When searching for a CRM (customer relationship management) program for your small business, there are multiple factors to consider, including how much it costs and whether it has all of the features and tools your company needs.

With so many options on the market, we spent time researching and analyzing more than 60 systems to determine the ones we think are best for various types of businesses. We came to our conclusions after looking at a number of factors, such as how much each CRM costs, how simple it is to use and how well it integrates with other popular programs.

You can read more below about our recommendations, as well as what you should be thinking about when choosing CRM software.

• Which CRM is Best for Small Business?
• What is the best CRM Software for my Business?
• What is the best free CRM for Small Business?
• How Does a CRM Work?
• How can you Save Money When Choosing a CRM?
• What is the most used CRM?
• What are the benefits of a CRM system?

Which CRM is Best for Small Business?

1. Freshsales

Freshsales is a customer relationship management software solution by Freshworks that makes it easy for businesses of all sizes to attract, manage, close and nurture their leads. With an intuitive user interface and an expansive feature set, including built-in phone and email, artificial intelligence-based lead scoring, visual deal pipelines, intelligent workflow automation, and customizable visual reports and dashboards, Freshsales gives businesses everything they need to manage their sales without having to juggle multiple tools.

Read Also: Marketing Automation Software for Small Business

Freshsales, a customer relationship management software application by Freshworks, is designed for businesses of all sizes. With an easy-to-use user interface, Freshsales makes it simple for businesses to attract, manage, close and nurture their leads.

The software includes several valuable features, including built-in phone and email service, artificial intelligence-based lead scoring, intelligent workflow automation, customized visual reports and dashboard, and a visual deal pipeline. In all, Freshsales provides businesses with a CRM that lets them manage all of their sales leads from one program.

Pricing: Package for Growing Teams ($25,- /user/month).

2. Keap

Keap offers a wide range of features to help small businesses better organize their contact data so they can deliver great service. Through its plethora of marketing tools, Keap’s platform keeps your customer information organized and your sales team’s daily work in one place.

This creates a less cumbersome and repetitive experience for users, allowing more time for you and your team to move through sales tasks seamlessly. Keap’s all-in-one sales and marketing software is designed to be easy to use for entrepreneurs and startups.

3. Less Annoying CRM

With just one subscription plan costing $10 per user per month, Less Annoying CRM takes the complexity and expense out of adopting a customer relationship management solution. Less Annoying CRM doesn’t have all the features competing CRMs have, but it simplifies the implementation process: You can expect to have the system up and running in hours.

Anyone interested in Less Annoying CRM can check out a software demo and screenshots online without filling out a form or submitting a request. It’s an approachable small business tool that can handle all of your needs from a sales and CRM standpoint, plus it’s easy to implement, whether you have experience using CRM solutions or not.

4. HubSpot

HubSpot offers independent contractors and owners of tiny businesses an easy entry into the world of CRM solutions. The free version of HubSpot may offer enough functionality to improve processes and organization at zero cost. It offers users a wealth of training resources in its online library, including learning guides, invoice template generators, email signature generators and marketing plan template generators.

Motivated users have a great DIY buffet of options – without the need to spend money on development and training. Of all the companies we reviewed, HubSpot has the best free option. This is ideal for very small businesses or other companies that have little experience using CRM systems. Further, HubSpot has one of the most extensive online training libraries to pull from.

5. Salesforce

Salesforce is an all-in-one, cloud-based solution that has everything you need in CRM software. Although this software is typically associated with larger businesses and enterprises, Salesforce’s small business edition lets you take advantage of the product’s robust set of CRM tools and resources at an SMB-friendly price.

Part of Salesforce Small Business Solutions, the platform is very easy to use and includes key features like lead generation, contact and opportunity management, sales forecasting, and workflow automation. While small businesses can take advantage of the lower-priced tiers, the plans and features of the Salesforce system are suited for larger businesses.

6. Zoho CRM

Easy to implement, intuitive to use and inexpensive to adopt, Zoho CRM offers users lots of functionality at a competitive price point. While the customization options aren’t as extensive as those of some other CRMs we reviewed, there are still many ways to tailor Zoho to meet your needs.

Like Zoho’s other business apps, its CRM module feels modern, clean, and immediately intuitive. Zoho also offers a bevy of click-to-install extensions through the Zoho Marketplace, and the easy adoption process makes it possible for businesses to build out a custom CRM solution without a developer. Zoho CRM is an extensive solution that’s ideal for just about every small business. It has a decent price point and provides good support to customers.

Pricing: Free version, Standard ($12/month), Professional ($20/month), Enterprise ($35/month) and more.

7. Salesmate CRM

With Salesmate CRM you can speed up the sales processes and offer customers a personalized experience. Manage your contacts effectively and keep track of all related sales activities. This tool is also perfect for sending out email campaigns and you’ll know what happens to your emails once you hit send. As a Small Business, you appreciate flexibility and scalability and Salesmate understands these needs.

Pricing: Starts at $12/user/month.

8. Salesflare

If you hate filling out a CRM and want one that actively helps you sell, Salesflare is a good choice for you. It automatically pulls up all the info you need and automatically keeps itself up to date.

Salesflare is built specifically for small and medium-sized businesses who sell B2B. And while it may look simple, it still packs a lot of power. You can even use it to send personal email sequences at scale

Pricing: $30/user/month

9. 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).

10. 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 organizations, 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).

What is the best CRM Software for my Business?

Choosing a software solution is not like picking a commodity at the shelf of a convenience store. It requires some patience and dedication. The same applies when choosing the right CRM solution for your business. It’s not like you get one and if it doesn’t work you return it for a refund or get another one. You’ll have to put in some extra time and careful study.

Rushing in, you risk committing any of the common mistakes when selecting CRM software. Remember, you’re gunning not only for the best CRM but also the right one for your business. You may have the best-in-class CRM tool that money can buy but if it doesn’t fit into your requirements, then your investment ends up useless.

It is important that right from the beginning, you get the information and resources you need to make an intelligent assessment. When purchasing time comes you’ll be doing so with confidence in your choice, backed up by an informed decision.

Now let’s dive into the nitty-gritty of how to choose the best CRM software for your business.

1. Understand what CRM is all about

It may sound so obvious but you really do need to know what you’re going into. To illustrate: did you know that 22% of sales professionals are still unsure about what CRM is? What if it were you, the business owner, who has no idea of CRM? That spells disaster for your business.

You have to soak up on CRM—what it is, its benefits and advantages, its methodologies and best practices, and what it can do for your business. Fortunately, CRM is one of the most written about business topics that there is no lack of information about it.

The point to all this is that you do not go into business competing with others if you are not equipped with full knowledge and relevant information. The initial step to choosing a CRM software is knowing first what CRM is. The software part comes later, that is after you determine your needs.

2. Know your business requirements

Your business requirements will dictate the kind of CRM tool and features you will need. As we said, the best might not be the right one but you must aim for both. The first question to ask is: do you really need a CRM? You may actually make do with a customer experience management (CEM) software instead to have a deeper understanding of your customers.

But there’s a difference between CRM and CEM. It is good to have both types of tools working in tandem if the budget allows. If not, you have to prioritize CRM which carries more features and capabilities.

Now you have to be clear about your needs. These usually stem from issues you’re experiencing which could include the following:

• Difficulty in finding customer data
• Poor client communication
• Inability to create or retain loyal customers

• Long or extended sales cycle
• Difficulty in managing agent schedules
• Poor visibility into agent performance

There could be other challenges. Your objective is to tie together all of the above and streamline your sales processes and operation. Those are your goals and requirements. With that checklist, you can now go over your options.

3. Study the different types of CRM

Unfortunately, there is no “one-size-fits-all” CRM software. The closest thing to that is a basic operational CRM system that provides a common platform and a single set of customer data that your sales, marketing, and support units can work on. This addresses the difficulty of finding customer data since all of your three units will be using one centralized database or a “single source of truth” when it comes to contact details and customer information.

With an operational CRM, you can leverage three main capabilities: sales force automation to analyze the lead to customer cycle; marketing automation to streamline marketing processes and campaigns; and service automation for managing customer service and support. This can be the ideal CRM if you are looking for an all-around CRM solution.

Another type is the analytical CRM designed for processing and analyzing customer data using advanced techniques such as pattern recognition and data mining. It is able to give you deep insights into customer buying behavior and purchasing trends, allowing you to craft precise and targeted offers.

The last type, collaborative CRM, facilitates communication and sharing of vital customer information with both internal (agents, employees, management) and external (partners, vendors) stakeholders. This is to involve all those concerned in coming up with more effective promotions and campaigns.

Once you are decided on the type of CRM that can best meet your requirements, you can proceed to shop around for a CRM solution.

4. Go over the software features

This is usually the part that requires your extra time to do research. But you don’t have to scour the internet far and wide since we’ve done that task for you. In fact, right now you can head straight to our list of the best cloud-hosted CRM solutions you can consider for your business.

These products are among the leading CRM tools currently available in the market. They are some of the highest-rated solutions based on the factors we set when we review any type of software. These include:

• Main functionality
• Collaboration features
• Customization
• Integration

• Ease of use
• Security
• Mobility
• Help & support

Based on the above parameters and using our evaluation system, we are able to score and rank software, and even come up with a user satisfaction rating using a certain algorithm.

5. What CRM features should look you for?

For CRM software, there are important features you should consider? Vendors may have similar features offered in their products. But make sure the CRM software is equipped with tools and capabilities for the following:

• Lead management – for managing leads across the entire lifecycle, starting from prospecting up to conversion
• Contact management – for organizing, storing, and managing contact information
• Automation – for automating lead and sales tasks, processes, and workflows
• Campaign management – for creating and delivering campaigns and measuring their effectiveness
• Email tracking – for visibility over email campaign clicks and opens
• Social media management – for getting insights on audience interaction in social media
• Dashboards & reports – for real-time reports and information on market and customer trends and behavior
• Mobile apps – CRM software versions for iOS and Android devices that let you access data on the go

There may be other tools and features offered by the vendor depending on the pricing plan and packages.

6. Consider the cost

Speaking of prices, how much does CRM software cost? It depends on the subscription plan and deployment methods, but cloud-based CRMs offered as SaaS have become quite affordable.

Software cost is a major consideration for SMBs, hence many start off with free CRM software to jumpstart their business and later on upgrade to paid solutions when operations grow. One of the best free CRM solutions to get you started is HubSpot CRM. It also happens to be the top software in our CRM category.

You can easily get HubSpot CRM free app here.

You may think you have a lot of items to go through in your checklist but have patience. It may only take once or twice to go through your list and narrow down the features you need, match it with your requirements, and connect them with the right software.

7. Read up about the vendor

The vendor or the software company is just as important as the software itself. Why? You’ll be relying on the company for customer support and assistance for as long as you’re using the software. Thus, the vendor must be reliable and dependable. It must have customer service and help desk teams that can be reached at all times from all available channels and means – tickets, phone, email, social media, live chat, mobile, etc.

In addition, the software company should also be able to provide technical, product or any other related training through in-house seminars, webinars, or online courses. They should offer resources and knowledge base complete with product documentation, answers to FAQs, how-to’s, tutorials, and guides.

Other companies go out of their way providing not only product-related readings but also insightful articles on growing your business, optimizing lead generation, improving agent productivity, and other similar topics.

Some of the most successful CRM companies are bywords in the industry – HubSpot, Salesforce, Freshsales, Pipedrive, and Zoho are leading examples. With reputable vendors, you’ll be guaranteed world-class support, prompt response or resolution of issues, automatic updates, and new features rollout.

Aside from the popular ones, how do you verify the reputation of a vendor? You can pick up vendor profiles and information from software directory sites such as ours. Here at FinancesOnline, we not only rate, rank, and review software but also substantiate the credibility and trustworthiness of vendors to ensure that you’ll be dealing only with legitimate companies and using only quality products.

Another gauge of company reputation is from the experience of others. User comments and feedback abound in social media and online community sites or forums. Majority of consumers search online for customer reviews on a product, service, or company. Naturally, positive and negative reviews, as well as the responses of the concerned companies, influence purchasing decisions. It’s something you should consider too.

8. Take the software for a test drive

After reading up on the vendor and narrowing your product choices, its time to experience the software and features yourself. Most of the leading CRM vendors offer free full-featured trials of their software. We highly recommend you take these so you can feel your way around the software and see if it has intuitive features and easy navigation.

Without worries of cost and strings attached, it is the best way to know if the software meets your expectations and matches your business requirements. If it does, it’s easy to shift from a trial to a paid version. If not, you can opt-out anytime during the trial period and then try other software in your shortlist of preferably five products.

What is the best free CRM for Small Business?

It often takes time, effort, and multiple trials to figure out which CRM software is best suited for you and understand how to use it. Companies unsure about transitioning to a CRM may benefit from first sampling a free version. This way, they won’t be losing any money if a specific CRM doesn’t work well for them.

Even when money isn’t involved, it can be difficult to choose CRM software. The following are some of the best free CRMs on the market.

1. HubSpot

HubSpot CRM is a well-known player in the CRM market, and its free version is popular among businesses that have many CRM users. HubSpot’s free version allows for unlimited users and features contact management, Gmail and Outlook integration, and email tracking and notifications.

Depending on your business type, this free platform offers useful tools in specific categories, such as marketing, sales, and service. Some of the software’s marketing tools include ad management, email marketing, mobile optimization, and list segmentation while the sales tools include live chats and messenger integration.

Those in the service realm can benefit from tools like ticketing, customer representative productivity reports, and time-to-close reports.

2. Apptivo

The Starter plan for Apptivo gives 500 MB of data to a maximum of three users. They can obtain standard reports and receive standard email and live chat support when issues arise. Users can manage lead lists, contacts, sales quotas, and opportunities easily on the platform, and also share up to five contacts.

However, more advanced marketing, sales automation, security, and analytics tools are reserved for paying customers. In addition, integration with apps such as PayPal, G Suite, Microsoft 365, Slack, and API calls are only available with a paid plan.

Employees trying to learn and implement the software will benefit from the webinars and how-to videos available online.

3. Agile CRM

Agile CRM’s basic plan is free for up to 10 users. It features custom data fields, lead scoring tools, appointment scheduling, and email tracking capabilities, among other perks. In the marketing realm, users will get 5,000 branded emails, contact level analytics, email templates, and web-to-lead tools.

The free plan tracks 1,000 sales contacts (as opposed to the 10,000 available in the least expensive paid plan) and comes with all the same service tools as the paid plans except for access to a knowledge base. To help new users with the onboarding process, you get access to videos and setup guides. Users also have access to email support from Agile CRM representatives.

4. Zoho

The Zoho CRM free version is easy to navigate and is great for teams looking to improve their existing marketing, sales, and service methods. However, the free plan is missing some functions like email tracking and mass emailing. The plan allows access for up to three users and offers 24/7 customer support to ease new users into the CRM atmosphere.

5. Freshsales

The free plan from Freshsales allows access for an unlimited amount of users and unlimited leads. This plan provides an easy-to-understand overview of all your leads, an efficient task management system, and access to a Freshsales mobile app for on-the-go work.

If issues arise, free subscribers can get help from the Freshsales support team at any time during the workweek via chat, phone, or email. Freshsales also offers users online resources, demos, and certification programs so free users can learn the ins and outs of the system.

6. Insightly

Choosing Insightly free CRM will provide users with a budget-friendly way to track their business leads and ensure timely follow-ups; it’ll also help business operators manage tasks for their team. Insightly gives free users the option to link customer social media accounts to their CRM for all-in-one conversation management.

Insightly has active community forums where users can find help or answers, but doesn’t offer live customer support. There are also videos, webinars, and a beginner’s guide to help free CRM users get started.

How Does a CRM Work?

A CRM platform enhances your marketing, sales, and service departments by consolidating business flow and helping workers build stronger relationships with customers. CRMs allow businesses to access all their data, reports, and customer information from one place. The software also allows marketers and salespeople to analyze their relationships with the company’s current and potential customers.

CRMs enable interaction tracking and store information about each customer, so your business analysts can better see trends in sales and audiences. Many are web-based and integrate with apps such as social media sites, which users can access from the CRM platform as well.

Most CRMs have specific tools for marketing, sales, and service. Marketing tools may include features such as lead form integration which allows a company to obtain a potential customer’s information if they sign up to receive newsletters, offers, or subscriptions from the website.

Companies can use this information to target specific people and grow loyal customers. Sales tools help companies easily stay in communication with their new customers and close deals. Some basic sales tools that CRMs offer include contact management, opportunity management, and activity tracking so you can manage your team’s overall workflow and see where everyone is in their sales process.

Service tools help improve a company’s relationship with its already existing customers. Features such as call lines and conversational bots make it easier for your customers to reach out and ask questions.

While most CRM vendors offer similar tools, their plans can differ in price and number of user licenses, so certain CRM vendors might be a better fit for your company than others.

For example, a small business may choose a CRM that has less expensive per-user prices and is easy to use so the company can quickly learn how to best take advantage of it. On the other hand, a large business or enterprise brand might need upgraded features access for unlimited users and ample storage space for all its data.

CRM companies usually offer multiple plans that differ in price and features. Most of the time, you can also purchase specific add-ons. These upgrades may include adding a standalone app into your CRM, such as an automatic invoicing feature. Another beneficial add-on may be a sales pipeline management tool that you can customize to match your particular process.

How can you Save Money When Choosing a CRM

While a free CRM seems like a good way to grow your business without spending a dime, many companies may find they require the advanced features and in-depth customer support that come only with paid plans. Still, a paid CRM solution doesn’t have to push your budget over the edge. Here are some tips to help you save money when choosing a CRM:

1. Find a platform that offers a free trial: Not all CRMs offer a free-forever plan that suits your company’s needs, but you can often find a paid plan that comes with a free trial. These free trials typically last seven, 14, or 30 days, giving you a chance to adjust to the platform and make sure you’re happy with its services before making a long-term commitment.
2. Figure out exactly what tools you need: Many CRM platforms offer advanced tools such as call transcription and quote-based workflows. While these are all helpful, they may not be much help to the manager of a tiny marketing firm, for example. Don’t waste money on the complex bells and whistles if you’re not going to use them. Instead, make a list of the important features you need so you don’t overpay for unnecessary upgrades.
3. Pay annually rather than monthly: Many CRM systems offer discounted rates if you commit to a year-long plan rather than a month-by-month subscription. If you finish your free trial and think your company can fully utilize the CRM platform for at least a year, opt for the annual payment plan and save some cash.
4. Choose a user-friendly platform: Some CRMs offer more advanced tools and complex interfaces than others on the market. While this is great if you have a large staff dedicated to implementing the system and keeping up with it’s ever-changing updates, it may not be easy to navigate if you have a small team. Instead, choose a user-friendly CRM with plenty of educational videos and demos.
5. Find a plan with accessible customer support offerings: Some companies include perks like 24/7 customer service in all their plans while other companies charge you to upgrade beyond basic support. Easy access to company representatives will ensure you know how to use the service so you get the most bang for your buck.
6. Find an all-in-one solution with many integrated apps: App integration is an important aspect of any CRM because more apps accessible within the platform means less time spent importing or exporting data. Built-in apps can include anything from communication platforms such as Outlook, G Suite, and Mailchimp to financial apps like PayPal or Venmo. If you want to add on a standalone app into your CRM, you might have to pay for it. Save money by choosing a CRM that already is compatible with a wide variety of apps so you won’t have to worry about buying anything extra.

What is the most used CRM?

• Zoho CRM, Pipedrive CRM, and SugarCRM are the three most-trusted CRM systems by their customers.
• Oracle CRM is the best at continually improving their CRM Suites as rated by their customers.
• Zoho CRM, Pipedrive CRM, and Oracle CRM are the best at including product enhancements at no charge in each new product release.
• CRM users are most dissatisfied with how their vendors overpromise and under deliver, with this category receiving the lowest aggregate score of 56% and finding 5 of 9 vendors at 51% or below. Only three CRM vendors scored above a 70% customer rating on this attribute.  

What are the benefits of a CRM system?

A CRM system should provide you these 8 benefits:

1. Contact data organization. CRM helps you organize information about all your contacts. This allows your team to keep track of who a customer has spoken to and what they discussed. In sales, this information aligns your team so that your sales process runs smoothly.

2. Sales reporting. Track quota attainment and metrics such as emails sent, calls made, meetings booked, and deals closed to understand what your team is doing well and what you can do to improve.

3. Accurate sales forecasting. Don’t rely on complicated Excel formulas or back-of-the-napkin math. A good CRM system generates a sales forecast for you, making it easier to predict revenue and manage your team’s pipeline.

4. Customer segmentation. Segment your contacts by properties such as location, deal size, close date, and more, to find the warmest leads to focus on.

5. Scaling a sales process. A repeatable sales process is key to testing new sales motions and strategies. The data you keep in a CRM system will help you spot effective and ineffective patterns in sales behaviors. This knowledge will help you grow your business effectively over time.

Read Also: Best Medical Billing Software for Home-based Business

6. Greater employee satisfaction. With so much going on, your sales reps can get lost in the sauce. A CRM will streamline a lot of your sales reps day by logging notes, playbooks, tasks, and reminders so that your sales reps are organized. This means that your sales reps will spend more time on generating revenue than having to perform manual organizational tasks.  

7. Cross-team alignment. Imagine reaching out to a lead that your coworker has already reached out to. Talk about an awkward moment and also a waste of time. With a CRM, you can see your contact’s profiles which shows if they’ve been communicated with recently. This can be extremely useful if your CRM works with Marketing and Customer Service teams as well.

8. Increased revenue and profitability. This is the one we all dream of. The benefits listed above all contribute to your company being more effective at closing deals. In turn, you’ll get ROI on your CRM and scale your revenues more than you had been doing before.

Summary

Business growth is a great thing and with it comes the need to organize your information. That’s where a CRM — a Customer Relationship Management solution — helps you store information on client and prospect interactions with employees. 

Marketing and sales touchpoints like email, phone, website, live chat, and social media are tracked to provide your business with detailed context on a client’s activity and feedback. Overall, a CRM helps your team save precious time.