Let’s be real, your inbox is a chaotic vortex, constantly pulling you into a relentless stream of messages, attachments and conversations. Meanwhile, valuable customer insights slip through the cracks. The answer? CRM email integration.

CRM email integration can be the key to leveling up your sales, marketing and customer service. It provides a unified view of your customer communications, turning your inbox into a goldmine of actionable customer data.

Here, we present to you our top 7 among the best CRMs of 2024 that offer solid email integration capabilities. We’ll also explore best practices to ensure you’re making the most out of your CRM’s email integration features.

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Best CRM Email Integration Software

With so many email CRM software on the market, finding the right one can be a tedious task. We’ve analyzed countless solutions to bring you the five best CRM software with reliable email integration.

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Zoho CRM – Best Overall

Zoho is a versatile platform that understands email is the lifeblood of modern communication. Offering email integration with two-way syncing, email tracking and pre-built templates, it’s a good all-rounder for affordable email management within the CRM.

Pricing

• Free Plan: Limited to one-way email syncing and restricted features like limited customization options, reporting capabilities, and automation workflows. Supports up to 3 users only.
• Standard: Available at $14 per user per month, this plan provides two-way email syncing, lead management, contact management, basic reporting and analytics.
• Professional: All features of the Standard plan, plus advanced functionalities like custom reports and dashboards, email relay, Google Ads support and more at $23 per month.
• Enterprise: Available at $40 per user per month for additional features such as email parsers, custom modules, advanced dashboard components and AI support.
• Ultimate: Includes everything in the Enterprise plan plus Zoho analytics for $52 per month.

Zoho CRM automatically associates emails with the corresponding customer. Source

Top Benefits

• Seamless Email Integration: Zoho CRM is compatible with major email providers, including Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook and more. This allows you to sync your accounts and bring your email interactions directly into the CRM.
• Personalized Communication: From dynamic merge fields that populate with up-to-date contact data to custom email templates, you can compose emails that appeal to your target audience.
• Enhanced Security: Not every member of your team needs access to the same email conversations. Zoho CRM understands this and provides granular access control, ensuring that the right users can access the right emails. This feature is particularly valuable for larger teams or organizations with strict data privacy policies.

Primary Features

• Email Templates: You can draft visually stunning, on-brand email templates that can be easily personalized with dynamic merge fields, ensuring your messages always hit the mark.
• Email Status Updates: Zoho CRM keeps you informed every step of the way, providing real-time updates on who has opened, clicked or responded to your emails.
• Advanced Filters: With powerful filtering capabilities, you can effortlessly identify leads who haven’t responded or those who are ready to close the deal.
• Message Scheduling and Mass Emailing: Schedule messages in advance, ensuring your outreach hits inboxes at the perfect time. With the mass email functionality, you can deliver personalized, targeted campaigns to a broad audience directly from the CRM interface.
• Email Analytics: Gain insights into your email performance, including open rates, click-through rates and even how your campaigns impact sales figures.
• Email Management Using CRM Data: Zoho CRM lets you integrate your email communications with contact and deal data. You can also access a complete timeline of email exchanges, notes and activities, all within each contact’s profile to never miss a beat.
• Email Parser: This feature automates data entry by intelligently extracting relevant information from incoming emails and automatically populating your CRM records.

Limitations

• Daily sending quotas based on your Zoho CRM subscription plan can limit the volume of emails you can send through the platform.
• The platform may not automatically link every email from the same contact and requires manual linking for proper record association.
• If you switch email providers or use POP3 to connect, the CRM might not archive older emails already sent/received.

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Salesforce – Best for Sales Performance Management

Salesforce has leveraged its expertise to create an email integration solution, Salesforce Inbox. This powerful tool makes it a breeze to build meaningful client relationships. It’s ideal for larger businesses or those needing in-depth communication insights.

Pricing

• Starter: It offers lead management and opportunity management for $25 per month with a maximum of 10 users.
• Professional: This plan costs $80 per month with unlimited user access. It includes task and event tracking, customizable reports and dashboards.
• Enterprise: It costs $165 per month per user. This plan provides workflow automation, sales team collaboration and report history tracking.
• Unlimited: Unlimited customizations, custom apps and additional data storage at $330 per month per user.

Email sync keeps contact and calendar events up-to-date on both desktop and mobile devices. Source

Top Benefits

• Streamlined Conversation Access: Salesforce offers native integration with Outlook and Gmail. With just a few clicks, you can sync your emails with Salesforce, ensuring all your important conversations are captured and accessible directly from your CRM.
• Upgraded Privacy: Salesforce’s email integration prioritizes customer privacy, allowing you to set preferences for email tracking and ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
• Enhanced Customer Insights: Every email exchange, meeting and activity is automatically tied to the relevant contact, lead or opportunity record. This provides a complete picture of your customer interactions.

Primary Features

• Schedule Emails: Salesforce allows you to schedule emails in advance, ensuring your messages hit inboxes, even when you’re away from your desk.
• Create Text Shortcuts: You can create custom snippets for frequently used phrases, merge fields or even entire email templates.
• Email Tracking: See who has opened your messages and clicked on the links you’ve included. It helps you to prioritize follow-ups and optimize email strategies.
• Einstein Activity Capture: Salesforce’s Einstein Activity Capture takes the hassle out of manually logging emails and events. This intelligent feature automatically captures and associates your email exchanges and calendar activities with relevant Salesforce records.

Limitations

• Free and lower-tier editions might have limitations on personalizing email templates with dynamic data from Salesforce records.
• Features like advanced email tracking and analytics or email encryption might require purchasing additional Salesforce products like Salesforce Inbox or Pardot.
• Salesforce configuration can be complex for non-technical users, and setting up email integration might require assistance from IT or Salesforce administrators.

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HubSpot CRM – Best for Integrations and Extensibility

HubSpot CRM can turn your inbox into a lead-generating, deal-closing machine. This all-in-one platform is a full-fledged command center for your entire customer relationship lifecycle. It offers A/B testing, email workflows and detailed analytics, making it perfect for businesses focused on targeted email campaigns.

Pricing

• Professional: This plan costs $90 per month. It offers email reply tracking, Gmail, Outlook and Microsoft Exchange integrations, up to 100 shared inboxes, and 5,000 email templates.
• Enterprise: It costs $150 per month for up to 200 shared inboxes and 50 dashboards (30 reports per dashboard).

HubSpot offers email templates with advanced personalization and analytics. Source

Top Benefits

• Write Emails From Anywhere: HubSpot doesn’t confine you to a single email interface. You can write emails from your trusted personal email provider or use HubSpot’s built-in email tool.
• Personalize Emails: Use customer data to create personalized emails. From recent purchases to birthdays, use every tidbit of information to create catchy messages.

Primary Features

• Task Creation: HubSpot’s smart system creates tasks based on email content or communication needs.
• Real-Time Engagement Alerts: The platform notifies you the moment your prospect opens your email or clicks on a link. This way, you’re always in the loop and ready to strike while the iron is hot.
• Email Templates: HubSpot’s email templates are always ready with the perfect message. And the best part? You can track which templates perform best and continuously refine your approach.
• Schedule Meetings: It has built-in integrations with tools like Calendly and their own HubSpot Meetings. This makes scheduling follow-ups as easy as clicking a button right within your email.
• Email Analytics: From open rates to reply tracking, you’ll have all the data you need to refine your email strategy and close more deals.

Limitations

• The free plan offers basic email integration features but might lack advanced functionalities like email sequencing or meeting scheduling within emails.
• Features like email A/B testing or advanced analytics on email performance are available in higher-tier HubSpot CRM subscriptions.

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Pipeliner CRM

Pipeliner CRM is a hidden gem when it comes to email integration. It offers a comprehensive sales acceleration platform that puts your inbox at the center of your customer relationships. It provides two-way syncing. It’s ideal for teams that prioritize clear communication history over email automation.

Pricing

• Starter: This plan includes basic contact management, opportunity management and activity tracking at $65 per user per month.
• Business: It provides all the features of the Starter plan, with additional functionalities like custom fields and dashboards, for $85 per month.
• Enterprise: At $115 per user per month, it includes all features of the Business plan plus advanced reporting and forecasting.
• Unlimited: At $150, this plan primarily focuses on increasing user capacity without offering significant additional functionalities compared to the Enterprise plan.

Pipeliner keeps your team on the same page with a unified feed for email, social media, calls and meeting notes. Source

Top Benefits

• Flexible Integration: Whether you’re team Outlook or Gmail, Pipeliner integrates with both email giants. This allows you to stick with your preferred email client while enjoying all the perks of a powerful CRM.
• Unified Communication Tracking: All incoming and outgoing emails related to your contacts, accounts and opportunities are automatically synced and displayed within the “Feed” section for each record.

Primary Features

• Mass Emailing: Need to reach out to a large group without sounding like a robot? Pipeliner’s mass email feature lets you send personalized messages to your entire contact list or just a select segment.
• AI Email Assistant: This feature helps craft compelling email copy, suggests subject lines and even predicts the best time to send your messages.
• Email Tracking: You can see who’s opening your emails, clicking your links and engaging with your content.
• Templates That Learn and Adapt: The system tracks which templates are getting the best results and helps you refine your approach over time.
• Calendar Integration: No more back-and-forth emails trying to find a time that works — just include your availability link and let your contacts pick a slot that suits them.
• Follow-Up Emails: Set up a sequence of follow-up emails, and Pipeliner will send them out at predetermined intervals, ensuring no lead goes cold due to lack of contact.

Limitations

• Pipeliner email integration focuses solely on centralizing communication threads within the CRM, not on advanced email automation or analytics.
• The platform lacks extensive personalization options.
• For more elaborate email marketing or tracking capabilities, you may need to integrate with third-party marketing automation tools.

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Oracle Sales Cloud – Best for Partner Relationship Management

When it comes to email integration for the big leagues, Oracle Sales Cloud steps up to the plate with a powerful solution. This CRM brings enterprise-level email capabilities to businesses that demand nothing but the best. Features include comprehensive email integration with two-way syncing, email tracking, customizable templates and more.

Pricing

Reach out to the Oracle sales team and discuss your specific requirements. They will provide a quote outlining the functionalities included.

Oracle Sales Cloud enhances your Outlook experience with a handy side panel add-in. Source

Top Benefits

• Segmented Communications: You can define specific email channels for various purposes, whether it’s customer support, sales outreach or internal communications. It’s like having multiple inboxes, each perfectly tuned to its unique purpose.
• Seamless Microsoft 365 Integration: If your organization runs on Microsoft 365, you’re in for a treat. Oracle Sales Cloud’s integration with this suite is so seamless that you might forget where Outlook ends and your CRM begins.

Primary Features

• Smart Templates: Whether you’re crafting a pitch or following up on a lead, Oracle Sales Cloud has a template for that.
• Email Scheduling: You can compose the perfect message anytime and have it land in your recipient’s inbox at just the right moment.
• Email Tracking & Logging: The platform lets you log every interaction, giving you a complete picture of your email engagement.
• Automatic Sync: You can sync emails automatically for a hassle-free approach or manually upload key emails for comprehensive record-keeping.

Limitations

• Lower-tier subscriptions offer limited options for customizing email templates or workflows compared to higher tiers.
• Setting up and configuring the system might require technical expertise, particularly for advanced features like email channel configuration or email template customization.

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Special Mentions

Now, before we wrap up our tour of CRM email integration, let’s see two more CRMs that deserve a mention. These platforms might not have made our top 5, but they’re certainly not sitting on the sidelines.

Dynamics 365 Sales – Best for Communication Channels

When Microsoft puts its mind to something, you know it’s going to be good. Dynamics 365 Sales is no exception, offering a smooth email integration experience. Features like email tracking and scheduling are readily available, but advanced functionalities like knowing when a recipient opens your email require higher-tier subscriptions.

Pricing

• Professional: Lead and opportunity management, Microsoft 365 integration and reporting and analysis at $65 per month.
• Enterprise: Email engagement, auto-capture and predictive forecasting at $95 per month.
• Premium: At $135 per month, this plan comes with natural language insights, record updates and email and meeting assistance.

Auto capture in Dynamics 365 Sales automatically extracts relevant customer interactions for salespeople. Source

Top Benefits

• Personalized Email Templates: It’s like your computer knows exactly what to say to each customer. You can make emails feel personal by automatically adding information from your CRM records.
• Effortless Outlook Integration: As you’d expect from Microsoft, Dynamics 365 Sales and Outlook go together like coffee and mornings.

Primary Features

• Email Tracking & Alerts: You can know exactly when recipients open your emails, click on links and download attachments.
• Email Scheduling: Send emails when you want and have them arrive when you need. Whether you’re targeting the perfect moment or juggling time zones, this feature has got your back.
• Email Engagement History: You can view your entire email engagement history, complete with eye-catching KPIs.
• Automatic and User-Controlled Options: Let the system handle things automatically or take charge yourself. You decide how much help you want.

Limitations

• The free trial might limit access to all email integration features, hindering a complete evaluation.
• Features like advanced email engagement tracking are available only in higher-tier Dynamics 365 Sales subscriptions.

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Creatio

Creatio stands out in the crowded CRM market with its potent suite of tools suitable for marketing professionals and CRM newcomers alike. It provides a flexible email integration with two-way syncing and email tracking. Businesses can customize email workflows based on their specific needs.

Pricing

• Growth: This plan provides automation to streamline workflows for tasks like lead nurturing and sales follow-ups at $25 per month.
• Enterprise: Integrates functionalities for managing customer support interactions alongside core CRM features at $55 per month.
• Unlimited: Enables full-scale automation for complex sales and service processes at $85 per month.

Creatio’s email integration keeps your customer communication history at your fingertips. Source

Top Benefits

• Smooth Campaign Management: Creatio helps plan effective email campaigns directly from the CRM interface.
• Precise Conversion Tracking: You can use UTM codes to analyze your conversion pathways.
• Flexible Email Compatibility: Creatio integrates with popular email providers such as Gmail and Office 365, as well as IMAP/SMTP servers, ensuring flexibility for diverse business needs.
• No-Code Customization: You can modify your email integration without coding expertise.

Primary Features

• Bulk Emailing: With mass emails, you can reach your entire audience or specific segments with ease, maximizing outreach potential.
• Ready-To-Use Templates: Creatio lets you create email designs or use pre-built templates, assuring your communications are always on-brand and effective.
• Email Scheduling: You can time your messages perfectly with scheduling and trigger-based sending options.
• Performance Analytics: Gain insights from your email campaigns to identify interested prospects and refine your approach based on concrete data.

Limitations

• Specific features and functionalities might vary depending on the Creatio CRM edition you’re using (e.g., Creatio Enterprise, Creatio Marketing).
• While Creatio offers a user-friendly interface, complex customization using no-code development tools might require some technical expertise.

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How We Choose Products

Our team of writers and analysts at SelectHub is committed to giving you the best recommendations based on our data. To make our list, products had to meet two criteria:

1. Closely match the topic
2. Earn a top-5 analyst score in our selection platform

Our analyst scores are based on an in-depth research process using primary and secondary sources. This includes SelectHub Analyst Briefings, direct communication with vendors, and reviewing materials such as user reviews, product brochures, specification sheets, case studies, user manuals, and technical documentation.

Our platform’s Scoring Engine processes the research and computes the analyst score. The score also factors in platform settings such as industry and company size.

Key Features To Consider

• Two-Way Sync: Ensure two-way email sync between your CRM and email client to maintain a complete communication history for each customer.
• Email Tracking and Analytics: Look for features that track email opens, clicks and replies to analyze campaign performance.
• Email Personalization: Choose a CRM that allows you to personalize email templates with data from CRM records.
• Automation Capabilities: Look for email automation features like sending follow-up emails or triggering workflows based on email content.
• Contact Management: Capabilities like storing detailed customer information, segmenting lists and managing interactions are a must-have.
• Reporting and Analytics: A CRM that provides strong reporting and analytics tools to track key metrics and identify trends can help you measure the success of your sales and marketing efforts.

While evaluating CRMs for email integration functionalities, make sure they also come with other top CRM features.

How To Choose the Best CRM

Choosing the best Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system involves considering several factors to ensure it aligns with your business needs.

• Team Size and Structure: Consider your team size and how collaboration features within the CRM will benefit your workflow.
• Communication Needs: Analyze your communication volume and preferred methods (email, phone, social media). Prioritize a CRM that integrates with your preferred channels.
• Sales Process: Assess the complexity of your sales pipeline and identify features like lead scoring, opportunity management and automation that can optimize your sales cycle.
• Budget: Decide your budget for a CRM solution and choose a platform that offers the functionalities you need within your price range.
• Ease of Use: If your CRM feels like it needs a Ph.D. to operate, it’s going to collect more dust than data. Look for a user-friendly interface that your team will actually want to use. Take it for a test drive with a free trial.
• Customization: Look for a system that allows you to customize fields, workflows and reports to match your specific processes.
• Vendor Support: Does your potential CRM vendor offer 24/7 support? What about training resources? Look for those who offer complete support options.
• Integrations: Whether it’s your email marketing platform, accounting software or that industry-specific tool you can’t live without, make sure your CRM can integrate with all your essential apps.
• Scalability: That budget-friendly CRM might seem perfect now, but will it still fit when your business has doubled in size? Look for a CRM that can grow with you.

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Best Practices

With a constant stream of emails, how do you avoid information overload and maximize results? Let’s have a look at some of the best practices to follow while using a CRM with email integration.

• Decide on the Approach: Work with your team to define what constitutes an “important” email. Is it a lead expressing interest, a customer needing support or a specific keyword in the subject line? Focus on capturing these key interactions for a more targeted approach.
• Use Manual Tags: These act like identification tags. Use them to categorize important emails, which will help you quickly identify and respond to specific needs.

Taylor Knowles, Senior Director of Customer Success at SelectHub, said:

If there are any manual tags you must use them. Forming the habit early is key. It is very easy to forget to tag, bcc, or whatever other method is used. If you only integrate some emails but not others you will not have the full picture and may make poor decisions.”

• Remove Invalid Addresses: Outdated email addresses in your CRM can lead to bounced emails and wasted efforts. Regularly remove invalid addresses to maintain a clean and accurate list and improve deliverability rates.
• Segment Emails: Divide your email list based on demographics, interests or purchase history. This allows you to send targeted and personalized campaigns that resonate better with your audience.

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FAQs

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Next Steps

More than just the convenience of not switching tabs, CRMs with email integration come with advanced features like personalized email templates, email scheduling and tracking, status updates, ad analytics, and more. Whatever your business needs are, there’s a perfect email-integrated CRM out there waiting to revolutionize your customer communications.

So, take a moment to reflect on your needs, try out a few demos and don’t be afraid to take the plunge. If you’d like to learn more, head to our free CRM comparison report! It lets you compare leading platforms based on features, pricing and other custom criteria.

Now, we’d love to hear from you! How can CRM email integration help your day-to-day operations?

SME Contributor

Taylor Knowles is the Senior Director of Customer Success at SelectHub. He has 13+ years of SaaS experience at multiple successful startups and a deep understanding of the SaaS and technology landscape. Taylor is passionate about using data to help his internal teams and partners succeed and grow.