Are you a sales coach or consultant?
Maybe you run a different service-based business, but still cater to sales and marketing folks. If so, you may use affiliate marketing to supplement your income.
Why wouldn't you? It's an excellent way to make an extra buck or two—as long as you only sign up with reputable partner programs offering fat payouts, of course.
I have a suggestion for you, my friend: recommend CRM software to your clients. Why? Because the benefits are legit. Most companies that sell CRM are trustworthy, the product is something your audience needs, and the affiliate commissions can be pretty enticing.
Interested? Good, because in this article, I'm going to explain what a great CRM affiliate program looks like. Then I'll share eight specific programs that will help you earn more money, while better serving your client base. We have a lot to get to so let's dive right in!
What Defines a Great CRM Affiliate Program?
First things first, what should you look for in a CRM affiliate program?
You need to be crystal clear on this because some programs are better than others. To maximize your earning potential, make sure your affiliate partners offer these five things:
Good Commission Rates
You rep products to make money. Sure, helping people find the goods they need to improve their lives and careers is a nice bonus. But at the end of the day, you need to get paid.
The best affiliate programs offer top-level commission structures. When it comes to CRM, you'll want to find affiliate programs that offer at least a 15 percent commission. (Note: a few of the companies below offer more than 15 percent, making them top-tier partners.)
Recurring Commissions
A one-time commission is cool. A recurring commission is so much better. This is especially true when selling a SaaS product like a CRM platform. Think about it…
A one-time, 15 percent commission on the first month of a new customer's CRM subscription will probably net you somewhere between $3.75 and $30. That's not all that exciting.
But what if you started making between $3.75 and $30 per month, for as long as that new sign-up remained a paying customer? That's the power of recurring commissions.
If you're already promoting SaaS products as an affiliate, our SaaS affiliate program roundup can help you discover new opportunities to earn commissions.
A Long Conversion Window
A conversion window is the time between when you introduce a new customer to the product, and when they decide to purchase that product. Conversions are tracked in different ways depending on the company you work with, but you’ll only get paid if the lead you refer becomes a customer within the right time frame.
The best CRM affiliate programs offer long conversion windows because longer windows increase an affiliate's earning potential.
Simple Setup and Tracking Processes
It doesn't matter if you're a total beginner or a seasoned affiliate marketing pro, you want to partner with brands that prioritize simplicity. That way, you can focus on selling.
You shouldn't have to jump through 47 hoops to become an affiliate for a company. You shouldn't have to hound said company for information regarding your commissions, either.
Getting started with a personalized referral link, then tracking said link to determine the number of sales you've made should be an easy and convenient process.
Easily Accessible Resources
Finally, the best CRM affiliate programs make it as easy as possible to promote their products.
Some CRMs do this by taking new affiliates through an onboarding process of sorts. Others give affiliates access to tutorials, webinars, and other pieces of content that they can use to learn about the company's products. Still others have proven marketing materials on hand.
Investigate every CRM platform before partnering with them. You need to make sure that they'll support you in the affiliate marketing process, rather than hanging you out to dry.
8 Best CRM Affiliate Programs to Start Making Cash Today
Now that you know what to look for in a CRM affiliate program, the question is: which CRMs fit the bill? You could scour various affiliate networks to find the answer. Or you could just keep reading. Here are our picks for the eight best CRM affiliate programs available in 2023.
1. Close
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Close is the CRM platform of choice for many small businesses. It's easy to use and uber-powerful, enabling small-but-mighty sales teams in a variety of industries to get more done in less time. This is because Close is equipped with automation tools, such as built-in power and predictive dialers, email workflows, and automatic lead scoring. Close also sports integrations with many of the tools you already use, like Gmail, Zoom, Asana, Calendly, and DocuSign. It integrates with Zapier, as well, for even more possibilities.
Close's Partner Program excels, too. Affiliates can expect to earn 20 percent recurring commissions for 12 months, enjoy an industry-leading 90-day conversion window, and access a self-serve affiliate platform to easily track and manage their commission metrics. Close also has a dedicated support team for affiliates and top-level marketing tools to help crush goals.
Apply to join the Close Partner Program today to start selling one of the best CRMs available!
Commission Rate: 20 percent
Recurring Commissions? Yes
Conversion Window: 90 days
Resources Available: Yes
2. Monday
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Monday empowers users to build and optimize their workflows, regardless of their job description. Are you in sales? Use the tool's sales and CRM functionality. A digital marketing professional? Plan your marketing campaigns to perfection. Maybe you're in HR. Monday has workflow management tools for you, too. Best of all, every workflow created with Monday can be visualized in different ways, allows for team collaboration, and is easy to track.
When it comes to Monday's affiliate program, participants enjoy a simple signup process, access to plenty of marketing materials, and a tiered commission model that allows affiliates to earn up to 100 percent commission on the first year's sales for every new customer.
Commission Rate: Variable, but up to 100 percent for the first year of each customer
Recurring Commissions? Yes
Conversion Window: 90 days
Resources Available: Yes
3. HubSpot
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HubSpot is one of those all-in-one platforms that helps users in sales, marketing, and customer success departments. People use HubSpot to accomplish a wide variety of tasks, like creating landing pages, managing SEO efforts, building email marketing sequences, organizing customers and leads, tracking sales pipelines, and fielding customer complaints.
One of the best things about HubSpot's affiliate program is its flexibility. Participants get to choose how they get paid: a 15 percent commission for up to 12 months, or a 100 percent commission of the first month's revenue for all sales generated. HubSpot also provides marketing materials to help affiliates promote and sell the company's products.
There's one thing to consider before becoming a HubSpot affiliate: the platform's pricing structure. The software isn't cheap. This might make it harder to generate sales, though it will help participants earn higher commissions when sales finally do come through the door.
Commission Rate: 30 percent recurring (up to one year), if you are getting up to 100 signups. You can get additional bonuses or a custom commission if you are getting more than 100 signups.
Recurring Commissions? Yes
Conversion Window: 90 days
Resources Available: Yes
4. Funnel CRM
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Funnel CRM is far from a household name, but that doesn't mean the company produces a subpar product. Once someone becomes a Funnel CRM customer, they can create custom contact forms, organize contacts, create and send eye-catching proposals, and more.
Everyone from new bloggers to well-known social media influencers can benefit from joining the Funnel CRM affiliate program. Seriously, the company offers 80 percent recurring commissions. Crazy! The biggest issue you'll have as an affiliate is convincing people to sign up for the service. As mentioned above, Funnel CRM doesn't have a ton of brand recognition yet. As far as I can tell, Funnel CRM doesn't offer a ton of support and resources to affiliates either. Still, there are those 80 percent commissions to think about…
Commission Rate: 80 percent
Recurring Commissions? Yes
Conversion Window: Unclear
Resources Available: Unclear
5. Salesmate
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Salesmate is a CRM and marketing automation platform that thousands of off and online businesses use to connect with prospects and make sales. With Salesmate, users can visualize their sales pipelines, send bulk emails and texts with strategic follow-up messages, automate tedious manual tasks, and create custom reporting dashboards.
The Salesmate Partner Program is a little different than the others I've covered so far. It's only available to sales coaches, trainers, consultants, and CRM implementation companies. So, if you're a straight-up content creator, you'll have to find a new affiliate program to join. Those who make the cut, however, will enjoy up to 30 percent commissions for the first year of a new customer's contract, access to a partner manager and sales support, and marketing materials.
Commission Rate: up to 30 percent
Recurring Commissions? Yes
Conversion Window: Unclear
Resources Available: Yes
6. Zoho CRM
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Zoho offers 45+ products to customers, making them an ideal software partner for a wide range of companies, be they traditional brick-and-mortar businesses or new-age eCommerce brands. One of the products offered is a popular CRM platform, appropriately named Zoho CRM. With the tool, users can manage leads, deals, and contacts; automate workflows; design complex outreach campaigns; run real-time reports; and forecast future results.
The Zoho Affiliate Program is great for those who have a general business audience. Why? Because these folks can promote (and earn money from!) all of the products that Zoho offers, not just its CRM platform. Just know that the people you refer have to remain Zoho customers for at least 90 days before you get paid. Any less than that, and your commission goes out the window. Also, just so you're aware, Zoho seems to only send payouts via PayPal.
Commission Rate: 15 percent
Recurring Commissions? Zoho CRM affiliate program offers recurring commissions, but only for the first 12 months after the initial qualified purchase made through an affiliate's link.
Conversion Window: 90 days
Resources Available: Yes
7. Pipedrive
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Next up, Pipedrive, a popular CRM platform that is best known for visualizing sales pipelines. This seemingly simple feature makes it much easier to assess one's sales process and make the necessary improvements to ensure success. Other in-app tools relate to web forms, lead segmentation, email marketing, analytics reporting, and sales forecasting. The Pipedrive platform also has a healthy list of integration partners, too, which is a definite plus.
As far as Pipedrive's affiliate program goes, there's a lot to like. Pipedrive makes the application process quick and easy. Affiliates earn 20 percent of every sale they generate for the first year (assuming new customers stick with the CRM for this long, of course.) They're also given a 90-day conversion window and access to a library of marketing materials. Finally, affiliates can contact a dedicated support team to help them optimize their earning potential.
Commission Rate: 20 percent
Recurring Commissions? Yes
Conversion Window: 90 days
Resources Available: Yes
8. Capsule
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Last but certainly not least, we have Capsule. Unfamiliar with this company? I'm not surprised. It's been around for over a decade and has a legion of loyal fans. But it still seems to fly under the radar. That's unfortunate because the CRM software has a few top-level features relating to contact management, email marketing, workflow automation (in beta), and sales analytics.
But what about the affiliate program? Capsule affiliates earn a 20 percent commission for the lifetime of accounts they generate. They can also access real-time earnings whenever they like and get paid monthly via PayPal. Not bad! Unfortunately, Capsule only offers a 30-day conversion window, which is lower than just about every other CRM software on this list.
Commission Rate: 20 percent (for the lifetime of each account you refer)
Recurring Commissions? Yes
Conversion Window: 30 days
Resources Available: Yes
How to Choose the Best Affiliate Program for You
BOOM! Eight CRM affiliate programs you can join today to boost your income. Now you just have to decide which ones you'll partner with. Here's my advice:
First, make sure the products you promote match the needs of your specific clientele.
If you mainly work with small businesses, for example, advocate for a CRM like Close, which was specifically designed for these kinds of companies. If you work with enterprise organizations, on the other hand, a CRM like HubSpot might be a better fit.
Second, only partner with companies that you know and trust. While a lesser-known brand may offer sky-high commission rates, you risk breaking the trust you've built with your clients by referring them to subpar products. This will come back to haunt you in the end.
And third, make sure the companies you partner with will support you in the affiliate marketing process. Do they have an affiliate manager on staff? How about a customer support team specifically for affiliates? And don't forget about the resources I mentioned earlier. These things may seem trivial, but they're essential to your success in affiliate sales.
Join the Close Partner Program today and start earning 20 percent commissions on every paid subscriber you generate. Our dedicated support team can't wait to help you achieve more success in your affiliate marketing endeavors!
