More exposure, increased in sales, a bigger customer base and more employees… I think we can all agree that growth is the one thing all small businesses (or SMBs) strive for. However, with this growth also comes the need for better organisation skills and more streamlined processes within your business. This is where a CRM software becomes your best friend.
Earlier this month, we came out with an overview of the best CRM software for Enterprise businesses. Now we want to focus on the smaller players. This article will zoom in on 15 of the best (and top-rated) CRM software intended for small businesses.
Three Major Benefits of using CRM Software
Not yet convinced your business needs a CRM software? Let’s take a look at the benefits first…
1. Contact organisation
First and foremost are your contacts – hence the name CRM (or Customer Relationship Management). As your business’ customer base grows, you’ll want to have a system for organising that data in a way that works to your benefit. This clean-cut overview of your contacts will also help you run sales processes more fluently.
Source: Inchoo
2. Sales reporting
Helps you keep an overview of sales performance by way of various metrics such as calls made and deals booked. This is ideal for managing your pipeline.
Source: Handshake
3. Customer segmentation
Digital marketers and sales teams are all about some customer segmentation these days. This is not only useful for personalisation efforts, but also breaking down prospects into different groups such as how big the deal is, where they’re located, and more. This gives your sales team a bit more focus.
Source: Medium
What should your SMB look for in a CRM software?
There are a couple of facets you – as a small-business – should look out for when selecting your first CRM software:
- Low budget: Small businesses and startups are always looking for the most cost-efficient option. That is why we’ve selected all budget-friendly tools (some of which are even free!).
- Easy to learn: The learning curve is also an important factor for SMBs. Most smaller businesses don’t have the time to master a complex, enterprise-grade software. There is no IT or CRM expert needed to use the tools listed below.
- Customisable: Some tools dissect every minor interaction which can not only produce an overwhelming amount of data, but also keep you from your goal. Try a tool that has a wide range of applications but doesn’t overdo it.
- Integrates well with other tools: It’s always good to have a software that can take on all your other tools and mix data for the ultimate results.
- Customer Support: This is another big one. Because most SMBs have pretty small teams, it’s helpful to have a tool that offers sufficient support to get you up and running.
In general, small companies are latecomers to CRM, so they have the advantage of avoiding the early adopters’ mistakes….
SalesLogix Corporation
Top CRM Software for Small Businesses
Alright, let’s get to it. Here are the top 15 CRM software for small businesses…
1. Insightly
Insightly is CRM and Lead Management software that is one of the top-voted choices among smaller businesses. This is probably because its user interface is very easy to navigate and customisation & integration options are plentiful. Insightly also includes various project management features such as task management and tracking. Pitfall: it does not provide custom reports or dashboards and is really only convenient for SMBs.
Pricing: Starts at $29/month.
Website: www.insightly.com
2. Zoho
Though we previously included Zoho in our enterprise-grade software list, this software can also be employed by small businesses – thanks to the variety in editions offered. Zoho – in comparison to Insightly – offers a bit more in terms of sales/marketing features. It offers its users website visitor tracking, lead scoring, sales signals (with pop-up notifications about leads) and more. Note: Most of the advanced features are included only in the professional and enterprise editions.
Pricing: Free version, Standard ($12/month), Professional ($20/month), Enterprise ($35/month) and more.
Website: www.zoho.com
3. Hubspot
HubSpot offers a completely free version of its CRM software that is rather popular among small businesses. The software includes all of the basic features provided by CRM software, allowing you keep track of your company’s activities, including contacts and company profiles, assigning & tracking deals, and managing all of that data in a detailed dashboard (visible to all team members). Already a HubSpot Sales user? Then you can also use this CRM software to boost your inbound sales. Not to mention, HubSpot offers several integration options with popular apps like SalesForce, Shopify and Microsoft Dynamics.
Pricing: Free of costs.
Website: www.hubspot.com
4. Salesforce
SalesForce is perhaps one of the biggest and most widely used CRM software on the market. Luckily for smaller business, SalesForce offers a basic edition called Lightning Essentials. This package provides the user with an advanced contact manager that includes email integration and follow-up reminders. It also includes a lot of options for integration and customisation.
Pricing: Lightning Essentials package ($25/month/user), Lightning Professional ($75/month/user), and more.
Website: www.salesforce.com
5. Agile CRM
Agile CRM is a particularly interesting CRM software in that it offers a lot of those big business features like custom appointments, drag-and-drop marketing automation and reports via email. This software also supports widgets, a large library of plugins, API-powered integrations and more. The free version, however, is quite limited in terms of features offered.
Pricing: Free for up to 10 users, or choose the Starter package ($14.99/user/month).
Website: www.agilecrm.com
6. Batchbook
Batchbook is a nice choice if you’re looking for a CRM software that supplies you with content rich contact management. Why content-rich? This software brings together all communications channels and interactions with the customers together in one place. This includes Twitter, email, phone calls, in-person meetings and Linkedin conversations, giving you rich contact pages. Pitfall? Some third party modules are needed for some of the rather basic tasks.
Pricing: There are two packages: Essential ($19.95/user/month) and Advanced ($39.95/user/month).
Website: www.batchbook.com
7. Capsule CRM
Capsule CRM is a software that’s been around for quite a while now. Starting up in 2008, it has become quite popular in recent years. It is a very easy-to-use software that allows its users to track both relationships and sales pipelines. Straight and to the point. Not to mention it can be used on both desktops and mobile. The user interface is broken down into five groups: dashboard, people and organisations, sales pipeline, calendars and tasks and lastly, cases. One pitfall, however, is that it offers less functionality in terms of campaigns and reporting.
Pricing: They have both a free package (up to 2 users) and a Professional package (£12/user/month).
Website: www.capsulecrm.com
8. OnePageCRM
This CRM software is more catered to users looking for a task-based CRM solution. Users can make use of their own personalised ‘Action Stream’ which shows the status of all deals and which contacts are in their task line up. You can manage all of these tasks via your inbox or by clicking on the task itself. This tool can also be integrated with a wide range of third party apps for lead gen, email marketing, accounting, nurturing and more.
Pricing: £9.75/user/month
Website: www.onepagecrm.com
9. Base CRM
Base is a CRM software that is ideal for companies looking to customise their sales pipelines. Users can make use of a sales tracking solution that lets you customise sales stages. You can add things like leads, collaborators and records to all your sales deals in the Sales Pipeline section. Base also offers real-time visual reporting via templates as well as integrations with social networks and other third party apps such as Zapier, MailChimp, Yesware and more.
Pricing: Starting from $45/User/Month
Website: www.getbase.com
10. Streak
Streak is a great CRM software for Gmail enthusiasts. Technically a browser plugin, Streak is great for smaller teams as they can work directly out of their Gmail inbox. This tool makes it very easy to track views, schedule emails, and send mass emails, as well as create separate email threads that cater to different teams (e.g. sales, HR, support, etc).
Pricing: From $49/user/month.
Website: www.streak.com
11. ConvergeHub
ConvergeHub is a cloud-based CRM software that is great for SMBs – especially considering the fact that these businesses don’t have to deal with multiple repositories, but rather one central platform. Additionally, users can store contact lists and design campaigns as well as manage all sales activities. ConvergeHub includes built-in SalesForce automation and marketing automation modules too.
Pricing: Starts from $9/user/month (Starter package) up to $59/user/month (Premium package).
Website: www.convergehub.com
12. Apptivo
Apptivo is probably one of the best options if you’re looking for a CRM software that provides you with customisable solutions. This web-based CRM app provides users with features such as project tracking, finance management, and customer relations. Also compatible with Google apps, Apptivo lets you pick and choose the functions your business truly needs. Not to mention the customer service is highly rated should you run into any problems.
Pricing: Ranges from free to $20/user/month. They also offer an Enterprise package (contact for pricing).
Website: www.apptivo.com
13. vTiger CRM
vTiger is another all-in-one CRM software made for small businesses. This tool offers a great deal in terms of sales automation, email marketing and project / inventory management. They also offer web-to-CRM forms to help users capture relevant contact info as well as prioritise that info. Plus, all features have been improved based on the feedback of their customer base.
Pricing: Depends on the package you select (Sales CRM, Help Desk or All-In-One), but pricing can range anywhere from free to $30/user/month.
Website: www.vtiger.com
14. Nimble
Nimble CRM is a great CRM software for those of you looking to combine contacts, email and social media interactions (works great with Twitter) in one place. The interface is also very easy to use in that it provides you with a to-do list, shows you top / key deals and more. It’s also got this cool ‘rules engine’ that helps Nimble predict relevant contacts & activities based on your user behaviour. Users can set reminders to Stay in Touch with certain users as well as mark certain communications as important to stay ahead of the game.
Pricing: Ranges from $9/user/month to $19/user/month.
Website: www.nimble.com
15. SuiteCRM
SuiteCRM is an open source CRM software that, based on its tools and functionalities, is surprisingly equipped to serve even enterprise-level businesses. This tool is completely customisable in that users can create their own business process models as well as create templated customer quotes, model sales pipelines, and set up automated actions. Note: some customisation options come with an extra fee.
Pricing: Not available
Website: www.suitecrm.com
Chew on this…
Now that you know more about the options you have in terms of CRM software for small businesses, it’s time to start assessing.
Some things you may want to ‘chew on’ before you make your decision include implementation and the technical assistance required, user minimums, usability, costs and of course, with the new GDPR in place – security features.
Source: Work Wise
As we mentioned previously in this article, integration options are a particularly important factor in that you can combine your CRM software with all of the tools in your present toolkit rather than having to import data manually – which can cost you a lot of time and energy.
Mopinion Feedback Analytics software works with several CRM software providers including SalesForce, HubSpot and Marketo.