Help Guide for Do You Actually Need a CRM? Honest Advice for Small Businesses

What Is a CRM?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. At its core, it's a system for tracking your interactions with customers and potential customers.

Basic CRM functions:

• Store contact information
• Track conversations and meetings
• Follow sales opportunities
• Remember to follow up
• See customer history

Advanced CRM functions:

• Marketing automation
• Sales pipeline analysis
• Customer service ticketing
• Forecasting and reporting
• Team collaboration

Do You Actually Need One?

You Probably Need a CRM If:

Multiple people talk to customers

• Need to know what colleagues discussed
• Customers shouldn't repeat themselves
• Handoffs need to be smooth

You have a sales process

• Leads go through stages
• Multiple touchpoints before purchase
• Need to track where deals are

You're losing track of follow-ups

• Promising conversations go cold
• You forget to call people back
• Opportunities slip through cracks

You want to understand your pipeline

• How many leads do you have?
• What's the conversion rate?
• Where do deals stall?

A Spreadsheet Might Work If:

You're solo or tiny team

• Only you talk to customers
• You can remember everyone
• Volume is very low

Sales are simple

• Quick transactions
• No long sales cycle
• Few repeat customers

You're very disciplined

• Actually update the spreadsheet
• Review it regularly
• Don't let it go stale

The Honest Reality

Many small businesses buy CRMs they don't use. The software sits there, data gets stale, and it becomes shelfware.

Before buying, ask:

• Will we actually use this daily?
• Who will keep data up to date?
• What problem are we solving?
• Have we tried simpler solutions?

Types of CRM

Sales-Focused CRMs

Purpose: Track deals through a pipeline, manage sales activities.

Examples: Pipedrive, Close, Salesforce Sales Cloud

Best for: Businesses with defined sales processes, multiple salespeople, longer sales cycles.

Marketing-Focused CRMs

Purpose: Manage contacts, email campaigns, lead nurturing.

Examples: HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp CRM

Best for: Businesses doing significant marketing, content marketing, email nurturing.

All-in-One CRMs

Purpose: Sales, marketing, service, and more in one platform.

Examples: HubSpot, Zoho CRM, Salesforce

Best for: Growing businesses wanting one system, those who'll use multiple functions.

Simple Contact Managers

Purpose: Keep track of contacts and basic interactions.

Examples: Notion databases, Google Contacts, basic tools

Best for: Very small operations, simple needs, tight budgets.

Popular CRMs Compared

HubSpot CRM

What it is: All-in-one platform with generous free tier.

Pricing:

• Free: Core CRM forever (limited features)
• Starter: £15/month/seat (basic automation)
• Professional: £792/month (advanced features)
• Enterprise: £3,000/month

Pros:

• Excellent free tier (unlimited contacts, users)
• Modern, easy to use
• Marketing tools included
• Great for inbound marketing
• Lots of integrations
• Good learning resources

Cons:

• Paid tiers are expensive
• Feature limitations push upgrades
• Can be overwhelming
• Enterprise pricing is steep
• Some features locked to high tiers

Best for: Marketing-driven businesses, those who want free forever, inbound strategies.

Pipedrive

What it is: Sales-focused CRM with visual pipeline.

Pricing:

• Essential: £14/user/month
• Advanced: £29/user/month
• Professional: £49/user/month
• Enterprise: £79/user/month

Pros:

• Very intuitive for salespeople
• Visual pipeline management
• Simple to implement
• Good activity tracking
• Reasonable pricing
• Focused—does sales well

Cons:

• Limited marketing features
• Reporting could be deeper
• Less suitable for service businesses
• Email integration basic on lower tiers
• No free tier (just trial)

Best for: Sales teams, visual thinkers, businesses with clear sales pipelines.

Zoho CRM

What it is: Feature-rich CRM from the Zoho ecosystem.

Pricing:

• Free: 3 users
• Standard: £12/user/month
• Professional: £20/user/month
• Enterprise: £35/user/month

Pros:

• Very affordable
• Lots of features for the price
• Part of broader Zoho ecosystem
• Good customisation
• Free tier for tiny teams
• AI features at lower tiers

Cons:

• Interface less polished than competitors
• Can feel overwhelming
• Support can be slow
• Some features feel dated
• Learning curve

Best for: Budget-conscious businesses, those using other Zoho tools, feature hunters.

Salesforce

What it is: The original cloud CRM—enterprise standard.

Pricing:

• Starter: £20/user/month
• Professional: £60/user/month
• Enterprise: £140/user/month
• Unlimited: £280/user/month

Pros:

• Industry standard
• Extremely powerful and customisable
• Massive app ecosystem
• Scales infinitely
• Advanced features
• Best for complex needs

Cons:

• Complex to set up and use
• Expensive, especially at scale
• Often needs consultants
• Overkill for small businesses
• Steep learning curve

Best for: Larger businesses, complex requirements, those who'll invest in proper implementation.

Notion / Spreadsheets

What it is: DIY CRM using databases or spreadsheets.

Pricing:

• Notion: Free-£8/user/month
• Google Sheets: Free
• Excel: Part of Microsoft 365

Pros:

• Free or nearly free
• Completely customisable
• No vendor lock-in
• Simple for simple needs
• Full control

Cons:

• No CRM-specific features
• No automation
• Manual everything
• Doesn't scale
• No integrations
• Easy to become messy

Best for: Very early stage, testing if you need CRM, extremely simple needs.

Quick Comparison

What Features Do You Actually Need?

Must-Have (Basic CRM)

Contact Management

• Store names, companies, contact details
• Add notes and history
• Search and filter

Activity Tracking

• Log calls, emails, meetings
• Set reminders and tasks
• See interaction history

Basic Pipeline

• Track deal stages
• See what's in progress
• Know what to focus on

Nice-to-Have (Growing Business)

Email Integration

• Log emails automatically
• Send from CRM
• Track opens and clicks

Reporting

• Pipeline value
• Conversion rates
• Team performance

Automation

• Automatic task creation
• Follow-up reminders
• Stage-based actions

Usually Overkill (Unless Specific Need)

Advanced Marketing Automation

• Complex nurture sequences
• Lead scoring
• Multi-channel campaigns

AI Features

• Predictive scoring
• Conversation intelligence
• Deal insights

Advanced Customisation

• Custom objects
• Complex workflows
• API integrations

Common CRM Mistakes

Mistake 1: Buying Too Much

Saleforce Enterprise for a 5-person company. HubSpot Professional when free would work. Paying for features you don't use.

Better: Start with free/basic tier. Upgrade when you hit real limitations, not imagined future needs.

Mistake 2: Not Using It

Buying CRM, using it for a month, then reverting to spreadsheets/email while still paying.

Better: Commit to using it daily before buying. One person should champion adoption.

Mistake 3: Poor Data Quality

Duplicate contacts, missing information, outdated records, inconsistent formatting.

Better: Set data standards from day one. Regular cleanup. Import carefully.

Mistake 4: No Process

Throwing CRM at a team without defining how to use it. Everyone does different things.

Better: Define your sales process first. Then configure CRM to match. Document how to use it.

Mistake 5: Ignoring Integrations

Manually copying data between CRM and email, calendar, accounting, etc.

Better: Connect tools that should talk to each other. Automate data flow where possible.

Mistake 6: Expecting Magic

Thinking CRM will fix bad sales habits or create processes that don't exist.

Reality: CRM is a tool. It supports good processes; it doesn't create them.

Making the Decision

For Freelancers/Solo

Try first: A simple spreadsheet or Notion database.

If that fails: HubSpot Free or Zoho Free (3 users).

You probably don't need a paid CRM unless you're managing dozens of active opportunities.

For Small Sales Teams (2-10)

Good starting point: Pipedrive Essential or HubSpot Free/Starter.

Consider Zoho if budget is tight.

Key question: Do you have a defined sales process to put in the CRM?

For Marketing-Driven Businesses

Good starting point: HubSpot (leverage free marketing tools).

Consider ActiveCampaign if email marketing is primary.

Key question: Do you need marketing automation or just contact management?

For Growing/Complex Businesses

Consider: HubSpot Professional, Salesforce, or Zoho Enterprise.

Key question: What integrations do you need? What can you invest in implementation?

Implementation Tips

Start Simple

1. Import existing contacts (clean them first)

2. Set up basic pipeline stages

3. Connect email and calendar

4. Define one or two required fields

5. Use it for everything for 30 days

Get Buy-In

• Involve salespeople in choosing
• Show what's in it for them
• Make it easier than alternatives
• Lead by example
• Review data together

Build Habits

• Update CRM before end of each day
• Log every customer interaction
• Use tasks and reminders
• Review pipeline weekly
• Celebrate wins tracked in CRM

The Bottom Line

A CRM is useful when you have:

• More customers than you can remember
• A sales process with multiple stages
• Multiple people talking to customers
• A commitment to actually using it

Without those, you're buying software you won't use.

Start with free options (HubSpot, Zoho, or even a spreadsheet). Graduate to paid when you hit real limitations. The best CRM is the one your team actually uses—not the one with the most features.

If a simple system keeps data current and helps you follow up, it's doing its job. Complexity can come later.