"Optimize your marketing & drive leads with SharpSpring"
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Pros
  • Built-in marketing automation
  • Wide range of integration options
  • Powerful analytics and funnel tracking
  • Intuitive social media management tools
Cons
  • It doesn’t have a native SMS marketing integration
  • Email and landing page customization is basic
  • Limited functionality compared to dedicated CRM tools
  • Difficult to onboard without dedicated assistance
Company Background

SharpSpring was founded in 2012 by Rick Carlson as a way to make automation more accessible to businesses that don’t fit the traditional mold of enterprise customers. It largely succeeded before being sold to Constant Contact through an all-cash deal in 2021. In the last decade, it has developed an expansive platform that spans social media management, marketing automation, sales pipeline management, and so much more. All the while, it has continued to serve small businesses but also included larger customers to the mix along with agencies.

Plans & Pricing

The pricing of SharpSring is transparent and easy to understand. There are five different plans available and all of them include the full set of features, with the only difference in price reflected by the number of contacts the business has.

On the downside, there is no annual or money-back guarantee. The onboarding package costs quite a lot as well, as there is a $1,800 one-time fee for 60 days. Another important thing to note is that the brand doesn’t offer a free trial of the tool. The only thing that you can get your hands on prior to the purchase is the demo.

1,500 Contacts
$450/mo
Free demo
10,000 Contacts
$650/mo
Free demo
20,000 Contacts
$875/mo
Free demo
Agency
Custom Pricing
Free demo
Enterprise
Custom Pricing
Free demo

1,500 Contacts

The plan is $450/monthly and primarily suitable for small businesses.

10,000 Contacts

The plan is $650/monthly and recommended to small, fast-growing businesses.

20,000 Contacts

This plan is $875/monthly and suitable for medium-sized companies.

Agency

Designed specifically for marketing agencies, the Agency plan features a custom pricing model and is advertised to be tested and used by over 1500 businesses worldwide.

Enterprise

The custom enterprise plan is meant for large companies that have relatively large numbers of contacts to work with on a daily basis.

Overall, the price of the software is a bit on the higher end if you’re not planning to use all of the tool’s features, yet quite affordable if you do use the whole set. While this will obviously depend on your business type and industry, it’s highly cost-effective to consider SharpSpring as an all-in-one solution as opposed to filling in software gaps. Also, the fact that an unlimited number of users get access to the full package is definitely a big plus, along with the equal level of customer support.

Featured prices can be updated and free offers may include additional terms.
Features & Functionality
General Features

SharpSpring offers all the general features that you’d typically expect from a CRM tool including contact creation and management, pipeline view, and reporting. The software is cloud-based and accessible from anywhere. Also, with the help of the mobile app users can monitor the sales pipeline and conveniently access crucial information regarding sales contacts, leads and opportunities.

Sales reps can quickly review lead information on-the-go, add, remove, or edit leads, set reminders, check lead scores, and take notes for each contact. The app is available on both iOS and Android.

Here are some of the most notable features:

Smart mail

Users can schedule one-on-one personalized emails and follow-ups to be sent to leads. The smart mail uses smart content, which can be configured to automatically change based on predefined criteria like lead stage, industry, type, etc. The feature is perfect for saving time and improving the quality of communication.

Custom deal stages

If you’re working with a VIP contact, you’d probably want to pay closer attention to the sales cycle and even implement a personalized approach if necessary. The custom deal stages feature allows you to track the progress of an opportunity from the very beginning to the end of the sales cycle while making important notes and changes on the fly.

Drag and drop & bird’s eye view

The drag and drop functionality allows users to apply changes seamlessly by moving different contacts through different stages. Also, the convenient, board-like interface can be used to quickly find all the hot opportunities in the pipeline and focus on those, without ever finding yourself in a mess.

Lead scoring

Advanced users can utilize the lead scoring feature to identify hot leads. While there is a lot of industry and business-specific configuration that needs to be done, once set up, the scoring system can pinpoint the leads with the highest chance of conversion, serving as a direct revenue boost.

Features
  • Workflow Capability
  • Document Management
  • Social Network Integration
  • Integration API's
  • Customization
  • Data Import & Export
  • Test Environments
  • Project Management
Marketing Automation
Features
  • Lead Management
  • Email Marketing
  • Campaign Management
Sales Automation
Features
  • Opportunity & Pipeline Management
  • Desktop Integration
  • Contact Management
  • Product & Price Management
  • Customer Contract Management
  • Call Management
  • Channel Management
Analytics & Reports

There are five types of reports that you can generate: pipeline view, opportunity health, conversion rate analysis, won vs. lost leads, and sales team performance. Each of the reports offers detailed and structured information regarding the corresponding aspect of your sales operations and are very easy to read and understand.

As for the integrations, SharpSpring can be easily integrated with SalesForce, Zoho, PipeDrive, Nimble and many other major CRM solutions that your company may already be using. Also, the API integration with Zapier allows integrating the software with pretty much any other tool you need.

Features
  • Reporting
  • Forecasting
  • Marketing Analytics
Ease of Use

SharpSpring has done an excellent job making its software accessible for small businesses that may not have the resources for an ‘implementation team.’ It may not be 100% intuitive for customers new to CRM software but it doesn’t have a steep learning curve either. You can learn most of the platform yourself after clicking around for a few hours. There are plenty of help documents available and there’s an option for a dedicated onboarding specialist (though it is a paid service). Take it slow because SharpSpring is expansive and it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Customer Support

The support team is knowledgeable and responsive to queries from customers. They’ll be able to solve most problems (if it’s not a technical issue) on the first interaction so you’ll be able to get back to doing what matters sooner rather than later.

Phone Support
Phone Support
Phone support is available from 8:30 AM to 8:00 PM
Live Online Chat
Live Online Chat
Live chat is available to some registered customers
Video Tutorials
Video Tutorials
Number of tutorials available on SharpSpring’s YouTube Channel
FAQ
FAQ
There is no dedicated FAQ, they do have a detailed knowledgebase
Final Word

SharpSpring has grown from a simple CRM to a robust marketing and sales automation platform that caters to small and medium businesses as well as agencies. It does a good job of creating simple tools for its customers but the expansiveness of the platform can be daunting. You’re able to create landing pages, email marketing campaigns, automated workflows, sales pipelines, lead scoring, blogs and websites, retargeting ads, and even manage social media. It’s truly a one-stop marketing and sales platform. It’s a bit pricier right out the gate than many other CRM but it doesn’t limit you based on the number of users you have. Instead, it focuses on the number of contacts managed in the CRM. This works well for some customers and not others. In the end, the solid features, responsive support, and constant innovation make SharpSpring a CRM worth paying attention to.

Daniel Ndukwu
Author: Daniel Ndukwu
Daniel is a small business owner at large helping his peers navigate the challenges they experience on a day to day basis. His philosophy is simple, if it isn’t broken you can still make it better.