We have many Gist users who run their own small businesses and use our product as their CRM tool because they need actionable and meaningful insights about their customers, prospects, and partners without the expensive overhead and feature load of larger scale CRM systems.

This point is driven home in this article in the E-Commerce Times where Gist’s CRM capabilities are highlighted as being geared towards small businesses.  Other great companies mentioned by CRM expert Brent Leary of CRM Essentials include Infusionsoft, BatchBlue, HubSpot and Zoho.

Here’s what Leary had to say about social media capabilities:

Small businesses that rely heavily on social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and blogs should find a vendor solution offering easy integration, Leary recommended.

“You’re starting to see a lot of that kind of stuff,” he pointed out.

Tools that support social networking functionality can help build online relationships, he said, adding that special consideration should be given to tools that support the types of networks used by a company’s customer base. Some new CRM companies are built around this type of integration, and the information these tools provide can give small businesses an edge with customers.

“They know you’ve done the homework,” Leary remarked.