Best CRM for Small Businesses 2021

After a year that felt like it could never end, it’s time to focus on making 2021 the best it can be. We all faced hardships during 2020, and small businesses were hit especially hard. Optimize your success this year by marketing your business with a customer relationship management CRM that was designed specifically for you. Below we’ve listed our top 5 CRMs for small businesses, considering their pricing, mobility, accessibility, and moderation. 

#1 aNinja is the best CRM for small businesses

At #1 is aNinja, the CRM that was created with small businesses in mind. Their clients have gained a first hand understanding of how aNinja CRM is set apart from others, and lets users individualize their services to their needs. So many other sites are designed for large national scale marketing campaigns, leaving little time to aid the small business owner. 

aNinja successfully meshes all the business and sales tools you need with a functional, practical user interface, therefore creating an exceptional user experience. They include automated email, SMS texting, chatbots, and an iOS and Android mobile app.

aNinja offers email, call, text, personalized chatbots forms, a customizable reporting dashboard, unlimited leads, and so much more at a price that is mindful of a small business’s budget. 

When you sign up for your 7 day free trial, the sales team gives you a full demo to ensure you will be able to maximize the benefits of aNinja 

You can also download their mobile app for connecting with clients when you’re on the go. You can check out more about aNinja here. 

#2 Zoho

Zoho comes in behind aNinja at #2, for its lead management, opportunity tracking, and data analyzation capabilities. It offers its customers a customizable interface and the opportunity to build your own version of their CRM. This software, however, is ideal only for smaller groups because Zoho charges based on the user, so if you plan on having your whole team work on your CRM, this choice would add up quickly. Learn more about what Zoho offers its customers on their website.

#3 HubSpot

We have HubSpot ranked at #3 because it’s easy to use and offers a lot of options to its clients. If the amount of options seems overwhelming, HubSpot offers tutorials and online resources to help you through it. 

HubSpot is also ideal if you’re looking to save time through automation, they centralize your data and information so you don’t have to waste your day digging through your computer or file cabinets for one of your client’s phone numbers. The downside to HubSpot is that it’s premium plans are expensive, and their free version has limited basic features. 

#4 Active Campaign

Active Campaign is  ranked at #4 because it offers a solid range of pricing options and offers an intuitive interface. Active Campaign also allows you to customize your templates so you can easily achieve attractive marketing materials to engage prospective clients. With Active Capaign’s most basic plan, they do not offer sales automation, but do offer it with their more expensive packages. Their CRM isn’t the simplest to maneuver, but if you are able to figure it out Active Campaign can help you achieve beautiful marketing. Check them out here.

#5 PipeDrive

PipeDrive is #5 and ideal because it creates an effective interface by utilizing activity-based sales methods from your company’s data. PipeDrive offers task management tools and online form customization. A downside is they don’t offer automated chat features, which will not benefit your company in generating leads, unless you pay their premium fee. They also don’t differentiate between leads and contracts, which leaves a bit more work for you, but PipeDrive still gets your business pulling in new clients. 

#6 Skipio

If your main goals are to focus on text communication and customer interaction, but don’t need the data and additional information on client leads, Skipio is the service for your small business. Skipio is leading the industry in easy, two way, personable communication with customers. They offer message customization and personalization, as well as scheduled and automated SMS and MMS messaging. The downside to Skipio is that their premium packages are expensive, and do not offer email marketing, chatbots, or CRM tools for their clients. 

#7  Clicksend

Clicksend offers their clientbase a unique pricing package, where you only pay for what you use. No monthly fees, you pay per message you send. This is ideal for a company who needs limited assistance, because paying per message can add up quickly if you are managing a large client base. ClickSend does not offer crm tools, but offers mobile keyword optimization and email marketing tools available. If you know exactly what you need, ClickSend can be a great option, but if you need guidance, be sure to talk through your budget with their customer service team to ensure you are getting the most out of your money. 

#8 Drift

Drift is ranked at #8 for their specialty in conversational marketing. Their sales and marketing teams get the most out of your conversational data and are great at utilizing that information to generate leads. Drift also offers a unique video tool and an easy to use dashboard.

 If you want a wide range of services, keep in mind that Drift does not offer text, call, or facebook communication. This can be limiting for small businesses, as your money is valuable and paying for two different services can add up quickly. However, if you’re content with just focusing on conversational marketing, Drift could be a good option for you. 

#9 Intercom

Intercom is another service that doesn’t offer crm tools, and is ranked right below drift for their conversational marketing tools, but is unable to segment leads. Intercom offers personalized messaging, chats, bots and social media integration, but without crm and contact databases for their clients, to be successful a small business would most likely hire an additional CRM platform to optimize their success with Intercom. 

#10 Keap

As the #10 crm for small businesses, Keap offers a variety of services to their clients. Keap can create lead and contact databases, email and SMS marketing, client scheduling, automation and much more. Your whole team will have access to key information that will optimize the success of marketing your business. 

So, what has Keap ranked at #10? The downside to this site is its initially confusing dashboards and poor customer service. If you aren’t tech savvy, this may be a very difficult site to understand. You can have a Keap team member collaborate with you to set up your dashboard, but this is at an additional cost to their already steep monthly fees.