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Last Updated on February 24, 2023 by Mandy Schmitz
As a savvy small business owner, you always look for ways to scale your business. However, you need to invest in the right direction to build your bottom lines, scale your operations, and get more customers. That is why CRM software for small business is quite critical. Subsequently, you can focus your resources in the most innovative way possible as the all-in-one CRM software provides you customer visibility from every angle.
Therefore, your focus should be on the ideal CRM system with the capacity to scale your business, has no unnecessary features, and has a low learning curve.
Suppose you are looking to identify how to streamline and organize your business processes for better performance and where to concentrate work. In that case, this guide will detail the best CRM software for small business and how they can help you grow your business. You can also read about our best product management software guide if you’re looking to manage your products seamlessly.
But first, let us talk about some of the best CRM software for small businesses.
What is the Best CRM Software?
Table of Contents
There are several central aspects to consider when choosing the right CRM software for your business. While you need to consider whether the system has the tools, you must also focus on the features your business needs and how much the CRM software costs. However, since there are many CRM software for small business on the market, our team has analyzed and researched seven of these softwares. With that, you can determine the ones that best suited your business requirements. Furthermore, you can also determine how well these options can integrate with other popular business applications, how simple they are to use, and how much they cost.
Thus, keep reading to learn more about critical factors to consider when choosing your preferred CRM system and our recommendations.
1. HubSpot CRM
As a cloud-based system, HubSpot CRM can help businesses of any size analyze business metrics, nurture and track leads. In the first place, this CRM system is perfect for any B2B and B2C companies in various segments, such as real estate, retail, construction, sales, marketing, accounting, and more. Namely, some of the HubSpot CRM features include contact management, lead management, email tracking, customer relations management, sales pipeline management, sales automation, inbound and outbound marketing, and more. Thus, if you are looking for a real-time view of the whole sales funnel through a visual dashboard, this CRM for small business will give you this and more. Furthermore, you can track your customer interactions through phone calls, live chat, social media, email, and more. It also has a timeline where it stores every interaction. Similarly, you can also use this tool to scale and remain on top of the competition.
Key Features
Some of the HubSpot CRM software’s key features for small businesses include:
- Built-in reporting and company insights to view the preferred metrics
- Monitoring deals from the sales team through a reporting dashboard
- Improve response times for team through time-to-close reports
- Identify opportunities for improvement through in-depth tickets closed reports
- Improve team efficiency with email templates
- Email template library designed for every step of customer’s journey
- Critical real-time email metrics, such as click-through rates and open rates
Pros
- Tons of free tools
- Customer support
- Easy to create
- A scalable, modular solution
- Flexible pricing
- Comprehensive free plan
Cons
- Easy to use up limitations on a free plan
- No customer support on a free plan
- Complicated pricing tiers
Pricing Plan
Plan | Price |
Free Plan | $0 |
Starter Plan | $45/month |
Professional Plan | $450/month |
Enterprise Plan | $1,200/month |
Click here to get HubSpot CRM.
2. Zoho CRM
As an integrated, cloud-based customer relationship management system, Zoho CRM offers the needs of industries and businesses of all types and sizes. Generally, this CRM software for small business has more than 150,000 global customers that use the system to maximize team productivity and create lasting customer relationships. In addition, this CRM software for small business is the most tightly integrated software in the market as its expanded omnichannel support for in-person meetings, social media, live chat, email, and phone. Furthermore, the software also offers advanced predictions, solutions, and interpretations for salespeople through Zia, its AI-powered sales assistant. In addition, the software’s built-in gamification, real-time notifications, lead scoring, and workflow automation enable the sales team to spend more time selling instead of entering data. Likewise, you can also read more about our Zoho Projects review that details how to manage your projects.
Key Features
- Developer platform
- Android and iOS apps (with scanner and business)
- Marketing automation
- Process management
- Advanced analytics
- Workflow automation
- Lead management
Pros
- Great value
- Mobile app
- Video guides
- Flexible
- Easy to use
- Easy to set up
Cons
- Not good enough customer service
- Limited features on free and budget versions
Pricing Plan
Plan | Price |
Free Trial | $0 |
Standard Plan | $3,600/month |
Professional Plan | $6,000/month |
Enterprise Plan | $10,500/month |
Ultimate Plan | $13,500/month |
Get started with Zoho CRM today.
3. Freshsales
Freshsales CRM software is a cloud-based solution for companies and industries of any vertical to manage the interactions with their potential and existing customers. Besides, this versatile CRM software for small business boasts event tracking, sales management, sales lead management, one-click phone, and more. Furthermore, the CRM solution also offers the opportunity to send personalized bulk emails and monitor these email activities.
Likewise, leads and contacts waiting for a response get priorities from the software inbox. When any customer interacts with a web page, this system will track the page, interact with them and segment these contacts depending on their behavior. Besides, freshsales CRM’s 360 customer view provides top prospects and customers’ details, such as tasks, appointments, touchpoints, and conversations. Similarly, freshsales CRM can segment event tracking and Google Calendar and integrates with Freshdesk. Hence, if you want to simplify complicated projects, you can read our Moqups reviews and how its visual collaborative tools can help your team turn ideas into concepts.
Key Features
- Landing pages
- Marketing journey builder
- Visual email builder
- Apple business chat
- Contextual collaboration with Slack
- Internal notifications
- Workflows
- Sales sequences
- Auto-assignment rules
- Task management
Pros
- Quick setup
- Simple and intuitive interface
- Awesome support
- Navigable deal module
- Calendar sync
- Importing accounts and contacts
- Sales sequences
Cons
- Hard to upload files related to a contact
- You can make the errored file viewable in the interface
- Hard to navigate interface
Pricing Plan
Plan | Price |
Free Trial | $0 |
Growth Plan | $15/month |
Pro Plan | $39/month |
Enterprise Plan | $69/month |
Click here to try out FreshSales today.
4. Salesforce
When it comes to the most favorable CRM market software, the Salesforce CRM system tops the list. Hence, as an on-demand and cloud-based CRM software for small business, Salesforce offers applications for enterprises, midsize, and small organizations, focusing on customer relationships and sales. Generally, its capacities include contact management, marketing automation, and lead management. Thus, your business can offer service post-sale, monitor and conduct marketing campaigns, track sales leads, and manage customer accounts.
Furthermore, sales reps of any level can create a report, track the status of each campaign, and manage account activity without hassle. Similarly, users can use the software with Outlook to synchronize tasks, emails, calendars, and contacts in the two applications without any business process interruption. If you need to manage products then additional product management software can help you manage your product portfolio effortlessly.
Key Features
- Pipeline and forecast management
- Dashboards and reports
- Lead management
- Opportunity management
- Account and contact management
- Process automation
Pros
- A complete CRM software for small business
- The top and award-winning CRM solution in the market
- Easy management
- Excellent compatibility
- Cloud-based
Cons
- Poor customer support
- Not easy to use
- Not entirely unlimited
- Pricey
- It can be too complex for small businesses
Pricing Plan
Plan | Price |
Free Trial | $0 |
Essential Plan | $25/month |
Professional Plan | $75/month |
Enterprise Plan | $150/month |
Unlimited Plan | $300/month |
Click here to give Salesforce CRM a try.
5. Salesflare
As an innovative CRM software for small business, Salesflare CRM is a versatile email outreach solution that thousands of small and medium-sized B2B businesses use for more leads and sales. In particular, the software gathers data from professional email signatures, company databases, phones, calendars, emails, and social profiles and automates the data entry. Thus, your business can use the system’s automation and sales tracking features to generate and follow up leads at scale through its CRM. In addition, it boasts an automated address book, sales analytics, social integrations, leads scoring, the ability to send personal emails at scale, and a built-in email tracking feature. Furthermore, the software’s full functionalities are available with Outlook, Gmail, Android phones and tablets, iPad, iPhone, Linux, Mac, and Windows.
Key Features
- Activity dashboard
- Data import/export
- Third-party integration
- Alerts/notifications
- Reporting and statistics
- Email marketing
- API
- Reporting/analytics
Pros
- The software handles various essential tasks like call management, meeting management, and contact imports
- Several integration opportunities
- Link tracking
- Sales automation
- Account enrichment
- Mobile app
- Sales process overview
- Lead progress tracking
Want to know more about tracking? Then check out out our in-depth review of ClickMagick’s link tracking software.
Cons
- Missing notifications
- Multiple annoying reminders
- No web forms
- It can be hard to integrate with larger teams
- Occasional issues with email syncing
Pricing Plan
Plan | Price |
Free Trial | $0 |
Growth Plan | $29/month |
Pro Plan | $49/month |
Enterprise Plan | $99/month |
Get started with Salesflare CRM today.
6. Pipedrive
Pipedrive CRM offers efficient reporting, website chatbot creation, and business-focused solutions with advanced capabilities as intelligent CRM software for small business. Thus, it has features like reporting to forecast results, identify opportunities for improvement, and understand where you lost deals. Furthermore, it also allows you to see the conversion rate of your leads, understand why and where you lose leads, sees all lost and won deals at a glance, and identify which leads get closer to a sale. Similarly, this CRM software for small business is packed with innovations, integrations, and automation that allow you to see your sales data in one place. Thus, its ease of use and several integrations and tools will make it any business’ choice.
Key Features
- Mobile apps and integrations
- Privacy and security
- Insights and reports
- Automate and grow
- Track communications
- Manage deals and leads
Pros
- The software helps small businesses keep on top of their CRM process
- Excellent mobile app with email and call synchronization
- Provides a deal-driven and intuitive workflow
Cons
- No separation between contacts and new lead lists
- Limited functionality for the price
Pricing Plan
Plan | Price |
Free Trial | $0 |
Essential Plan | $15/month |
Advanced Plan | $29/month |
Professional Plan | $59/month |
Enterprise Plan | $99/month |
Click here to try out Pipedrive CRM today.
7. Agile CRM
Agile CRM software for small business is a secure, reliable, and fast cloud-based CRM system that offers knowledge base functionalities, a landing page builder, project management, marketing automation, appointment scheduling, telephony tools, and contact management. Generally, you can access and record customer data using the contact management module, including lead scores, social media accounts, interaction records, and contact information. Furthermore, this CRM software for small business also provides email integrations that let businesses sync their data with email service providers like IMAP services, Office 365, Microsoft Exchange, and Gmail. In addition, the marketing automation tools have a drag-and-drop interface that lets you create marketing workflows and analyze customer behavior by tracking website visitors. Similarly, you can also send automatic reminders using contact and time options.
Key Features
- Landing page builder
- Social CRM
- Telephony
- Deals
- Schedule appointments
- Project management
- Contact management
Pros
- Easy campaign automation
- Powerful features
- Various integrations
- Reliable database
- Personalized messaging
- Customized templates
- Trigger responses
- Basic organized workflow
Cons
- Customer service is somewhat lacking
- Challenging to understand automation features
- No tutorials for advanced features
- Limited customization
Pricing Plan
Table | Table |
Free Trial | $0 |
Starter Plan | $8.99/month |
Regular Plan | $29.99/month |
Enterprise Plan | $47.99/month |
Click here to get started with Agile CRM.
What is CRM Software?
CRM system is a platform where businesses can connect different departments, from customer service to sales and marketing, and also organize their metrics, activities, and notes into an organized system. Hence, your team members will have direct, easy access to the real-time client data. With that, it will be possible for your business to offer clients a customized, one-on-one customer journey while getting unparalleled coordination across departments and teams.
CRM software for small business is a revolutionary means for businesses to connect with customers instead of the limited functionality of old legacy and analog systems. Therefore, cloud computing and SaaS are significant when talking about a CRM system. Furthermore, users can access CRM platforms anywhere there is Internet connectivity. With CRM software for small business, you can:
1. Make more money
You can increase the bottom line and sell more when you can improve customer support, manage sales teams, and closely track sales activities using a CRM system.
2. Save time
The CRM system enables you to fine-tune your operations and relationship-building since it reduces hours of manually entering data or pesky admin tasks.
3. Generate reports
You can easily access customer reporting, sales, campaigns, and marketing using CRM software for small businesses. Furthermore, you can identify your overall ROI, view behavioral patterns, identify issues, and monitor information. Similarly, sales trends and sales activity reports allow you to improve your sales processes, identify problems, and monitor incoming information.
4. Identify your actual customers
CRM software for small businesses enables you to harness customer data to find out which demographic offers the most incredible opportunities, where your customers live, identify their profiles, and perform customer segmentation.
5. Organize your contacts
The CRM system allows you to perform customer management to centralize information on suppliers, customers, and all your team members and different departments. Furthermore, you can also use CRM software to aggregate multichannel contact information from business cards, LinkedIn, emails, social media, and more.
How Do You Choose the Best CRM Software?
If you are planning on growing your business, perfect CRM software is a must-have. You know that it is not an option anymore to check scribbles on Post-It notes by navigating among sales opportunities, finding customer data, or lead by hopping from one system or document to another. Hence, you don’t have to go through several spreadsheets to manage your customer database.
Finally, regardless of your business size, the best CRM software for small businesses can allow you to stand among the crowd and also let you to:
- Discover and keep new clients
- Improve communication between marketing and sales teams
- Sell more products and services
- Maintain healthy relationships with current clients
- Stay ahead of your marketing and sales efforts
- Keep track of customer interactions
With this, choosing the right CRM system for your business can be pretty tricky. However, while you may want to consider business value, scalability, cost, ability to customize, and deployment options, you will have to face the hard choice of these technologies and solutions.
Thus, it is also critical to ask yourself some of these questions before evaluating any CRM providers:
- What is your budget?
- Is there other software you intend to integrate with the CRM?
- Who will use the CRM system in your company, and how many users?
- What are the operational workflows and processes you lack and want to add?
- What do you want to improve with the CRM software, and what are your business’ most inefficient processes?
Now, you can narrow down what your business wants in CRM software after you must have answered the questions above. Hence, consider some of these details when choosing your preferred CRM software for small businesses.
1. Use Software With GDPR Features
Ensure that your CRM software has GDPR features since storing your customer’s data is quite critical now than ever. For example, you must honor your customers’ requests when they want you to remove them from your database. Additionally, you must generate an electronic report of all data about your customer when they request it.
2. User Experience Is Critical
Furthermore, your experience using the system and how you feel about it are crucial when choosing your CRM software. Hence, you need to know whether it is intuitive, helpful, or slows down your sales or marketing processes. Furthermore, learn about how the CRM software can do some specific tasks and know about its user interface and any other critical aspect.
3. Does It Have Training and Customization
A CRM software for small business will be useless to you if your team cannot use its features or the vendor does not configure it properly. Thus, learn about the configuration cost and if the vendor offers personalized training sessions. Therefore, you must use a CRM system to reflect your sales process and complement your business, contact management, customer service activities, and marketing strategy routines.
4. Choose An Industry-Specific Vendor With Local Network
Next, find a CRM vendor you can associate with industries and companies similar to yours. By the way, you will know the sizes and types of companies the vendor has worked with by going through their website. Also, study reviews, scores, references, and customer testimonials from third-party review sites.
5. Use a Free Trial to Test-Drive
It is not wrong to test out your preferred CRM software. Thus, start the process with an online or live personalized demonstration and go for the free trial. Generally, the vendor will walk you through the software in the live demo session. Hence, with that, you can then raise specific concerns about the product. After that, get a good feel of the software and how it works. Then, move on to the free trial.
CRM Software FAQ
Our team has filtered some critical questions users can have while searching for the best CRM software for small business, and we have provided expert answers to help you troubleshoot any of these concerns.
1. What is the Easiest CRM?
If you are looking for the easiest CRM software for small businesses, that means you are looking for a straightforward solution. However, you want CRM software that will let you focus on sales and marketing without bothering you with too much admin. Thus, you want something that:
- Integrates seamlessly with other toolset apps
- Has little or no effort to keep up-to-date
- Easy to navigate and use
- One-minute setup
You may want to look at Salesflare if you want simple and easy CRM software for small business. Furthermore, it focuses more on customers and integrates with social, phone, calendar, email, and more.
2. Is CRM Difficult to Learn?
While CRM software for small businesses tends to be easy to use, it can be difficult for companies to design the business elements in the system. Hence, all this depends on the functionality you want, what you intend to do with it, and the information you wish to track. In addition, integration with different functionalities, including eCommerce, fulfillment, marketing, and so on, can bring about difficulty in learning some of this CRM software.
3. Does Google Have a CRM?
Google does not have its branded CRM. However, businesses can integrate some integration-ready CRMs and sync schedules or meetings in Google Calendar or use Google Maps to track prospect locations.
4. Is HubSpot CRM Really Free?
Yes, it is free. Furthermore, the free version allows an unlimited number of users to access tools and data to manage the database and embed the basic chatbot and live chat on your website, have forms to capture leads on your site, enjoy limited sales productivity tools, and more.
Our Verdict
So, there you have it!
Our top choice for the best CRM software for small businesses is FreshSales because it has everything a salesperson needs to nurture customer relationships, drive deals with AI-powered insights, engage in contextual conversations, and attract quality leads. Its Freddy AI allows salespeople to get insights into the best deal to pursue and what necessary action to take. Furthermore, it also empowers sales teams with more time selling through its built-in telephony, chat, phone, and email features.
It may require some comparison shopping when finding the best CRM software for your small business. However, you can be sure of picking up a lot of knowledge about what the software you choose can do for your business, regardless of which of them you choose.
Now take some time to find the best project management software to manage your projects and teams.
Start your free trial of FreshSales today!If you are looking for more software reviews, check out these articles: