Method CRM Review 2024

With its real-time integration capabilities, Method CRM offers a tremendous upside for businesses that wish to organize their financial processes with QuickBooks. It can also provide small businesses and startups with an array of tools to better manage leads, payments, and contacts, and create workflow automation and email campaigns. But when stacked against its competitors, we can also identify some areas for improvement.

• Two-way QuickBooks integration
• Customer Payment Portals 
• Strong customer service

• Best for companies using QuickBooks
• Email campaigns come only with the top-tier plan

Method offers three flexible paid plans, but those looking for a free plan will be disappointed. It does, however, offer a 30-day free trial with its paid plans, which start at $25/user/month and increase to $74/user/month. With Method, the plan price is a baseline, and you have the option of customizing by adding more advanced features to lower-tiered plans for an additional charge.

Notable Features:

• Patented QuickBooks integration
• Lead management
• Reports and customizations
• Self-service contact portals
• Live phone and chat support

Notable Features:

• Full contact management features
• Web to lead form
• Portal payment processing
• Sales pipeline management
• Invoice and Estimate tools

Notable Features:

• Custom reports
• Advanced financial management tools
• Customer case portals
• Email campaigns 
• Customer support case management

Startups invest in CRM software because of its demonstrated capability to maximize customer engagement while providing the process and team support needed to scale a business. Because your CRM software will be an investment of both money and time spent setting it up, you’ll want to choose the best CRM software for your startup. 

To help you do that, we’ve researched Method user reviews to find out what they have to say about its CRM software.

Here are some verified reviews from TrustRadius by people who used Method CRM:

“Method is a solid database for all types of business uses. With the option to work alongside QuickBooks - Method is a must have tool. You can easily export information into workbooks for external use. We would like to see an option to add customizable promotional ad's for our customers but we currently use a third party service for that. It would make it easier if we were able to do that in the same spot where all of our contacts are currently housed.”

“Method includes a unique development environment that fills the gap between running a business on spreadsheets and full blown specialized object oriented programming. Small companies (under 500 employees) can use this environment to effectively create specialized applications. It can greatly increase the efficiency of clerical staff, salespeople, customer service representatives, and executives.”

“Suited very well for someone who needs a unique customer relationship management system. Or for someone in an industry that today's software developers are slow to accommodate. You have to have the time to be set aside to get the program up and running without any issues though. There is so much you can do, just get in there and find out if you can!”

It’s no surprise that QuickBooks users rate Method as the best CRM software for working with QuickBooks. Satisfied customers also note its ability to make in-house processes more efficient. Contact management capabilities and the easy sharing of customer data with QuickBooks help bring contacts, marketing, sales, and the financial side of your business together.

At the same time, some customers report that setting up customizations can be complicated and, at times, require more advanced skills. Should you need help, Method does offer phone support and live chat. Method generally receives positive marks from smaller businesses and early-stage startup owners who are looking to move from a spreadsheet methodology to a more sophisticated and holistic but user-friendly software system.

There are plenty of competitors out there that offer CRM software for startups. One of the more popular is Salesforce. We find that Method compares to Salesforce in the following ways:

While Method does not offer a free plan, it does provide a 30-day free trial on all paid plans. At $25/user/month, its lowest-paid plan includes contact management, QuickBooks sync, reporting, and integration capabilities. For more full-suite CRM features like sales and pipeline management and the ability to create orders and invoices, you’ll need to move up to one of its higher plans at $44 or $74/user/month. These are base prices, and additional features and users can be added, which creates an attractive level of flexibility. But some users complain that after additional charges, it can feel pricey for budget-minded startups.

Salesforce also skips the free plan in favor of a 30-day trial, and its entry plan also starts at $25/user/month. After that, Salesforce offers three plans billed on a per-user per-month basis: Professional at $75; Enterprise at $150; and Unlimited at $300. Where Method offers a mid-level plan, Salesforce skips straight to its pricier $75 monthly plan and goes up from there. While its average price point starts higher, Salesforce comes with some of the best CRM software features out there and gives you features like email campaigns with its lowest-priced plan.

Its ability to seamlessly integrate with QuickBooks for a real-time sync of all customer data and actions is one of Method's top features. It also boasts customer portals that offer 24/7 self-service options, like making payments. Its lowest plan emphasizes contact management, while access to sales and pipeline management features starts with the Pro plan and increases with the Enterprise plan. Other core features include invoice creation, time tracking and lead management, workflow automation, and email campaigns for Enterprise clients. Both software platforms have mobile capabilities.

Salesforce is pricier, but it also offers more robust CRM features at comparable price points, with its lowest plan leaning into contact management but also offering sales and lead management and email marketing campaigns. With its Professional plan, users can access custom reports, forecasting, and pipeline management. For larger organizations, its Enterprise plan provides full sales process management, including workflow automation, custom fields, opportunity splits, and access to its platform for easy app creation.

Method CRM software has a clean look with clear visual buttons on sidebars and well-arranged links and information blips that are easy to read. Method CRM has been around since 2010, so there are lots of online resources available. While we saw that some reviewers complained that customizing with Method can, at times, be difficult, Method does offer a one-hour free session to help new users with this.

Salesforce boasts a simple and efficient interface that loads and syncs quickly. Though Salesforce provides an extensive suite of tools, users find it to be straightforward and fairly simple to use. It also offers loads of online resources for users, including video demos, community resources, and articles. For ease of use, it is about a tie with a little allowance for the fact that Salesforce has similar ease with more complex capabilities.

Method CRM software can connect with a handful of native apps. Popular ones include Gmail, Outlook, and Mailchimp. After that, you can access over 3,000 additional integrations through its relationship with Zapier.

The Salesforce App Exchange offers more native apps in its pool of over 4,500 apps currently available. Because native apps have been built on Salesforce software, they typically offer more seamless data and system integration as well as stronger security features. While Method CRM integrations will give small businesses access to most of the tools needed, Salesforce can do that while also meeting the needs of a fast-growing startup or mature business.

Method CRM has a code-free, customizable platform. Users can add custom fields, create a personalized workflow, or customize sales reports. Method CRM software users can modify their screens, templates, and buttons. Users can also create a new app on Method’s platform.

Salesforce includes a high level of customization capabilities. While most of these are done code-free, there is the possibility of advanced code-based customizations, which will be attractive to tech-savvy or enterprise-level users. You can also customize templates and fields, page layouts, validation rules, and create custom objects. Both CRM software provide lots of opportunities for customization and personalization.

Method CRM software gives users the ability to create custom sales reports using any data. You’ll also be able to generate reports on contacts, opportunities, and leads. Data can be pulled from up to five tables to create reports. At its highest plan, advanced reporting capabilities will allow you to add filters and organize reports.

With Salesforce CRM software, you can create visual charts and different types of custom reports on all of your customers, sales, and leads data to better understand your business and seize growth opportunities. Users will have an easy drag-and-drop system for creating customized sales forecasting reports, while customizable dashboards provide a quick look at real-time analytics. Both offer custom reporting capabilities that will boost the insights of any small business. But with more advanced forecasting capabilities and reporting options, Salesforce wins.

Method has a reputation for providing support to its customers. It does this via Live Chat and phone support Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern. All customers also receive access to a self-service help center that includes video demonstrations. Further, Method assigns a Customer Success Manager to all new clients to assist with any onboarding challenges.

All Salesforce plans come with access to online and community resources. Users can also submit requests for technical support online. But to access 24/7 live support and coaching, you will have to pay an additional fee. For a more premium price, users will have access to Technical Account Managers and more. So, while Salesforce offers more options, they come at a price, whereas Method provides live support for all plans.

Method CRM is a capable CRM software best known for its seamless two-way integration with QuickBooks. It can also help manage your contacts, pipeline, sales processes, and customer support, and with its highest level plan, email marketing. Method offers a flexible pricing plan with add-ons available, but startups on a limited budget might lament the lack of a free plan and higher starting price point than some other CRMs. 

Larger businesses wanting the most robust CRM platform will find Method lacking in lead tracking features and advanced forecasting and features to support sales teams. But smaller businesses and startups who would benefit from integrating their CRM with their QuickBooks software will discover that Method is one of the best options out there.