Discover folk - the CRM for people-powered businesses
LinkedIn has evolved beyond a simple networking platform: It's now the largest B2B sales battlefield.
Choosing the right CRM can be the difference between dominating your pipeline and getting lost in the crowd. When comparing Pipedrive and Close CRM, the key question isn't merely about features; it's about which platform provides the smartest advantage for nurturing relationships, tracking engagement, and transforming LinkedIn conversations into closed deals.
While both Pipedrive and Close CRM have their merits, 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 become the central hub for B2B sales. By 2025, nearly every decision-maker you want to connect with will be actively sharing insights, engaging with peers, and making real-time buying decisions there. If your sales strategy isn't tailored for LinkedIn, you're missing out on valuable opportunities. A CRM designed for LinkedIn isn't just a luxury anymore; it's the foundation of effective prospecting, relationship-building, and pipeline expansion.
Its power lies in creating a multi-touch sales journey. In today's landscape, sending a single cold email and hoping for the best simply won't suffice. With the right CRM, you can seamlessly track, manage, and engage prospects across various channels:
- Start the conversation on LinkedIn. Connect, comment, and establish familiarity in the space where your buyers already interact.
- Follow up via email or calls. Your CRM maintains context, ensuring each interaction is personalized.
- Nurture relationships over time. By syncing LinkedIn activity, you can discern the best moments to engage and when to close.
In 2025, the teams that succeed will be those that meet prospects in their preferred online spaces. LinkedIn is where business gets done. Without a CRM designed to harness its full potential, each outreach effort will become slower, less focused, and increasingly challenging to scale.
What is Pipedrive?
Pipedrive is a sales-oriented CRM crafted around visual pipelines, emphasizing user-friendliness. Its intuitive interface simplifies deal tracking and scheduling activities, while automated workflows and smart contact data integrations ensure a seamless sales process.
What is Close CRM?
Close CRM is specifically designed for inside sales, integrating calling, email, and automation into a single platform. Its built-in power dialer and sequence workflows enhance productivity and improve connection rates. With real-time reporting and customizable pipelines, Close empowers small teams to achieve consistent revenue growth.
Feature comparison of Pipedrive and Close CRM
AI Follow-ups
While Pipedrive lacks native LinkedIn profile capture, it effectively integrates with third-party tools and extensions that seamlessly pull essential details—such as name, company, job title, and profile URL—into the contact record. Although not built-in, this integration provides a smooth and reliable solution for teams engaging in high-volume LinkedIn outreach.
On the other hand, Close CRM does not support native LinkedIn profile capture either. If you identify a prospect on LinkedIn, you'll have to manually transfer their information into Close or use an external tool like Surfe or Leadjet. Close does not offer a Chrome extension that interacts with LinkedIn or adds buttons to profiles, which adds extra steps for sales reps who depend on LinkedIn as a primary lead source, particularly in outbound-focused workflows.
Automated Contact Enrichment
Pipedrive does not automatically enrich contacts with LinkedIn data. Although the Sales Navigator add-on allows you to view profile details such as job titles and company names, it does not sync this information into your CRM fields. To enhance records with email addresses, phone numbers, or company information, you'll need to utilize a separate enrichment tool like Lusha or Kaspr. This creates a manual gap in the lead qualification process, particularly for LinkedIn-heavy pipelines.
Similarly, Close CRM lacks the capability to enrich leads with LinkedIn data. There is no integration with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, nor does it automatically sync job titles or profile links. While Close can connect with third-party data providers, these do not directly integrate with LinkedIn. Therefore, if you capture a lead from LinkedIn, you'll have to manually update the CRM fields or rely on external enrichment tools.
Smart Fields
Pipedrive does not automatically track LinkedIn conversations. If a representative sends a DM or InMail, it won't be recorded in the CRM unless manually added. Even with the LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration, the platform only displays the contact's profile information without retrieving messaging history. As a result, sales managers seeking complete visibility into outreach efforts won't find it through LinkedIn activity in Pipedrive.
Close lacks support for message templates for LinkedIn DMs. While you can create email and call scripts within the platform, these templates are unavailable on LinkedIn. There's no built-in method to access templates while composing a message on a profile. Consequently, to maintain consistent messaging in your LinkedIn outreach, you'll need to rely on manual copy-pasting, which hinders representatives' efficiency and introduces inconsistency.
AI-Powered Message & Sequence Generation
Pipedrive does not automatically track LinkedIn conversations; DMs or InMails sent by a rep will remain unlogged in the CRM unless added manually. Even with the LinkedIn Sales Navigator integration, only the contact's profile information is accessible, without any messaging history. Therefore, sales managers seeking complete visibility into outreach efforts will find LinkedIn activity in Pipedrive lacking.
Similarly, Close CRM fails to track LinkedIn activity, meaning that messages, connection requests, and DMs sent through LinkedIn do not appear in the contact timeline. Although Close excels in managing email and calling workflows, it completely overlooks LinkedIn tracking. Reps are required to log their activity manually to gain a comprehensive view of prospect interactions. For companies relying on LinkedIn as a vital channel, this absence of visibility can pose a significant challenge.
Next Best Action
Pipedrive's official Chrome extension is designed for Gmail and does not integrate with LinkedIn; there’s no overlay while browsing LinkedIn, no capture button, and no messaging support. However, the Surfe Chrome extension addresses this limitation by enabling reps to capture and sync LinkedIn data directly into Pipedrive. While it's not a native feature, it remains the sole option for incorporating LinkedIn functionality into your browser alongside this CRM.
On the other hand, Close CRM lacks a Chrome extension for LinkedIn, as its focus is on email, calls, and tasks rather than social prospecting. Consequently, there’s no Close overlay available when browsing LinkedIn, nor is there a way to capture leads or engage with them directly from the browser. To optimize your workflow across both platforms, you will need to install an external extension to bridge this gap.
folk CRM: The Ultimate CRM Alternative for LinkedIn!
folk is the sales assistant every team has been longing for. Designed to be simple, integrated, and proactive, this CRM handles the repetitive tasks so your reps can concentrate on what truly matters: cultivating authentic relationships on LinkedIn and beyond. With an impressive 4.5/5 rating on G2, folk is celebrated as one of the most reliable AI-powered CRMs for lean and ambitious teams.
Tailored specifically for startups, agencies, and sales-driven teams, folk makes AI practical, efficient, and easy to manage. It enables you to convert LinkedIn connections into qualified opportunities swiftly while keeping your workflow seamless.
1. Instant LinkedIn Prospect Capture with the folkX Extension
Prospecting on LinkedIn can be time-consuming, 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 with just one click. Whether you're saving a single profile or hundreds from a filtered search, every detail—names, job titles, companies, and emails—is automatically imported into your database.
Say goodbye to copy-pasting or managing multiple spreadsheets! Your entire prospect list is stored in one organized hub, fully synced with your workflows, allowing your team to work faster and focus on converting connections into opportunities instead of wasting 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 and accurate information. folk automates the enrichment of your LinkedIn contacts with verified emails, company details, phone numbers, and roles, eliminating tedious research. With just one click, you can access all the information needed to personalize your outreach and initiate meaningful conversations.
The platform also employs intelligent deduplication to maintain a clean and reliable database, even with multiple team members adding the same contacts. Instead of wasting time managing cluttered spreadsheets or guessing lead ownership, folk keeps your data organized and up to date, ensuring every LinkedIn outreach is relevant and impactful.
3. Personalized LinkedIn Outreach with AI-Generated Message Templates
folk revolutionizes your approach to LinkedIn prospects by providing AI-powered message templates right within the LinkedIn inbox. When you start a conversation, smart suggestions for connection requests, follow-ups, and outreach messages tailored to your prospect’s profile and context are instantly available.
You can customize and send these messages manually to remain fully compliant with LinkedIn’s policies—no risky automation or copy-pasting required. Everything occurs where the conversation begins, making your outreach quicker, more relevant, and far more natural.
Summary: folk CRM's LinkedIn Features
- Capture leads instantly with the folkX Chrome extension, enabling one-click importing of LinkedIn and Sales Navigator profiles, with all details automatically organized in your CRM.
- Effortlessly enrich contact data by retrieving verified emails, company details, and roles, while ensuring your database remains clean and accurate through smart deduplication.
- Send smarter LinkedIn messages using AI-generated templates directly within the LinkedIn inbox, helping you personalize outreach faster without relying on risky automation!
Conclusion
When weighing Pipedrive and Close CRM for LinkedIn prospecting, Pipedrive excels in visual deal tracking and user-friendliness, while Close CRM integrates calling and email for inside sales. However, for those focused on LinkedIn workflows, folk CRM stands out as a superior alternative. It streamlines lead capture, automates data enrichment, and provides AI-generated messaging templates, making it the ideal choice for teams looking to enhance their LinkedIn engagement and conversion rates.
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