13 Best CRM for Small Business (2024)
[Definitive Guide]

What Are the Different Types of CRM?

You’ll find many different CRMs available for your small businesses.

These CRMs are categorized based on their roles, specifications, and dimensions of customer relationship management. And the three groups are:

Analytical CRM

This CRM type analyzes data using highly effective techniques, e.g., pattern recognition, data mining, and correlation.

These techniques help the software decide the next steps to take and how to draft reports. Then, the CRM makes the best decisions for your business.

Operational CRM

A.k.a Basic CRM, the Operational CRM integrates business, sales, and marketing, which are essential.

Then, it checks the status of each and develops a strategy for their management.

Its subcategories include sales force automation, marketing automation, and service automation.

On the other hand-

Collaborative CRM

These unite outside users like vendors.

They keep everyone updated with valuable customer data.

This collaboration is essential to collate information that may be useful for prospecting and handling innovation, such as promotional offers.

Features to Look Out for

CRMs come with a wide array of features to grow your small business.

So it’s essential to know the ones to look out for when making a decision on choosing the best CRMs for small business. 

Here’s a few of them:

Lead and Contact Management

Contact management is the feature for organizing contacts into categories.

If you’re on a low budget, it’ll be just the ticket as a primary feature. It allows the formation of email campaigns and presents an organized customer database.

While the feature may stand alone in some CRMs, it combines with other components in others.

And the lead management feature tracks your clients and customer interactions.

Sales Automation or Marketing

Most small businesses purchase CRMs solely for sales automation.

That’s simply because it makes the sales process more accessible – from prospecting – to customer evaluations, campaigns, and order completion.

The feature tracks your leads, sales and monitors web visits.

Many times, sales automation has web forms that extract leads and collect feedback in real-time.

Sales Tracking

This feature either comes as a stand-alone or is added to sales automation.

It analyzes sales for you, telling you how many sales you’ve won, when, and to whom.

The best CRMs provide a dashboard to create sales reports and show your sales performance at a glance.

You should find basic report templates, too.

Communication

Often integrated with other features, many CRMs provide multiple channels of communication.

A good relationship management CRM software includes emailing, calls, instant messaging, and forums.

This array of communication channels means you can reach diverse contacts in different ways.

As a result, you’re up to date with their needs and can service their needs quickly.

Integrations

While some CRMs allow third-party integrations, a few do not.

You can either enjoy the built-in apps or opt for a third-party app.

Integrating with popular tools like G Suite, Microsoft Office, and Outlook, WordPress, Slack, and Mailchimp cuts quite some time off your work-life.

Support

Small businesses sometimes find it challenging to set up a CRM, and it can be ultra frustrating.

But there is a solution, folks…

… some CRM organizations will train you and provide access to materials or a user community.

That way, you can solve any issue with their 24/7 customer service.

Finding help from other software platforms can be difficult due to, e.g., connectivity issues and limited customer service staff.

We’ve shown you the features to look out for when choosing from the 13 best CRMs for small businesses.

It’s time to explain the specifications you kept seeing earlier on.

Let’s start here.

Landing page

Since digitalization makes it faster to act, it’s essential to prompt customers and web visitors to take action while they’re on your webpage.

The landing page stands alone on your site and markets your product or service. It’s where people end up after clicking a link or an ad they find on Social media.

So you have to find a way to get them to act – your call to action (CTA) – when they land on your page.

That way, your marketing campaigns increase your conversion rate.

Reports and Dashboards

Reporting is a popular CRM feature, which helps users view data and statistics.

Different users engage with live data via various portals, thereby improving communication and overall task management.

The dashboards’ reports drive decision-making and invite you to make choices based on apparent customer interactions.

You can now clearly see customer acquisition, retention, and satisfaction rate.

Mobile Support

Think about this…

It makes more sense to be able to access the CRM you paid for on the go.

Top CRMs want you to have the ability to communicate anytime.

That’s why they include mobile access in their software.

This addition enables constant data synchronization and communication 24/7. You’re productive, even out of the office or town.

Marketing CRM

Another specification that makes a CRM system better than average is the marketing spec.

Most CRMs offer this, which enhances marketing efficiency.

Marketing automation enables actions such as batch emailing and target-based marketing.

So if you generally deal with numerous contacts at various levels, this feature will save you plenty of time.

It also allows you to set, deliver, and track marketing campaigns within your interface.

CRM systems provide tools that allow users to track marketing campaign performance.

Now, there’s still more to choosing the best CRM for your business.

Things to Consider

Keep in mind that Wellies can come in different heights.

Let’s take a quick look at th

These Are Things to Consider

We’ve searched out the best CRMs for any small business.

It’s now time for you to consider their features and specifications side by side to find the best solution for your needs.

Whether you run a retail business, a sales-based company, or any other small business, you must consider these factors.

Then, note your business’ unique requirements, so you’re clear before you buy.

Value and Features

Wait, do this..

Ask yourself why you need a CRM.

Small businesses need CRMs for sales, marketing, or customer service, and sometimes all of these at once.

So it’s important to consider why you need a CRM.

For instance, if you want to offer the best customer service, get yourself a CRM platform with a friendly customer service plan and features.

Cost of Use

As a small business, you must check your budget and how much it will cost to use a particular CRM.

Using CRM goes beyond subscriptions or licensing fees.

That’s why you should ask questions related to costs around implementations, product pricing tiers, customizations, data migration, third-party apps, and how much you have to pay for users each month.

Integration Capacity

It’s possible you already have systems for project management, accounting, email marketing, and other requirements.

So if you’re bringing in a CRM to make things easier for your business, be sure the CRM accommodates app integrations or allows add-ons. That way, you can avoid repeating data entry.

One more thing!  

Customer Support

Introducing a CRM into your workplace is sometimes challenging, especially when your team members find it hard to set up and are resistant to change.

Some CRMs offer training and even provide access to videos, online articles, and in-person training.

And whenever there’s an issue with your customer relationship management, they’ll help you via chats, email, or phone support.

To appreciate and enjoy full use of your CRM, make sure you purchase one that your people can handle. Don’t add to their workflow – CRMs were not built for that.

em.

Knee-high – These give maximum protection. Putting them on and taking off can be a problem. So they’re not usually recommended for casual use.

Full height – These are some of the best Wellies – they rise to the top of your calf. They’re most popular for gardening or walking and will keep you dry.

Half-height – These boots are ideal for those with thick calves as they sit below the calf muscle. They give a good combo of style and protection.

Ankle height – These Wellington boots are a recent development. While they are easy to put on and comfortable, they aren’t suited for rough use.

When you buy a full-height Wellington boot, make sure you get your calf measurement right. The other important thing to consider is the right ankle fit. These two measurements will determine your comfort inside the boot.

Now, getting a high pair of Wellies on and off can be a tough task. So – consider choosing a zipped boot for easy on and off. Another option is to buy a boot removal tool as an accessory.

When it comes to customer relationship management, some words are popular. And you’ve sure seen them a few times in this guide.

So you can understand them better, and see how the best CRMs help you with them, here’s an explanation:

Leads

Now, what’s a lead?

A lead is a prospect to sell to. And it can come as a company or individual’s contact to the top of your business’ sales funnel. It helps you become aware of when you’re about to make a sale and what customers’ pain points are.

CRM helps you collate data from sources such as conferences, web visits, and business cards either manually or digitally.

 And lead management helps you track activities till leads become sales.

Sales Process

This is the systematic conversion of leads to sales. It shows the steps your sales team needs to take to close deals and build relationships that’ll bring your business sales.

Having a defined process helps the CRM build these steps within the software.

Since CRM quickly spots weak areas in the sales process, you can change your approach to selling.

Sales Forecast

An estimation can be made based on market trends, sales history, lead counts, spending patterns, and other factors that usually influence buyer behavior.

The sales reporting and forecast gives you an idea of what to expect in sales, using the data in your software. That way, you can make the necessary decisions and interact with customers better.

 Here’s another one:

Sales Pipeline

This describes the proportion of leads that attain different sales levels at any time. It can be per month or even per week.

This track lets you know the demand for a specific product or service.

And by using any of these best CRMs, you can tailor your sales pipeline to find you the results you’re after.

Contact Management

This specification handles customer information in real-time. Their details and interactions with your company are easy to access.

Contact management categorizes your contacts for better-targeted operations.

And this makes your customers feel important and heightens their satisfaction.