Excel is not the only one: TOP 5 CRMs for small businesses and startups

Many small companies and startups use Excel spreadsheets in the initial stages, because they already have experience working with them and want to save money. However, when these businesses gain momentum, the number of their customers and orders increases, a lot of problems appear. This includes the lack of data structure, chaos in orders, and much more. This is where the need arises to systematize all processes related to storing customer databases, order information, customer statuses, and more. A CRM system is a universal solution.

On the Internet you can find a lot of CRMs with different budgets, designs and functionalities, but not all of them are suitable for people who have no experience using these platforms. That is why we decided to review the top 5 CRMs that are suitable for both beginners and people who have been using CRM systems for a long time. The first on the list is SendPulse — a multi-channel platform that provides access to all the channels necessary for effective communication with customers and promotion of your product.

SendPulse

SendPulse is a multi-channel Ukrainian platform that is ideal for businesses that want to use multiple marketing channels to promote their product. The service allows you to not only store contact details and monitor the statuses of all customers, but also create chatbots for Instagram, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Telegram. You can also create email newsletters, SMS, and web push. You don’t need any coding skills to use the platform. The service interface is intuitive, which means that even a beginner can easily master CRM and tools for creating newsletters on different channels.

Let’s focus on CRM for an online store and talk about it in more detail. The first thing to note is that SendPulse gives you the opportunity to combine all communication channels, contacts, applications, document and product circulation into a single management system. The platform collects applications from all possible sources — forms, pop-ups and online chat on the website, social networks, email, chatbots, courses — after which they automatically enter the CRM. Your manager only consults, encourages purchases and works with objections. All other processes are completely automated.

With SendPulse, you can stay connected on Facebook Messenger, Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram, Viber, and online chat on the website without having to switch between interfaces and accounts from a computer or mobile app. You can also communicate with customers using calls or SMS and after the interaction, leave a note, capture a deal, or launch a chatbot.

You can effectively distribute tasks among your team members. The platform allows you to create a deal and assign responsible parties. After that, you can track the progress of the interaction with the buyer. The CRM also has a task board with a built-in calendar. It helps to plan and regulate work within the team. You also have the ability to create tasks and add comments to them, and those responsible will receive a notification about the deadline.

Price: One of the advantages of SendPulse is that it has a free plan that allows you to invite 4 users, create 2 funnels and 2 boards, as well as 5 threads, 1 event, 50 items in Automation 360. The cheapest Lite plan will cost you around 500 UAH per month. This plan allows you to create 2 funnels, 2 boards, as well as 8 threads, 5 events, 50 items in Automation 360.

HubSpot CRM

HubSpot is a well-known service that allows you to combine different tools to get to know your product to as many potential customers as possible. This list also includes a CRM designed for both small and medium-sized businesses that want to structure data and control sales. It does not require special training or technical knowledge, so users can use this platform from day one. The interface is simple and easy to use, so you can master the service in a few days.

The platform allows you to create contacts, update data at any time, record sales actions, and track the history of interactions with each customer — all in one place. If you already have a customer base, you can easily import it. Then — create reports on the sales that your team is working on.

HubSpot offers convenient automation. This means that you can set up workflows of varying complexity. The platform allows you to send both email greetings to leads and trigger series of emails. It all depends on what your goal is. The service also offers built-in templates, conversion analytics, and integration with email services. So you can choose a template, adapt it and set up triggers, and after sending, analyze whether the mailing was effective and what needs to be done to improve conversions.

CRM integrates with all the necessary platforms such as Gmail, Outlook, Zoom, Slack, Shopify, WordPress, Zapier and many more. This way, you don’t have to switch from one platform to another. You can see all your customer interactions in one place, which is very convenient.

Price: HubSpot lets you use its CRM for free. The free plan gives you 1,000 contacts, 1 sales funnel, and 3 dashboards. The paid plan will cost you about 1,900 UAH per month per user. For that money, you get 3,000 HubSpot credits and custom reporting.

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a platform designed to help businesses manage customer deals and the progress of each deal. This service is about the efficient operation of your sales team and increasing the productivity of your company. Pipedrive has a simple interface that clearly shows all stages of sales and the movement of deals. To add a new lead or change the status of a deal, you just need to drag and drop the desired element. The system is ideal for small and medium-sized businesses that want to systematize all information, improve conversions, and also see a forecast for future sales.

This CRM has a visual sales funnel, where all deals are displayed in the form of cards. Sales managers can change the stages of deals and see the status of each customer. This allows you to understand at what stage each customer is and decide what the next step for the manager should be in order to bring them closer to the purchase. To do this, you can send email newsletters, chatbot messages, or SMS. Sales managers can also be more proactive and call customers when necessary.

Thanks to automation, most customer interaction processes do not require significant human intervention. The platform allows you to create automatic triggers and actions: for example, when a deal moves to a new stage, the service sends a letter to the client, adds a task, or informs the manager. Thanks to the built-in calendar and the Smart Scheduler function, you can schedule meetings with clients, which allows you to avoid wasting unnecessary time on long correspondence that often does not bring the desired result. The client sees the available time and chooses the best time for him from all available options. In addition, the platform allows you to register calls, notes, and reminders directly in the system.

Pipedrive integrates with all popular platforms, including Gmail, Outlook, Zoom, Trello, Slack, Zapier, Mailchimp, Google Workspace, and many more, ensuring efficient communication with your customers.

Price: Pipedrive doesn’t offer a free plan, but there is a 14-day free trial. Paid plans start at around $100 per month for lead management, calendar and sales funnel, AI-powered reporting, and over 500 integrations.

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM is a flexible cloud-based platform that helps businesses of all sizes manage their customer relationships. It helps you attract new customers, build strong relationships with existing customers, and improve your marketing campaigns with analytics and automation. Their CRM is easily customizable to your needs and requirements: you can change fields, build your own sales funnels, and add automation. And best of all, you don’t need to know how to code. The intuitive interface doesn’t require any special experience or knowledge.

With this platform, you will have full control over your sales funnel. It allows you to create, track, and optimize the entire customer journey, from the first contact to the moment of purchase. All sales stages are in a convenient visual format before your eyes, so you can easily understand potential revenue and decide what and where your team is doing wrong. As a result, you will be able to find where your team is losing customers and prevent such a scenario in the future.

With Zoho CRM, you can create automated scenarios. For example, when a lead fills out a form, the system automatically sends an email to that lead, creates a new task for the manager, and adds the contact to the appropriate list. This way, your team can move on to more complex tasks and prevent the risk of human error.

You’ll find all the integrations you need to seamlessly communicate with your customers. The platform easily integrates with Zoho’s own tools, such as Zoho Campaigns, Zoho Books, Zoho Desk, Zoho Projects, as well as popular third-party services — Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Mailchimp, WhatsApp, Google Ads, Shopify, and more.

Price: Zoho CRM offers a free plan and allows you to add up to 3 users. The price for paid plans starts at around 450 UAH per month per user.

Monday.com CRM

Monday.com CRM is designed for companies that want to streamline and systematize all their business processes. It helps you not only store all your customer information, but also automate any workflows. This includes marketing, sales, and customer support. You can use this system regardless of the size of your business, as it is suitable for everyone. The platform is very easy to use, so you can easily understand how everything works and set up the system for your team.

Using the platform, you can visualize all stages of sales in the form of convenient boards. Thus, you see each deal as a card that you can easily move between stages, add tags, dates, contacts, comments or tasks. All the contacts you have on these cards are securely and centrally stored in the database. You can see the history of interactions, add notes, documents and more in order to maximize personalization of communication with the client and increase the possibility of conversion.

You can always use ready-made templates for various developments, such as customer management, deal tracking, campaign planning, working with partners, accounting and even after-sales service. Just choose a template and adapt it to your needs, product and business. If you need other tools for communicating with customers, the platform provides all the necessary integrations. It integrates with Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Zoom, Google Drive, Mailchimp, Shopify, HubSpot, Zapier, LinkedIn, Facebook Ads.

The platform has built-in task management. This means that each member of your team clearly understands their tasks, deadlines, meetings and priorities. This significantly improves the efficiency and productivity of your team, as each person completes the assigned tasks. The system also helps you track key indicators: sales volume, manager efficiency, lead sources and much more. The information is always updated, so you see an up-to-date picture of all your business processes.

Price: The platform offers a free plan with access to unlimited contacts and sales funnels. Prices for paid plans start at 500 UAH per month for 1,000 active contacts and deals, 1 custom dashboard, and 5 columns per board.

So, to choose the right CRM for your business, you first need to understand what goals you want to achieve. Each of the proposed platforms is good in its own way, but you need to find your ideal solution. For example, if you are looking for a multi-channel platform that will help you communicate with customers on different channels and monitor transactions, then SendPulse will be your ideal solution. If you are just starting to develop your business and need a free CRM, then try HubSpot. Pipedrive is suitable for both small and large teams that love visual reports.

If all the data is stored in the system, you can guarantee that no client is left without your attention. You can always test several services using their free plans to understand which CRM best suits your needs.