Small businesses can’t survive if they don’t nurture their customer relationships. But as your small business continues to grow, it may become difficult to maintain high standards while managing contacts and providing a tailored experience to each customer.

If this is a struggle you’re currently going through, it may be time to invest in customer relationship management (CRM) software. In this guide, we dive into our top CRM software picks for small businesses, including their key features, so you can make the best choice.

Key Takeaways:

• CRM tools are an important part of maintaining consistent and tailored communication with both prospective and current customers, regardless of your business size.
• Small businesses may not need all of the bells and whistles that come with enterprise CRMs, but they should never sacrifice quality in these key areas: general ease of use, availability of customer support, contact and data management, and basic reporting.
• If your business has a key focus area, there’s a good chance a CRM solution has built-in templates or features to meet your requirements. For example, if your organization is most focused on sales and building out sales pipelines, Teamgate, Pipedrive, and Freshsales are some of the best sales CRM solutions on the market.
• CRM solutions can get expensive, but many vendors offer affordable versions of their enterprise software or sell purpose-built customer relationship management tools for small businesses.
• Don’t shy away from the big CRM names for fear of the price tag. Some of the biggest CRMs, including HubSpot, offer free and limited versions of their software for small business use.

What Is CRM for Small Businesses?

Customer relationship management (CRM) for small businesses is a dedicated software solution that addresses the pain points of managing customer relationships, nurturing leads and sales pipelines, and communicating with customers and prospects across different mediums.

The best small business CRM solutions also include built-in reporting and analytics features, making it possible for users to assess how their marketing and sales teams are performing against customer acquisition and retention goals.

How to Evaluate CRM for Small Businesses

When selecting the right CRM solution for your small business, here are a few key factors to consider in your evaluation.

Affordability

Small businesses need effective tools that don’t break the bank. CRM platforms can quickly get expensive, especially if you select an enterprise-level tool. However, many CRM solutions offer packages that cost less than $10 per user/month, and some even offer free versions of their products.

Consider your budget before you start your search. Be sure to also consider which features you need and what you can do without. Streamlining features may lower the cost of your CRM.

Ease of Use

Your team will only use a CRM to its fullest potential if it’s easy to learn and use. To get the most out of your CRM, look for tools with straightforward user interfaces and low-code/no-code customization opportunities.

You’ll also want to seek out vendors that provide highly-rated customer support resources, like dedicated client success managers, training videos and documentation, and guided installation.

Scalability

For most small businesses, the goal is that your business and client database won’t stay small forever. That’s why it’s crucial to invest in CRM technology that will grow with your business.

Pay special attention to CRM solutions with tiered packages of features as well as those that offer valuable third-party integrations and add-ons.

10 Best CRM for Small Businesses

Teamgate CRM

Teamgate CRM Rating

4.6/5 (G2)

4.8/5 (Capterra)

In addition to the above reviews, Teamgate CRM was the recent recipient of Capterra’s best value-for-money CRM of 2024!

Teamgate CRM Key Features

• Lead capture, lead management, lead qualification, and lead prioritization
• Time management
• Sales dashboards, leaderboards, activity tracking, and acceleration
• Sales pipeline and contact management
• Custom fields and filtering
• Product catalogs
• KPIs and goal progress tracking
• Sales analytics and reports
• Integrations with survey, marketing, customer service, and accounting tools

Teamgate CRM is a leading small business sales CRM that offers extensive smart features without compromising on ease of use or reasonable pricing. The platform differentiates itself with a user-friendly interface, intelligent lead scoring, advanced filters, and relevant third-party integrations.

Another standout feature is Teamgate’s configurability. Small businesses can configure workflows to fit their needs without the need for costly and cumbersome customization. Whether you’re an expert in using CRM software or a beginner, Teamgate was built for you.

Freshsales

Freshsales Rating

4.5/5 (G2)

Freshsales Key Features

• Table, Kanban, and Activity view options
• Email, chat, messenger, Zoom, SMS integration, and phone communication options
• Automated workflows and sales sequences
• Deal management with customizable pipelines
• AI-driven sales intelligence
• Layout, lifecycle, and sales activity customization
• Role-based access
• API and marketplace integrations
• Auto-profile enrichment
• Pre-built and custom reports and dashboards

Freshsales is a top small business CRM solution from Freshworks. The product includes several sales-specific CRM features, but it stands out most in the areas of sales intelligence, administrative governance capabilities, and multiple communication channels.

Freshsales offers intelligent workflow capabilities that enable you to assign leads, update fields, create reminders, and other tasks automatically. This means you can spend less time doing manual tasks and more time growing your business.

Pipedrive

Pipedrive Rating

4.2/5 (G2)

Pipedrive Key Features

• Customizable sales pipelines and pipeline stages
• 24/7 lead generation chatbot
• Automated call scheduling and email marketing
• Visual reporting, pipeline metrics, and custom dashboards
• Lead qualification
• Task management
• Internal chat integration
• Integrated invoicing and billing
• Products catalog
• Deal rotting

Pipedrive is often considered one of the best sales pipeline software solutions, offering transparent pipeline activity views and filters, customizable pipeline stages, and an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface.

It’s important to note that while many Pipedrive plans will be too expensive for small business budgets, the Essential plan is only $14.90 per user/month. Plus, it offers several key lead, deal, and pipeline management features.

Bigin by Zoho CRM

Bigin Rating

4.5/5 (G2)

Bigin Key Features

• Team and connected pipelines
• Gmail lead capturing
• Email, Twitter, telephony, and video meeting communication capabilities
• A variety of third-party and Zoho integrations
• Workflow automation
• Custom fields, modules, and “Toppings” (add-ons)
• Native dashboards and integration with Zoho Analytics
• GDPR, HIPAA, ISO/IEC, and SOC 2 compliance features
• Developer API

Bigin by Zoho CRM is Zoho’s SMB-specific CRM solution that prioritizes affordability and easy setup. All Bigin plans are relatively affordable compared to the rest of the CRM market, but Bigin sets itself apart by offering a Free plan.

Bigin isn’t short on features. For example, the Free plan includes a single pipeline, up to 500 records, up to three instant workflows, several Zoho integrations, telephony, standard dashboard access, and developer APIs for additional customization opportunities.

HubSpot CRM

Hubspot CRM Rating

4.4/5 (G2)

Hubspot CRM Key Features

• Lead generation
• Contact management
• Meeting scheduler
• AI-driven email writing
• Live chat capabilities
• Email templates and template builder
• Dashboards and reporting
• Deal pipelines and pipeline management
• Landing page, chatbot, and form builders
• Ad management

HubSpot CRM is a modular CRM solution that can easily be right-sized to fit the needs of your small business. You can choose between various hubs, depending on your requirements, from Sales to Marketing.

One standpoint feature offered by HubSpot is the free CRM option. The free option includes a wide range of features, including simple sales dashboards, deal pipelines, pipeline management tools, and more. This option is most likely to fit the budgets of SMBs, while enterprise options are available as they scale.

Salesmate.io

Salesmate Rating

4.6/5 (G2)

Salesmate Key Features

• Email sync, tracking, and templates
• Pipeline management
• Web forms and lists
• Dashboards and reports
• Workflow management
• Calling and texting capabilities
• Automation and messenger add-ons
• Contact management
• Product management
• Sales goals and forecasting

Salesmate.io is a CRM and automation software solution with a handful of affordable and helpful features in its Starter pack. Relevant features for small business users include access to multiple sales pipelines, email marketing and management tools, and basic automation workflows.

A key feature offered by Salesmate.io is its personalized outreach options. You can easily develop personalized and automated bulk emails and texts, email campaigns, and voicemail drops. This enables you to stay in touch with your customers without lifting a finger.

Less Annoying CRM

Less Annoying CRM Rating

4.9/5 (G2)

Less Annoying CRM Key Features

• Simple search feature for the contact database
• Calendar and task views
• Lead reports with status, priority, and contact information
• Unlimited user access
• Unlimited contacts, companies, and custom fields
• Unlimited pipelines
• Task management
• User-level permissions
• Email logging
• Daily agenda emails

Less Annoying CRM has won over a dedicated customer base with its simple approach to CRM software. Its solution is available in only one package option, extending all of its features and capabilities to unlimited users for a fee of $15 per user/month.

Unlimited user access—alongside unlimited pipelines and significant file storage space—makes this a particularly robust option for SMBs.

Keap CRM

Keap CRM Rating

4.2/5 (G2)

Keap CRM Key Features

• Email and text marketing
• Sales and marketing automation
• Sales pipeline with built-in analytics
• Quotes, payments, and invoicing
• Automated lead capture and follow-up communication.
• Landing pages
• Lead scoring and source attribution
• Appointment scheduling
• Contact segmentation and tagging
• Automated appointment reminders

Keap CRM is a solid CRM option for businesses that want small-business-friendly automation, communication, and contact management features all in one place.

It’s known for having a user-friendly interface as well as advanced marketing capabilities and tools. However, despite Keap being advertised as an SMB CRM solution, it’s important to note that it’s one of the most expensive options for this market. The most basic package starts at $159 per month and goes up in price if you need more than two users or 1,500 contacts.

Copper CRM

Copper CRM Rating

4.5/5 (G2)

Copper CRM Key Features

• Recurring task and notification automation
• Customizable pipelines for deal tracking
• Customizable reports
• Google Workspace CRM capabilities through integration
• Contact enrichment
• Task management
• Deal management and opportunity slippage
• Reminders, mentions, and comments
• Note-taking and activity logging
• Web, Chrome, and mobile apps

Copper CRM is a unique CRM solution that’s specifically designed to integrate with Google Workspace tools and applications, including Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Sheets, and Data Studio.

Its Basic plan is the best fit for small business users and includes features for pipeline and contact management, team collaboration, and Google integrations. Keep in mind that many of Copper’s more advanced features—like lead scoring, reporting, and workflow automation—are only available in more expensive plans.

Daylite

Daylite Rating

4.5/5 (G2)

Daylite Key Features

• Contact management
• Task management
• Mail assistant
• List segmentation
• Two-way syncing between Apple Contacts and Apple Calendar
• Calendar view
• Email marketing
• Opportunities board for deal tracking
• Multitasking, notification center, caller ID, and Siri capabilities on iPhones and iPads
• Reporting

Daylite is a small business CRM solution that specifically caters to Apple product users. Its built-in collaboration and notification capabilities connect directly to your iPhone, iPad, and Apple apps. This allows you to manage marketing and sales where you already manage your calendars, contacts, and inboxes.

For simple CRM access, pricing starts at $25 per month, though many users opt for the Sales, Projects, or Business plans that include more capabilities at an additional cost.

Choosing Your Small Business CRM

When it comes to selecting the right CRM for your small business, the choices can be overwhelming, but the decision-making process doesn’t have to be. As we’ve explored in our comparison of the top 10 small business CRMs, each system offers unique features and capabilities that cater to different business needs. To ensure you choose the most suitable CRM, start by clearly identifying your business requirements, including your sales processes, customer engagement strategies, and data analytics needs.

Research is crucial; delve into each option, considering how well it integrates with your current tools and how it will scale with your business growth. Don’t forget to read reviews and possibly reach out to existing users to gauge their experiences. The goal is to match the CRM not just to your business needs today, but also to anticipate future challenges and opportunities.

In conclusion, finding the right CRM is a strategic decision that can significantly affect the efficiency and effectiveness of your business operations. Take the time to thoroughly research and align your business needs with the features of the CRM systems you are considering. This careful selection process will pay off by enhancing your customer relationships and driving your business success.

At Teamgate, we believe we are the best small business CRM solution on the market, balancing ease of use with extensive sales management features and dedicated customer support. Our system includes everything your small business needs to track leads, manage contacts, and improve customer relationships, all in an easy-to-use platform.

Want to see Teamgate in action within your small business? Get started by scheduling a system demo today or get started yourself with a Free Trial.

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FAQs: CRM for Small Businesses

Q: What is a CRM for small businesses?

A: A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for small businesses is a software solution designed to manage customer relationships, nurture leads, handle sales pipelines, and facilitate communication with customers and prospects across various channels. It also includes built-in reporting and analytics to measure marketing and sales performance against customer acquisition and retention goals.

Q: Why should a small business consider investing in a CRM?

A: As small businesses grow, managing contacts and providing a personalized experience to each customer becomes challenging. A CRM helps to maintain consistent and tailored communication with both prospective and current customers. It also assists in contact and data management, general ease of use, and basic reporting, which are vital for maintaining high standards in customer relationships.

Q: What factors should small businesses consider when evaluating CRM options?

A: Small businesses should consider affordability, ease of use, and scalability when evaluating CRM options. They need effective tools that don’t break the bank, are easy to learn and use, and can grow with the business. Paying attention to CRM solutions with tiered packages of features and valuable third-party integrations and add-ons is also important.

Q: What are some top-rated CRM systems for small businesses in 2024?

A: The top-rated CRM systems for small businesses in 2024 include Teamgate, Freshsales, Pipedrive, Bigin by Zoho CRM, HubSpot CRM, Salesmate.io, Less Annoying CRM, Keap, Copper, and Daylite. These CRM systems offer a wide range of features to suit the needs of small businesses.

Q: Can I get a CRM for my small business for free?

A: Yes, many CRMs offer free versions or tiers that are ideal for small businesses with limited budgets. Free CRMs typically include basic features like contact management, task automation, and simple reporting. However, premium features, such as advanced reporting or integrations, often require a paid plan. Systems like Teamgate CRM and Hubspot offer a free version limited to 2 users to get you started.

Q: What are users saying about CRMs for small businesses on Reddit?

A: Reddit users often discuss various CRM options for small businesses, weighing factors like ease of use, cost, and customer support. Some of the most recommended CRMs on Reddit include Teamgate, Zoho, and HubSpot, each offering different features depending on the business size and needs. Teamgate is frequently praised for its simplicity and affordability.

Q: What is the best cheap CRM for small businesses?

The best affordable CRM for your business depends on your specific needs. Some popular budget-friendly CRMs include Teamgate CRM, which offers robust features at competitive pricing. Look for CRMs that provide essential features to your needs such as sales automation, contact management, and reporting while fitting within your budget.

Q: How does Teamgate benefit small businesses?

A: Teamgate is a leading small business sales CRM that offers extensive smart features without compromising ease of use or reasonable pricing. Its user-friendly interface, intelligent lead scoring, advanced filters, and relevant third-party integrations differentiate it from other CRMs. Plus, it allows small businesses to configure workflows to fit their needs without costly and cumbersome customization.