5 Best CRM for Small Businesses.
So you want answers, and you want em’ fast. Here they are:
Quick links for the Best CRM Software
1) Best Overall 🏆
Monday.com
Customize your workflows to track all aspects of the sales cycle, from lead gen to post-sale support.
2) Good Plugins🥈
Hubspot
Hubspot is the undisputed king of full-stack marketing software. With solid CRM features.
3) Most Features 🥉
PipeDrive
A sales-focused CRM that uses AI to automate repetitive tasks and manage leads and sales.
So, you are in the market for a CRM that suits small businesses.
Ideal, because in this article we have our compilation list for our top picks, and we compare the features and pricing for you.
If you just want the best choice, we’ve added that right at the top of the article as this was what is most requested by our customers. So, that’ll be the “can’t go wrong” option.
Otherwise, feel free to explore all the options we’ve reviewed on the market to find something that might fit you a little better.
Enjoy the list!
What CRM would you recommend?
In short, It’s Monday.com CRM
It’s very well rounded, well priced, feature-rich with a large community of support and a very top-notch set of tutorials for every use case. You can’t go wrong with Monday.com. It’s the software we use with our clients at our ad agency.
“🚀Try Monday.com CRM For Free, It’s my favorite webinar software to use and recommend.” -Scott Max
Monday.com is a user-friendly CRM platform that provides advanced solutions with its robust marketing tools. It allows larger companies with complex workflows to perform efficiently and produce nifty results. Monday.com has you covered for your: Service, Sales, CMS, Operations, and Marketing needs.
For more details, read our Monday.com Review.
The Best CRM specifically for Small Businesses.
As a business, it’s crucial to pick the right CRM as it will directly influence your sales and form an integral part of the marketing strategy. Small businesses, for instance, need to increase their clientele base and also engage with the core customers. Have a look at the products below to select the best CRM for Small businesses:
1. amoCRM
The specialization, and the detail that makes it peculiar, of amoCRM, is the messaging. Thanks to its technology it adds a complete set of messaging applications to its arsenal, allowing it to respond quickly to potential customers and generate more sales. You can identify the progress of each potential customer, get a preview of the task status and get an overview of the overall sales status. It also has a mobile app.
amoCRM Features
amoCRM stores contact information regarding potential customers and leads, allowing businesses to increase their clientele base. It offers a plethora of options to simplify the tasks related to sales and marketing; while also providing analytical tools to keep track of every lead.
Here’s a list of features that you can use inside amoCRM:
- Pipeline: It allows you to arrange leads based on how advanced the negotiations are. Whenever you create a new lead, it gets added to the “Initial Contact” section and can be moved; to further stages later on. Also, you can use the Digital pipeline to add lead sources like messaging applications, Email addresses, and Web forms, which will automatically move any inquires on the added source to the “Incoming Leads” section.
- Salesbot: It gives an automated response to all inquiries and is customizable so you can pre-enter the instructions. Salesbot is a great tool to engage with potential customers during off-hours and is accessible in every section of the Pipeline.
- Analytics: It provides a detailed assessment of all sales leads with an option to filter out the results you don’t want to see. You can check the Win-Loss record of every sales rep and generate client reports with the advanced filter options. Moreover, you can see what happens to negotiations at various stages and get a detailed analysis, which forecasts your future sales.
- Digital Pipeline: It saves you the trouble of cold-calling by automatically nurturing the client towards making a purchase and keeps you in touch with the latest advancements. You can add automated actions such as email responses or social media advertisements to every stage and set a reminder to call the client if the negotiations move swiftly.
- WebForms: You can create web forms on amoCRM without any programming knowledge and customize every detail; as per your company’s requirements. This webform will integrate amoCRM with your website and move every submission to the “Incoming leads” section.
- Business Card Scanner: It’s a great tool to automatically add client information to the leads: from business cards. All you need to do is click an image of the card, and the system will automatically add it to the “Leads” section after recognizing it.
- Collaboration: Some of your business partners or employees may not use amoCRM, so for such instances, you can communicate through Lead cards by sending mail. The receiver will get a link that redirects to the lead card and gives access to the amoCRM.
amoCRM Pricing
amoCRM has 3 pricing options available depending on your requirements: Base Plan, Advanced Plan and Enterprise Plan. The Base plan offers intrinsic features and is priced: at $15 per month; The Advanced subscription is worth $25 per month and offers added benefits like widget creation, whereas The Enterprise Plan allows you to use amoCRM to its maximum capabilities: and is worth $45 per month. All these prices are applicable only for a subscription period of 6 months or longer.
2. Monday
The Monday software is extremely simple, with pre-defined templates for all kinds of situations, allowing you to start with the one that suits you best. It also gives you the ability to use the columns to display all the information you need at any given time. Monitoring the time for each task, keeping track of who is in charge of what, marking locations, adding text, numbers, links, and much more.
Monday Features
Monday integrates client emails, collects leads with forms, and refines marketing campaigns through scrupulous analysis that greatly enhances your relationship with clients and creates more business opportunities. It’s an easy-to-use platform that simplifies organizational tasks for sales and marketing teams.
Here are some features that make Monday a unique CRM:
- Software development: Monday provides templates to help your technical team quickly organize tasks, find bugs and improve iterations. You can add indicators to let the team know what you are working on and analyze the resource allocation. Every project has a specific ID that can be used; to track it among other tasks. Clients will automatically be alerted once the error is solved to reduce downtime and keep customers updated.
- HR structuring: Monday lets users manage recruiting process and track employee progression through its HR tools such as Applicant Tracker, Employee Engagement, Attendance Tracker, Recruitment Tracker, and Vacation Tracker. You can boost the team spirit of your employees by creating specific goals and giving constructive feedback on their work.
- Inventory Management: Businesses can record product and asset details while setting automation to get regular updates about sales and inquiries. You can create new templates to match the company’s requirements and integrate Monday with other applications to make the tasks easier. Moreover, Monday generates a unique QR code for each product so your clients can coherently buy the inventory.
- Marketing and Creative attributes: Monday can bridge the gap between creative thinking and marketing strategies by merging them into a single platform. You can create visualizations on campaign effects, share ideas and create personalized operations to make information accessible for employees.
- Sales operations: Monday offers CRM customization to make the leads attainable and manage all opportunity stages at a single interface. You can see the combined effect of marketing and sales campaigns to make adjustments accordingly. Moreover, businesses can centralize the available data for ease of use and synchronization of operations.
- IT workspace: You can add educational content for new recruitments to learn skills faster and ensure quality work. Monday lets you set access permissions for tasks and strictly follows security protocols to prevent cyber attacks on your CRM database. You can integrate IT tools and put technical work in order on Monday.
Monday Pricing
Monday CRM offers 4 pricing options depending upon your business size and requirements.
“Individual” plan is free of cost and lets users record work-related activities.
“Basic” plan is priced at $10/month for a single user and offers 5GB storage along with customer support.
“Standard” plan is worth $12/month for a single user and offers additional collaboration tools.
“Pro” subscription costs $20/month for an individual and offers chart view along with time tracking.
“Enterprise” plan is made specifically for large businesses and includes quality security features. You can contact support to get a quote on the “Enterprise” package.
3. HubSpot
HubSpot is one of the best known CRM tools in the world, and one of the undisputed references in the field of inbound marketing. Hubspot’s CRM functionality allows you to manage all marketing and sales activities as you see fit. For example, it allows us to group by campaigns that generate detailed reports of metrics on the real return on investment in the entire conversion funnel experienced.
Hubspot Features
Hubspot is a user-friendly CRM platform that provides advanced solutions with its robust marketing tools. It allows larger companies with complex workflows to perform efficiently and produce nifty results. Hubspot has five modules: Service, Sales, CMS, Operations, and Marketing, so you can include them in the package as per your business requirements.
Here are some impressive features available on Hubspot:
- SEO Tools: Hubspot is one of the few CRM services that provide SEO-related analysis for your website’s content. Once you integrate your business website with Hubspot, it automatically scans it and recommends better optimization. Alternatively, you can paste your website’s URL and get an SEO report.
- Content creation tools: You can create new blog posts for your website and edit the existing ones by simply integrating the website with CRM. Hubspot records all comments and edits made to the original content, so you are always in touch with the changes. Moreover, you can use the editor to start a new blog and add relevant images.
- CPQ Functionality: Every business needs to create quotations for products or services to assist sales reps in negotiations. Hubspot allows you to do it inside the CRM with its “Quotes Tool”. You can add unit price, discount offers, conditions, regulations terms, or any other information that will benefit the buyer and sales process.
- Campaigns Tools: Hubspot has several relevant automation tools that enable smooth interaction with clients and organize workflow. You can make posts on social media, send customized emails and run paid search campaigns to get leads on potential customers. It is one of a kind collection with all the necessary marketing tools and a great addition for larger businesses.
- Contact Attribution Reporting: Hubspot can help your management team understand the latest trend related to customers’ sales processes and identify the sources that influenced their decision. You can customize the attribution parameters to get different insights into your business and recognize the market-making activities.
- Data Quality Automation: It allows you to automate properties like; time, date and add new automation to manage the incoming leads swiftly. Hubspot will follow all the pre-entered instructions and give a reminder every it finds a promising opportunity.
Hubspot Pricing
Hubspot offers you the option to create a customized subscription plan by adding the required services. Alternatively, you can choose from the existing bundles and get a general subscription. The “Starter” plan costs $45/month and offers fundamental marketing and sales features. The “Professional” plan starts at $1600/month with advanced marketing tools and customer service software. The “Enterprise” plan offers all available features of Hubspot and is priced: at $4000/ month, with the price set to go up to $5000/month From December 1, 2021.
4. FreshSales
FreshSales currently has more than 10,000 satisfied customers with its refreshing interface, which offers – at a glance – everything needed on the customer flow. You will be able to have information about conversations with customers, agreements, tasks and scheduled appointments with them, as well as find out how they have interacted with the website and the product, among many other functions. In addition, it allows you to control potential customers to know when it is the key moment to impact them.
Freshsales Features
Freshsales provides a modern-day sale engagement solution to users that want to expand their business and maximize their marketing efforts. Managing leads takes up a lot of effort and hours of scouring through various sources, but Freshsales eases that with a smooth transition of Incoming leads onto the next phase.
Here are some dedicated features of Freshsales:
- Marketing Automation: Freshsales lets you set conditions to see desired customer leads and automate the marketing tasks for prompt communication. Moreover, you can create alerts for the sales team whenever there is progress in negotiations or; the clients respond positively to marketing activity. You can set up chatbots to deal with incoming inquiries and reach out to the client via Whatsapp, Gmail or other network sources with Marketing automation.
- Deals Management: Freshsales lets you manage and visualize the sales process to convert potential leads into permanent clients. You can prioritize leads that are most likely to come to fruition and analyze the conversion rate to forecast sales for similar deals in the future.
- Workflow automation: Sales process involves many repetitive tasks that are essential to the working of the company. Workflow automation handles routine operations to reduce manual dependency and boosts sales efficiency by breaking complex processes into simple ones.
- Cloud Telephony: Calling is a vital part of the sales process: to update clients about the latest advancements and offers regarding new products. With Freshsales, users can get over 90 virtual phone numbers for employees: to connect with the customers over the computer. You can create notes and record a conversation to provide full context and reassign a task without any problem.
- Freddy AI: Freshsales identifies leads and organizes them to make sales tasks easier. You can set up instructions, and Freddy AI will cohere to them while processing client information. It provides you insight into the likelihood of closing the lead; so you know what the next step should be and approach the opportunity effortlessly.
- Product CPQ: You can maintain an updated product catalog on Freshscales to give clients and the sales team a reference about intrinsic features along with pricing details. Moreover, you can track individual unit sales and see which products are in demand and what audience you should target.
Freshsales Pricing
Freshsales has 4 pricing options available for businesses looking to expand their sales through CRM. The “Free” version provides basic management services free of cost. The “Growth” plan is a CRM tool with automation that can boost your sales and prevent respective tasks; It is priced at ₹999/user if billed annually. The “Pro” subscription will help you customize the tools to your liking and increase sales revenue; It costs ₹2799/user if billed annually. The “Enterprise” plan gives you the AI forecasting to know the shortcomings and modify the strategy accordingly; It is priced at ₹4999/user if billed annually.
5. Bitrix24
Bitrix24 is a free CRM full of customer management tools, support and marketing automation features. Available in the cloud and locally, for mobile devices and desktops. Includes all essential tools: sales funnels, channel management, sales reporting, 360 degree customer view, repeat sales support and sales automation.
Bitrix24 Features
In the corporate world, most of the marketing-related work is done collectively, and using different software for each task can be costly as well as inefficient. Bitrix24 offers all necessary tools for businesses within a single platform and makes it easier to collaborate with your team members. Bitrix24 has its virtual ecosystem where you can tackle every task with ease on an interface.
Here are some exclusive features of Bitrix24:
- Activity stream: It is the most happening place inside the Bitrix24 and is a perfect tool for communicating the project details with your employees. Think of it as a social media platform; where you can post project updates, create polls, follow relevant tags, and comment on posts.
- Virtual workspace: It is a great collaborative tool that helps you connect with the employees through video conferencing. Each call can have up to 48 members, and you can invite participants who don’t use Bitrix24. Moreover, you can track each employee’s work hours and progress through a Virtual workspace.
- Project Management: Bitrix24 offers the ability to create workgroups based on projects and assign tasks in several ways. You can approach each project differently, sort them according to the deadlines, and cumulate reports.
- Bitrix24.Drive: You can use the virtual drive inside the Bitrix24 to keep all your business-related files organized inside the system. Moreover, you can decide who gets access to each file and create new documents.
- CRM Space: It is your one-stop for all sales and marketing-related activities. You can customize the existing process templates or create a new one with the “Smart Process automation” without programming. CRM Space is designed: specifically to help you organize leads and lucidly automate processes.
- Sales Intelligence: Here, you can manage the traffic sources and see the ROI for each platform. It’s a perfect tool to assess your marketing strategy and see which sources generate more traffic. Users can connect their business website and get information on every lead through Sales Intelligence.
- Bitrix24.Sites: Bitrix24 has an inbuilt website creation tool that is easy to access and offers several templates to choose from. You can browse through the layouts according to your business niche or use an empty template to design a website from scratch.
- Marketing Campaigns: Bitrix24 allows you to target a specific audience through social media, Phone and E-mail. CRM marketing tool will identify genuine clients and help you connect with potential customers.
Bitrix24 Pricing
Bitrix24 currently offers 4 pricing options for users interested in getting the most out of CRM services.
The “Free” plan is best for the new users who want to get accustomed to CRM software and costs absolutely nothing.
The “Basic” plan is priced at €49/month and offers customer support service along with some simple collaboration tools.
The “Standard” plan offers advanced collaboration tools and an increase in user capacity. It is priced: at €99/month.
The “Professional” plan is worth €199/month and unlocks all features of Bitrix24. You can add unlimited users, which makes it suitable for established businesses.
Benefits of Using a CRM for Small Businesses
Implementing a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can be transformative for small businesses, offering a wide range of benefits that directly contribute to growth, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Here are some key advantages of using a CRM:
1. Centralized Customer Information
One of the primary benefits of a CRM is that it serves as a single source of truth for all customer data. Small businesses often struggle with disorganized customer information scattered across various tools and platforms. A CRM consolidates this data, making it easily accessible and manageable. This centralization helps eliminate discrepancies and inaccuracies, enabling teams to make informed decisions quickly.
2. Enhanced Customer Service
With a CRM, small businesses can track every interaction they have with customers. This comprehensive view allows teams to provide personalized service and respond to inquiries more efficiently. The ability to access past interactions and customer preferences fosters stronger relationships, leading to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
3. Improved Sales Processes
CRMs streamline sales processes by automating routine tasks such as follow-ups and lead management. This automation allows sales teams to focus on building relationships and closing deals rather than getting bogged down in administrative work. Enhanced reporting features give businesses insights into their sales pipelines, helping to identify opportunities and areas for improvement.
4. Data-Driven Decision Making
A robust CRM provides valuable data and analytics that can inform strategic decisions. By tracking sales trends, customer behavior, and campaign effectiveness, small businesses can tailor their marketing efforts and optimize their sales strategies. The ability to generate reports at the click of a button enhances reporting accuracy, allowing businesses to make data-driven decisions confidently.
5. Streamlined Marketing Efforts
CRMs facilitate targeted marketing campaigns by segmenting customers based on various criteria such as purchasing behavior and demographics. This targeted approach allows small businesses to deliver personalized messaging that resonates with their audience, ultimately driving engagement and conversion rates. Automation features can also help manage email campaigns, ensuring timely and relevant communication with customers.
Key Features to Look for in a CRM
When selecting a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, it’s essential to identify the key features that will not only meet your current business needs but also support your growth as you scale. Here are some of the most important features to consider:
1. Automation Capabilities
Automation is a game-changer for small and mid-size businesses, particularly those with limited internal resources. A robust CRM should offer automation tools that streamline routine tasks, such as email responses, lead scoring, and customer follow-ups. By automating these processes, your team can focus on more complex customer interactions, enhancing efficiency and productivity.
2. App Integration
The ability to integrate with other tools and platforms is crucial for maximizing your CRM’s potential. Look for a solution that can easily connect with your existing apps for marketing, sales, and customer support. Seamless integration allows for a smoother workflow, enabling your team to access essential customer data and manage tasks more effectively across different platforms.
3. Customizable Features
Every business is unique, and your CRM should reflect that. A flexible CRM allows for customization in features such as email templates, landing pages, and dashboards. This adaptability not only helps maintain your brand identity but also ensures that the CRM aligns with your specific business processes.
4. Pipeline Management
Effective sales pipeline management is critical for tracking the progress of leads and deals. Choose a CRM that offers visual pipeline tools, enabling your team to see where each prospect is within the sales process. Features like guided workflows, scripts for sales calls, and automated reminders can help keep your team organized and focused on closing deals.
5. User-Friendly Interface
A user-friendly interface is vital for ensuring that your team can navigate the CRM without unnecessary frustration. The easier the CRM is to use, the quicker your staff can adopt it and leverage its features to improve customer interactions and sales processes.
Why use a CRM at all?
CRM software allows businesses to manage customers and leads efficiently. You won’t have to compile the data and all the information regarding potential clients will be stored in one place. You can provide access to the relevant team members and track their progress through a CRM.
A CRM tool also provides insight into the customer relations and negotiation stages. You can use analytical tools to assess the sales process, which will be helpful for similar negotiations in the future. Moreover, it also assists in marketing by letting you know which sources are most likely to yield a positive outcome.
Why should small businesses use a CRM?
Small businesses in the nascent stage do not have a large workforce, making it arduous to attract potential clients.
A CRM can help your business grow at a substantial rate; by constantly providing automated leads from various sources. It saves small businesses a lot of time and effort by storing each lead in an organized manner.
You can also connect your business’s website and social media accounts with the CRM to access all inquiries regarding your business on a system. All your employees can access this information, which makes sales and marketing-related tasks a lot easier.
A CRM software will keep a record of every lead, so you won’t have to worry about misplacing the data. You can add automated responses to foster the client towards making a purchase and gather the contact information. It’ll open a whole new market opportunity for your business by allowing you to reach a wider audience.
You can keep an eye on each lead, Group them as per your preferences and analyze the possibility of making a sale according to the previous records. A CRM can have several employees work on a lead at a single interface, and you can control what they can access by tweaking the user settings.
It’s like a virtual assistant with zero scope of error. Additionally, you can show advertisements to probable buyers on social media and boost your company’s marketing endeavours.
CRM software will take care of all marketing activities, and you can focus on perfecting the sales pitch. Also, you can engage with the existing customers by setting up a salesbot and keeping them updated regarding the latest products and discount offers.
CRM for Small businesses, A Summary
A CRM acts as a complete sales and marketing package for small businesses and helps cut the extra costs. You get all the necessary tools in one place and the ability to collaborate with your team members, which makes it a no-brainer for small businesses.
amoCRM has a user-friendly interface with enough features to ensure you’re always up to date with the latest leads and advancements. It provides additional tools which can help you put your name out in the market and is our suggested pick for small businesses. Visit the website now to get started and take your business to the next level.