As a small business, using CRM software will ease some of your day-to-day tasks which will give you time to concentrate on growing your business. With so many CRM tools in the market today, it can be challenging for some business owners to choose one that suits their needs.
In this article, I will share with you the top CRM platforms that you need to consider if you are running a small business. Before getting into the details, below are some factors you need to consider while choosing CRM software for your business.
- Your budget
- Extra features beyond basic CRM
- Integrations
- Flexibility
- Scalability
- Your goals
- Platform’s reputation
- Reporting/analytics capabilities.
With these factors in mind, here are the top CRM platforms that are ideal for small businesses.
- Zoho
Zoho is the all-in-one platform that is ideal for small and mid-sized businesses. It is not just a CRM software but a suite that can be used for other business tasks like monitoring your finances, project management, team collaboration, HR and IT management, marketing automation, etc. Yes, you may not use all these functionalities from the start, but as your business grows, you will start finding a use for most of them.
Having all these tools in one platform will also help you save the time and costs of subscribing to each of these services independently. It even creates much better collaboration between the different departments of your business since all of them are using one unified platform to get their tasks done. With all the tools Zoho offers, it is much easier to take advantage of them as you scale up your business.
Pricing
Zoho has several pricing packages that vary based on the features offered. The photo below shows the details of the features and pricing for the various packages that Zoho CRM offers under their complete CRM platform.
Zoho One is the all-business applications suite we mentioned above. You can refer to this article to read about its capabilities and pricing.
Zoho offers a 30 day free trial for its products.
- HubSpot
HubSpot is also a complete CRM platform that offers tools for Sales, marketing, customer service, CMS, and operations. It has a simplified user interface that makes it pretty easy for small business owners to use it. Most of the tools with HubSpot are all centered around sales marketing, and customer support, so it is not as versatile as Zoho.
But if you are looking for CRM-first platform, and you are strongly invested in marketing, HubSpot is one of the most cost-effective options you will have to consider. Some of the key features they offer include; personalized email marketing, integration with over 300 apps, custom filters to sort contacts, placing phone calls right from the CRM, etc.
Pricing
The photo below shows the details of pricing and features offered by HubSpot in their various customer service packages. Note, HubSpot has free versions of the products many businesses can start with.
- Pipedrive
It is an intuitive CRM platform that is designed to be simple and easy to use. Some of the popular features that Pipedrive offers include; email integrations, sales reporting and forecasting, easy integration with other SaaS tools, backup and encryption of all your data, etc.
Pricing
Pipedrive has four packages that you can choose based on which features you find relevant for your business. The photo below shows the details of the features and prices of what Pipedrive offers for each package.
- Freshworks
Freshworks is a very popular CRM platform that small businesses can use to connect with their customers. Some of the major features that Freshworks offers include; chat campaigns, event tracking, email campaigns, contact management, deal management, and reporting capabilities.
Pricing
Freshworks has three pricing packages that you can choose from based on your budget and features you find useful. The photo below shows details of the price and features for each package that Freshworks offers.
https://www.freshworks.com/crm/pricing/
Final thoughts
There are several other CRM platforms that are ideal for small business, but the above is some of the best options to start with. Assessing your goals and what you need to achieve with the CRM platform is very key while choosing one. All the above platforms we shared have their strengths, but if you are looking for software that does more than just CRM, then Zoho is the best choice amongst the four.
If your company is interested in Zoho and would like to pick my brain on it, book 30 min here.
If you are already on Zoho and need help, we offer a free expert support pack to help you. Check it out here!
