Updated On: 21 May, 2025
The journey to closing a deal is filled with constant hustle: the endless follow-ups, the late nights, and the race against targets. That’s exactly why businesses today need a Sales CRM – to streamline the entire process for them, ensuring they have fewer things to worry about on those challenging days.
Businesses across the spectrum have adopted CRM systems and witnessed a remarkable 300% boost in conversions. Between now and 2028, the number of businesses adopting a CRM tool is projected to climb by 12% annually. Not only this but for every dollar spent, businesses can expect to get back $30 in returns!
But there’s also a flip slide: 22% of businesses find themselves in search of a new CRM within months of implementation, often because the previous system didn’t meet their expectations or was too difficult to use. The challenge, then, is not just in adopting a CRM but in choosing one that is intuitive and tailored to meet the unique needs of your growing business.
Don’t know where to start? Let us help you there!
A Sales CRM system isn’t just a tool; it’s a catalyst for building lasting customer relationships and streamlining sales processes.
With the help of this system, you can track and manage clients at every step of their buying journey, centralize sales operations, and win maximum opportunities.
From lead management to workflow automation and data analytics, robust sales software offers many different functionalities to help business owners closely monitor where the business is heading.
What sets a Sales CRM apart is its capacity to personalize interactions at scale, making every customer feel valued. The right CRM combines powerful features with simplicity, ensuring it enhances, rather than complicates, your sales process.
Let’s talk about its benefits in detail!
Sales CRM is at the heart of every business today. Recent stats suggest that 91% of companies with more than 11 employees have already integrated a CRM system into their current workflow. For it to be this popular and widespread, there has to be an amazing set of benefits attached with it.
Looking at its most basic benefits, you’ll see that it saves time and can exponentially increase sales and return on marketing investment.
Other than that a Sales CRM tool can also help you:
Plus it can help improve your revenue engine by:
It doesn’t matter whether you want to expand your portfolio by adding new products or services, or you want to expand your business to new geographies, or streamline your sales process for better productivity – sales software can help you scale with ease.
Interested in taking your growing business to the next level with the #5th Easiest to Use CRM? Sign up for a free CRM trial to learn how our small business CRM can help you be more productive. You can even Schedule a Demo to talk to our sales experts today!
Small business owners often convince themselves, “I have access to prime enterprise technology like spreadsheets, email, and such. I don’t need to change my technology ecosystem when my current tech stack works fine.”
We often miss that such a varied technology stack consumes much time, binding salespersons to admin tasks more than tasks that affect the bottom line, i.e., sales.
On the other hand, a robust CRM tool brings all data into one unified system, freeing time for the sales team to focus on sales.
Features unique to Kylas –
Organizations often rely on the CRM vendor for customizations or hire consultants to implement the same.
Both options cost extra and take significant time to implement and process audits. Small & Growing Businesses cannot afford to invest as much time and resources to implement a bulky ‘customized’ CRM that may not fit their needs best.
User Access control helps the account owner or system administrator to control data access based on user role, allowing access to critical information like customer data and sales data analytics only to a limited few.
Data fields and entities represent the customizable backbone of the CRM, allowing businesses to tailor their sales pipeline and customer management practices to align with established workflows and industry-specific terminologies. This customization ensures that the CRM system not only reflects the unique aspects of the business but also enhances operational efficiency by streamlining sales processes.
User control and tailored data fields offer a dual advantage: safeguarding critical information while providing a flexible and efficient tool for managing sales and customer relationships.
A good CRM shares integrations with all the popular business apps.
It could be with tools that you might already be using and you will need to be integrated with your sales CRM software for small business for seamless functioning-
Workflow Automation of specific processes reduces time spent on admin tasks. It improves data collation like auto-lead capture, auto-segregation by source, and one-click conversion of leads to contacts, deals, and companies.
So, look for a sales CRM with a full-stack feature set that offers customization in all the aforementioned verticals. Other than that, saving on additional cost and time and customizability along with a full-stack feature set helps:
Small business owners face unique business challenges. These challenges limit their ability to make the same choices that any enterprise can. Various CRM options in the market today cater to the needs of both enterprise and growing businesses.
Before investing in sales software for small business, carefully examine all the factors. Choose a solution that is designed for Small Businesses like yours and is best suited to your requirements.
The case with Kylas – Unlike other CRMs, Kylas Sales CRM software does not need consultants to customize data fields and user control, making the platform easy to use and sustainable. Here’s a testimonial from Shibani Thakur, Owner waterapp.in.
The platform ensures that all businesses get software integration and workflow automation support.
In the coming months, we will release workflow automation and integration options, like Gmail integration, WhatsApp Business integration, and much more.
Our in-house technical team is here to help provide you with a full-stack feature set to help you scale easily.
Most sales CRM software for small business offers confusing pricing plans with multiple variations and support options for each.
Investing in a CRM is not a minor decision, as it will be a recurring cost for any business.
Most Sales CRM tools come with a per-user cost; growing businesses must shell out increasing amounts toward the license cost as the team size increases.
As a result, small business owners decide to restrict the number of users/licenses, and only a few organization members can then access the tool.
This results in a lack of collaboration as most team members don’t have access to the data and conversations on the tool.
The case with Kylas – Kylas Sales CRM packages for small businesses cost INR 12,999/month.
Unlike other CRMs, Kylas doesn’t restrict user limits, so you pay the same no matter how many users you bring to the platform.
Moreover, from a cost perspective, the more users you bring to Kylas, the more the CRM price per user becomes much more affordable.
Most businesses are unaware of what to look for before finalizing a CRM tool. But trust us when we say this, you need to be equally aware of what you do not need in sales software for small business.
Here are a few red flags you should look out for when purchasing a sales CRM tool.
Watch out for too-good-to-be-true pricing. Lower prices do not always mean more value!
Imagine this; after months of research, you finally shortlist a CRM. It’s perfect for your use case, solves all your sales-related problems, and fits your budget nicely. However, you quickly discover that you may have to pay extra for setup, implementation, and features you didn’t initially think you needed.
Small business owners often get misled when evaluating CRM features and comparing vendors. They look out for systems with more features for lower prices without understanding the context of the business value they can offer.
While many growing businesses relate to value for money to TOC (total cost of ownership), it is rather ROI that they should focus on.
With an understanding of these aspects, the odds of falling prey to the wrong CRM vendors are slim.
Reliable CRM vendors routinely update their products to eliminate bugs and add improved features. They roll out these updates to make their systems more intuitive and useful for end users. Latest updates mean that the vendor invests in innovation and is willing to go that extra mile to make its solution more user-focused.
Editor’s note: Regular feature updates do not usually mean significant changes. In fact, for a SaaS tool like a CRM, regular updates are mostly small or rather digestible changes that do not require much of a learning curve.
60% of businesses say their productivity improved by using a CRM platform. Then, why do 40% of salespersons still rely on traditional methods like Excel?
The answer is simple. Some CRM systems are challenging to use, period. Most teams give up on CRMs within a few months of usage. This creates more problems for businesses as now they have to pay for a tool their teams no longer use, and their data is still scattered in different places.
Growing businesses need more support than enterprises when it comes to adopting tech. A reliable Sales CRM provider will support you at every step of the way with:
Editor’s note: Also, look out for CRM vendors who claim to be available for their customers all day, every day. In reality, only a few CRM providers offer this. If 24/7 support is a dealbreaker for you, have a word with your sales representative on this.
The narrative around a brand and the general perception of the product is a reliable indicator of the value it creates. If a brand has a negative reputation online, it is a big red flag!
Why does it matter? Have you ever purchased a product online without seeing its reviews and ratings? Exactly!
While a compelling backstory or a great website can offer you a great head start when selecting a CRM vendor, there are other factors that you must consider. From security breaches to privacy policies and software bugs, you should look out for a consensus about a product before even considering it for your final selection list.
Look for both positive and negative indicators, weigh them against one another, and make the right choice!
While all these features, customizability, and affordability are great, small business sales applications need more support to compete with the biggest and the best.
Small businesses need more than sales CRM software to scale and thrive in a highly competitive market.
Small business owners find their businesses at the back of the queue as CRM vendors prioritize large-ticket accounts when needing support.
While this might make business sense for the CRM vendor, it does not augur well for small businesses.
Small businesses need to be given higher priority regarding technical and business assistance. ‘Time is money for small businesses, and they don’t have either to waste.
This is the result of growing businesses getting the support they need!
Better customer engagement, better sales productivity, and faster business growth.
The case with Kylas – Kylas offers only one premium plan. This means that there are zero chances of choosing one customer over another.
What this means is no matter the company size or industry, a level playing field is provided to all small and growing businesses.
Small business challenges come in many shapes and sizes. And the lack of access, or affordability, to business consultants is one of the most significant factors in helping small businesses plan better.
Experienced business consultants can help with strategic and tactical planning to help reach business goals coherently based on your unique requirements, your industry, and your product/service.
The case with Kylas – Small businesses cannot afford to hire business consultants. Kylas growth engine offers business expertise from our in-house experts.
They also provide industry best practices, help you understand Kylas Growth Engine, and provide a customized walkthrough and product training, leading to higher adoption and usage rates.
When switching from Excel to CRM, many businesses struggle to get their sales team to use the software.
As Scott Edinger sets the context in this Harvard Business Review article, “…when I ask executives if the CRM system is helping their business to grow, the failure rate is closer to 90%.”
So you need to know if your business is ready for sales CRM software.
If you answer ‘yes’ to 3 or more questions, your business needs a CRM.
But how to ensure that your CRM implementation is successful? Well, a lesser-known fact is that training and onboarding are equally crucial for successful CRM adoption. Find a solution that provides robust training and support, so your team gets onboarded and starts scaling.
Call us biased, but we genuinely believe that we are the #1 choice for growing businesses when it comes to a CRM for sales 😍. Not only is Kylas a powerful and user-friendly platform, but it also offers UNLIMITED User licenses, perfect for businesses that aim to soar high!
With Kylas, you get all premium features at a very competitive cost. From efficient lead management to sales tracking, customer communication, and performance analysis, Kylas has got you covered.
The best part? Kylas has a clear, intuitive interface that’s easy to use and understand. You won’t find any unnecessary features or bloated functionalities that slow you down. Instead, Kylas helps your team get their work done quickly and efficiently, making it the go-to CRM for businesses that actually want their sales teams to use the CRM.
What sets Kylas Sales CRM apart is its commitment to collaboration. With unlimited users and features at a flat cost, all your departments can use CRM to their full potential. The product streamlines workflows enhances team collaborations and ensures that all your data is stored in one centralized location. And if you need to integrate Kylas Sales CRM with popular business apps, no problem – it’s seamless and easy.
Rated highly by critics and users alike, Kylas Sales CRM is the scalable yet affordable solution for small and medium-sized businesses that demand top-notch performance from their sales teams. Rated highly by critics and users alike, Kylas works wonderfully for small and medium-sized businesses that want a scalable yet affordable solution for their sales teams.
Bigin is an all-new CRM for sales by Zoho that is geared toward small and mid-sized businesses. You can think of it as the “Little Brother” to Zoho CRM, with simplicity and functionality as its biggest pro. The product focuses on mobile phones and broadly offers features that small organizations need.
If you want to move away from traditional spreadsheets and do not want a complex CRM for your team, you should go for Bigin. It is perfect for businesses that have simple sales processes and limited budgets. However, if you have more complex needs or plans for growth, Bigin might not be the best sales CRM for small business in the market. That’s because it lacks some of the most crucial features like automated lead routing and report customization.
In addition, Bigin may work just fine for businesses with 1-5 users; for anything more than this, your costs will keep rising. So, if you have plans to scale, you may either have to buy more licenses or migrate to a more advanced CRM solution down the line.
Pipedrive is a sales-focused CRM that caters to both enterprises and small businesses. It stands out because of its simple UI, robust tools, and easy integration. The product helps sales teams and business owners visualize the sales process from start to finish.
Pipedrive assists both the sales and marketing teams, and this deal-driven CRM platform has 4 different pricing tiers to accommodate businesses of all sizes. Of these plans, the essential and advanced are the ones that growing business owners mostly use.
Pipedrive’s system is relatively straightforward, and you can get it up and running quickly without expert help.
As far as the pricing is concerned, Pipedrive charges businesses on the number of users’ licenses. For every user you add, you must pay an additional fee every month. Not only this, but you get fewer features and capabilities if you go for their lower-tier plans.
While Pipedrive’s rich feature set is a plus for departments across the value chain, it is also responsible for making the interface a little too complicated for first-time CRM users. Plus, it won’t be wrong to say that the software comes with a learning curve that can throw CRM novices off track with their usage. Your time will require time and training to familiarize them with the system. If not implemented correctly, productivity will take a hit, eventually affecting your sales.
Leadsquared is an advanced productivity suite that offers various functionalities. Growing businesses can significantly benefit from their integrated marketing, sales, and service capabilities.
LeadSquared offers a range of features that can help small businesses attract, engage, and convert more leads into customers, including lead management, email marketing, landing pages, and analytics. The software also allows businesses to automate many of their sales and marketing processes, which can be particularly beneficial for small businesses with limited resources and who want to streamline their operations as much as possible.
While LeadSquared is a fantastic tool that works excellently across industries, it has its downsides, especially in cost, customization options, and learning curve.
It can be relatively expensive compared to other CRM solutions on the market, particularly for small businesses that require customizations, advanced features, or a large number of users. For small businesses with limited budgets, this can be a significant obstacle.
Additionally, despite its user-friendliness, with Leadsquared you will require some training and time to get fully up to speed. For small businesses with limited IT or tech support staff, this can be a significant challenge.
Hubspot has something for all your customer-facing departments- right from sales to customer support. Through this single platform, businesses can optimize multiple facets of their daily operations.
This expansive feature set is made available at premium pricing, which makes Hubspot an expensive investment. Its lower-priced plan also costs more than the average CRM tool. The per-user pricing makes these costly plans even more demanding in terms of budget. The software caters to small and large businesses by offering different pricing plans. However, a lot of Hubspot’s robust features are reserved only for its higher-priced plans.
Hubspot’s biggest advantage- that it is a unified platform for multiple solutions, is a disadvantage in terms of interface simplicity. Small businesses often lack the resources to arrange specialized CRM training for their teams. They need a solution that is easy to understand and use, and Hubspot will fall short in this respect.
A CRM tool manages and tracks every customer interaction with your brand. It optimizes every part of your business, such as lead management, workflows, integrations with 3rd party tools, etc., to make your operations more efficient and productive.
Here are the different types of CRMs that are available:
Read about the different kinds of CRMs in detail here.
Any business with a sales team can use a sales CRM. However, little do people know that different business departments can use this tool to solve their use cases.
Excel sheets are all good until you have a few hundred entries and a small team working on them. But the trouble starts as your business grows, customer data increases, and more people are added to your team. Chaos and confusion follow.
Here is how CRMs are better than Spreadsheet when it comes to sales process management:
Read this blog to understand why you need to switch to CRM!
While to many, CRM is a strategy that helps manage and maintain customer relationships, in sales, it refers to a system or software that helps businesses manage and nurture their relationships with customers and prospects. It enables companies to store, organize, and analyze customer data, interactions, and behaviors throughout the sales process.
In simpler terms, “CRM” encompasses the broader concept of managing customer relationships across various functions and departments within a business. On the other hand, “CRM in sales” refers specifically to the use of CRM systems and practices within the sales department. You can say that CRM in sales or CRM tool is a subset of CRM, focusing specifically on managing customer relationships and sales-related activities to optimize sales processes and drive revenue growth.
Sales CRM is essential for growing businesses. It streamlines sales processes, enhances customer engagement, and drives revenue growth.
With centralized data, informed decision-making, and improved collaboration, growing businesses gain a competitive edge, optimize sales, and cultivate long-term success.
To know more, check out our blog on ‘How to Select the Right CRM for Your Business.’
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