SuperOffice is an extremely powerful, yet user-friendly and simple to understand Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool that is designed to give you a full view of your customer contacts and supports all your important sales and marketing business processes.
If you’re a small to medium-sized company based in the UK, you’re probably debating between US providers and local CRM providers. In this article, we’ll compare two of the top-rated CRM platforms: SuperOffice CRM and HubSpot.
How HubSpot became a CRM platform
Founded in 2005, HubSpot was initially a marketing platform, designed around generating inbound leads. Over the years HubSpot has added extra modules based around sales and customer service and has grown into a $2B global US CRM software company targeting companies of all sizes, from single-users to large enterprises.
HubSpot at its heart is still a marketing platform, and this is the core of their offering, while over the years they have added features:
Sales Hub is a module that helps sales teams maximise and simplify their sales procedures. It has a fully-working sales CRM, features for sales engagement, CPQ and quote capability, reporting and analytics.
Service Hub is a customer support module that helps companies improve customer relationships and increase the productivity of your customer service team. A customer portal, reporting, help desk automation, chat tools, a shared inbox, knowledge base features, customer feedback, personalised surveys, and more are available as part of the module.
Operations Hub is a module that makes it simple to automate business procedures and to sync, cleanse, and curate consumer data. Data curation, data synchronisation, programmable automation, and data quality technologies are all included.
Where HubSpot started their CRM software development journey in the marketing space, SuperOffice began theirs focussed on sales.[/vc_column_text]
How SuperOffice differs from HubSpot
Founded in 1990, SuperOffice enables small-to-medium-sized companies to build profitable business relationships with their customers. Starting as an on-premise CRM system, SuperOffice is now a cloud-based CRM solution. Synergy Technology has been a SuperOffice partner for many years, and is the largest SuperOffice partner in the UK.
Like HubSpot, SuperOffice focuses on the three areas that matter most in a customer-first business culture, Sales, Marketing, Service. All three customer-facing areas are built on one central CRM platform. Regardless of which department you’re in, everyone in your company has the same shared view of the customer offering improved collaboration, productivity, and business process support.
But here is where SuperOffice CRM is different.
SuperOffice is specifically built for small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs)
In The UK, an SME (small or medium sized enterprise) or SMB (small or medium sized business) has fewer than 500 employees. SMEs make up the vast majority of companies in the UK.
Small and medium sized companies typically have more customer segments, complex workflows and requirements for support, security and compliance. SuperOffice CRM pricing plans ensure customers have access to all the features and functionality they need to manage their customer relationships effectively.
SuperOffice has over 30+ years of CRM experience
SuperOffice and Synergy Technology both have a strong track record of providing efficient solutions and a thorough understanding of what small-to-medium sized UK businesses need in order to succeed. SuperOffice views CRM as a strategy as opposed to merely an efficiency tool. At Synergy Technology we believe that a company as a whole needs to have a unified strategy to the way it communicates with its customers. Because of this experience, we are able to offer insightful advice and best practices that will enable businesses to expand to new heights.
SuperOffice CRM or HubSpot? 3 things to consider
Choosing the right CRM platform for your business isn’t a simple decision. To make sense of the nuances, 95% of customers read online reviews before buying a product. Many consumer visit sites such as G2, whose ratings provide an objective take.
We recommend using a combination of reviews, as well as case studies and user feedback, to get the pulse on three key areas: ease of doing business, software usability (ease of use), and quality of support – all which will inform you in your decision-making process.
1. How does the software address your business needs?
This score assesses how effective the product has been in supporting its users’ requirements for a well rounded and effective CRM system, not just for marketing, or sales, or customer service, but for all of these areas.
It considers factors such as the volume and quality of reviews, as well as the overall satisfaction of the reviewers.
When it comes to sales, SuperOffice CRM received a score of 9.3. HubSpot Sales Hub received a score of 8.8.
The following variables are considered factors that positively impact user satisfaction in the CRM software category:
- Contact and account management
- Workflow capability
- Opportunity and pipeline management
For some users, HubSpot Sales Hub lacks robustness:
“Great for marketing. Not so great for sales. For me, the platform is more geared to marketers. For sales, the report building functionality poses some restrictions, and there is no customisation in terms of sales flow and process.” Verified User in Information Technology and Services, Small Business (50 or fewer employees.)
SuperOffice CRM gives you all the functionality you need to do your work, while presenting the information in an easy-to-understand way.
“SuperOffice is one of the most user-friendly CRM-systems I have worked with. You can set up the system in such a way that all necessary sales information can be processed, regardless of the business you are in.” Mark K., Commercial Director (51-1000 employees.)
2. How easy to use is the software?
Good software design frequently goes unnoticed, but is vitally important. Badly designed software can be challenging to use, giving consumers headaches and aggravation rather than helping them.
A great way to evaluate how user-friendly a product really is by participating in a live demo or conducting a free trial. Pay attention to your initial experience. This will give you valuable insights into whether the system has been planned with good usability in mind.
In usability, SuperOffice CRM scored 9.1, while HubSpot Sales Hub scored 8.7.
The difference lies in the design. HubSpot Sales Hub offers a lot of features and functions, but the system can be difficult to understand.
“If I had to pick something I disliked about HubSpot, it would have to be the overall layout of the software. There is so much information in one place that it can be overwhelming at first.” Verified User in Human Resources, Mid-market (51-1,000 employees.)
Unlike most CRM software systems, SuperOffice CRM is designed to help users work the way they like to work. SuperOffice put a lot of work into the graphical interface, making data entry effortless. At the same time, users have the freedom to modify the system according to their specific needs.
“A great CRM system adapted to our wishes. Sales and Customer Service organised in one system. ·
- Customer Service can support each other by holidays ·
- Great clear dashboards for tickets and sales
- Many possibilities which we can customize on our own.
- Work efficiently in a user-friendly environment.
- Optimisation of the work processes since using SuperOffice
- Great Customer Support
We can easily export our data for customers.” Eveline S., Head of Customer Service E-Delivery, mid-market (51-100 employees.)
3. How good is the support?
Implementing new software for a mid-sized company can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. Instead of going at it alone, look for a CRM partner such as Synergy Technology who will walk you through each stage of the process.
When researching potential partners, ask yourself:
- How well do they serve their customers?
- What is availability like?
- Do past customers get the right support when issues arise?
- Are they based in the UK, or is their support remote, and based overseas?
The right partnership makes all the difference in achieving success.
When it comes to quality of support, SuperOffice CRM scored 8.8. HubSpot Sales Hub scored 8.6.
HubSpot offers onboarding resources and support. Remote onboarding package prices range from £800 to £6,000. The price depends on:
- Your highest priority goals with HubSpot
- The size and complexity of your organization
- The HubSpot products you purchased
- Your current technology stack, and how it integrates with HubSpot
“It’s a little pricey for what you get. They are difficult to work with, and require a lot of custom html templates. If you are not familiar with html, then there is another fee to purchase email and web page templates. They also recently reduced the amount of free reports, and you have to sign up for an extra fee to receive all the reports. I don’t like the idea of being nickled and dimed every year. The CRM and sales side is super difficult and clunky.” Verified user in Computer & Network Security, Mid-market (51-1,000 employees.)
Your best solution for support is to work with a UK-based support provider. Synergy Technology is the leading SuperOffice partner in the UK, and we can offer support though our dedicated UK-based support team. Our application support service, SynergyCare, is designed around the clients and their individual users. Our consultants deliver a full range of tailored support coupled with exceptional responsiveness and accountability.
You can contact Synergy Technology’s expert support team with any questions during office hours or use their emergency line to solve critical issues. By dealing with issues and queries quickly and efficiently, we will save you time and money, ensuring that your business applications run at optimal levels of performance at all times.
Which CRM is best for UK SMEs?
We often hear from customers that they look for five things from a partner:
- Someone that understands their business.
- CRM advisor.
- Local presence.
- Training and local support.
- Help with implementation.
The best CRM software solution for some companies could be user-friendly and reasonably priced, while having advanced features and integrations to support complex business processes might be appropriate for others.
In our opinion, it’s never a good idea to compare solely based on features and functions, but whatever your needs, Synergy Technology’s consultancy and implementation services mean we’ll identify what success means for you and implement the solution that makes that happen. You’ll be involved throughout (as little or as much as you want), so that we know that you’re getting the system that works for you.
Creating a customer-centric company culture is a combination of selecting the right people, implementing the right processes, and leveraging the right technology to maximise the value of customer relationships.
Want More Information about SuperOffice CRM?
Synergy Technology is proud to be the leading partner of SuperOffice CRM and to offer SuperOffice CRM solutions across the UK. We also offer integration with a number of other platforms. Find out more by visiting our add-ons and integrations page. If you’d like to book a demo, or talk to one of our experts call us today on or visit our contact page to send us an email.
