About Bharat
Bharat Baghel has spent his whole career on the marketing side of software companies, which is why he reads a CRM pricing page the way a buyer does: looking for what the tier actually unlocks, and what it will cost at your real team size.
He started in 2022 as a Digital Marketing Executive at Rapidops, the company behind Salesmate CRM, where he saw first-hand how a CRM is positioned, priced and sold. He then spent nearly three years at Appitsimple Infotek. At SoftwareSuggest, one of India's largest B2B software review and comparison platforms, he worked on SEO for software category and comparison pages at scale. At ControlHippo, a WhatsApp Business API and omnichannel messaging platform that plugs into CRMs, he led SEO and growth as Digital Marketing Manager, mapping content to TOFU, MOFU and BOFU buyer stages.
Today he is SEO Manager at Space-O Technologies, where he leads a six-person senior team, manages client accounts and builds lead-scoring frameworks that track leads from Raw to MQL to SQL to Opportunity. He also builds AI agents and internal tools with Claude to automate audits, reporting and research.
At BestCRMPick, Bharat covers CRM software, email marketing platforms, sales pipeline and lead management, and marketing automation. His test for every tool is simple: does it help a team turn contacts into revenue, and is it worth the price at your size?
He holds an MBA in Marketing from GLS University and shares SEO and SaaS growth insights with 17,000+ followers on LinkedIn.
Areas of Expertise
Each topic below is backed by a specific role or piece of work on his LinkedIn profile.
| Topic he covers on BestCRMPick | Where the experience comes from |
|---|---|
| CRM software selection and pricing | Rapidops (Salesmate CRM); CRM listed as a top skill; HubSpot in daily use |
| Sales pipeline, lead scoring, MQL to SQL | Built Raw to MQL to SQL to Opportunity frameworks at Space-O; free SaaS SEO pipeline reporting template |
| Email marketing and automation | Published guide to e-commerce email strategy (segmentation, abandoned cart, welcome flows); reviewed Brevo, Mailchimp, Mailtrap |
| Omnichannel messaging (WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Facebook) | Digital Marketing Manager at ControlHippo |
| Software reviews and comparisons | SEO for category and comparison pages at SoftwareSuggest |
| Marketing automation and AI tools | AI agents and automation built with Claude and Claude Code; AI SEO workflows with ChatGPT |
| SaaS SEO, AEO and GEO | Technical, programmatic and semantic SEO across four SaaS brands |
Tools he uses regularly: HubSpot, Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Search Console, GA4, Screaming Frog, SurferSEO, ChatGPT, Claude.
Experience
Full-time in marketing since June 2022; every role has been at a software or SaaS company. Dates are as listed on LinkedIn, newest first.
| Dates | Role | Company | Relevance to CRM and email |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 to present | SEO Manager | Space-O Technologies | Lead scoring and MQL to SQL pipeline; client account management; leads a team of 6 |
| Jan 2025 to Nov 2025 | Digital Marketing Manager | ControlHippo (Appitsimple Infotek) | WhatsApp Business API and omnichannel messaging SaaS; full-funnel content strategy |
| Feb 2024 to Nov 2025 | Sr. SEO Executive | SoftwareSuggest (Appitsimple Infotek) | B2B software review and comparison platform; programmatic SEO at scale |
| Feb 2023 to Feb 2025 | SEO Executive | SoftwareSuggest (Appitsimple Infotek) | Keyword research for high-volume software buying queries |
| Jun 2022 to Oct 2022 | Digital Marketing Executive | Rapidops Inc. (Salesmate CRM) | Marketing for a sales CRM product |
| Jan 2022 to Jun 2022 | Digital Marketing Intern | BrandVeda Digital Marketing Institute | SEO and paid social campaigns |
Previous Publications
- E-commerce Email Marketing Strategies For 3x Revenue (June 2024): segmentation, automated flows and templates, with reviews of Brevo, Mailchimp and Mailtrap.
- 10 Digital Transformation Strategies: A 2026 Guide with 4 Pillars (2026): business software and transformation.
- The June 2026 Google Spam Update, Read by Someone Who Builds Pages at Scale (June 2026): SEO and programmatic content.
- SEO vs. SEM: What's The Difference?: search marketing basics.
He also publishes a free SaaS SEO pipeline reporting template (Raw to Working to MQL to Opportunity, leads by source and CTA conversion), presented a research paper on buzz marketing and brand image at an international conference at GLS University (May 2021), and published a recap of the SaaS SEO Alliance sessions in Jaipur.
Education and Certifications
- MBA, Marketing, GLS University, Ahmedabad (2020 to 2022)
- BBA, Marketing, GLS University (2016 to 2019)
- SEO Specialist Program, BrandVeda Digital Marketing Institute (May 2022)
- Write Professional Emails in English, Georgia Institute of Technology via Coursera (July 2021)
- Customer Insights: New Product Development, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign via Coursera (June 2021)
How Bharat Reviews CRM Software
"I've worked on the vendor side of CRM and messaging software, so I know where pricing pages hide the real cost. My job here is to show you what a tool costs at your actual team size, and who should skip it."
- Primary sources only. Every review starts from the vendor's pricing page, product docs and a trial account, never other review sites.
- Same rubric for every tool. Ease of use 25%, core features 20%, pricing and value 20%, scalability 15%, integrations 10%, support 10%. The weights are public on the methodology page.
- Pipeline first. He checks how a CRM handles lead capture, scoring, MQL-to-SQL handoff and reporting, because that is where revenue is won or lost.
- Email and channels. He tests built-in email, sequences and automation, and how the CRM connects to WhatsApp and other messaging channels.
- Who should skip it. Every review names the team the tool does not fit.
Disclosure: Bharat is SEO Manager at Space-O Technologies, a software development company. He has no financial relationship with any CRM vendor reviewed on BestCRMPick. BestCRMPick's affiliate and placement policy is explained on the About page and never changes a score.