Choosing the right client relationship management (CRM) platform for small businesses is vital. These software solutions allow business owners to monitor and manage their enterprise's various administrative and financial elements. CRMs support professionals by enabling them to track what’s happening, communicate with customers, secure valuable leads, schedule clients, send invoices and so much more. In this unpaid review, we explore two popular CRMs, PocketSuite and Square, reviewing their pros and cons and offering a comparison.
We will also explore the new kid on the block, Practice, and explore its offerings in relation to the other two CRMs. Different business owners will choose varying CRMs depending on their needs. It’s a hugely personal decision and will depend largely on the industry, digital preferences, budget and client base.
In a nutshell, Square is useful for taking all sorts of in-person and online payments and is a great point-of-sale tool. It also allows for appointment scheduling and offers a client directory for boosting client engagement. It is ideally suited for in-person POS sales. PocketSuite is more comprehensive and also provides scheduling and invoicing capabilities. It works well for business owners managing teams with its team staffing abilities.
Let’s review all three CRMs in relation to their main features, benefits to smaller business owners and pricing comparison.
PocketSuite
You may have wondered, ‘What is Pocketsuite?.’ It is a CRM that centers around getting clients and getting paid. The software as a service (SaaS) platform allows clients to easily book appointments online and sync them with your calendar. This CRM takes the stress out of having to send multiple messages to clients as they can effortlessly book appointments themselves. The booking site is easily integrated into websites and social media platforms for added ease. You can also add any necessary forms and contracts to the booking site so clients can fill these in before the appointment.
PocketSuite also allows business owners to send invoices, accept payments via their mobile phone, set clear cancelation policies (and get paid when clients are no-shows) and sell packages or send estimates. The added ease of mobile is a huge advantage.
The paid team option is also helpful if you’re managing a team of professionals like a fitness trainer, beauty therapist, dog trainer or coach.
According to some PocketSuite reviews, some clients have noted some hassle when it comes to managing multiple locations via the dashboard.
How PocketSuite Benefits Businesses
There are many benefits to using PocketSuite. Some include:
- Quick and easy appointment scheduling that links to your website. It is also great if a user wants to schedule a class
- Appointments that sync to your calendar
- Generate and send professional invoices and confirm follow ups
- Add forms, contracts and questionnaires to the booking online platform
- Team functionality for those managing multiple team members
- E-signing capabilities and automatic payment reminders
- Enabled for user ease and a well-functioning PocketSuite app
Pricing and Affordability
PocketSuite doesn’t have a free version. However, it does offer users a 30-day free trial. Thereafter, there are two monthly paid plans. In terms of PocketSuite pricing, users have these two options:
- Premium: Premium is tailored for single person use and costs $24.99/month. It includes online forms and contracts, packages and classes.
- Team: Team is for two or more people and costs $34.99/month plus an extra $9.99 per team member. It includes everything that the Premium package has, plus payroll for teams, check-in/out notifications, team messaging, auto-assign jobs and added rates.
Square
Square is a popular CRM for small businesses, especially when it comes to point-of-sale (POS) capabilities, credit cards and appointment scheduling (like Acuity). Square also enables business owners to build their own websites through the site. However, the offering is pretty basic and probably won’t suit bigger businesses that are ramping up operations.
Square works well for in-person sales and the customer engagement features are noteworthy. The platform saves all client data into the centralized database, and this easily integrates with sales data to give business owners valuable insights about their target market. The insights feature allows business owners to quickly check how their business is doing in terms of sales, new customers and repeat customers. The marketing feature also allows business owners to send tailored emails to customers, which is helpful if owners see they’re not engaging as frequently and need a little reminder about the shop or services.
Square is ideal if you are looking for a super simple tool with payment, marketing and client engagement features. It’s also helpful if you own a physical store and deal with lots of walk-in customers. It is particularly suited to retail and restaurant applications.
How Square Benefits Small Businesses
Some of the ways in which Square benefits small businesses include:
- Simple POS system
- Keeps a clear record of all customers and sales and credit card transactions
- Easy to use with a simple interface
- Offers insight and analytical tools which can ramp up email marketing efforts
- Tracks who is opening promotional emails and what they are spending
- Square’s feedback allows you to chat with clients directly and get their feedback
Pricing and Affordability
Square has three pricing options: Free, Plus and Premium.
- Free plan: This plan allows sellers to take online and in-person payments and offers invoice tools and team management capabilities. It charges processing fees when you take payment.
- Plus plan: $29/month plus processing fees. This plan offers more advanced features, including customization options and scheduling.
- Premium Plan: The Premium plan is bespoke and allows you to pick and choose features such as Square Payroll, Square Marketing and Square Loyalty. This plan is for businesses that make more than $250,000 a year.
Processing fees for all plans are as follows:
- In-person payments: 2.6% + 10c for every transaction
- Online payments: 2.9% + 30c for every transaction
- Manually entered payments: 3.5% + 15c per transaction
- Invoices (where consumers can pay online): 3.3% + 30c per transaction
Nonetheless, some users have expressed frustration that funds aren’t transferred to banks in real time. If you need instant money, Square may not be the best bet. Google Calendar sync is also set as a premium feature and will cost users more if they want to integrate it into their scheduling system.
Practice
Practice is a great CRM for businesses and is ideally suited for coaches and independent, client-based business owners (such as writers, SEO experts, fitness instructors, therapists, web developers, consultants and trainers.) Practice allows users to manage all elements of their business from a centralized dashboard and has a special client portal where clients can self-manage their appointments and sync them with Google calendars.
Practice is great for coaches and consultants with many clients as it offers automated workflows and unlimited contacts and storage. With contract templates and customized domain and branding on the Pro Plan, it’s a great tool for business owners looking to launch, monitor and manage their brands.
Practice is also great if you need to send a quick invoice to secure quick credit card transactions.
How Practice Benefits Small Businesses
Some of the ways Practice benefits small business owners include:
- Unlimited contacts and storage capacity
- Easy payment gateway
- Specialized client portal where clients can schedule appointments themselves and engage in messaging
- Web, iOS, Cloud and Android compatibility
- Automated workflows
- Digital contracts and e-signing
- Secure file sharing
- Integration with various programs and platforms
- Online onboarding available with an onboarding specialist at a convenient date and time
All in all, Practice is a useful tool that benefits client-based professionals including coaches, consultants, freelancers and dog trainers.
Pricing and Affordability
With Practice, users can enjoy a 7-day trial for free. On sign up, the first month is only $1. Thereafter, two pricing plans are available: Basic and Pro.
- Basic: $35/month (but $1 for the first month) or $336 billed yearly
- Pro: $60/month (but $1 for the first month) or $576 billed yearly
- Annual plans: Save 20% when you purchase the annual plan
Pocketsuite vs. Square vs. Practice
It’s clear when we review PocketSuite vs. Square vs. Practice that there are many differences between the three platforms. However, there are also some parallels.
When it comes to the similarities between Square, PocketSuite and Practice, all three CRMs offer users the following similar features:
- Invoice sending functionalities
- Online payment capabilities
- Zoom integration
- Self-appointment scheduling by customers
- Paid monthly plans and free trials/plans
Customer Support Services
- Square: Live chat or phone support. Phone support is available Monday to Friday (6am – 6pm PST)
- PocketSuite: Text message support for questions or email support
- Practice: Online support, demo and live video onboarding with an onboarding specialist
Ease of Use
- Square: Super simple and easy to use
- PocketSuite: Fairly easy to use, especially on the PocketSuite app
- Practice: Simple user interface and clear instructions for professionals and clients when it comes to invoicing, payments and appointments
Conclusion
All three CRMs are useful for smaller businesses allowing professionals to automate and streamline a variety of tasks; however, each is better suited to different professionals. With its POS capabilities, analytics and insights, Square is best suited to retail and restaurant applications. It is also useful if you want to up your email marketing game and splurge on Square Marketing.
PocketSuite, on the other hand, works well if you’re a freelancer or consultant who manages a few sub-contractors or if you have a team and need a platform with team staffing capabilities.
Practice works well for coaches, creatives and freelancers who want to manage all elements of their business from one platform. The client portal is beneficial when it comes to clients self-booking appointments, signing contracts and sending out invoices.
Whatever platform you choose, a CRM subscription is always worthwhile. If you have an appointment scheduled, these SaaS platforms help professionals to ensure that every step of the supply chain (from scheduling to payment) is smooth sailing.
Try Practice
If you are searching for something more straightforward and cost-effective, why not power your business with Practice? Try our 7-day free trial or sign up for either monthly package for just $1 for your first month.
As a CRM for businesses of one, it offers consultants all the tools needed to monitor and manage your business.
Explore our other articles that cover a range of systems, like Acuity scheduling and more.
