As a small business owner or budding entrepreneur, building and maintaining strong customer relationships is paramount. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is an essential tool that empowers your business to effectively organize, track, and nurture valuable connections. 

From streamlining communication to boosting sales and fostering customer loyalty, a CRM system serves as the linchpin for small businesses looking to strive in today’s competitive marketplace.

QuickLook: Best CRM for Small Business

Do You Need a CRM for Your Small Business?

Small businesses need a CRM platform because it helps them effectively manage their customer relationships and improve overall business operations. Ultimately, a good CRM helps boost sales, which is essential for the growth and sustainability of your business.

What Are the Benefits of CRMs for Small Businesses?

CRMs help businesses organize and manage their customer data effectively. They streamline and automate various business processes; specifically, CRMs help organize customer data, track interactions, and identify sales opportunities. They enable effective collaboration and communication among team members, as well as provide valuable insights through analytics and reporting features.

7 Best CRMs for Small Businesses

There are several CRM platforms in the market, but which one is the best for your small businesses? Several factors play into this decision, such as pricing, mobile capabilities, customization, and others. Read on as we analyze seven of the best CRMs for small businesses in 2023.

Hubspot

HubSpot is a user-friendly and powerful CRM platform with a focus on streamlining communication and enhancing customer relationships. It provides robust features for efficient contact management, marketing automation, and in-depth reporting and analytics.

Key features of Hubspot for small businesses include:

Contact management: Hubspot allows small businesses to store and manage their contacts in a centralized location.

Email marketing: With built-in email tools, Hubspot enables small business owners to create, send, and track email campaigns. This helps nurture leads and maintain regular communication with customers.

Sales automation: Hubspot offers automation features such as lead scoring, task automation, and email templates. These tools help small business owners and entrepreneurs to streamline their sales processes, prioritize leaves, and save time.

Who It Is For: SMBs, B2B, E-commerce

Mobile and Desktop Availability: Yes, Hubspot offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices. 

Pricing: Hubspot has a price range from as low as $50 per month to as high as $2,400 per month. It also offers a free service, although that comes with very limited features.

Get started with HubSpot

Salesforce

Salesforce offers a comprehensive suite of tools for managing customer data, sales pipelines, marketing campaigns, and customer support tickets. With its user-friendly interface and scalability, Salesforce CRM empowers small businesses to enhance customer relationships, improve sales efficiency, and drive growth by centralizing crucial customer-related information and facilitating collaboration across teams.

Key features of Salesforce for small businesses include:

Analytics and reporting: Salesforce offers robust reporting and analytics features. Small businesses can create customized reports and dashboards to gain insight into their sales and marketing performance.

Contact and lead management: Salesforce allows small businesses to efficiently manage their contacts and leads. Users can store and organize customer information, track interaction, and segment contacts for targeted campaigns.

Security: Salesforce provides robust security features, including role-based access control and permission sets, to ensure that users have appropriate levels of access to data and functions. Additionally, Salesforce employs encryption, multi-factor authentication, and continuous monitoring to safeguard customer data, providing a secure environment for businesses to manage and protect their critical information.

Who It Is For: Enterprise businesses, highly regulated industries, nonprofits

Mobile and Desktop Availability: Yes, Salesforce offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.

Pricing: Salesforce has a per-month price range from as low as $25 per user to as high as $300 per user.

Get started with Salesforce

Agile

Agile is a comprehensive CRM solution designed to empower businesses with versatile tools for sales, marketing, and customer service. With its user-friendly interface and automation capabilities, Agile CRM offers a unified platform to streamline customer interactions, nurture leads, and drive sales growth.

Key features of Agile for small businesses include:

Marketing Automation: Agile CRM includes marketing automation features such as email campaigns, lead scoring, and analytics. Small businesses can create and track marketing campaigns, nurture leads, and measure their marketing ROI.

Appointment Scheduling: Agile provides appointment scheduling and calendar integration, making it easy for businesses to schedule meetings and appointments with clients and prospects.

Customer Support and Helpdesk: Agile offers helpdesk and customer support features, including ticketing and customer service automation. This feature helps businesses provide timely and efficient support to their customers.

Who It Is For: SMBs, startups, marketers, B2B and B2C, event management

Mobile and Desktop Availability: Yes, Agile offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.

Pricing: Agile offers a limited, free plan for up to 10 users. The CRM’s costs run from a basic starting price of $12.74 per user per month to a pro price of $84.99.

Get started with Agile

Zoho

Zoho is a user-friendly solution that offers automation features, analytics, and seamless integrations with other Zoho products. It is a good option for businesses that need a comprehensive CRM solution at a reasonable price.

Key features of Zoho for small businesses include:

Sales Automation: Zoho CRM offers sales automation features that streamline sales processes. Users can automate tasks such as lead assignments, follow-ups, and email notifications. Automation not only saves time but also ensures that leads and opportunities are managed consistently, increasing the chances of converting leads into customers.

Email Marketing: Zoho includes built-in email marketing capabilities, allowing small businesses to create, send, and track email campaigns. Users can design email templates, schedule email blasts, and monitor email performance, helping them engage with leads and customers effectively.

Workflow Automation: With workflow automation, users can set up rules and triggers to automatically perform actions, such as sending notifications, updating records, or assigning tasks. This feature helps in reducing manual tasks and improving efficiency.

Who It Is For: Sales- and service-focused businesses, startups, education, and training centers

Mobile and Desktop Availability: Yes, Zoho offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.

Pricing: Zoho offers a free plan for up to three users, which is suitable for smaller teams or businesses with basic CRM needs. Paid plans start at $12 per user per month and range up to $249 per month, offering advanced features and scalability for growing businesses.

Get started with Zoho

Freshsales

Freshsales is a powerful CRM system with AI-powered features, email tracking, and built-in phone capabilities, designed to empower sales teams. The software can be utilized effectively by organizations to manage customer relationships and conduct successful marketing campaigns.

Key features of Freshsales for small businesses include:

Email Tracking and Analytics: Freshsales includes email tracking and analytics features, allowing users to monitor email opens, clicks, and responses. Small businesses can create and send emails directly from the CRM system, making it easier to engage with leads and customers.

Deal Management: Freshsales provides tools for managing sales deals through various stages of the sales pipeline. Small businesses can track and prioritize deals, set reminders, and collaborate with team members. This feature helps in visualizing the sales process, identifying bottlenecks, and improving deal conversion rates.

Lead Scoring: Freshsales includes lead scoring capabilities that allow small businesses to prioritize leads based on their likelihood to convert into customers. Users can set up scoring criteria and automatically assign scores to leads.

Who It Is For: SMBs, E-commerce, Telecommunications and IT

Mobile and Desktop Availability: Yes, Freshsales offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.

Pricing: Freshsales offers various pricing plans from as low as $15 to $35 per user per month. There are additional plans available to suit larger enterprises.

Get started with Freshsales

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a highly effective sales-focused CRM designed to empower small and medium-sized businesses to manage their sales pipelines with efficiency.

Key features of Pipedrive for small businesses include:

Pipeline Management: Pipedrive’s intuitive visual interface allows small businesses to create, customize, and manage their sales pipelines. This feature provides a clear overview of ongoing deals, helping teams stay organized and focused on moving leads through the sales process efficiently.

Contact and Lead Management: Pipedrive offers robust contact and lead management capabilities. Users can easily store, categorize, and track interactions with leads and contacts. This feature helps small businesses build and nurture customer relationships effectively.

Sales Automation: Pipedrive provides automation tools that streamline repetitive tasks and workflows. Users can automate lead assignments, follow-up emails, and other actions, reducing manual work and improving efficiency in the sales process.

Who It Is For: Sales, real estate, software and IT services, consulting

Mobile and Desktop Availability: Yes, Pipedrive offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.

Pricing: Pipedrive offers various pricing plans, starting as low as $14.90 per user per month for a basic package, and going up to $49.90 per user per month for an advanced package.

Get started with Pipedrive

Monday

Monday.com is a dynamic CRM software designed to simplify and streamline customer interactions for businesses of all sizes. Known for its visual and customizable interface, Monday offers a unique approach to managing contacts, leads, and sales processes. With its user-friendly platform, it empowers teams to collaborate efficiently, automate tasks, and drive growth through enhanced customer relationship management.

Key features of Monday for small businesses include:

Customizable Workflows: Monday.com allows small businesses to create and customize workflows to track and manage leads, customer interactions, and sales processes. This flexibility ensures that the platform can adapt to the specific needs of a small business.

Integration Capabilities: Monday.com offers integration options with other tools, including email marketing software and communication platforms. This enables small businesses to connect their CRM efforts with other aspects of their operations for a seamless workflow.

Customizable Dashboards and Reporting: Small businesses can create custom dashboards to visualize CRM data and generate reports to gain insights into customer interactions, lead progression, and sales performance.

Who It Is For: Startups, Customer support, project-centric businesses

Mobile and Desktop Availability: Yes, Monday offers a mobile app for both iOS and Android devices.

Pricing: Pricing of Monday starts as low as $10 per month per user to as high as $24. The CRM also offers an enterprise plan, the cost of which depends on your business’s needs.

Get started with Monday.com

Features to Look for in a CRM for Your Small Business

There are several features to look for when choosing the right CRM for your small business:

• Fits your needs: Does the CRM match your specific needs as a company?
• Customization options: Does the CRM offer an array of customizable features?
• Contact management: Does the CRM allow your team to easily navigate between leads?
• Reporting and analytics: Can your CRM create useful, data-centric reports?
• Integration with other tools: Does your CRM allow you to connect with other online tools and software programs?
• Mobile accessibility: Can you use your CRM on mobile devices?
• Scalability: Does the CRM help your company grow and give you affordable pricing options on adding more users?
• Training and support: Is the CRM easy to use and is their customer service easy to communicate with?
• Security and data protection: Are your users and leads secure?

Which CRM Is Best For Your Small Business?

Customer Relationship Management helps centralize and organize customer information, making it easier to manage and nurture relationships. CRM systems automate and streamline sales and marketing processes, saving time and improving efficiency, as well as providing valuable insights through data analytics.

CRMs foster customer loyalty by ensuring timely follow-ups, personalized communication, and improved customer service, ultimately leading to increased sales and sustained business growth for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

FAQs

What is CRM and why is it important for small businesses?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a technology and strategy used by businesses to manage and improve their interactions and relationships with customers.

How long does it take to set up a CRM system for your small business?

This can vary widely depending on several factors, including the complexity of the CRM solution, the size of the business, the amount of data to be migrated, and the extent of customization required. In general, small businesses can expect to set up a basic CRM system in a few weeks to a couple of months.

Is it easy to integrate a CRM system with other small business tools you use?

There are several factors at play, such as a CRM’s pre-built integrations, API availability, and your team’s technical expertise. 

Can a CRM system help your small business manage customer support and inquiries efficiently?

Yes! That is exactly why it’s crucial for small business owners and entrepreneurs to consider using a CRM.

Is there any CRM system for small businesses that offers a free trial period before purchasing?

Yes, most of the CRMs mentioned in this article offer a free trial period, typically within a range of 14 to 21 days.