Nutshell CRM Pricing, Features, Reviews & Comparison of Alternatives

Pros
Easy and flexible setup; consistently clear design. Can use basic functions without tripping over the advanced ones, and can gradually add feature/function for a smooth transition from beginner to power user. I also like the way you have color-keyed the function buttons to the main color on functional screens. A nice visual orientation cue!

Cons
I worked full-time in the design profession for 17 years, so this is a 'studied' critique: There is a lot of market pressure for tech products to follow design trends. Unfortunately, design trends often are based on designers designing for other designers -- which tends to leave certain kinds of user needs out in the cold. One of the most common of these 'orphaned' needs is the need for contrast and clarity. Nutshell's UI gets high marks in my book for uncluttered design and common-sense functionality. But as people get older, it gradually becomes harder to distinguish low-contrast elements in a design. Contrast (and color, of course) also can be used (and is used to a degree in Nutshell) to 'lead the eye to where the action is. ' My suggestions for improving the main user screen are these: 1) Search Everything is, by definition, a key feature -- it should have a STRONG presence, instead of looking almost greyed-out. 2) Use bolder and slightly larger text throughout. To a degree, weight and size will compensate for lack of contrast -- and without cluttering the layout.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 10/10

Pros
We explored a number of CRM solutions and initially selected Insightly after trying to get Tiger CRM working. Insightly functionality was too limiting and consequently was not being used. Our second round of trials lead us to Nutshell, which we have been using for about two years. We found Nutshell to be reasonably robust and easy to use. We have been using it for about two years now. We have about 30,000 contacts and 11,000 companies.

Cons
We are now running into some functional issues which we have to address with addons, including Mailjet for email campaigns and Zapier for data transfer. The lack of a quoting interface, manual address entry into Quickbooks, lack of phone integration, and incomplete email integration. With the exception of QB integration, the other functions can be addressed with more addons. By the time we get done adding on the functional holes, the price becomes quite high. The reliance on addons also means that the system becomes unwieldy; a different system, management interface, and subscription for each function. At this time, I don't think there is a good solution for QB integration at all. This may not be significant since QB for Manufacturing is below our needs anyway. Our next step may be to use PostBooks, Xtuple, or some other MRP system that includes CRM. But, those also carry their own management burdens and costs. Nutshell does have a reasonable email interface to send correspondence through our IMAP server, but the markup tags are cumbersome, are error prone, has no CC or BCC field, and the reply emails don't populate under the Nutshell customer(s). Consequently, only half of the conversation is visible. Of all of the above, this is the most significant limitation at this point.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 7/10

Pros
I appreciate the constant updates. Nutshell has some ways to come, so it is nice seeing changes be made. Customer service is always on spot and very friendly. Nutshell support page is great for new employees, referring them straight to there for advice. The adaptability & usability of the interface is very user friendly.

Cons
I have been using this software since October of 2014. So far, I think what needs to be implemented on the "Admin/SetUp side" is making sure Products, Reasons why Leads Close, the Sales Process Competitors, and so much more need to be added from the start with Nutshell and the business buying the service. The reason being is because over the last two years, slowly things have been added/removed/changed. So now we have 2 years worth of jumbled data IMO. Going through a thousand leads that only a handful of them have tags on to find out why something was closed via notes or what product was sold is a little silly. I think the setup process should include this for the end user (being our company). Mind you, I was not the one to set up the account with Nutshell so I am unsure if this is something offered, but It helps a lot when running reports on products, etc.

Rating breakdown

Pros
I like that it holds all the information for my accounts and that I can set reminders for phone calls.

Cons
I wish everything on the lead for a shop page showed up on the store page, i'm always having to flip from page to page to get a name and it seems redundant and time consuming to re input that information everytime I start a new lead when I just put it on the store page. Same with logged activities, I often have an activity on an account and then I have to put one on the lead I wish the activity showed up on both. For my use all calls are for the same purpose and it doesn't make sense to have two places to put independent activities. This creates a sense of Deja Vu or worse I call someone a second time and don't realize until they pick up which hurts my cause. I don't like that I have to assign a time to a phone call, my days are hectic and I can't keep to a strict schedule so things slip into unlogged activities and go missed and my day seems way more hectic than it is. I wish it was just a daily list so I could let my day evolve, I also do CS and warranty at my job so this time stamp constantly makes me feel behind the gun and I spend a lot of time just updated and re-organizing nutshell, time that I should be spending selling.

Rating breakdown

Pros
UI is getting much better in general, and the software has always been quite reliable (rarely down or broken).

Cons
1. Can't duplicate leads (we have customers that renew annually - I have to create new leads with all of the information each time) 2. Can't type an actual date in (must pick it) - every time I create a new lead for an annual subscription in the future, I have to click 12 times to get to the right month. Doing this for 20-30 leads makes my hand want to fall off 3. Hard to add future subscription leads - if we sell a monthly subscription for our product, we have to manually create 12 leads each year. Very time-consuming. 4. Editing contacts should be possible in-line. You can add emails/phone, but changing title and other items require you to leave the lead and go to the full contact form. 5. I preferred the older 'create lead' form which was the full page. The new one is less productive because you have to fill it out, then go the full page version and finish all of the items that were missing in the pop-up version. 6. Pro version cost. We don't need anything from Pro except the funnel report for only one user. To get that it would require all users going pro and increasing our cost by 4x which isn't possible.

Rating breakdown

Likelihood to recommend: 8/10