According to Mckinsey, customers today are primarily focused on value, convenience, and availability.
The same applies for CRM software.
If you’re like most businesses, you’re (a.) looking for a CRM that qualifies as the best, or (b.) you’re unhappy with your current CRM provider and you’re looking to make a change. Here’s a breakdown of small business CRMs.
To get started, we’re going to use the criteria Mckinsey laid out.
- Value
- Convenience
- Availability
We’ll use these three factors to identify CRMs that are “the best” in their respective categories.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the companies we’ll be taking a look at today.
| 2023’s Best Small Business CRMs at a Glance | ||||
| Brands | Pipeline | HubSpot Sales Hub | ClickUp | Bigin by Zoho CRM |
| Ratings | 4.4 stars (G2) | 4.4 stars (G2) | 4.7 stars (G2) | 4.5 stars (G2) |
| Segment | Small Business | Small Business | Small Business | Small Business |
| CRM Type | Operational | Hybrid | Collaborative | Collaborative |
| Price | $29 per mo. | $500 per mo. | $5 per user/mo. | $0 – $7 per user/mo. |
| Support | Included | $750+ Onboarding | 24 hr. support | Included |
Let’s take a closer look at these companies.
Pipeline CRM: The Best CRM for Winning and Closing Deals
According to G2, Pipeline is the 12th easiest CRM to use.
This detail is incredibly important for one simple reason: The easier your CRM is to use, the easier it will be to get your sales team to use it. Get your sales team on the same page, and it’s easier to close sales consistently over time.
Pipeline is a CRM that’s made by salespeople, for salespeople.
This distinction isn’t simply nice to have; it’s a must-have if you want to generate consistent results from your team’s sales efforts. With Pipeline, you’ll be able to verify that each of your sales reps are on the same page and that your team is singing from the same song sheet. Each of your sales reps will use the same workflows to qualify, close, and onboard prospects improving relationships with customers over time. It’s the easiest path to consistent sales performance.
Segment
Sales teams in small to medium-sized businesses
Ratings
- 4.4/5 star rating on G2 (913 reviews total)
- 4.4/5 star rating on Capterra (618 reviews total)
- 9.8/10 score via TrustRadius
- 4.2/5 star rating via Gartner (41 reviews total)
Industries
- Small business
- Agencies
- Construction
- Contractors
- Manufacturing
- Professional services
- Wholesalers and distributors
- Transportation and logistics
- Real estate agents
Pricing
- Start plan: $29 per user per month
- Develop plan: $39 per user per month
- Grow plan: $59 per user per month
Features
Here’s a short list of the features available in Pipeline.
- Pipeline’s platform can be customized for the industry and size of your business
- Deal stages can also be customized to align with the unique steps in your small business
- Track and manage your email campaigns automatically via your account
- Pipeline integrates with the apps you’re already using and tools like Zapier to minimize transitional pain and customize integrations without developer, or IT assistance
- Automations automatically prompt the next move on a deal showing sales reps the best action to take at every stage in the process.
- Smart agendas that build themselves as your team works so everyone knows what needs to be done SuperShare to send data to trusted contacts quickly and securely
- Open-source APIs to create Ad Hoc tools or integrate Pipeline into your existing platform
| Pipeline vs. HubSpot, ClickUp, and Bigin | ||||
| Brands | Pipeline | HubSpot Sales Hub | ClickUp | Bigin by Zoho CRM |
| Price | $29 per mo. | $500 per mo. | $5 per user/mo. | $0 – $7 per user/mo. |
| Ease-of-use | 5/7 (easy) | 3/7 (average) | 5/7 (easy) | 6/7 (easiest) |
| CRM Focus | Sales | Sales + Management | Management | Collaboration |
| Support | Phone + Chat | $750+ Onboarding | 24 hr. support | Included |
| Best Known For… | Closing Deals | All-in-One Solution | Collaboration | Easy-to-Use |
Pipeline in a Nutshell
As far as CRMs go, Pipeline is oriented around one thing. Closing deals.
If you need a CRM that optimizes sales performance, closes prospects, and consistently closes deals, Pipeline is the ideal tool. It’s made by salespeople, for salespeople, so everything about this app is optimized around generating revenue.
HubSpot Sales Hub: Best for Small Businesses with Big Budgets or Large Sales Teams
HubSpot is an all-in-one sales and marketing platform.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive A to Z solution, Hubspot may be the right tool for the job. HubSpot brings together all the tools and resources you’ll need in a single solution. If budget is no option, and you’re looking for a tool that functions as a skilled generalist, HubSpot is the platform for you.
If you’re looking for a specialized tool that’s customized for your team, this may not be a fit. That said, HubSpot’s platform is built on the premise that your sales team should have everything under one roof. That works if you’re just starting your business. It can be difficult if you already have a suite of tools you rely on.
Segment
Generalist focusing on small, medium, and enterprise businesses
Ratings
- 4.4/5 star rating on G2 (10,314 reviews total)
- 4.4/5 star rating on Capterra (419 reviews total)
- 8.6/10 score via TrustRadius (459)
- 4.4/5 star rating via Gartner (325 reviews total)
Industries
- General
- Software
- Healthcare
- Ecommerce
- Engineering
- Manufacturing
- Construction
Pricing
- Professional: $500 per month for 5 users, $100 per month for each additional user
- Enterprise: $1,200 per month for 10 users, $120 per month for each additional user
Features
Here’s a short list of the features available in HubSpot Sales Hub.
- Beautiful, professional-looking email templates
- Tracking and analytics to understand the efficacy of your sales team’s work
- Document tracking to more easily generate purchase orders and sales collateral
- Call tracking and recording
- Contact management to keep your sales contacts organized within your CRM
| HubSpot vs. Pipeline, ClickUp, and Bigin | ||||
| Brands | HubSpot Sales Hub | Pipeline | ClickUp | Bigin by Zoho CRM |
| Price | $500 per mo. | $29 per mo. | $5 per user/mo. | $0 – $7 per user/mo. |
| Ease-of-use | 3/7 (average) | 5/7 (easy) | 5/7 (easy) | 6/7 (easiest) |
| CRM Focus | Sales + Management | Sales | Management | Collaboration |
| Support | $750+ Onboarding | Phone + Chat | 24 hr. support | Included |
| Best Known For… | All-in-One Solution | Closing Deals | Collaboration | Easy-to-Use |
HubSpot in a Nutshell
If you need an all-in-one solution that provides everything you need in a single platform, HubSpot is the best tool for the job. HubSpot is a huge value-add because it grows with you. If you’re willing to invest the time and resources into their platform, you’ll have a solution that continues to add value over the long term.
There’s one glaring downside.
The price. If you want premium features, expect to pay HubSpot a premium price. You’ll need to pay for onboarding and support. They offer a free-forever CRM but that’s pretty limited when compared to the other providers in our list. Even their starter plans for small teams is limited.
ClickUp: Best Collaborative CRM for Small Business Teams
ClickUp tells you that their CRM is “Built for teams from 1 to 1,000+.”
Their tagline, “One app to replace them all,” tells you where their focus is. It’s productivity and connecting the various departments in your business – engineering, sales, marketing, product, design, finance, HR, and IT – together. ClickUp includes tasks, whiteboards, dashboards, chat, goals, and docs. These are the traditional CRM tools your sales team is used to. As a collaborative CRM, it’s closer to project management tools like Basecamp or Asana than it is to operational CRMs like Pipeline or HubSpot.
If you’re looking to help your teams work well together, ClickUp is a great place to start.
Segment
Non-profits, startups, and enterprises
Ratings
- 4.7/5 star rating on G2 (6,954 reviews total)
- 4.47/5 star rating on Capterra (3,676 reviews total)
- 8.6/10 score via TrustRadius (1,024)
- 4.4/5 star rating via Gartner (104 reviews total)
Industries
- Software
- Technology
- Healthcare
- Real estate
- HR
- Manufacturing
- Construction
Pricing
- Unlimited: $5 per user, per month
- Business: $12 per user, per month
- Business Plus: $19 per user, per month
- Enterprise: $$$$
Features
- Sales pipelines
- Account management
- Communication tools
- Organize your accounts in a list, Kanban board, or tables for quick data entry
- Create high-level views to monitor customer lifetime value, average deal sizes, and more
- Create your ideal system to store and analyze contacts, customers, and deals
| ClickUp vs. HubSpot, Pipeline, and Bigin | ||||
| Brands | ClickUp | HubSpot Sales Hub | Pipeline | Bigin by Zoho CRM |
| Price | $5 per user/mo. | $500 per mo. | $29 per mo. | $0 – $7 per user/mo. |
| Ease-of-use | 5/7 (easy) | 3/7 (average) | 5/7 (easy) | 6/7 (easiest) |
| CRM Focus | Management | Sales + Management | Sales | Collaboration |
| Support | 24 hr. support | $750+ Onboarding | Phone + Chat | Included |
| Best Known For… | Collaboration | All-in-One Solution | Closing Deals | Easy-to-Use |
ClickUp in a Nutshell
ClickUp is the Jack of all trades but a master of none. If you’re looking for a collaborative CRM that allows the various departments in your organization to share information freely (without information silos), ClickUp is a great fit. However, this collaboration is an issue when you’re looking for an Operational CRM that generates sales revenue.
How do I know?
Take a look at the head-to-head comparisons on the right side of their website footer. ClickUp lists head-to-head comparisons with Monday, Basecamp, Jira, Trello, Todoist, Notion, etc. All of these tools are project management and collaboration tools that are focused on productivity rather than CRM or selling. If that’s what you’re looking for, that’s great. If not, this isn’t for you.
Bigin by Zoho CRM: Easiest CRM for Small Businesses
Bigin’s claim to fame is their ease of use.
That’s an important detail when you’re a small business owner wearing multiple hats. “Sales deals, support tickets, customer onboarding, order delivery, customer testimonials, contracts, and everything in between—Bigin is all you need to streamline your customer operations in one platform. Get started in under 30 minutes.”
Bigin is designed for beginners.
These are the small business owners who have outgrown Excel or Sheets. They’ve tried to manage their customer relationships with a spreadsheet, but they found that it didn’t work as well as they had hoped.
“Whether you’re ready to move beyond spreadsheets or simply replace legacy CRM tools, anyone can bigin their CRM journey and grow their business. Choose one of our pre-defined templates or simply get started by customizing the CRM for your business in no time.”
Segment
Solopreneurs, freelancers, small businesses
Ratings
- 4.5/5 star rating on G2 (186 reviews total)
- 4.6/5 star rating on Capterra (236 reviews total)
- 8/10 score via TrustRadius (77 reviews total)
- 4.4/5 star rating via Gartner (711 reviews total)
Industries
- Agriculture
- Automotive
- Business intelligence
- Consulting
- Design
- Ecommerce
- Education
- Event management
- Finance
- Hospitality
- HR
- Insurance
- Legal
- Software
- Security
Pricing
- Free
- Express: $9 per user, per month
- Premier: $15 per user, per month
Features
- Team pipelines
- Sub pipelines
- Custom fields
- Customization (via unique fields)
- Automation (e.g., instant actions, workflows, scheduled actions, date/time-based triggers, etc.)
- Advanced data administration
- Integrations with Zoho software suite, Google contacts, Microsoft 365, and MailChimp)
- Analytics
- Developer tools
| Bigin vs. HubSpot, Pipeline, and ClickUp | ||||
| Brands | Bigin by Zoho CRM | HubSpot Sales Hub | Pipeline | ClickUp |
| Price | $0 – $7 per user/mo. | $500 per mo. | $29 per mo. | $5 per user/mo. |
| Ease-of-use | 6/7 (easiest) | 3/7 (average) | 5/7 (easy) | 5/7 (easy) |
| CRM Focus | Collaboration | Sales + Management | Sales | Management |
| Support | Included | $750+ Onboarding | Phone + Chat | 24 hr. support |
| Best Known For… | Easy-to-Use | All-in-One Solution | Closing Deals | Collaboration |
Bigin in a Nutshell
Bigin is designed for beginners.
These are the businesses that are still using inefficient or outdated methods to manage their customer relationships. It’s easy-to-use because it’s focused on users that are new to the CRM game. If you’re an established business and you’re looking for a CRM with a specific focus area, you’ll want to verify that Bigin is what you’re looking for.
If ease-of-use, flexibility, and minimal transitional pain are must-haves for you, Bigin is the CRM for you. If you’re looking for a CRM that’s designed to close deals and win customers, Bigin may not be the best tool for the job. It’s functional and helpful, but it’s designed for simplicity, not selling.
Small Business CRMs are must-haves to maintain customer loyalty
Brand loyalty, the kind enjoyed by well-known and established companies, is in the past. As we’ve seen, customers today are primarily focused on value, convenience, and availability.
Your CRM is a must-have.
The right CRM is essential because it enables you to keep your finger on the pulse of your target audience. According to the Economist, “50% of senior executives want to engage better with customers, but market data shows companies struggling. Open innovation (by integrating customer opinion into product development) can help businesses to learn what customers want—and build trust.
Demographics are changing fast, and consumers increasingly want personalization. Responding quickly to changing customer needs is a real challenge—executives and market data agree.”
CRM fit is key.
The more you know about your customers and their rapidly shifting demands, the easier it will be to attract prospects, close deals, and maintain customer loyalty. Use your CRM to boost customer trust and you’ll find it’s easy to maintain the kind of loyalty your competitors struggle to find.
