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As the name suggest amoCRM is a CRM solution, specifically one for customer-facing teams. The solution ties messaging apps to a centralized inbox. So whether customers connect via Facebook, Instagram etc. all will end up in the same pipeline management tool.
amoCRM, founded in San Fransisco, was launched as a lead management system. But a decade after its launch in 2004 the company started focusing on messaging-based sales. Always keeping to their mission of helping small businesses sell more effectively.
In this blog we’ll walk you through:
- Who is amoCRM?
- What does the solution offer?
- What are the pros and cons of amoCRM?
- Does amoCRM work for enterprises?
- An alternative to amoCRM
So you can find out whether this is the best solution for your company. Or if there is a viable alternative to amoCRM.
Who is amoCRM?
amoCRM can be used by customer service teams but is mostly targeted to boost sales. The CRM is a digital pipeline that shows how conversations, from prospect to customer, can become a one-to-one dialogue. All in order to connect with customers and push sales more effectively.
What does amoCRM offer?
Digital pipeline
AmoCRM started as a lead generation platform. They offer a digital pipeline geared to automate the sales process and cut down repetitive sales tasks. Within the pipeline there are various features to support this such as automatic lead grabbing.
Messaging for business
amoCRM connects all sales channels to one platform. All in order to make the process easier for sales to take over conversations without missing a beat. The platform also includes a team chat, so teams communicate internally about service and support.
WhatsApp Business integration
AmoCRM as a messaging for business solution supports a WhatsApp Business integration. 175 million people chat with businesses on WhatsApp every day. That's why WhatsApp and the integration with its API is one of the most important in the business. AmoCRM is a WhatsApp Business Provider like other organizations such as Trengo and adds the channel to its platform. Allowing teams to have WhatsApp chats with customers across multiple devices and accounts. Including the use of approved WhatsApp templates via the Twilio plugin.
Sales bot
Within the CRM you can activate chatbots. Using the visual chatbot builder it’s easy to set up automated conversations. Previously, the amoCRM sales bot was connected to the pipeline. And the chatbot couldn’t move leads outside of their pipeline stage. But this is not the case anymore. The chatbot can now move leads to different stages and helps customers via conditions and triggers. Chatbots are not the same across different providers. Other providers such as Trengo can offer chatbots with more features and fewer restrictions.
Who uses AmoCRM?
amoCRM is designed to support sales teams and to help SMBs manage leads and tasks. Sales managers can check on their teams. And also use the pipeline management solutions to streamline the sales process via analytics and monitoring tools.
amoCRM pros:
For the pros and cons, we’ve had a look at amoCRM reviews in Capterra. And compiled the most important feedback in order to give you the best overview.
1. Offers messaging integrations
Since 2017, amoCRM focuses on offering integrations with: “social networks like Instagram, Facebook, Gmail and the most important Whatsapp via Twilio, which allow you to integrate in a legal way.” Felipe, CEO of 10 employees in the United States.
“We used to have our team using Facebook messenger within our FB Business Manager page directly, but now we can have these Messenger interactions inside our CRM and then bridge those conversations into texts and phone calls.” - Matthew, employee of a company of 51-200 in the United.
The social messaging integrations that amoCRM offer allows businesses to connect with customers via various channels. So teams can save a lot of time by not having to switch between platforms anymore.
2. Includes useful data insights
amoCRM is easy to use and provides a reporting feature that helps customers. As Brian Møller, CEO and co-founder in Denmark notes: “I can finally correct the long processes into specific steps and see where the exact improvement is needed for the results we aim for. This […] makes an administrative task a lighthearted assignment and joyful instead of draining and complicated.”
The reports within amoCRM provide helpful data-insights, helping teams pinpoint issues in order to improve. Roman a Product Project Manager from Ukraine does note however a: “lack of customization in reports, especially when you have several projects in one account.”
Check out the full reviews here.
AmoCRM cons:
1.Technical limitations
Matthew an employee from an 51-200 Automotive company in the United States mentions: “The integration with FB is treated as a "bot" on the FB side, even though we have real humans in our call center replying to customers via amoCRM. This means that a stricter set of rules is applied to our conversations from FB, and we've had the link shut down a couple times.”
“Also, the integration with Twilio is quite limited when it comes to outbound and inbound calls.[…] The smartphone app could be better too.”
Because of a lack of focus on the customer journey, support and service teams can't offer great experiences. And businesses will have to look for an alternative to amoCRM.
2. amoCRM is not a customer engagement platform
Although amoCRM now focuses on integrating messaging apps into a centralized inbox, they still carry a lot of heritage from being mainly a lead management tool. Even though they offer great ways of communicating with customers. The end goal still seems to be boosting sales. And not necessarily making great customer communication possible.
This results in some of the features that are not as sophisticated as they could be. As Felipe, CEO of 10 employees in the United States, notes: “Of course, they are not a chat company, so it's [the chatbot] a simple feature, but it works fine to most activities.”
“I need a CRM with which I can serve customers from wsp, inst and FB, with which I can create bots to do follow-up before and after sales […]. For example, if I want a bot to congratulate a customer on their birthday, that cannot be done with amoCRM, the message has to be sent manually.” - Leonardo, CFO for a Colombian company, who has used amoCRM over 10 months.
Capterra also shows the average disadvantages taken from all reviews. For amoCRM, the general con is that not all steps of the customer communication journey are covered. And that customers often have to look for an alternative mail service because the amoCRM built-in mail does not work well.
3. Not yet entirely intuitive or scalable
When it comes to the intelligent features of amoCRM it seems that the platform misses filters, conditions and automation.
“The filter features are limited […],” Felipe writes, CEO of 10 employees in the US. And Leonardo, CFO for a Colombian company agrees: “I have had some problems with elements of the bots, for example there is a condition that says you can place infinite options to review ... but it did not work. […] the ease of use is better than Freshworks for example, but due to the instability and multiple problems we want to switch to another crm.”
Brian Møller, CEO in Denmark also states that amoCRM is not yet scalable for bigger clients such as himself: “It takes a while to engage the whole team into all of its areas and ways. I'd like a function to turn on specific features only as a start-up and then move into advanced features instead of having it all at once.”
Check out the full reviews here.
Does amoCRM work for enterprises?
Their CRM with integrated social media apps is a big plus. It includes most of the preferred channels that customers use. Whether you are an SMB or enterprise, most target audiences nowadays are on WhatsApp. Making an integration with WhatsApp Business essential.
However, the solution is very much geared towards the sales process. As mentioned in their 2021 demo: “Sales teams always perform better when they’re always selling.” And making sales tasks easier seems to be very much part of amoCRM’s value proposition.
So if you are an SMB and looking for a lead generation tool that features messaging apps, amoCRM is a great addition to your business.
If you are an enterprise business, however, amoCRM reviewers note that the solution is not yet sophisticated enough to scale to bigger clients. Also, the solution does not yet have the intuitive nature it needs to support the customer journey and communication flow.
In short, amoCRM does not seem ready yet to function as a true smart inbox.
An alternative to amoCRM
Think about your business needs and match them to the pros and cons. Would you like to support your sales team and boost their efforts effectively? amoCRM can be a perfect fit!
If you, however, want a smart customer engagement platform. A solution that offers your customer support, service, sales, and marketing teams all one smart inbox to work from. And that will help you streamline your customer communication, including integrations with the most popular messaging platforms you should look into an alternative to amoCRM such as Trengo.
