BenchmarkONE

BenchmarkONE is sales and marketing software that combines a CRM with email marketing, marketing automation, landing pages and popups, aimed at small businesses and marketing agencies. The footer sums it up as software that helps "agencies and small business owners propel relationships into sales with all-in-one CRM and marketing automation." The About page says the company started in 2012 and is headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.

Who it is built for

The pricing FAQ answers the question directly: BenchmarkONE is for "Small & medium businesses, marketing agencies or any business where email nurturing helps drives sales." The About page tells the origin story: the founders were small business owners who had grown an earlier business through marketing automation and grew frustrated with the lack of affordable, easy tools for small B2B companies, so they built one. It lists the kinds of customers using it today, from marketing agencies building recurring revenue to fitness coaches, SaaS businesses and small business owners across many industries.

The homepage speaks to four readers in turn. Business owners get dashboards and reporting to keep a pulse on the business. Marketers get all prospect and customer details in one place and can "Send targeted campaigns based on behavior - not instinct," then see which channels drive results. Sales teams get pipelines and automated follow-up. Agencies are invited to become partners and turn one-off projects into a retainer business.

Email marketing and automation

Email is tied to the CRM. The product tour says the email tools "integrate with our CRM for data that tells a more complete story about your contacts," and that users can build email templates, grow their list and turn clicks and opens into customers. The homepage says novices, designers and coders alike can send professional, personalized emails. The feature table lists dynamic content in the marketing section, so parts of an email can change by contact.

Marketing automation handles nurture. In the product tour's words, users "Create campaigns to nurture your leads, flooding them with value until they convert" and "Set up intelligent actions and notifications to keep your team on task." The homepage describes automated follow-up with targeted messaging to convert more leads and increase repeat sales. The site's recent posts include a guide to the Gmail and Yahoo spam prevention requirements for email marketers.

CRM and sales pipeline

The CRM is the other half of the product. The product tour calls it "the simple alternative to expensive, bloated sales software" for businesses outgrowing spreadsheets and email folders, and says users can add contacts on the fly, see activity in real time and trigger hot lead alerts when a prospect is ready to buy. The feature table lists contact management, a deal pipeline, social profiles, a live activity feed, Gmail integration, a mobile web app and a dashboard, with user-level and team-level security for admins.

Landing pages and popups

Landing pages are marked as "Now in beta" on the product tour. The tool creates dedicated landing pages for each campaign and sends new leads straight into the CRM, and popup forms on the customer's own website capture leads and subscribers from the traffic it already gets.

Integrations and developer tools

The Services and Integrations page lists what connects to BenchmarkONE. Zapier links it to "over 1,500 apps with a zap," with no development skills needed. A Chrome extension, Lead Collector for BenchmarkONE, adds leads to the CRM from any web page, including social networking sites. The Gmail integration creates contacts, tracks conversations, adds notes and completes tasks from the inbox, and an Outlook add-in does the same from Outlook. There is an API with documentation, and the feature table lists API and webhooks among the marketing features.

The same page describes services beyond the software: a directory of BenchmarkONE Certified Partners for SEO, PPC advertising, content, web design and branding; in-app services from in-house experts, from building a branded email template to onboarding a new hire; and onboarding and support teams.

Plans and prices

The pricing page shows three plans. Lite, described as "Send personalized email to grow your audience," and Pro, "Capture leads, automate follow-up and track sales in a simple all-in-one platform," both start for free with unlimited users, 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. Lite includes contact management, email marketing, marketing automation and landing pages. Pro adds the full CRM, deal pipeline, Gmail and Outlook integration, the mobile web app and user permissions. Both plans have a contact selector running from 250 through 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000, 10,000, 25,000, 50,000 and 75,000 to 100,000 and above, billed monthly or yearly, and prices can be shown in US dollars, Brazilian reais, Chinese yuan, euros, Australian dollars, Japanese yen, NT$, Indian rupees and Mexican pesos. The paid price for each contact tier is not shown on the page.

The Agencies plan has "Special pricing for qualifying agencies" and adds bundled accounts, co-branding, a master template library, partner certification, a demo account and partner resources.

The FAQ says a semi-annual plan with a 6-month commitment saves money every month, that there are no long-term contracts and customers can cancel at any time, and that plans can be changed from the Billing tab. It accepts Visa, Mastercard and American Express and not PayPal. The About page adds a Price Lock-In Promise: the company will "never jack up the price you pay for your plan during the term of your service, even if our price to new customers increases."

Onboarding and support

Onboarding is sold in packages. Online Support is free and included with Lite, covering the online knowledgebase and email support. Quickstart, $199 and included with Pro, adds phone support, one hour of live training and 30 days of access to a consultant. The Agency package, $399 and included with the Agency plan, adds three hours of live training, 60 days of consultant access and a 6-month health check-up. The FAQ confirms that online support comes with every package and live training starts at Pro. A status page and a help center are linked for customers, and the About page promises service that is "friendly, knowledgeable and available to help when you need us most."

Who it suits

BenchmarkONE suits small B2B companies, service businesses and coaches that want their email list and their sales pipeline in the same place, and can start on the free tier while the list is under 250 contacts. Agencies looking for a co-branded platform to resell as a retainer service have a dedicated plan and partner program. A sender who needs a large standalone newsletter tool, or who wants to compare exact paid prices before signing up, will have to go further than the public pricing page.