The Top 5 Best CRM Software for Small Business

Are you using a customer relationship management (CRM) software?

A CRM is kind of like a digital black book for your business, a receptionist and a marketer all rolled into one. CRMs can improve the efficiency of your business and also help bring leads to close.

We recently surveyed our clients and found out that 56% of you aren’t using a CRM!

I never could have grown PostcardMania to what it is today without one! They are ESSENTIAL.

Want to know which CRMs I think are the top 5? Read all about it and my latest announcement…

Before computers, spreadsheets, and advanced software programs, the average office worker used paper to organize their contacts – even thousands of names, phone numbers, and addresses. It’s a good thing we no longer live in the 1950s right?

But surprisingly enough even with loads of access to technology today, many small business owners are still not taking advantage of organizational systems to streamline their leads and customers to initiate communications and close sales.

I did my own internal research recently and was surprised to find that 56% of our clients were not using a customer relationship manager program. Some were still using Excel, Google sheets, or even paper!

The truth is that for some business owners, adding a new software to the mix can be very overwhelming. Setting it up is time consuming and you have to learn a new system. Then you have to train others on it, get using everyone using it as the new routine and it just doesn’t seem worth it. Might you be wrong about the value? Is it possible?

But you have multiple options when it comes to a CRM for small business, and it’s not a walk in the park but it is doable and the payoff is high. There are many on the market that can help you increase revenue and improve relationships with customers.

I decided to compile a top 5 list of the best CRM software for small business if you aren’t already using one – or maybe you are ready to make a switch. Take a look below.

Salesforce

Salesforce has been a longstanding CRM selected by many business owners for decades. Originating in 1999, it has a user-friendly interface. Although it is a solid platform, it is geared more toward large businesses and may not be the best option for someone just starting out.

When it comes to available features, Salesforce has a large library of apps – more than 4,000 – for business owners to browse. After purchasing one for a fee, Salesforce users can access the features the app has to offer within the CRM. Since these apps are not included in the monthly price of using Salesforce, it can get pricey depending on how many apps you buy.

PostcardMania’s division called PCM Integrations has an app within the Salesforce app-exchange that users can access in order to mail postcards to contacts. So if you decide to go with Salesforce, you will still be able to do direct mail marketing in order to increase conversions and nurture customer relationships. After the initial fee for purchasing the app download, you’ll be charged per postcard you mail.

A downside of this CRM besides the additional fees is how the setup can be complex and time-consuming. Some users have also noted that the interface can get cluttered. With so many features, users may also need to contact customer support to help them with the configuration of settings the more apps are added and the more tools are utilized.

This could get complicated and cumbersome for team members. Overall, this is a solid CRM with access to many features, but it could be too expensive for some who want all the benefits of a system without added fees.

PROS:

• Has a very large library of apps – more than 4,000 – for business owners to browse.
• Stable platform with a long, solid history of providing reliable services.
• Has the bandwidth to handle very large amounts of contacts.
• Access to PCM Integrations direct mail API so users can mail postcards with just a couple clicks in the interface.

CONS:

• Not the best option for small companies.
• Dashboard can become cluttered.
• Expensive and has lots of fees.
• Requires a lot of training and support during setup.

COST

Monthly Price: $25/$80/$165/$330/$500 – based on number of users and advanced features

Zoho CRM

The Zoho CRM is a good entry-level CRM for small businesses that are just entering this space. Since the most basic package is free, business owners can test the waters and see if they like it before expanding with the system.

There’s also a 30-45-day money-back guarantee for additional peace of mind. If business owners want to add more automated features and marketing processes to the platform, they will have to pay money to upgrade. The highest tier offers access to hundreds of apps and AI features.

Based on positive reviews of the system, Zoho CRM is easy to use and offers seamless integration of third-party apps such as Mailchimp, Google Analytics, and QuickBooks.

Zoho CRM can also be downloaded to a cell phone so that users have quick access via their app to leads, notes, and deals. They can also call contacts right from their phone via the app.

While Zoho CRM is a strong and seamless CRM to start off with, it can get expensive depending on how many people are using it. The highest level is $40 a month per user.

Zoho CRM also has limited marketing capabilities, and no direct mail marketing integration at all. There is social media marketing, email marketing, webinars, and surveys, but overall it is very limited with how much marketing you can do to increase leads and close rates.

PROS:

• Easy to use.
• A good option for small businesses seeking an entry-level system for the first time.
• Includes seamless integration of third-party apps like Mailchimp and Quickbooks.

CONS:

• Does not offer direct mail integration and has other limitations in regards to available marketing connections.
• Can get pricey depending on how many people are using the system.
• Additional fees for upgrades.

COST

Monthly Price: Starts at $57 a month and increases to scale as users and features are added.

Hubspot’s Smart CRM

Launched in 2007, Hubspot has been a marketing leader, making campaign management easier for small to medium-size businesses. Since they started out primarily with management tools for social media, content marketing, email marketing among other channels, they decided to create their own CRM in 2014.

Adding a CRM platform for small business to the mix made it quite easy for Hubspot subscribers to expand their integrated marketing campaigns by uploading all of their prospect and customer contact lists for a seamless sales funnel.

Hubspot has its own marketing tools, but it can also integrate with over 100 different applications and third-party programs. It also has extensive analytical tools allowing businesses to follow-up with leads based on website visits, social media interactions and more.

While Hubspot offers many capabilities for marketing management and prospect/customer follow-up, their CRM can get difficult to scale because of pricier top-tier plans. Live support from customer service agents are also not available to all users, making it more difficult for users to get the help they need in real time.

Since Hubspot was a content marketing management company first and a CRM software developer later, they hit the nail on the head in some areas better than others. Contact organization is more of an added feature than a primary function like its competitors Salesforce and Zoho.

Direct mail marketing is available through third-party integrations with Postalytics, PostGrid, and Postal. With so many marketing channels and analytical features available Hubspot stands as a solid investment for businesses if they can afford the hefty costs. Only the most expensive packages include these marketing capabilities as opposed to Salesforce which charges an additional fee per application ad-on.

PROS:

• Is a leader in automated marketing and management tools making it easier to plan and schedule different types of advertising.
• Includes high-level analytical tools to oversee and track performance.
• Dashboard is user friendly.

CONS:

• Live support is only available in the top tiers which are more expensive.
• Only the highest tier packages include the most applications and integrated marketing capabilities severely limiting small businesses.
• Contact management is more of an afterthought than a primary function.

COST

Monthly Price: Starts at $20 a month and increases to scale as users and features are added.

Monday CRM

Monday’s CRM strikes a good balance between offering small businesses basic functionality and a complex, enterprise-scale solution. At it’s entry level, the system is easy to use and flexible enough to scale as your business grows. Similar to Salesforce and Zoho, you can add applications as you need them.

The Monday CRM does a good job of providing workflows for teams to streamline follow-up in order to bring leads to close. You can also customize dashboards to see deals in real time.

When it comes to marketing, Monday offers email marketing templates which help sales staff message leads easier. If users run into any issues, there is a large library of online resources, a community forum, and dedicated page for help inside the app.

You do have access to direct mail marketing, but there are limitations for designs and templates based on the particular app you select to integrate. Monday CRM offers different app integrations than its competitors which could be a positive or negative depending on your preferences.

However personalized dedicated customer support is limited since reps do callbacks and aren’t available 24-7.

The Monday CRM also allows outside users to collaborate on teams, making the platform more friendly for projects that require freelancers or other outside partnerships.

Monday does not have a free plan option, but it does give a 14-day free trial. Fourteen days isn’t really enough time to use it enough to make a decision. It also has limitations on users since they are grouped into specific amounts of 3, 5, 30, 40, 50, 100, or 200 plus users. So if you have 110 people that need to access the CRM, you’ll have to pay for the 200 option or cut out 10 people to save on cost.

PROS:

• Is a great entry-level system for small businesses that want to grow. System can easily scale up.
• Dashboards are customizable.
• Allows outside users to collaborate on projects.
• Includes email templates to make follow-up easier.

CONS:

• Short trial period and no free option.
• Packages are grouped into specific numbers of users which hinders budgeting options.
• Customer support is not available 24-7 and requires call backs.

COST

Monthly Price: There is a free option for 2 users. Cost goes up as more users are added from $9/$12/$19 and more.

PCM Nurture

PostcardMania’s PCM Nurture is one of the newest CRM platforms to hit the market and the benefit is that it has capabilities many other CRMs do not have. My company is an established direct mail marketing leader in the nation and has helped more than 121,975 business owners increase their revenue with mailers.

I decided it was time to expand our offerings to our clients by giving them an easy-to-use system that can automatically mail postcards to prospects and customers for follow-up or important announcements or events.

While PCM Nurture is distinguished because it’s connected to our fast and reliable mail facilities, business owners can also use text and email for follow-up too, making it a one-stop shop for their communication needs.

Our CRM system automatically follows up with new leads via email, SMS, and direct mail creating more revenue for your business effortlessly. You can add as many users as you like with no extra fees.

How it Works:
PCM Nurture connects to your website, or any system that is generating leads for your business and automatically funnels your leads through a customized follow-up system, including email marketing and SMS messages. You can easily track where any lead is at in your sales process.

Our set it and forget it email follow up system allows you to create custom emails for your business and send them automatically to every new lead that comes in, increasing close rates exponentially.

Our system also allows you to set an optional SMS follow up message to all new leads, giving prospects the opportunity to buy from you however is most convenient for them.
PROS:

• You have one inbox for all messaging channels in order to easily manage all prospect conversations.
• Direct mail campaigns are fast and reliable since PCM Integrations has an in-house printing facility overseen by quality control managers.
• Postcards, letters, emails, and other messages can be fully customized.
• Automate Google reviews to increase ratings online.
• Super low cost and affordable for small businesses.

CONS:

• Honestly we think it’s the best option on the market today — we’re even offering a year-long trial for FREE. So try it for yourself and if you spot any cons, let us know!

Main Features:
Automated Direct Mail
Email Marketing
SMS (text)
Reputation Management
Sales Pipeline
Smart Calendar
Landing Pages
Forms & Surveys
Facebook Messenger
Invoicing
Social Media Planner
Live Chat

Trying PCM Nurture is free for the first 12 months so you can see if you like the system. We have a team of marketing experts to help you get the most out of the CRM and answer any questions you have about how to use it. System installation and training is also 100% zero cost. And by the way – its GoHighLevel – so the system performance is reliable and seamless.

COST

Set-up Fee: No fees

Monthly Price: No monthly cost and no set-up fees. You are only charged for the postcards or letters you mail.

If you have questions about our CRM, PCM Nurture, please let us know at 1-800-628-1804! Or, you can email me directly at joy.gendusa@postcardmania.com.

Best,

Joy