St. Louis, Missouri, July 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Less Annoying CRM, a St. Louis-based customer relationship manager (CRM) software company, has been named “Best CRM Software of 2020” by U.S. News & World Report, beating out internationally-known companies from both coasts on their way to the top spot in this year's rankings.

“We are excited to be named ‘Best CRM software’ by U.S. News & World Report and truly appreciate their focus on our unique approach and business model,” said Alex Haimann, Partner. “Our idea was straightforward and simple: We will focus on building the best CRM for small businesses. We are honored and humbled to be recognized for our focus and our commitment to our trusting customers.”

At its core, CRM software helps businesses manage their customer and supplier contacts, daily tasks, and sales pipelines.

In its review of the company, U.S. News pointed to some of the unique qualities that help Less Annoying CRM stand out in an industry widely known for its lack of user-friendliness and that is dominated by industry giants Salesforce, HubSpot and Pipedrive:

• Focus Is on Helping Small Businesses Succeed – “The company stands out for its simple, no-nonsense approach: It provides only the CRM tools that small business owners need and understand, and it charges a flat fee of $15 per user, per month for access to all of its products and services.”

• The Software is Focused on Ease of Use to Help First-Time CRM Users -- “Instead of stripping some of the features from a more complex platform designed for larger corporations, Less Annoying created CRM software from scratch to include only the tools small businesses need. The result is a simple CRM solution that caters to particularly those who are new to customer relationship management systems.” (emphasis added)

• Less Annoying CRM is a Self-Financed Business -- “It’s an enterprise funded solely by its founders, not investors or larger third-party businesses.”

Added Haimann: “Small businesses don’t have the time to be annoyed. They run lean in every way with their employees sometimes wearing many hats. We made this CRM for them.”

"After years of frustration with several enterprise-focused CRMs, we were fortunate to find Less Annoying CRM. They have become a trusted partner and after four years as a client, they have everything we need and nothing we don't plus extraordinary client service, attention to detail, and responsiveness," said Joyce Shulman, CEO of Macaroni Kid. 

U.S. News’ review also highlighted Less Annoying CRM’s efforts to give back to the tech community, noting that they “offer a summer coding and programming fellowship geared toward underrepresented people in the industry." In 2017, the company was named “Best Place to Work for Young Professionals” by the St. Louis Business Journal.

“For us, it’s all about our team and our people,” said Haimann. “We focus on doing the best job we can without compromising our values.”

Those values include paying employees what the company calls a “thriving wage,” an above average starting salary that increases by $10,000 each year for the first five years for software developers and the first seven years for CRM coaches. Both positions ultimately earn the same salary, highlighting the company’s belief that both roles are equally important.

To encourage them to develop new skills and enhance their professional development, employees are also provided with a 20 percent time perk that allows them to pick projects outside their standard role to engage with one day a week.

Less Annoying CRM was founded in San Francisco in 2009 but moved to St. Louis five years later and was selected to be part of Arch Grants, which provides $50,000 equity-free grants and pro bono services to startups that will locate in St. Louis.

“Less Annoying CRM represents the best of what is going on in St. Louis right now,” added Emily Lohse-Busch, Executive Director of Arch Grants. “They are helping show the rest of the country what a great tech scene we have here in St. Louis.”

The company has over 23,000 customers based in over 70 countries.

About U.S. News’ 360 Review

U.S. News evaluated CRM software based on cost, plan features including integrations, automation and scalability and what works best for different sized businesses. U.S. News’ 360 Reviews team applied an unbiased methodology that includes professional ratings and reviews, consumer ratings and reviews and research comparing various features of CRM Software.

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