If you think your business is too small (yet) to use a CRM program, it’s probably time to reconsider. There are several options for customer relationship management (CRM) software specifically tailored to the needs of small businesses and startups. Oftentimes, implementing a CRM tool is a big step that will take your business to the next level.

Before choosing the best CRM solution for your business, you need to answer the following question: «Why does your business need a CRM system?». The obvious answer is that you want to structure and organize your data in the best way possible and the tools you have been using to date are no longer sufficient.
Next, you need to define your specific business needs and focus on finding a CRM solution that fits those needs. Ultimately, you want a tool that will help you effectively manage your current and potential customers while allowing your business to grow.

Read the article below and discover how you can benefit from the right CRM software. We’ve specifically reviewed the best customer relationship management programs for small businesses to help you find a solution that’s right for you.

Choosing the right CRM software for a small business

When choosing a CRM, you should not only look for the features, but also for the best solution in terms of usability, pricing options, and support from the solution provider.

Various factors influence your decision as to which CRM software you should use. Some of the most important factors include your commercial goals, the nature of your business and the industry in which you operate.

Your business needs come first when you buy software designed specifically for smaller businesses. Some business owners are opting for a more cost-effective solution, while others are looking for software that is easily customizable and can be easily integrated with their existing tools.

Why is the right CRM software so important?

The right CRM system will definitely make a difference in the efficiency of your business. For example, Salesforce is a good fit for companies that can afford to pay a little more and need a highly customizable CRM program. Such software has access to your company data and can provide you with a comprehensive insight into the behavior of your teams and customers.

Hubspot has some great features, but can be overwhelmed when used by an entire enterprise, lacking reporting options and integration capabilities flexible enough for this workload.

Streak CRM is a simple yet powerful solution specifically designed for multiple touch points (e.g. mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones or laptops). So you can set it up easily and run the app quickly in different environments.

You don’t want a program that restricts you in day-to-day activities for your business because it’s difficult to use. That would only waste time on technical details that you could use for more important things like sales figures or customer satisfaction surveys that require attention.

When choosing a CRM system, you need to be guided by the features that will bring the greatest benefit to your day-to-day activities. This includes but is not limited to project management tools and lead generation skills, which may differ from program to program.

Wie funktioniert CRM?

CRM helps you to manage your customer data as efficiently as possible. It’s important to take the time and think things through before implementing such a system in your organization, but once it’s integrated, you reap a multitude of benefits.

This gives you quick access to all the information you need without having to search through multiple databases or spreadsheets, while ensuring nothing is lost.
A CRM system also gives you an overview of your company’s interactions with customers, regardless of whether the data is collected by the sales, marketing, accounting or purchasing departments. This allows you to react faster and proactively respond to more opportunities in the sales process and customer service.

For example, if a customer service rep realizes that a prospect or lead is ready for an upsell, they can attach that information to the support ticket they’re working on. That way it doesn’t get lost in the middle of emails or messages to the sales department. Thanks to CRM features, this information is automatically extracted from the ticket and attached to the CRM record of that specific contact so that the sales rep can take action to try and convert the lead.

This type of automation is possible because customer service management software can easily move data across systems and devices. Depending on the needs of your sales and customer service teams, you can either find the data in a specially designed interface or receive it by mail or message on any compatible device.

Warum ist Automatisierung so wichtig?

Because it gives you access to all your important data and you can move it to wherever you need it.

On the surface, CRM is open to all sorts of data. But if you dig a little deeper, it’s broken down into units that reach the very people who need them.

Ultimately, if you want to make sure you’re making the most of CRM capabilities, you should be able to leverage the data for email marketing, sales pitches, document creation, contract management, and running your team’s day-to-day activities.

CRM challenges for larger and smaller companies

A major challenge for larger companies that want to implement a CRM program is adapting it to the specific needs of their sales teams. Despite having dedicated IT staff to help with issues and training, larger sales teams continue to encounter new communication and collaboration issues related to CRM.

For smaller companies, however, the challenge is that their ability to get help from an in-house IT team is more limited. Because of this, it usually takes longer to roll out new software and get everyone familiar with its use and features.

New products with specialized features have been developed for this target group while making it easy for large companies and start-ups by providing an upgrade path that can keep pace with the growth of your business.

Just a few years ago, little attention was paid to developing tools that were specifically tailored to the needs of companies. Gradually, however, more and more sellers began addressing this head-on to ensure they are not left behind in today’s era of digital transformation.

Warum benötigt ein kleines Unternehmen ein CRM-Programm?

The main goal of a CRM system is to increase small business sales and growth. Implementing such a tool makes it easier for the company to earn the trust of potential customers.

For small businesses with a small data base, it’s important to start every interaction with customers in the best possible way. As a result, these first steps are very likely to develop into long-term and trusting customer relationships. This in turn results in more sales, increased customer satisfaction and loyal brand ambassadors.

The CRM solution supports you in interacting with future customers and helps you to build a trusting relationship with existing customers. This allows small businesses to make repeat sales and retain customers, which has a higher ROI than acquiring new customers.

With the right CRM you create a reproducible customer-oriented sales system. This is how you keep the balance between customer needs and your expertise, products and services.
Integrating the CRM system into your existing systems enables you to completely automate many work processes and thus also greater company growth. Even as a start-up you have already collected some customer data, sales information and other relevant data. The CRM tool brings all this data together.

Improve your customer service and increase your success with a CRM. With the right solution, you increase customer satisfaction and retention rates. CRMs easily integrate with your customer service and other systems to help you manage every step of the customer journey.

The Best CRMs for Small Businesses in 2022

Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the top CRM solutions for advanced customization. Although known for its CRM systems for large companies, Salesforce also offers tools specifically designed for small businesses.

With pricing solutions for small businesses, Salesforce offers an all-in-one solution for your sales, customer service, and marketing needs. You can customize all the features like the dashboard or the reports to suit your needs. This program has an intuitive and sales-oriented interface that gives it great flexibility and a customizable user experience.

You benefit from internal communication features such as on-screen calls, organizing a helpful knowledge base for your customers, email templates, and third-party app integrations that streamline your business processes.

advantages

• Advanced customization options
• Vertraute und intuitive Benutzeroberfläche
• Small business pricing options
• Ausgezeichnete mobile Apps
• Great contact management tool (allows calendar and email to be captured perfectly)
• Langer Probezeitraum
• Effective organization of daily tasks
• Access to the extended Salesforce tech stack

Nachteile

• No free version available
• High entry price
• Begrenzte Berichte

Cost – from €25 per user per month

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is suitable for existing Zoho Suite users and sales channels. Zoho CRM is a powerful small business CRM tool that works equally well on desktop and mobile devices.
The cloud-based CRM software is perfect for managing customers and generating leads. The platform is easy to use without limiting possibilities. Top features include social media contact lookup and business card scanning. It also supports your sales teams in creating automated workflows.
Another useful feature is website visitor segmentation, channel management and organization of customer contact and communication data.

advantages

• User-friendly CRM (also for mobile devices)
• Großartig für die Generierung von Leads
• Advanced CRM features at an affordable price
• Integrated business telephony options
• Can also be integrated with many other Zoho tools
• Anpassbares Dashboard
• You have helpful contextual data at your fingertips

Nachteile

• The user interface can be confusing for traditional CRM users
• Paid plans can get expensive

Cost – from €7 per user per month in an annual subscription.