The Best CRM for Small Businesses in the UK

Considering that your customers are this valuable, it's vital that you properly manage their data. The problem is that this can get quite complicated. Sure, for one, two, maybe 20 customers this information and data can be easily managed using a spreadsheet or similar tools. However, multiply that number by 10, 20, or even more, and managing your customer data becomes exponentially more challenging.

For this reason, it's vital that you use a CRM in your business. It will help you improve your business processes and manage your customer data easier. Ultimately, you’ll then be able to serve your customers better and meet their expectations.

The problem is that there are so many CRM solutions available on the market, that it might be difficult to choose the right one for your specific needs and requirements.

Fortunately, we’re here to help. In this post, we’ll look at the best CRM for small businesses in the UK in more detail and hopefully guide you to choosing the right one for your business.

What is a CRM?

Simply put, CRM stands for customer relationship management. So, CRM software, or as commonly referred to as just a CRM, is software that's designed to manage the relationships you have with your customers. As such, you'll be able to use a CRM to track all your interactions and data about your customers.

This data is then stored in a central database and is available across your entire business. For this reason, a CRM can help you streamline your sales processes, improve your marketing, enhance your customer service and even make accounting easier.

What are the benefits of using a CRM?

Now that we've looked at what CRMs are, let's consider some of the benefits you’ll enjoy when you use one in your business.

Improved customer service

Considering that CRM software has been designed to improve customer relationships, it's easy to see why this is one of its main benefits. It does this by allowing you to manage your customer data and gather additional customer information like purchase records, interactions, and other relevant information that gives you deeper insights into what your customers want.

Moreover, it makes this information available across your entire business. Ultimately, a CRM enables you to serve your customers better and improve the customer experience and satisfaction.

Improved customer retention

Let's face it, when your customers are more satisfied and you improve the customer experience, your customers will come back for repeat business. Also, with CRM software, you'll be able to improve your customer service efforts after you've made a sale. This, ultimately, allows you to improve your customer retention rates.

Better sales

CRM software can help you streamline your sales processes, analyse sales data, and automate many manual sales tasks. All this means your sales team will be more efficient and productive, which means they'll sell more. And when they sell more, you’ll generate more revenue.

Increased productivity and efficiency

CRM software allows you to automate many of the manual tasks you need to do when it comes to customer data management. Also, as mentioned above, it's able to automate a significant part of your sales processes, and you can use marketing automation within the CRM to improve your marketing. This results in your business being more efficient and your employees more productive.

Improved marketing

With CRM software, you'll be able to segment your audience based on criteria like demographics, income, location, gender, and more. This allows you to provide each segment of your customer base with information relevant to them.

When you're able to do this, your marketing efforts are more likely to convert which means you’ll not only improve your return on investment on your marketing spend but also be able to generate more consistent revenue.

Analytics

Most CRM platforms on the market today have extensive analytics capabilities. This means you'll be able to analyse customer data and gain valuable insights into your customers’ expectations, what products they like, and what marketing messages they prefer. This, in turn, improves the customer journey from the first interaction with you.

Keep in mind, though, these are just some of the benefits of using a CRM in your business and there are many others. The key, however, is that your business will be more efficient, your employees more productive, and you'll be able to generate more revenue.

With that in mind, let’s now look at the best CRMs for small businesses in the UK.

Salesforce

No list of the best CRM's for small businesses would be complete without mentioning Salesforce. Simply put, it's one of the most popular CRM platforms on the market. As such, it includes a variety of tools that can meet the needs of any small business including sales cloud, marketing cloud, analytics cloud, data cloud, community cloud, app cloud, and IoT.

With it, you'll be able to properly manage your contacts, leads and opportunities, analyse your sales and customer data, perform sales forecasts, and do many other tasks that can make your business more efficient.

Features:

• Contact management
• Sales forecasting
• Opportunity management.
• Process Automation.
• Mobile CRM.
• Revenue intelligence.

Pricing:

Pricing for both Sales and Service Cloud starts at € 25 on the Essentials Plan which is specifically designed for small businesses with fewer than 10 users. Pricing goes up to € 25 for the Unlimited Plan with the Professional and Enterprise plans coming in at € 75 and € 150 respectively.

Freshsales

Freshsales understands why customer relationship management is so important for small businesses. It also understands that getting all the tools necessary to effectively manage your business can add up to a hefty sum. That's the reason why they created a free CRM for small businesses.

Despite the platform being free, it's an all-in-one package that combines all the tools any small business might need. The platform gives you the ability to use it without any limitations on the number of users and it provides free 24/5 support through phone, email and chat.

Features:

• Contact management.
• Marketing capabilities.
• The ability to make calls from within the CRM.
• Mobile app.
• Unlimited users and unlimited support.

Pricing:

As mentioned, Freshsales offers a completely free version. Pricing for the other versions start at $15 per user per month for the Growth Plan and goes up to $69 per month per user per month for the Enterprise Plan.

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is focused on sales organisations and promises to improve their sales processes which allow them to close more deals. It gives you the ability to manage leads and deals, track customer communication including emails, and allows you to automate your administrative tasks. It also gives you extensive analytics capabilities that can give you greater insights into your sales processes.

Features:

• Deal and lead management.
• Communication tracking.
• Insights and reports.
• Privacy and security.
• Mobile apps.
• Integrations

Pricing:

Pricing starts at $12.50 per user per month for the Essential Plan and goes up to $99 per month for the Enterprise Plan. The Advanced and Professional plans are also available and priced at $24.90 and $49.90 per user per month respectively.

Zendesk

Zendesk provides a variety of CRM tools for small businesses and the platform prioritises best practices and usability. This ensures that you’ll always know how every feature of the platform works. The platform is also flexible and gives you the ability to integrate it with many other tools you already use which means you can easily adapt to your specific needs and requirements and your workflow.

Features:

• Contact management.
• Customer segmentation and analytics.
• Email automation.
• Lead generation and tracking.
• Sales dashboard.

Pricing:

Pricing starts at $19 per user per month for the Sell Team Plan and goes up to $49 per user per month for the Sell Professional Plan. The Sell Enterprise Plan is priced at $99 per user per month.

HubSpot

Like Salesforce, HubSpot is also one of the most popular CRM solutions on the market today. It includes all the tools you need to manage your customer data and improve your customer experience.

One of its best features is that it stores all data in one database which means that data can be shared seamlessly across your entire business whether it’s in marketing, sales, service, or operations. This ensures a seamless handoff between departments which, in turn, ensures stellar customer journeys.

Features:

• Contact management.
• Contact activity tracking.
• Insights and reporting.

• Document management.
• Contact forms.

Pricing:

Pricing for the CRM Suite starts at $45 per month for the Starter plan and goes up to $5000 per month for the Enterprise plan. The Professional plan is priced at $1600 per month. HubSpot also offers a range of free CRM tools and the ability to buy separate products in the CRM Suite at lower prices. This means you’ll be able to choose the products you need based on your specific requirements.

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM serves as a single hub where you’ll be able to bring your sales, marketing, and customer service operations together in one place. The platform is specifically designed to meet the needs and requirements of any business, no matter how big or small and has all the tools you need to improve your sales, make your business more efficient, and enhance your customer satisfaction.

In fact, the platform promises that, when you use it, you’ll get a 300% increase in lead conversion rates, 27% better customer retention rates, and significant increases in revenue.

Features:

• Contact management.
• Lead management.
• Workflow automation.
• Sales process builder.
• Email automation and marketing.
• Social media marketing tools.

Pricing:

Pricing for the Standard Plan is $12 per user per month, $20 per user per month for the Professional Plan, $35 per user per month for the Enterprise Plan, and $45 per user per month for the Ulitmate Plan. Zoho also offers a free version of its platform that’s perfect for small businesses like freelancers and home businesses.

monday.com

Originally conceived as a project management tool, monday.com is just as effective as a CRM. One of its standout features is that it allows you to customise your CRM solution based on your specific needs and requirements and you’re able to use industry-specific templates and tailor them to your workflows.

Also, because of its origins as a project management tool, it has an intuitive interface that gives you full visibility over all your contacts, leads, and workflows.

Features:

• Contact management.
• Pipeline management.
• Customer tracking.
• Marketing operations.
• Customisable dashboard and templates.
• Workflow automation.

Pricing:

Pricing starts at $8 per user per month for the Basic Plan, with the Standard Plan priced at $10 per month and the Pro Plan priced at $16 per month. The platform also offers a free plan for up to two users and a free trial if you want to try out any of the paid plans.

Nimble

Nimble is a social sales and marketing focused CRM that allows you to store and manage all your contacts, create tasks, manage pipelines, track and manage to-do’s, and much more. With its capabilities, the platform helps you manage and nurture relationships with your customers.

Features:

• Contact management.
• Tasks and calendar.
• Deal and pipeline management.
• Activity tracking.
• Reporting.

Pricing:

Pricing for Nimble is $19 per user per month for the Nimble Business plan.

The bottom line

To build lasting, valuable relationships with your customers, it’s vital that you manage their data properly. To do this, you’ll need the right CRM. Hopefully, this post helped illustrate some of the options available. One of these might just be the best CRM for small businesses in the UK.

Another vital tool you’ll need to ensure the success of your business is accounting services. And that’s where Accountancy Cloud comes in. With our outsourced finance teams for startups, we will get you organised. We’ll help set up your full finance stack for scale, including preferred cash–sweep accounts, payroll, and expense management. We’re your trusted partner.

To learn more about Accountancy Cloud and how we can help you, get in touch with us to discuss your unique needs and requirements.