Email remains an indispensable communication channel between businesses and customers. With 1.8 billion Gmail users worldwide, it‘s no surprise that integrating customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities with Gmail is a massive opportunity.
The right Gmail CRM solution empowers you to track contacts, manage deals, analyze email performance, and automate workflows – without ever leaving your inbox. The result? More productive teams, optimized sales funnels, and stronger customer relationships.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll compare the top eight Gmail CRMs on the market to help you determine the best solution for your business.
What is a Gmail CRM and How Does it Work?
A Gmail CRM is cloud-based software that integrates directly with your Gmail account to streamline contact and customer data in one place. Rather than toggling between apps or tabs, everything you need to manage leads and close deals lives inside your inbox.
Once connected, the CRM automatically captures contact details from your emails, building a searchable database. You can then segment and organize this data however you like – by company, deal value, project type, etc.
Key features include:
- Contact Management – profiles, tags/groups, notes
- Email Integration – send/receive, templates, tracking
- Sales Pipeline – stages, deals, tasks/reminders
- Reporting – metrics like email performance, sales activities
- Integrations – calendar, phone, accounting tools and more
This consolidates previously scattered information into clear customer records and sales funnels. Most Gmail CRMs also include workflow automation to keep your team productive. The result is more meaningful customer experiences – something 61% of customers say brands need to prioritize.
Now let‘s see how eight popular Gmail CRM options compare across crucial capabilities.
Streak – Best for Email Productivity
Streak focuses on supercharging your Gmail for sales and support teams. Customers like Uber, YouTube, and over 750,000 more trust Streak for its robust email handling.
Key Features
- Email templates, scheduling, reminders
- Views, opens, clicks reporting
- Email drafting and send later options
- Smart contact grouping with tags
- Custom sales pipelines
Streak is one of the most mature Gmail add-ons available. The focus remains on making communications as efficient as possible.
For sales teams, there are also strong CRM features like pipelines and lead scoring. Plus, over 1000 app integrations via Zapier increase flexibility. Overall, Streak is a great choice for productivity-focused teams.
Ideal for: High email volume teams seeking workflow efficiency
Nethunt CRM – Best for Customization
Nethunt CRM delivers enterprise-grade capabilities tailored specifically to each business. Flexible customization ensures a perfect fit across teams and use cases – making it a user and expert favorite.
Key Features
- Custom fields and objects fit unique needs
- User role management
- Automated data sync from email
- Robust analytics and reporting
- AI for tasks like contact recommendations
For rapidly scaling companies, Nethunt is an excellent choice. The CRM aligns to each stage of growth via drag and drop configuration options. Plus, an open API and integrations accelerate connecting other apps and internal data sources.
Ideal for: Customization with complex sales processes and tools
Salesmate – Best for Google Workspace Users
Boasting over 4,000 global customers, Salesmate is purpose-built for Google Workspace. From Gmail to Sheets, Docs, and Calendar, Salesmate taps into the familiar Google environment while unlocking CRM capabilities.
Key Features
- Native Google Workspace integrations
- Contact insights from email history
- Intuitive interface similar to Gmail
- Sales forecasting and pipeline reporting
- Email productivity features
For groups relying heavily on Google Workspace, Salesmate breaks down adoption barriers. It feels like an extension versus an entirely new system. The result is a natural-feeling CRM experience via Gmail.
Ideal for: Google-centric teams seeking an integrated sales platform
Copper CRM – Best for G Suite Teams
Copper is a slick CRM prioritizing the Google Suite experience with intuitive UI and real-time syncing. Strengths like email tracking and collaboration make Copper a standout for modern teams.
Key Features
- Activity timeline shows colleague interactions
- Gmail email tracking built-in
- Automatic Google Calendar syncing
- Easy file sharing and storage
- Clean, visually appealing interface
Copper feels at home among Google Suite tools. The ability to track email performance without installing anything makes it incredibly easy to use. For groups invested in the Google ecosystem, Copper deserves a close look.
Ideal for: Google Suite teams wanting collaboration-driven CRM
Flowlu – Best Free Option
Flowlu offers an incredibly robust free CRM, especially considering its integration with Gmail and other Google services. For bootstrapped teams, it‘s a feature-packed situational awareness tool.
Key Features
- Kanban boards to visualize workflows
- Contact records with conversations
- Email and call logging
- Sales data analytics
- Integrates with Google Calendar
With a free CRM this fully-featured, it‘s hard to imagine upgrading. Flowlu provides tremendous visibility across scattered tools. For early-stage companies, it‘s a value-packed option.
Ideal for: Early-stage companies that need CRM without the cost
Agile CRM – Best For Long Term Value
With a trusted user base of over 15,000 customers, Agile CRM is a proven solution. The combination of email productivity, sales automation, and marketing orchestration provide tremendous long term value.
Key Features
- Deep Gmail interaction insights
- Envoy allows tracking emails sent from any app
- Intuitive sales pipeline construction
- Landing page and form builder included
- Excellent value for investment
For scaling companies taking a strategic view of customer experience, AgileCRM delivers. Having marketing automation and CRM capabilities in one affordable platform sets up major efficiency gains.
Ideal for: Mid-market companies that expect significant growth
Method CRM – Best For ClickUp Fans
Method CRM emphasizes capturing data across tools to connect workflows. For existing ClickUp fans, deep integration allows creating tasks, contacts, companies, and deals automatically from emails.
Key Features
- Automated data capture from email
- QuickBooks integration
- Contact timeline shows all interactions
- Lead scoring and opportunity analysis
- Customizable sales pipelines
With Method‘s focus on connectivity and automation, it‘s especially suitable for service businesses managing lots of contacts. Saving time on manual data entry lets staff focus on nurturing relationships.
Ideal for: Service businesses already using ClickUp
Close CRM – Best For Scalability
Close‘s mantra "built for sales teams who close" hints at its focus – closing more deals profitability. With fierce attention on sales productivity features, Close makes it easy to run an organized, metrics-driven team selling at scale.
Key Features
- Custom sales processes to match workflow
- Email productivity features
- Sales forecasting and probability analysis
- Customizable reports and dashboards
- Built to expand from early team to enterprise
For leaders investing in sales infrastructure for growth, Close is a leading choice. Helping organize processes at scale leads to repeating successful patterns – an excellent catalyst enabling sustainable growth.
Ideal for: Scaling companies wanting enterprise-grade sales infrastructure
Evaluating Your Gmail CRM Requirements
With an overwhelming array of options on the market, choosing the right Gmail CRM matters. Avoid analysis paralysis by establishing clear priorities around:
Company Size – Assess user count and growth plans. Some options scale better than others.
Email Volume – If managing lots of communications, email productivity features help.
Software Stack – Integrations with existing tools boosts efficiency.
Data Focus – What key information is needed and how will it be used? That determines feature necessity.
Budget Limits – Usually but not always, spending capability dictates solution sophistication.
By focusing on must-have capabilities aligned with long term strategy, you can confidently choose a Gmail CRM that fuels success as a trusted platform enabling customer trust and lifetime loyalty.
In Summary – Gmail CRMs Unlock High Performance Teams
Email isn‘t going anywhere despite flashy new communication channels. Integrating a Gmail CRM solution delivers many advantages:
Increased Efficiency – Features like templates and tracking improve email effectiveness.
Organized Data – Consolidating contact data from across tools enables better decisions and personalization.
Higher Win Rates – Pipeline management, task reminders, and analytics help sell smarter.
Empowered Collaboration – Shared records and notifications keep everyone on the same page.
While there are many excellent Gmail CRM tools featured here, thinking critically about which aligns best with your strategy and current needs leads to long term ROI.
Ultimately with customer expectations rising across industries in our digital age, leveraging technology for memorable relationship building fuels sustainable success – something a robust Gmail CRM enables at a foundational level.
