Discover folk - the CRM for people-powered businesses
LinkedIn has evolved beyond just a networking platform: It has become the largest battlefield for B2B sales.
Selecting the right CRM can determine whether you conquer your pipeline or fade into the background. The debate between Hubspot and Zoho CRM goes beyond mere features; it centers on which platform offers you the strategic advantage in fostering relationships, tracking engagement, and transforming LinkedIn conversations into successful deals.
While both Hubspot and Zoho CRM are commendable options, if you're seeking a CRM specifically designed for LinkedIn workflows, folk CRM often sets a new standard.
Why a CRM for LinkedIn Is Essential in 2025
LinkedIn has solidified its role as the command center for B2B sales. By 2025, nearly every decision-maker you aim to connect with will be active there—sharing insights, interacting with peers, and making real-time purchasing decisions. If your sales strategy isn't tailored for LinkedIn, you're missing out on valuable opportunities. A CRM designed for LinkedIn is no longer simply advantageous; it has become the foundation for effective prospecting, relationship-building, and pipeline expansion.
The true power lies in its ability to facilitate a multi-touch sales journey. Sending a single cold email and hoping for a response is no longer sufficient. With the right CRM, you can effortlessly track, manage, and engage prospects across various channels:
- Initiate the conversation on LinkedIn. Connect, comment, and establish rapport where your buyers are most active.
- Follow up through email or calls. Your CRM retains the context, ensuring each interaction feels personalized.
- Foster relationships over time. By syncing LinkedIn activities, you can identify the right moments to engage and close.
In 2025, success will belong to teams that reach prospects where they engage online. LinkedIn is the arena where business unfolds. Without a CRM that harnesses its full potential, every outreach effort risks becoming slower, less focused, and more challenging to scale.
What is Hubspot?
HubSpot is a premier all-in-one CRM platform that integrates marketing, sales, and customer service into a unified system. Its user-friendly tools simplify contact management, pipeline tracking, and automated outreach. With built-in analytics and smooth integrations, HubSpot enables teams to enhance performance and scale effortlessly.
What is Zoho CRM?
Zoho CRM is a versatile cloud-based CRM designed for businesses of any size. Its customizable modules and AI-powered assistant facilitate lead management, workflow automation, and sales insights. With robust multichannel communication tools and seamless app integrations, Zoho ensures your team remains cohesive and productive.
Feature comparison of Hubspot and Zoho CRM
AI Follow-ups
HubSpot lacks native LinkedIn profile capture, meaning you can't add a contact from LinkedIn to your CRM with a single click, and the HubSpot Chrome extension doesn't interact with LinkedIn at all. The only solution is to use third-party tools like Surfe or Leadjet to import LinkedIn profiles into HubSpot. For users engaged in outbound prospecting on LinkedIn, this adds an extra step and hampers efficiency, as HubSpot isn't designed to facilitate streamlined LinkedIn data collection.
Similarly, Zoho CRM does not provide native LinkedIn profile capture. If you're sourcing leads from LinkedIn, you'll have to manually input them into Zoho or rely on a third-party Chrome extension like Leadjet. There is no one-click option on LinkedIn to transfer profile data into your CRM, resulting in slower prospecting workflows and making LinkedIn capture a manual task. For sales teams conducting daily outbound efforts on LinkedIn, this presents a significant limitation.
Automated Contact Enrichment
HubSpot does not enrich leads with LinkedIn data. Even with the integration of LinkedIn Sales Navigator, you can only view LinkedIn profile information within HubSpot; there's no option to sync or enrich contact records. All enrichment, including email, phone numbers, and job titles, must come from other HubSpot sources such as email tracking or connected tools. Therefore, if your primary leads originate from LinkedIn, be prepared to manually update CRM fields or rely on a third-party enrichment solution.
Similarly, Zoho CRM does not enrich contacts using LinkedIn data. While you can link LinkedIn Sales Navigator to Zoho, it only displays profile information in the contact view without syncing or enhancing your CRM records. Job titles, company information, and LinkedIn URLs will not be automatically pulled in. Any enrichment based on LinkedIn data must be performed manually or through a third-party tool. If LinkedIn is your main lead source, Zoho will not automatically enrich these contacts.
Smart Fields
HubSpot lacks native tracking for LinkedIn activity; any InMail or DM you send will not show up in the contact timeline unless you log it manually. While the Sales Navigator integration provides insights into mutual connections and job changes, it does not track interaction history, leading to teams working in silos and making LinkedIn communications invisible to the CRM—a significant drawback when LinkedIn is integral to your sales strategy.
Similarly, Zoho CRM does not offer message templates for LinkedIn DMs. Although it supports templates for emails and phone scripts within the CRM, these cannot be applied directly on LinkedIn. While the Sales Navigator integration provides visibility, it lacks actionable features like message personalization or prefilled templates, forcing sales representatives to manually compose or copy-paste their messages each time—a clear obstacle to scaling outreach efficiently on LinkedIn.
AI-Powered Message & Sequence Generation
HubSpot lacks native tracking for LinkedIn activity. Consequently, any InMail or DM sent through LinkedIn won't show up in the contact timeline unless logged manually. While the Sales Navigator integration offers insights into mutual connections and job changes, it does not provide a record of interaction history. This limitation causes teams to work in silos, leaving LinkedIn communications hidden from the CRM—a significant drawback when LinkedIn plays a role in your sales strategy.
Similarly, Zoho CRM does not natively track LinkedIn engagement. When messaging leads on LinkedIn, those interactions aren't automatically recorded in the CRM. To monitor them, you must create a note or activity manually. Even with Sales Navigator linked, Zoho fails to retrieve messaging history or engagement metrics. As a result, teams risk losing sight of important elements in the sales conversation unless they are exceptionally diligent with manual updates.
Next Best Action
The HubSpot Chrome extension is tailored for Gmail and Outlook but does not support LinkedIn; it neither appears nor functions when browsing LinkedIn profiles. Unfortunately, it lacks the ability to capture LinkedIn contacts, provide enrichment, or facilitate messaging through the extension. If you seek a smooth LinkedIn workflow directly within your browser, HubSpot falls short, necessitating the use of integrations or external tools.
Similarly, Zoho's Chrome extension focuses on email and Gmail integration, leaving LinkedIn unsupported. It does not show up on LinkedIn profiles and lacks any capture or sync capabilities for the platform. To utilize LinkedIn, you must resort to other plugins or switch back and forth between tabs. This absence of a LinkedIn-compatible Chrome extension makes Zoho less effective for outbound workflows that depend on social selling.
folk CRM: The Ultimate CRM Alternative for LinkedIn!
folk is the sales assistant every team has been yearning for. With a focus on simplicity, integration, and proactivity, this CRM handles repetitive tasks, allowing your reps to concentrate on what truly matters: building genuine relationships on LinkedIn and beyond. With an impressive 4.5/5 rating on G2, folk stands out as one of the most reliable AI-powered CRMs for ambitious and lean teams.
Specifically built for startups, agencies, and sales-oriented teams, folk streamlines AI, making it practical and easy to manage. It facilitates the conversion of LinkedIn connections into qualified opportunities swiftly while ensuring a seamless workflow.
1. Instant LinkedIn Prospect Capture with the folkX Extension
Prospecting on LinkedIn can be cumbersome, but folk simplifies the process. With the folkX Chrome extension, you can effortlessly capture leads from LinkedIn or Sales Navigator and add them directly to your CRM in just one click. Whether you’re saving a single profile or bulk importing hundreds from a filtered search, every detail—names, job titles, companies, and emails—is automatically pulled into your database.
Say goodbye to copy-pasting and juggling multiple spreadsheets. Your entire prospect list is neatly organized in one place and fully synced with your workflows, enabling your team to act quickly and transform connections into opportunities, rather than spending hours on manual data entry!
2. Smart Data Enrichment and Always-Clean Contact Profiles
Connecting with decision-makers is only effective when you have complete, accurate data. folk takes the hassle out of research by automatically enriching your LinkedIn contacts with verified emails, company details, phone numbers, and roles. With just one click, you receive everything needed to personalize your outreach and initiate meaningful conversations.
The platform employs intelligent deduplication to maintain a clean and reliable database, even when multiple team members add the same contacts. Instead of wasting time managing cluttered spreadsheets or trying to determine lead ownership, folk keeps your data organized and up-to-date, ensuring every LinkedIn outreach is both relevant and impactful.
3. Personalized LinkedIn Outreach with AI-Generated Message Templates
folk revolutionizes your approach to prospects on LinkedIn by offering AI-powered message templates directly within the LinkedIn inbox. When you start a conversation, you receive smart suggestions for connection requests, follow-ups, and outreach messages tailored to your prospect’s profile and context.
You can modify, personalize, and send these messages manually to comply fully with LinkedIn’s policies—eliminating risky automation and the need for copy-pasting across tools. Everything occurs where the conversation begins, making your outreach quicker, more pertinent, and far more natural.
Summary: folk CRM's LinkedIn Features
- Instantly capture leads with the folkX Chrome extension, importing LinkedIn and Sales Navigator profiles in one click, with every detail organized automatically in your CRM.
- Effortlessly enrich contact data by retrieving verified emails, company details, and roles while maintaining a clean and accurate database through smart deduplication.
- Send smarter LinkedIn messages using AI-powered templates directly within the LinkedIn inbox, allowing you to personalize outreach quickly without relying on risky automation!
Conclusion
When considering a CRM for LinkedIn, HubSpot excels in integrating marketing and sales, making it ideal for inbound strategies. Zoho CRM, on the other hand, offers extensive customization and automation capabilities, catering to diverse business needs.
However, for teams prioritizing LinkedIn workflows, folk CRM stands out as an exceptional alternative. It enables instant lead capture, smart data enrichment, and personalized outreach with AI-generated templates, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in B2B sales.
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