SharpSpring user for 4+ years

We really are able to do so much more with our marketing. We can see the interaction of clients with our marketing as a whole, not just off of one campaign. We can trigger emails and actions based on their behaviors which is very beneficial.

Pros

Being a Partner for 4+ years has allowed us to grow with them. When they were a startup, we were able to really see the changes the partners were requesting and the software has come a long way. They really value their Partners (agencies).

Cons

Sometimes SharpSpring likes to release new features, while they need to also work on continually improving their existing features.

I used to love SharpSpring (why I left)

Strong start, VERY disappointed with recent billing decisions and the rate increase. (Just because you want to buy a company doesn't mean I want to pay for it)

Pros

SharpSpring approached me with a very interesting mailer. It was enough to get my attention and learn who they were and what they did. After they bought my crew lunch and I sat through a presentation I decided to join. The minimum monthly bought me 3 accounts plus a free one for my agency. There are a lot of features in SharpSpring and they appear to be adding more, which is nice. They represent themselves as marketing automation for agencies. They offer a lot of white labeling which is a requirement for me when working with 3rd party softwares.

Cons

Late 2019 it was announced that SS would change their billing policies to require that THEY bill my clients. WAIT, WHAT? You're a whitelabeled SaaS service, why the **** would YOU bill MY clients. That's the opposite of the point. Since I haven't set up my clients in their billing interface they've locked me out of my account. And when I went to cancel they reminded me of the 30 days cancellation notice I'm required to give. OH, AND, they decided to up the rate $75/account. I'm so unhappy with where they're going as a company I can't even consider the new features that they're bringing in.

A powerful platform, but still has a long way to go

We use Sharpspring for email automation, marketing automation, lead tracking, reporting, as a CRM, and as a sales tool. It allows us to track contact interactions from first touchpoint through sale. It has been a huge help.

Pros

My favorite thing about Sharpspring is the ability to track and analyze the entire life of a lead, from start to finish. It allows us to optimize our funnels and nurture prospects from interest to sale. It is a really powerful tool and offers (almost) everything you need for marketing automation from automated workflows to landing pages and forms to email design. I also love their lead scoring.

Cons

Though it offers a lot of features, it's not all that usable compared to similar products. There are countless small usability issues. Landing pages are pretty difficult to create. Support is usually great but can at times be entirely unhelpful. Automation has some key features other tools allow. Overall, there are just a lot of features that still need to be added in order to really compete.

BE ADVISED!

We have had a terrible experience with Sharpspring from the get-go. Once we signed up for Sharpspring, we were told they would send someone out within a month to do training in our office. After we signed the contract, they said that that would not happen, we had to show them that the contracted stated it but then they did not send someone for training for 2 months. Then whenever I would need help fixing something, they'd charge for every little bit of help I needed and sometimes didn't even respond. The straw that broke the camels back is when they implemented a new billing feature where clients would have no option but to bill their clients through Sharpspring to keep the program. We use a different billing system so this would not work for us. We went to cancel our account because of this but they said we have give 30 days notice to cancel, so, even though it was their fault we couldn't access our account, we still have to pay for another month before canceling.

Pros

Being able to send out emails The automation tools Forms Landing Pages

Cons

Customer service was not quick and sometimes just never responded. All of the sudden they implemented a new billing rule where you have to bill your clients through Sharpspring or they won't let you use any of your account. You have to give them 30 days notice before closing your account even if you're not able to use any of their features because of their new billing update The cost is exceptionally high compared to others such as Pathways (who we're moving to next)

Must have for marketing and sales in growing business

I can't speak highly enough for the great staff. I have mentioned them in another part of this review, but they really have been a lifesaver going above and beyond. For example, I am not really comfortable with CSS and wanted a certain form to be two columns. I asked for reference material on how to make it happen. They sent me the materials AND the code to place in my form. AWESOME!!!!!

Pros

Everything you need to grow a business is in one place. The interface is easy to use and very intuitive. However, my favorite part of the company is the awesome support staff! Migrating from another platform, there is always a learning curve and workflow adjustment. If there was something we didn't know how to achieve in SharpSpring their friendly staff would explain with great detail how to get it done and integrate into the workflow we created.

Cons

Their social posting, responding section of the software is still a bit weak and we do utilize another piece of software to get this done, but we remember their software is about the automation and converting leads to customers and it does that very well, so this is an easy area to compromise.