The 10 best CRM tools for small businesses
In the digital age, small businesses face the challenge, and the opportunity, of building and maintaining their customer relationships.
The right customer relationship management (CRM) system can be the basis of a business’s success, enabling effortless website updates and seamless integration of marketing tools. Whether you know what you require from a CRM, or you would like to explore the different features available, evaluating the right CRM for your small business can be a difficult task.
In this article, we explore the top systems, comparing features, flexibility, and affordability to help you understand which CRM could be ideal for your small business.
Best CRMs for small business
HubSpot
Key features
- Streamlines sales, marketing and customer interactions
- Easy to set up and use
- Unified contact management database
HubSpot provides an all-in-one system that streamlines sales, marketing and customer interactions. The CRM allows you to seamlessly build a business website on a user-friendly interface, with the addition of strong integrations, including Gmail, Outlook, Google Calendar, and Slack.
HubSpot offers a unified contact management database, allowing users to track and manage deals and tasks, helping businesses to personalise their outreach, manage leads, and close deals more effectively. Marketing teams can use the CRM to segment audiences, create targeted email and social campaigns, and measure performance all from one dashboard. The platform focuses on simplicity and scalability, offering a free CRM plan ideal for small businesses. Advanced features are also available if you decide to grow your business.
monday CRM
Key features
- Intuitive visual interface
- Seamless integration with popular tools
- 24/7 customer support
monday.com CRM can be ideal for small businesses due to its intuitive visual interface and comprehensive features that streamline sales and marketing management. The platform enables teams to build custom dashboards for better predictability, automate repetitive tasks and track performance across the entire sales funnel. The flexible system supports unlimited customisable pipelines and workflows, allowing businesses to adapt the CRM to their unique processes without any additional coding required.
The platform also offers seamless integration with popular tools like Gmail, Outlook, Zoom, Slack, Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams, centralising communication and workflows in one place. Its ready-made templates for leads, contacts, and deals, as well as additional forms and documents for data collection, are able to simplify daily operations for small businesses. Small businesses benefit from an all-in-one CRM that enhances productivity, centralises information, and empowers teams to grow efficiently.
Zoho CRM
Key features
- Robust AI-powered features
- Custom dashboards
- Accessible free version
Zoho CRM offers a strong set of AI-powered features, including Zia, Zoho’s intelligence assistant, which enhances automation and streamlines workflows. Even on its free and lower-tiered plans, Zoho provides access to essential tools such as sales management, email marketing and a company activity feed that helps to build better team communication. Customisable dashboards and pipelines allow small businesses to tailor the system to their personal processes, while integrations with popular services, such as Zapier, ensure that communication and data flow is seamless across platforms.
With Zoho CRM, small teams can easily record and organise customer interactions, prioritise leads using smart scoring, and reach wider audiences with email campaigns. The free version allows up to three users, making it an accessible and powerful solution for new ventures. As small businesses grow, features like team selling and advanced analytics empower them to manage bigger client lists and coordinate across locations, ensuring they stay productive and connected.
Pipedrive
Key features
- User-friendly interface
- Seamless integrations
- Long, free trial for new users
Pipedrive helps small businesses with its intuitive, user-friendly interface and visual sales pipeline. Their drag-and-drop pipeline provides a real-time overview of every sales stage, making it easy for teams to track leads, monitor deals and take customers to the final stage. Pipedrive’s strong mobile capabilities and seamless integrations with trusted tools like Slack, Trello, Google Workspace, and Mailchimp help to improve productivity, keeping teams connected wherever they work.
Beyond its streamlined design, Pipedrive offers automations to simplify repetitive tasks, such as sending follow-up emails or activity reminders, while the AI sales assistant can analyse data to provide personalised recommendations to improve results. Advanced lead management, detailed reports and easy-to-use chatbot builders provide small businesses with the insights and automations they need to close deals faster and collaborate more effectively. With a long free trial available for new users, Pipedrive offers small businesses an opportunity to discover how powerful and efficient CRM software can drive growth and strengthen customer relationships.
Salesforce
Key features
- Ready-to-use set up
- Offers comprehensive support
- Boosts productivity through sales automation
Salesforce can benefit small businesses through its highly scalable, cloud-based platform and Starter Suite designed specifically for growing teams. The platform’s Sales Cloud empowers users to efficiently manage contacts, track and forecast sales, and automate key tasks and workflows, all within a unified interface. The Service Cloud provides a detailed overview of customer activity and streamlined tools such as live chat and community management software, and the Marketing Cloud brings together digital marketing essentials such as email, social media, mobile campaigns and marketing automation. Built-in AI features further simplify sales management and customer engagement, offering data-driven insights and automation to drive productivity without overwhelming new users.
Salesforce hosts a library of support and learning resources, making the onboarding experience seamless for first-time users of the Starter Suite, which offers a 30-day free trial, guided onboarding and a ready-to-use setup to help small businesses hit the ground running. Salesforce provides small businesses with the tools they need to grow their customer base, streamline operations and compete in today’s small business market.
Salesflare
Key features
- Smart automation
- Intuitive visual sales pipeline
- Integration with email services
Salesflare automatically builds upon new contacts with background details sourced from the web, such as social media profiles and company websites, saving users valuable research time. Seamless tracking of email activity, including opens, link clicks, and visits to your website, ensures that sales teams always have up-to-date insights into lead engagement. The intuitive visual sales pipeline keeps tasks and opportunities clearly organised, helping users understand exactly which actions are needed to move deals forward.
The platform supports integration with email services, such as Gmail, iCloud and Office 365, helping Salesflare to work within any small business’s workflow, making it an ideal CRM for teams looking to streamline operations and boost sales performance.
Salesmate
Key features
- Customisable interface
- Seamless onboarding experience
- Streamlines outreach activities
Salesmate’s customisable interface and intuitive design help sales teams to tailor the platform to their specific workflows, with a seamless onboarding experience featuring helpful tutorials on each page that guide new users through the platform’s capabilities. Salesmate offers an AI tool, Sandy, which provides advanced features, such as call transcription, making it easier to review sales calls and adapt strategies for better performance.
In addition to its user-friendly design, Salesmate offers a well-rounded suite of tools for small business sales teams. Its advanced automations, Power Dialer and sales tracking features streamline outreach and follow-up activities, particularly for SMS campaigns. Real-time updates and integrated communication tools ensure that every team member stays informed and aligned, standing out for small businesses seeking a CRM to boost productivity and support growth.
NetHunt
Key features
- Easy to get started
- Seamlessly integrates with Gmail
- Streamlines sales and marketing tasks
NetHunt enables efficient management communications, contacts, and deals directly within its interface through its integration with Gmail. Its integration with LinkedIn can further networking and lead management for small businesses, while multi-channel chat support, including WhatsApp, ensures that you can always be accessible to clients and prospects.
Beyond communication, NetHunt provides a separate dashboard designed for strategic decision-making and adapting business controls.
The web app empowers users to check deals, update or add new contacts, launch targeted email campaigns to segmented lists, and automate workflows all from a centralised platform. By streamlining these essential sales and marketing tasks, NetHunt equips small business teams with the tools they need to stay organised, save time and drive growth in a competitive landscape.
Capsule
Key features
- Straightforward setup
- Streamline daily operations
- Robust integration capabilities
Capsule’s intuitive user interface and straightforward setup allow teams to get started quickly, while customisation options ensure that the system adapts to each company’s unique needs. Capsule streamlines daily operations by managing contacts, sales pipelines and tasks all in one place. An integrated calendar and task management platform can help small businesses keep track of follow-ups and deadlines directly within the CRM, ensuring nothing gets missed.
Capsule works seamlessly with popular tools such as Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, Mailchimp, Xero, QuickBooks, Slack, FreshBooks and more, enabling efficient collaboration and data sharing across the organisation. Features like multiple user-friendly sales dashboards, a mobile app for on-the-go access and a free 14-day trial make Capsule both accessible and practical. By centralising client interactions, task management, and sales tracking in one secure, easy-to-use system, Capsule enables small teams to stay organised, build stronger customer relationships, and efficiently drive business growth.
Click up
Key features
- Efficient and robust
- Custom sales pipeline view
- Unified management of projects, leads and sales
ClickUp enables teams to streamline customer workflows by consolidating all client information, communication and follow-ups into one platform. With ClickUp’s ability to create custom sales pipeline views, businesses can design stages for their personal processes, providing visibility over every lead and opportunity. The CRM can make it easier to track and manage accounts and allows for seamless tracking of sales and leads.
ClickUp excels as a tool for managing projects, leads, and sales in one unified workspace. The platform’s powerful analytics features allow users to analyse data for customer insights, driving smarter decision-making and more effective strategies. ClickUp’s simple and versatile offerings empower small businesses to boost productivity, foster better relationships, and grow with confidence.
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Please note: This article provides guidance for information purposes only. It should not be relied upon wholly when making or taking important business decisions – always seek the services of an appropriately qualified professional. The views expressed by websites referenced to are limited to those of the websites, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Markel Direct. Markel Direct is not affiliated with any of these CRM system providers.