bitrix24 offers (and there’s no way to turn them off).Niche businesses – Niche businesses with a limited customer base may find it hard to take advantage of all the features of Bitrix24. If you only need a few features, it’s much more practical to choose a smaller platform. Plus, Bitrix24 offers no form of customer service with its free plan.
Bitrix24 CRM offers a free plan in addition to four paid plans.
They are the following:
Free – Free foreverBasic – $49/month for 5 usersStandard – $99/month for 50 usersProfessional – $199/month for 100 usersEnterprise – $399/month for 250 users
After that, the Enterprise plan is based on how many users you have. For reference, the maximum number of users is 10,000, costing $8,000/month.
For an enterprise-level plan and that amount of users, that’s an absolute steal, in our opinion.
We’ve established that Bitrix24 is a powerful platform. Now let’s see how it stacks up against some of the most popular all-in-one CRM software in the game.
Bitrix24 – $49/month for 5 users
Free planPowerful contact managementWebsite builderMultiple pipelines
HubSpot – $50/month for 2 users
Free planBasic contact managementWebsite builder1 pipeline with the basic plan
Zendesk – $19/month per user
No free planBasic contact managementNo website builderMultiple pipelines
Freshworks – $15/month per user
Free planPowerful contact managementNo website builder1 pipeline with the basic plan
As you can see, the most affordable options (at first glance) are Zendesk at $19/month and Freshworks at $15/month.
However, these platforms are based on the individual user. Bitrix24 starts off at $49/month for 5 users, which is roughly $10/month per user.
Based on this factor, Bitrix24 is the clear winner in terms of cost. But what about features?
Well, Bitrix blows the other options out of the water regarding the sheer amount of features offered. To the point where some users see it as bloated with features.
We think that if you’re willing to take your time with the features you want and just ignore the ones you don’t, Bitrix is easily the winner out of these four platforms.
Deal pipelines are kind of like the assembly lines of the sales world.
They’re a structured approach to managing your leads, deals, and customers, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.
And when it comes to managing your sales process, Bitrix24 really shines.
With its intuitive deal pipeline builder, you can easily create and customize your pipeline to fit your specific sales processes.
At Small Business Bonfire, we started by adding some of our affiliate marketing deals.
Bitrix24 made adding or importing new deals easy by clicking on the pipeline directly, which we thought was awesome.
This meant no wasted time searching for a button or hidden setting—everything was right in front of us.
We imported some deals from Zoho CRM to test how easy it was.
With just a few clicks, we could move everything over seamlessly.
We were glad to see that switching over from another CRM to Bitrix24 is almost entirely painless.
So if you’re reading this thinking you picked the wrong CRM from your business and want to move over, there’s virtually no opportunity cost.
One aspect of Bitrix24’s deal management that we absolutely loved was how easy it was to fully customize multiple pipelines. Here’s our view from our testing as we customized the columns of each pipeline.
We created and consistently used the following three pipelines:
SalesRecruitmentAffiliate partnerships
Once we had everything moved over, here’s how our Kanban view looked.
Speaking of views, we were able to change our view to each of the following:
KanbanListActivitiesCalendar
We could easily move around our cards using the drag-and-drop functionality of Bitrix24.
One of the most exciting features of Bitrix24 (in our opinion) is its seamless team collaboration capabilities.
With Bitrix24, you can take advantage of the following collaboration tools:
Online meeting schedulingChat & video callsEmployee directoryTime trackingFile sharing
These features are particularly handy for businesses that operate remotely or have teams working from different locations.
We especially loved the built-in chat feature that allowed all of our team to communicate without ever leaving the CRM platform,
While we typically use Slack for most of our communication at SBB, we thought this feature potentially rivaled our chat platform of choice (which is saying a lot!).
Additionally, with the employee directory provided by Bitrix24, you can effortlessly add employee details, such as:
Job descriptionsContact informationOther essential data
Workgroups also offer an excellent way to create specialized channels or groups that can share specific content.
Lastly, Bitrix24 also boasts a fantastic time-tracking tool that enables you to easily monitor your employees’ progress.
This tool allows each team member to clock in and out, see daily tasks and events, and choose whether they are out of the office or not.
Here’s how the time-tracking tool looks (to give you a better idea).
Overall, when it comes to team collaboration, Bitrix24 is our go-to CRM for SMBs that value efficient communication and productive teamwork.
When it comes to project management, Bitrix24 has you covered.
Some project management capabilities of Bitrix include:
An efficiency trackerProject automationScrum team creationWorktime TrackingWorkgroups
We’ll walk you through our process of getting started with Bitrix24’s project management.
For starters, we clicked the “create” button and were given a choice between the following two options—projects and workgroups.
We selected projects (although we used both quite a bit throughout our testing).
We were able to customize the following for our new project:
NameVisual themeProject icon
From there, we chose the level of privacy for the project, added members, and we were rolling.
Within each project, we could easily view and add tasks, create polls, upload files, and view all the related messages.
We also loved how it was possible to bring over our scrum team to Bitrix24 through the project management feature.
Bitrix24 allows scrum integration from the following platforms:
JiraAsanaTrello
Honestly, Bitrix24 has some of the most in-depth project management we’ve ever seen. Since it’s completely free to try out, we recommend you give it a try for yourself!
It’s fantastic for SMBs looking to get organized and make sure all their teams are on the same page.
Just like everything with Bitrix24, the CRM software has a lot to offer (and we mean A LOT) in terms of contact management.
The platform offers a wide range of features designed to help you manage the following:
ContactsCompaniesSigning partiesVendorsContact center
Each tab is essentially a separate hub designed to work together to streamline and simplify the contact management process.
For example, you can create a contact list that contains all of your clients’ information, such as:
Contact infoTagsNotesFiles
We tested the platform out by adding in some of our B2B affiliate marketing clients.
Here’s how it looked from our perspective.
We were also able to create our own custom fields directly within each contact card, which we thought was awesome.
What’s more—the CRM system also offers robust signing party management tools, allowing you to streamline your document signing process and ensure that everything is properly authorized.
With vendor management tools, you can easily manage your business relationships and ensure that all of your vendors are meeting your needs.
We’ve tested a lot of CRMs throughout the years, and honestly, Bitrix24 might just be the most comprehensive in terms of contact management that we’ve seen.
Another awesome feature of Bitrix24 is its powerful campaign creation capabilities, which enable SMBs to reach their target audience through multiple channels.
These include the following:
EmailSMSMessengersVoice
We got to work creating all four throughout our three months testing period.
We were able to select from a list of many helpful templates for each channel (shown below).
We created a messenger campaign to inform our readers about our new newsletter called the Bonfire Field Guide.
Here’s an example of the introduction message we created.
We were able to quickly create messages for each step in the campaign, including:
IntroductionOpt-inFirst issueCheck-in
Then, with just a few clicks, we were scheduling and sending out messages left and right!
All in all, this feature was as powerful as it was intuitive! Two thumbs up from the SBB team.
Bitrix24’s CRM offers a powerful ad creation tool that allows businesses to seamlessly create and manage Facebook and Google ads.
This tool offers an array of customization options, including:
Ad typeTarget audienceBudget
Additionally, the add creation tool provides analytics and reporting features that enable businesses to track the performance of their ads in real time, allowing for quick adjustments and optimizations.
With Bitrix24’s ad creation tool, SMBs can accomplish the following:
Reach a wider audienceBoost engagementDrive more sales
Let’s be honest—who wouldn’t want to be a social media superstar? Well, even if that’s not possible with Bitrix24, you can get as close as you ever could!
One of Bitrix24’s standout offerings is its email template creation
Bitrix24 allows you to create, select from, and customize templates to streamline email communications, saving precious time and energy.
We use email to connect with the majority of our clients at SBB, so naturally, we took advantage of this tool quite a bit during our three-month testing period.
Here’s an example of an email template we created to follow up with our affiliate marketing clients.
We especially liked how easy it was to add the following to each template:
TextImagesSocial networksCodeFooters
The whole thing took about 5 minutes, and we were able to send it off to tons of clients with just a few clicks.
So, whether you’re looking to send a mass email to potential clients or a personalized message to a current customer, Bitrix24’s email templates have got you covered.
And let’s not forget, the best part about using Email Templates is not having to rack your brain for the perfect thing to say.
So if you’re looking for a CRM that can help simplify your email communications, look no further than Bitrix24.
At Small Business Bonfire, we tested Bitrix24’s inventory management features over the course of three months and were amazed by the results.
With Bitrix24’s inventory management, you get access to many tools that allow you to accurately monitor your inventory in real-time.
You can accomplish the following with ease:
Track the sales ordersTransfersWrite-offs
All we had to do to get started was enable inventory management (pictured below), and from there, we were adding products, tracking sales, and analyzing our business from a top-down perspective.
This feature is particularly useful for E-commerce SMBs that have a vast inventory and deal with a high volume of orders.
With Bitrix24’s inventory management tool, you can efficiently manage your inventory, ensure timely deliveries, and ensure customer satisfaction.
Overall, Bitrix24’s inventory management feature is a game-changer for SMBs looking to streamline their operations and boost productivity across the board.
Regarding task management, Bitrix24 is a force to be reckoned with. The amount of functionality and customization available to users is simply unparalleled.
With Bitrix24, you’ll be able to easily manage all your daily tasks and appointments in one central location.
But what really sets this CRM software apart is the variety of ways you can view your tasks.
It’s easy to view tasks in the following ways:
ListsDeadlinesPlannerCalendarGantt charts
Talk about a comprehensive approach to staying organized!
We created a task called “Enable WordPress Login for New Users.” It took us about ten seconds to set it up, which we thought was awesome.
We also loved how we were able to create task templates, reducing the monotony of adding each task manually.
We created a template that we called “Onboarding Tasks” to make it extremely simple every time we needed to get new users on board.
Our takeaway from Bitrix24’s task management is that it’s honestly one of the best in the game.
There’s a bit of a learning curve to navigating the complex functionality, but once you’ve got it down, it makes life so much easier.
At this point, you might be thinking that Bitrix24 offers a full CRM, an entire suite of tools for collaboration, and it doubles as a project management system—so there’s probably limited website creation, right?
That couldn’t be further from the truth, actually. Somehow, the CRM powerhouse offers a fully formed website creator (optimized for mobile right out of the gate).
And did we mention it’s free? That’s right, no hidden costs or fees.
So if you’re looking to up your online presence game and create a beautiful, mobile-friendly website for your business, look no further than Bitrix24’s website builder.
We thought this might be too good to be true, so we gave it a spin for ourselves.
We were able to navigate to the “sites and stores” tab and click “create.” to get started.
Next, we were treated to some gorgeous templates (pictured below).
Throughout our testing, we utilized the templates quite a bit. However, to fully try out the capabilities of the platform, we opted to create one from scratch.
The whole process took about 30 minutes (due to a pretty steep learning curve). Here’s a basic overview of what we ultimately came up with (in the mobile view).
At the end of the day, despite the learning curve with Bitrix24’s website creation, the platform delivers a robust offering. The fact that it’s free and offers a ton of customization is just the icing on the cake.
At Small Business Bonfire, we believe in working smarter, not harder (and sometimes harder—we can’t help it).
Automation helps to do just that! Luckily, Bitrix24 offers automation in spades.
Some of the types of automation included are:
WorkflowsRules and triggersSmart scripts
Essentially, Bitrix24 allows you to automate any tedious task you can think of, from simplifying task management to empowering your sales teams to close deals faster.
For example, we were able to quickly create automation to notify the appropriate any time a new deal was created.
As you can see from the screenshot below, it worked like a charm!
Once we had this automation in place, we never missed a new potential partnership (as we got the notification on both desktop and mobile).
This is just the tip of the iceberg, though. During our there months of testing, we created dozens of automations to streamline the majority of our business processes at SBB.
All that to say—automation with Bitrix24 is out of this world. We recommend SMBs take advantage of the sheer amount of possibilities offered by the powerful CRM.
At SBB, we understand the importance of learning from your data. After all, how can you improve and scale your business without understanding what works and what doesn’t?
Bitrix24 is here to help! The CRM software offers powerful reporting and analytics to peruse at your convenience.
Some of the analytics Bitrix24 provides include:
SalesClientsOnline storeCall statisticsEmployee performanceInventory management
Here’s an example of our sales funnel (illustrated by a color-coded graph).
Bitrix24’s reporting and analytics make it easy to get a bird’s eye view of your SMB.
It’s truly all-encompassing when it comes to understanding your business from top to bottom.
So, if you want to stay ahead of the competition, Bitrix24’s reporting and analytics are definitely worth trying!
If you’re wondering about the lead management capabilities of Bitrix24, let me tell you firsthand that it’s impressive.
Our team at Small Business Bonfire put this feature to the test, and we were thoroughly impressed by how intuitive and streamlined the process was.
One of the coolest aspects was the ability to connect with leads directly from their card through the following channels:
SMSChatPhoneEmail
It’s hard not to be impressed when you see it in action.
But it’s not just about convenience—Bitrix24’s lead management capabilities empower your sales teams to connect with more leads and ultimately close more deals.
With its comprehensive lead tracking features and automation tools, you can easily manage your entire sales pipeline more efficiently.
Don’t believe us? Try it out for yourself and prepare to be blown away.
Despite how hard Bitrix24 tries, no CRM platform is perfect.
Some limitations of the CRM software (in our opinion) include the following:
The software is clunky – Let’s face it, Bitrix24 is a huge platform, and it’s tough to streamline anything that bulky. During our three months of testing, we experienced a high learning curve with Bitrix24. However, once we got over that, we fell in love with the robust CRM. With how much value there is in Bitrix24, we think a UI (user interface) update would make this platform number one in its field.Customer service is only available on paid plans – Bitrix24 boasts a great free forever plan that offers many tools for SMBs to take advantage of. It almost seems too good to be true, right? Well, the downside is that you can’t contact anyone from customer support without paying for a plan—even with the free trial. So that means if you have any issues (and probably will at some point), you’re going to have to solve them yourself or spend some money.
Bitrix24 offers an extensive list of integrations across numerous categories, ensuring businesses can seamlessly streamline their operations and boost productivity.
From sales and CRM to HR management and marketing and newsletters, Bitrix24’s marketplace, aptly named “Bitrix24.Market,” offers a vast assortment of apps that enable users to integrate with their preferred tools.
Here’s how it looked for us as we tested Bitrix24’s integrations.
Want to keep tabs on your workflow, tasks, and projects? Bitrix24 has you covered! Need analytics and reports to keep tabs on your business performance?
Bitrix24 can do that too!
Bitrix24’s marketplace has an abundance of integrations that can manage all of the following:
Communication channelsSitesOnline storesImportsExportsAutomationsVertical solutions
In short, if it’s integrations you need, Bitrix24 is the CRM for you!
Is Bitrix24 Reliable? Absolutely!
Here are some reasons why:
Great reputation – Bitrix24 has been in the market for over 10 years and boasts over 9 million users worldwide. That’s years of experience in providing reliable solutions to businesses of all sizes.Cloud-based software – Bitrix24 offers a cloud-based solution that is accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. This means you can access your data and keep track of your business even when you’re out of the office.Tons of features – Bitrix24 offers a comprehensive suite of features, including project management, time tracking, sales automation, and customer service. Having all these tools in one place ensures your team can work more efficiently and effectively.
Bitrix24 offers a free version that businesses can use to manage their CRM needs without paying a dime.
To help you understand the benefits and drawbacks of Bitrix24’s free and paid versions, we’ve prepared a list of key points to consider:
Free version:
No customer service – If you run into problems or have questions, you’re on your own.Limited functionality – The free version has fewer features than the paid version.
Paid version:
Multiple pricing options – Bitrix24 offers various pricing options for different business needs.Robust customer service – Paid users can enjoy 24/7 customer service and technical support via phone, email, and chat.Advanced features – The paid version comes with advanced features such as marketing automation, CRM automation, and custom workflows.Mobile app – The Bitrix24 mobile app allows users to access their CRM on the go.Integration – Bitrix24 integrates with other popular business tools such as Zapier, Slack, and Mailchimp.
Overall, while the free version of Bitrix24 may seem like a great option for cash-strapped SMBs, its lack of customer service makes it a risky choice.
However, the paid version offers a robust set of features, reliable customer support, and integration with other popular business tools, making it a top choice for SMBs looking to optimize their CRM management.
Onboarding with Bitrix24 CRM was a walk in the park in our experience.
First, we navigated to their homepage (pictured below), where we were met with a couple of clear call-to-action (CTA) buttons to start for free and watch a helpful demo.
We got started by entering our email and registering for free. Here’s what it looked like (to give you an idea).
Next, we were asked to select our Bitrix24 most used items.
Our options were the following:
CRMTasks and projectsCollaborationSites
For the purposes of our testing, we went with CRM, although we ended up using all of these features pretty heavily while creating this Bitrix24 review.
From there, we confirmed our email and started adding in our B2B affiliate contacts, inputting affiliate marketing deals, and creating powerful automation.
If we had to assign a rating to Bitrix24’s onboarding experience, we would say it’s easily a 10/10.
Despite being packed with features, Bitrix24 isn’t the easiest CRM platform to master.
The UI (user interface) can be a bit overwhelming at times, which is understandable given the software’s sheer amount of functionality.
However, we at Small Business Bonfire believe that the learning curve is worth overcoming, as once you become familiar with the platform’s layout and capabilities, it truly becomes a joy to use.
Additionally, the platform’s robustness and versatility make it an exceptional tool for SMBs seeking to streamline their business operations and stay competitive in today’s fast-paced market.
In this part of the review, we’ll be taking a closer look at Bitrix24’s customer service and how it can give your business the support it needs.
So, let’s dive right into it! We decided to reach out to Bitrix24’s customer service team via email to test out their responsiveness.
We had a quick question about creating email marketing campaign templates with Bitrix, and we were eager to see how quickly we would receive a response.
Surprisingly, we heard back from Bitrix24’s customer service team in record time. Their response was prompt, helpful and demonstrated a deep understanding of their software.
However, by the time we received their response, we had already found the solution to our issue through their comprehensive knowledge base.
It’s worth noting that Bitrix24’s knowledge base is a treasure trove of helpful information. The platform offers a vast array of guides, articles, and video tutorials, which cater to users of all levels.
Whether you’re a beginner looking to get started with Bitrix24 or an experienced user looking to learn some advanced techniques, their knowledge base will surely have something for everyone.
Based on our experience at Small Business Bonfire, all the best CRM platforms have mobile apps.
So, we’re happy to announce that Bitrix24 has a fantastic mobile app available for both iOS and Android.
Throughout our testing, the SBB team and I found Bitrix24’s mobile app to be a real game-changer for small and medium-sized businesses!
It’s packed with features that make it easy for teams to stay connected and organized on the go.
With just a few taps, you can easily do the following:
View your tasks and deadlinesChat with colleaguesMake calls and video conferences
The user-friendly interface is a breath of fresh air compared to some clunky CRM apps out there.
With Bitrix24 on your phone, you can keep your finger on the pulse of your business, no matter where you are. It’s simply one of the best mobile CRMs for SMBs!
Bitrix24 CRM is awesome, but it’s definitely worth considering some other business management services. Here are a few of our favorite alternatives.
Bitrix24 is 100% worth it for SMBs of all sizes (in our opinion).
It’s great for a staggering number of reasons, some of which include sales and marketing management, productivity and team collaboration, and automating tedious tasks.
In fact, we think there’s so much utility for Bitrix24 that we recommend trying it for yourself. After all, it’s completely free! We guarantee there will be something for your business to take advantage of.
The post Bitrix24 Review 2023: Best CRM for SMBs? appeared first on Small Business Bonfire.
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