Running a business, Whether big or small, is not easy in today’s fast-paced world. You need to manage so many things to run a successful business. For many small businesses, the biggest initial challenge is to find a customer base. However, once they find a customer base, it becomes hard to manage between old customers while guiding a new customer base.
Whether it’s about fixing broken sales processes or generating new leads, you need a strong management system that keeps up with everything. That’s where CRM comes in role. Customer relationship management software or CRM is a requirement of today’s world. It helps your team understand customers’ needs, increase sales, drive growth, and provide exceptional customer experience.
CRM software can help improve your customer service by providing valuable information to the sales and marketing teams. CRM solely can handle the entire business process, from sales to data management. There are many CRM software available in the market for small businesses. Take a look; we have mentioned our top picks so you can find your ideal CRM software. You can also check the best accounting software for small businesses.
What is CRM software?
CRM stands for customer relationship management, which means managing a customer’s sales funnel. CRM is a type of software companies use to enhance sales processes and improve functions related to sales, customer service, and marketing operations.
CRMs are not only designed for small businesses. Big companies also use CRM to improve their business.
1. Flowlu (Web, iOS, Android):
Flowlu is one of the best CRM software for small businesses. It has powerful tools that can bring the best project management and business side of things. The software has a great, intuitive interface where you can combine all the sales with projects, financial features, client portals, and knowledge bases.
You can manage everything with the help of this software, from a quick poll to making announcements to get everyone on the same page. There is an option on the left side where you can create anything you need, shortcuts, deals, and contacts with just a single click.
With the contacts and sales management features, everything is settled clearly. You will also get a filterable list where you can view all the activities and organise your work.
2. Hubspot CRM:
Hubspot is great for businesses looking to improve performance by centralising data from different sources. This customer resource management software lets users connect third-party sources to sync and clean customer data and automate the business process. Once you have connected with integrated software platforms, you can easily manage metrics, activity insights, productivity, and performance.
Hubspot integration helps in other business operations, such as centralising lead information in one place. Every interaction or lead is stored on a tidy timeline so you can know exactly where the conversion ended when you start next time. By connecting with different social media platforms, Hubspot captures every customer interaction and makes tracking easy.
Hubspot plan is free, with more than 90 templates available for customised dashboards, but with the premium subscription, you can add unlimited seats and fine-tune report results.
3. Monday sales CRM:
Monday sales CRM is a great option for businesses with seemingly endless sales tasks and complex ventures offering great project management. It provides key time management and better organisational capabilities. The management software has a very simple, intuitive interface and unlimited boards to organise projects. The intuitive CRM software Monday provides everything for specific communication needs or customer visualisation tools.
The platform is unique in its design and ability to manage various tasks simultaneously. Moreover, the platform is highly customisable so that you can do everything accordingly. Customers can also integrate and manage communication platforms like Slack by eliminating the need for regular status when a project is already done for action. All the plans with this software include unlimited boards to manage projects and contacts. CRM software Monday also provides you access to many action templates that you can use to build easy, time-saving automation without any complicated coding skills.
4. Pipedrive CRM:
Pipedrive is another popular and powerful software like CRM software Monday. if you need a powerful visual pipeline with glance information and data visualisations, Pipedrive CRM is the best option. With its visual tools, you can understand everything easily, while the drag-to-drag interface helps team members respond to every task on the dashboard. Moreover, with a customisable pipeline and workflow, you can manage existing workflow and make improvements in all your departments.
Pipedrive also provides a mobile app that helps you to manage and engage with customers and team members. Pipedrive is really easy to set up without much technological knowledge and an expert team. Its visual features are designed to help you in business processes, including enhancing sales performance efficiency, reporting tools, workflow automation, and communication tracking. With Pipedrive artificial intelligence, you receive performance recommendations and suggested tasks to improve.
5. Vtiger CRM (Web, iOS, Android):
Vtiger proved to be one of the best software for small and medium enterprises. It will simplify your business prices, managing every task from deals organisation bringing inventory, marketing, help desk, project management, etc. Vtiger has a really simple and smooth interface, which makes everything clean. There is a particular screen for everything with simple navigation. If you want to switch between different screens, there is a hamburger icon on the top left. With this menu option, you can jump straight to where you want to be.
The platform has mixed features; some are great, and others are just ok. Adding contacts on the screen is really easy, and you can do it with just a click. Later, you can also manage the contact page and add all the relevant information when you have time. The sales screen has a visual pipeline to help you keep track of deals. By clicking on the details, you will get all the relevant you want to receive and the next task. On the project page, you can add all projects and queue tasks and assign them to anyone.
6. Zoho CRM:
Zoho is another powerful CRM for small businesses that will help in the long term. This app will fit your every small business need. It will support you in increasing workflow and efficiently carrying out every task. Zoho CRM is affordable as its plans are cheap, so that you can afford it easily. You can get different features like advanced learning, deals organised, bringing inventory, marketing, a help desk, and project management.
The user interface is simple, and you will find it easy to navigate. It has outstanding features, including email marketing and a company activity feed to improve team communication. Additionally, there is a support system for creating self-service portals for your customers, helping desk features, and automatic lead scoring. You can also set up integration with the Zoho project, which will let you access your tasks once you complete the configuration.
7. Capsule CRM:
Capsule is the best business management CRM for managing projects. It is combined with a dependable project management app. It clearly understands that user experience is important and hence offers you a simple interface and dashboard that is easy to understand.
The project screen has three main views: calendar, Kanban, and list, where you can add everything and sign it to the right people. You can check all your tasks and organised lists on the left by going to the return menu. On the right side, you will see the latest activity, such as completed tasks, calls, and deal updates. Capsule has the lowest plan, starting from $18/user/month, offering 50,000 contacts and all the important features.
How does CRM benefit small businesses?
Now, CRM is packed with powerful features that help small and medium-sized business owners track leads end-to-end, provide personal interaction with customers, and close deals faster. Let’s understand its benefits in more detail.
1. Manage Leads with Less Effort:
Previously, businesses acquired quality leads through email marketing, webinars, paid ads and more. However, in order to establish relationships with these potential customers, business owners need communication management.
Management activities in CRM are to ensure that all leads are received via web data, email, chat, and other methods and to prevent lead loss.
With Freshsales, AI-powered scoring helps prioritise leads based on the likelihood of conversion, allowing sales teams to focus their efforts on the prospect with the highest potential.
The essence of CRM simplifies channel management and provides a clear view of the business’s stage. No more corrupt files; everything is at your fingertips. By visualising the sales pipeline, Freshsales makes it easy to track every stage of the sales process, from contact to negotiation to closing the deal.
2. Integrated visibility of interactive content:
With Freshsales – Customer 360, sales managers can access a clear dashboard by dragging and dropping contacts, deals and credit cards. Administrators also get an overview of customer interactions and activities in a single pane. As a small business owner, a 360-degree customer view can provide a unified customer experience in one place without having to purchase multiple tools. You can learn about:
- How people can find your business?
- What products they are looking for?
- What to do and how they relate to your business plan and sales success?
360-degree view The view combines the customer profile and touchpoints into one of facts. It encourages engagement with content, helps you develop effective conversations and communicate faster.
3. Automate tasks and increase efficiency:
Consider a small business called Munder Difflin that sells paper and office supplies to other companies. Jim, the company’s star salesman (actually the only salesman), hates his poor management system. However, because Jim uses the Freshsales workflow, he can handle most of the sales process—updating projects, qualifying leads, and creating deals in CRM. This allows him to focus on what he does best: sales.
With Freshsales™ Sales Sequences, Jim can take things to the next level: He can work on the prospect’s preference. For example, within a week, you might follow these steps:
Schedule an email with an e-book about the pros and cons of different types of toner.
Potential customers who download the e-book should send a new brochure and schedule a callback for them. What is the best part? Jim doesn’t have to worry about sending them manually. Freshsales has templates designed to get you started faster. CRM also takes care of the entire process, making it better than sales.
4. Engage across channels:
Calls are the lifeblood of sales. CRMs like Freshsales have a phone function; This means you can call directly from the CRM. This also means you don’t need to sign up separately from your CRM. It automatically logs and logs calls, saving you the hassle of manually updating your CRM.
But that’s not all. With Freshsales, small businesses can connect with prospects and customers without investing in multiple tools. You can manage all customer interactions via phone, email, chat and social media in one place. Freshsales empowers your sales team to provide customer service and communicate effectively, simplifying relationships and ultimately increasing conversion rates.
5. Use this information to close deals faster:
Which sales force can help you grow your business? What job or training works best? What is the sales forecast for this season? CRM can help you uncover these insights.
Freshsales’ intelligent advisor, Freddy AI, helps business owners identify leads, discover cracks, and pay attention to detail. It also suggests doing the next best thing that leads to success.
Freddy also enables data-driven decision-making with sales accuracy, identifying growth opportunities with sales and marketing recommendations and reporting an understanding of key metrics and trends to help you grow.
The best part? You don’t need an IT team. You can also chat via messages with Pilot Freddy.
6. Personal integration to increase conversion rates:
Standard content is no longer good in today’s business environment. Customers want authenticity and connection, which is where personal communication comes into play.
With CRM, you can classify your potential customers or customers based on various factors such as demographics, engagement and ICP.
With Freshsales, you can use AI-powered sales email design to create targeted phrases and personalised emails that highlight your unique offer. AI allows you to iterate, expand, and improve the tone of your sales emails, while email templates help you get started right away.
You can increase the conversion rate with a marketing plan and personalised communication.
How to choose the perfect CRM for small businesses
1. Business use case:
What is the problem you’re trying to solve? You can look for features based on that. Here are a few examples:
If you’re looking to cut down on repetitive tasks and maximise selling time, look for CRMs with automation.
Consider how customisable a CRM is if you’re in a niche business so that you can tailor it according to your industry and business processes
If you’re looking for business insights and data-driven decision-making, take a look at CRMs with good AI and analytics
2. All-in-one solution:
As a small business, it makes sense to have an all-in-one CRM that can manage not just sales but other aspects of your business as well, such as marketing automation and customer support. This ensures that you don’t shell out money for multiple solutions.
It also means that data and functionalities are consolidated into a single solution. No more wasting time switching between tabs and juggling multiple tools.
3. Pricing and time to value:
The faster you get your CRM off the ground, the faster you realise its potential. Unlock more value from your CRM with quick implementation. Your data must be easily imported from spreadsheets and other sources to the CRM in just a few clicks.
With Freshsales, you can go live in under 24 hours (Yes, you read that right). Onboarding is quick, and guided walkthroughs make it easier to start using. Freshsales also enables one-click data import from spreadsheets or migrating from other CRMs. Since it’s a cloud-based CRM, you don’t need excessive server infrastructure to get started.
4. Simple UI and processes:
If you’re just moving from spreadsheets, you want to ensure that your CRM is simple. Its ease of use should ensure that your sales team adopts the CRM tool.
The goal of a CRM is to make life easy for sales teams. A non-intuitive or clunky UI would lead to non-adoption.
Not all CRM features need to be complex. However, it’s good to ensure that it’s not just a small business CRM— it needs to have adequate functionalities and capabilities for you to scale. While you may not need a particular feature to start with, you might need it as you start growing.
5. Scalable and secure:
Scalability is paramount for small businesses as they expand. A CRM system must be able to handle growing data volumes, a larger customer base, and evolving user needs. This scalability guarantees that the CRM can adapt to the business’s growth without the need for costly data migrations. Small businesses can begin with a scalable CRM tailored to their current needs and get the required add-ons as their operations and customer base expand.
6. Mobile CRM:
The majority of CRM platforms available today come equipped with a mobile app, empowering your teams to access customer information and perform sales tasks from any location. This mobile functionality enhances productivity on the fly, guarantees prompt responses to customer inquiries, and fosters seamless collaboration even when working remotely.
Conclusion
CRM offers great features that are important for every type of business. Utilising CRM for your business can improve your workflow, simplify tasks, and generate better revenue. If you are looking for a CRM for efficiently managing your business operations, you can choose any one from the mentioned in this article.
