How Women Business Owners Are Using Artificial Intelligence
Written by Lesa Seibert, NAWBO National Board Secretary, member of NAWBO Kentucky and CEO of Mightily
The intersection of artificial intelligence and public policy has been at the forefront this past year since President Biden issued an executive order on AI that provides entrepreneurs with access to technical assistance and resources, among other things. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer followed up the executive order with a series of AI Insight Forums to discuss the intersection of AI and innovation, workforce and intellectual property issues. As the governance of AI continues to take shape in the U.S. and around the globe, it is essential that policymakers take into account its benefits to women business owners.
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AI is emerging as a powerful tool to level the playing field for women entrepreneurs. From enabling informed decisions to streamlining business operations, AI is proving to be a game-changer for women entrepreneurs in terms of running and growing their businesses. Indeed, a survey by Constant Contact found 91 percent of respondents said AI has made their companies more successful, and more than a quarter (28%) of those respondents expected it to save them at least $5,000 over the next year.
Women business owners have historically faced a unique set of challenges, including limited access to capital, markets and opportunity. For example, a survey commissioned by NAWBO in partnership with Intuit QuickBooks found almost half of respondents said extra funding would have the greatest impact on their business today, if they could get it.
But AI has the potential to disrupt these barriers and open up new pathways to success. Women business owners can use AI-powered tools to save time and money, an invaluable commodity when juggling a business and family life. AI can streamline and automate basic tasks such as inventory management, invoicing, social media, financial management, and marketing, leaving women business owners with more resources to focus on growing their businesses. Tools like Notion allow women business owners to centralize all their work in one place, manage projects and optimize processes. Others like Planful help women business owners run certain financial aspects of their business, from finance and accounting to sales and marketing.
One of NAWBO’s top priorities is ensuring that women business owners both have access to and are knowledgeable about tools to grow successful businesses, including AI. During our 2024 NAWBO Days event in Washington, DC in June, we asked NAWBO members to raise their hands if they were using AI, and nearly every hand in the room went up. This tells us it’s no longer a matter of will they use AI, but how will they use it, and how can we ensure that they can continue to leverage it for their businesses as AI continues to evolve?
Women are already using AI to streamline and enhance productivity in their daily operations. While AI presents an opportunity to reduce the hiring squeeze, there is also the risk of worker displacement. AI must be implemented alongside workforce training/reskilling to ensure that workers can remain competitive in the labor market. NAWBO members have consistently ranked recruiting and hiring skilled workers as a top challenge they face.
AI platforms are also helping women business owners make informed business decisions with data-driven insights. AI is capable of quickly analyzing large sets of data and identifying patterns that a human might miss. Women business owners can use this capability to optimize inventory, price products, or identify customer preferences—all without the need for deep technical expertise.
Additionally, women business owners are utilizing AI platforms to navigate global markets. Language translation, cultural insights and market analysis provided by AI are helping women business owners tap into international opportunities that were once difficult to access. For example, research has shown eBay’s machine translation service to have increased exports on the platform by 10.9 percent. Importantly, the International Trade Commission has found small businesses that export have higher total revenue growth and outperform those that do not.
The dismantling of traditional barriers, alongside the adoption of entrepreneur-supportive practices such as open-source programming, has carved out fresh opportunities for female entrepreneurs. Open-source programming is provided at no cost by a range of organizations including corporations, nonprofit entities and governmental bodies. This approach empowers women entrepreneurs to develop innovative products, add value and address contemporary challenges through their distinct viewpoints. For instance, the female-led startup Evidently AI, hailing from San Francisco, is at the forefront of this movement, creating an open-source tool designed to assess, identify and rectify problems within machine learning models.
In conclusion, AI is playing a pivotal role in empowering women business owners by enhancing decision-making, offering resourceful solutions and unlocking new possibilities. It is incumbent upon policymakers to nurture this trajectory by extending training, resources and bolstering the support ecosystem for women embarking on the path of AI integration in business.
Photo courtesy of Karianne Munstedt
Lesa Seibert is the 2024-2025 NAWBO National Board Secretary and CEO of Mightily. Mightily, founded in 2013 and based in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the region’s preeminent digital-first branding and advertising agencies and provides full-service support to local, regional and global brands in the areas of web development and technology, branding and creative services and media buying, strategy and ongoing management. She is a speaker on the topics of branding, marketing, business strategy and economic development.
7 Best-Performing AI Stocks for August 2024
AI stocks have seen tremendous growth in 2024. NVIDIA in particular has hogged much of the spotlight for its massive spike in value, briefly overtaking Apple and Microsoft in June 2024 to become the world’s most valuable company.
However, in recent weeks, there’s been some speculation that the hype around AI may be overblown, or that geopolitical issues could stymie semiconductor development that’s critical to AI’s success. Indeed, NVIDIA’s time at the top was short-lived, and by late July, its market cap had fallen below $3 trillion (and back below Apple and Microsoft) [0].
But for those who believe in the long-term applications of AI, price pullbacks may merely be buying opportunities, as some analysts have indicated [0].
7 best-performing AI stocks
Here are the seven best-performing stocks in the Indxx Global Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index, ordered by one-year returns. This list is updated weekly.
Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc
Source: Finviz. Data is current as of Aug. 14, 2024, and is for informational purposes only.
NVIDIA Corp (NVDA)
NVIDIA started working on 3D graphics for multimedia and gaming companies in 1993. The company also began creating AI applications all the way back in 2012. Today, NVIDIA continues to be at the forefront of AI and is developing software, chips and AI-related services.
SoundHound AI Inc. (SOUN)
SoundHound AI creates voice-based AI products, such as a voice assistant for restaurants that allows customers to place orders, ask about hours and create reservations. In addition to the food service industry, SoundHound creates products for the automotive and hospitality sectors as well. The company boasts an impressive client list, including Hyundai, Pandora, KrispyKreme, White Castle, Toast and Square.
Procept BioRobotics Corp (PRCT)
Procept BioRobotics creates medical robotics solutions for urology. The company offers two robotics systems, Aquablation therapy, which offers an alternative to surgery, and AquaBeam, a heat-free robotic therapy to treat symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia.
What are AI stocks?
AI stocks are shares of companies that work in the artificial intelligence space. There are many applications for AI, and thus a large variety of AI stocks: Some AI companies create voice recognition software. Others create pilotless aircraft.
According to Haydar Haba, the founder of Andra Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in AI companies there are several publicly traded companies that have substantial AI interests and are poised to benefit from the growth of the industry.
AI stocks tend to fall into one of two categories: blue-chip technology companies that have invested in or partnered with AI developers, and small, experimental companies that are completely focused on AI development.
Shares of small AI developers might seem like the most “direct” investments in AI, but Michael Brenner, a research analyst who covers AI for FBB Capital Partners, says they’re not necessarily the best AI investments.
“Large language models require a tremendous amount of data and a huge amount of capital to put together,” Brenner says.
Brenner notes that small companies may develop innovative new models on their own, but eventually they will have to partner with a bigger company that has more infrastructure in order to run those models at a commercial scale.
“So far, we’re sticking with more of the mega-cap tech companies,” Brenner says, referring to FBB Capital Partners’ AI portfolio.
How to invest in AI stocks
If you’re very new to stock trading and want to invest in AI stocks, the first step is to open a brokerage account.
From there you’ll need to decide what kind of AI stock exposure you want. Individual AI stocks can potentially offer high returns, but require taking on a lot of risk, upfront expense and research work.
Another option is to invest in AI stocks via pooled exchange-traded funds that focus on AI.
How to find AI ETFs
Haba said investors can also get exposure to AI stocks through exchange-traded funds that invest in a basket of companies involved in AI development and implementation.
There are several AI stock indexes — like the Indxx Global Robotics & Artificial Intelligence Thematic Index and the Nasdaq CTA Artificial Intelligence & Robotics Index — which are tracked by ETFs.
You can also find AI ETFs in an ETF screener by searching for “artificial intelligence,” “machine learning” or “AI,” but make sure to thoroughly research any ETF you find this way.
Some ETFs that have “AI” in their name invest in AI-linked companies. But others are diversified ETFs that use AI-powered trading, and are not necessarily invested in AI stocks.
Could we be in an AI bubble?
In early 2023, some small companies have seen rapid increases in their stock prices after being mentioned in any kind of AI-related news. In January 2023, for example, BuzzFeed (BZFD) saw its stock price soar more than 85% the day after the publication of a news report about a partnership with OpenAI to develop an AI-powered article writer.
Haba said that there are some signs investors may be overenthusiastic about the potential of AI right now.
“AI has been used as a buzzword to drive share price premiums, but companies have not always demonstrated usage of cutting-edge techniques,” he said.
“In the private markets, we are seeing hundreds of millions of dollars flow into ‘AI’ companies that have no product market fit. While investors are justifying such investments based on growth potential, it remains unclear whether that potential can or will ever be monetized,” Haba said.
Brenner also acknowledges that some individual AI-linked companies have seen their valuations increase sharply without a big change in their business fundamentals.
However, Brenner doesn’t think that the current surge of interest in AI amounts to a bubble, because many indexes of technology stocks are still below their previous highs.
“At macro-level, it’s hard to say we’re in a bubble, because we’re not at an all-time high,” Brenner says.
Should you invest in AI stocks?
Investors should think carefully before buying individual stocks or narrowly focused ETFs. Targeted investments can be riskier than broad investments, such as S&P 500 index funds, which have a long-term average annual return, not accounting for inflation, of about 10%.
One guideline that can help limit that extra risk is to devote no more than 10% of your overall portfolio to individual stocks.
But if you’re financially secure enough to buy individual stocks, Brenner says AI stocks are worth considering.
“I think retail investors should be thinking about how machine learning is going to impact the stocks they own,” he says.
“For individual investors looking at individual stocks in their 401(k)s, if they can weather the volatility of individual stocks, investing in AI-related companies as part of a diversified portfolio could make sense,” Brenner says.
The author owned shares of Alphabet at the time of publication.
Best CRM for small business of 2024
The best CRM for small business makes it simple and easy for small, starter, and family-run businesses to set up and manage a contact platform for customers, staff, and suppliers.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software’s primary goal is to help small businesses foster better relationships with customers. Simple enough. But with so many CRM platforms coming with countless tools and features, it can be hard to know which one meets your small business’ needs.
Our experts have spent hundreds of hours testing some of the best CRM software on the market. Now we have applied our experience and expertise to create this guide, helping you find the best CRM based on the unique needs of your small business.
Our top 3 best CRM for small business
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
The best CRM for small business of 2024 in full:Best overall
(Image credit: Salesforce)
Best for most small businesses, in most cases
Specifications
Price: From $25 per user a month
Free plan: No
Trial: 30 days
Support: Email ticketing and phone
Reasons to buy+
Advanced customization
+
Small business pricing available
+
Long trial period
Reasons to avoid-
Typically more expensive than competitors
–
No free plan available
While Salesforce is perhaps best known as the market-leading CRM giant adept at managing the operations of enterprise-level businesses, it offers solutions for small businesses too.
Providing an all-in-one solution to your sales, service, and marketing needs, Salesforce offers competitive plans for smaller businesses with its Small Business Pricing Solutions. The Essentials package provides both sales and customer service in one simple app for just $25 per user a month. This means smaller businesses can enjoy the power of market-leading CRM at a lower price.
Overall, the Salesforce interface is intuitive and sales-focused, but you can customize features like dashboards and reports to match your business needs and personalize your user experience. The CRM also boasts additional features to streamline your sales and business processes, including internal communication tools like on-screen calls, the easy creation of a client knowledge base, data export, email templates, and third-party tool integration with apps like Slack.
Find out more by reading our full Salesforce Service Cloud review.
Best value for money
(Image credit: Freshworks)
Cheapest CRM for small business
Specifications
Price: $9 per user a month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 21 days
Support: Phone and email (Mon–Fri)
Reasons to buy+
Free plan available
+
Clear, intuitive dashboard
+
Customizable web forms for website data capture
Reasons to avoid-
Limited lead generation tools
–
Limited third-party integrations
Freshsales provides a variety of tools that make it simple for small- and mid-sized businesses to support their clients, understand customer intent, and efficiently convert leads into sales.
A combination of the Freshworks automation software, the Freshsales suite is all-in-one CRM software that unites sales and marketing.
Utilizing the intelligent Freddy AI assistant, the Freshsales provides transparent insights into customer engagement, helping businesses discover leads, close deals, and nurture client relationships. The software also has an intuitive, user-friendly interface on both desktop and mobile, providing fast access to client records and communications.
Third-party tools like Gmail and Outlook are also easily integrated, allowing you to create bulk email templates while monitoring both sent and received communications to prospective clients. Businesses can also utilize the built-in call feature to automatically update client records.
While the CRM is lacking lead generation tools like business card scanners, it provides customizable web forms to capture lead data from your business website—ideal for smaller businesses looking to grow their client base.
Read our full Freshsales review.
Best for ease-of-use
(Image credit: Zoho)
Get to grips with your CRM fast
Specifications
Price: From $14 per user a month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 15 days
Support: Email (Mon-Fri)
Reasons to buy+
Easily integrates with other Zoho tools
+
Great for lead capturing
+
Simple to use
Reasons to avoid-
Paid plans can be pricey
–
Support only available Monday–Friday
Powerful cloud-based CRM software boasting excellent customer management and lead generation tools, Zoho CRM is well-equipped to assist in running a small business.
While the platform is very easy to use, it doesn’t compromise on capability—the software features the ability to search social media and LinkedIn to capture new customer contacts, scan business cards, and provide automated workflows to assist sales teams. Alongside this, you can benefit from reporting, client contact and communication records, website visitor segmentation, and pipeline management.
The main pro to the CRM, however, is the seamless integration with other Zoho tools, including the Zoho sales, marketing, and project management suite, Zoho Invoice, and Zoho Campaigns. Overall, Zoho CRM can be pricey, but with a solid free plan.
Check out our full Zoho CRM review.
Best free
(Image credit: Hubspot)
A great CRM – for free!
Specifications
Price: From $45 for two users a month
Free plan: Yes
Trial : 14 days
Support: Live chat, phone, online meeting
Reasons to buy+
Free-forever plan available
+
Hundreds of app integrations
+
Easy to understand
HubSpot is an ideal CRM solution for small businesses just starting out. While there are several paid plans, you can also get started free of charge with a lightweight yet powerful version of the CRM software.
Users of the free HubSpot CRM can benefit from highly capable client database software to assist in managing and maintaining new leads, with dashboard reporting, company insights, deal tracking, and pipeline management—all of which are portrayed simply via the user-friendly interface.
A wide range of free tools is also at your disposal to organize your customer journey, including email tracking and templates, on-screen calling, and contact management. Plus, you can enjoy integration from over 300 third-party apps like Slack, along with lead-generation software.
If you fancy upgrading from the free plan, both the Sales and Marketing Hubs start at $45 a month for two users, with additional features like task automation notifications and conversation routing included.
Read our full HubSpot CRM review.
Best for sales
(Image credit: Monday)
A dedicated sales CRM for small business
Specifications
Price: From $10 per user per month
Free plan: No
Trial: 14 days
Support: Email, live chat and request a call
Reasons to buy+
Automation of sales processes
+
Email integration
+
24/7 support options
+
Choice of plans
Reasons to avoid-
Three seat minimum
–
Custom automations and integrations limited on a monthly basis
If you’re a sales and marketing leader, Monday Sales CRM is the perfect CRM platform for you. It’s easy to use and has lots of tools to help you manage your customer journey. Plus, you can customize the software to fit your needs. You can send and receive emails, take notes during meetings, and view all your communications on one timeline.
The main feature is managing contacts, which helps you keep track of all your clients and potential clients in one place. Yes, in fact all of your clients as it is unlimited to the number of contacts that you can have so this is a solution that can certainly grow with your business. Plus, you get email support with templates that save you time by automatically filling out personalized emails.
Automation is another great feature that businesses can take advantage of. It can help you create custom workflows to get rid of admin stuff and make communication easier, but you’ll need a plan that’s higher than the basic one. But if you don’t upgrade to a higher plan, you’ll only be able to do 250 activities a month.
Monday CRM has four different plans. Each plan has to have at least 3 seats, so it’s not great for solo businesses as you will have to pay for seats that are unused. There’s no free trial, but you can try it for two weeks and get 18% off if you pay annually.
Read our full Monday Sales CRM review.
Best for Gmail
(Image credit: Streak)
6. Streak CRM for Gmail
Best for existing Gmail and Google Workspace users
Specifications
Price: From $15 per user a month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 14 days
Support: Email, with priority support for Enterprise plans
Reasons to buy+
Built into Gmail
+
Free plan available
+
Simple to import and export data
Reasons to avoid-
Expensive for larger teams
For existing users of Gmail and Google Workspace, Streak is the simplest CRM to incorporate into the daily operations of your small business. It is built directly into Gmail, so you can work from your inbox and enjoy integration with other Google Workspace apps like Sheets, Docs, Drive, and Chat to help keep all your data accessible and in one place.
Streak CRM allows you to track client emails, manage contacts, monitor leads, and keep on top of your sales funnel. You can capture leads directly from your contacts, track and share client interactions, easily import or export data, create custom pipelines, and set tasks and reminders, among other things.
With a forever-free plan offering basic CRM to individual professionals, Streak CRM is highly affordable for single professionals or small teams and businesses. However, it can get pricey if you’re working within a larger team.
Best for user experience
(Image credit: Pipedrive)
Reduce friction with an excellent user experience
Specifications
Pricing: From $10 per user monthly
Free plan: None
Trial: 14 days
Support: Live chat and email
Reasons to buy+
User-friendly interface
+
Cost-effective
+
Customizable sales pipelines
Reasons to avoid-
No free plan
–
Reporting feature needs improvement
–
No phone support
Pipedrive is a popular CRM tool that’s affordable and thus suitable for small businesses with limited budgets. There’s no free plan, which is a drawback, but there’s a 14-day free trial period that you can start without inputting card details.
Pipedrive boasts of being a CRM “designed by salespeople, for salespeople”. True to its claim, you can do many things with this CRM. To start, you can set up your sales pipeline with ease; you may build a new template or use an existing one. Afterward, you can add deals to the pipeline or import them from a CSV spreadsheet. After adding the deals, you can always monitor the progress up until the deal closes.
You can set up automatic alerts and reminders on Pipedrive to keep you on top of the deals. If a deal closes, the platform will automatically update your sales forecast to reflect it. Like many modern tools, Pipedrive incorporates some aspects of artificial intelligence that lets users automate mundane sales tasks.
This CRM is good for collaboration, so you can set up accounts for your staff to work together to close sales deals. As the administrator, you can always monitor their progress and remind them if they’re falling behind. You can create web forms using Pipedrive and embed them on your website to gather leads. The platform provides form templates designed by professionals, which you can edit to fit your tastes.
Pipedrive gives you detailed reports on your activities or that of your staff. However, we observed a pattern of customer complaints of the reporting features lacking depth and needing improvement.
Read our full Pipedrive CRM review.
Best for project management
(Image credit: Insightly)
Manage project seamlessly
Specifications
Pricing: From $29 per user per month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 14 days
Support: Email and telephone (at extra cost)
Reasons to buy+
Efficient data upload/download
+
Intuitive interface
+
Integrated project management tools
Reasons to avoid-
Extra cost for phone support
–
Needs more customizability
Insightly is a CRM platform that lets you handle all your sales functions. You can create custom workflows for your sales deals and track them as you progress toward closing the deal. You can create or update records and generate tasks for other users within your organization to handle.
You can send emails to your leads and customers right within Insightly because it has integrations with email clients. The platform tracks the delivery of your emails and reports back important data such as open and click-through rates.
As a business owner, you have a great deal of control over what your staff can do on this CRM. You can set special permissions and visibility levels for each user or according to role or department. For example, normal employees may not be able to view detailed sales reports, while executives can.
Another good thing about Insightly is that you can use workflow automation to automate a lot of mundane sales tasks. For example, you can set it to send an automatic email once a lead reaches a specific stage of your deal. You can also automatically update your sales forecast after closing a deal. These are just some examples of how your sales team can save time to be put to better use elsewhere. Creating these workflow automations requires a bit of technical knowledge, but it’s not as complex as typical programming.
What customers mostly highlight about Insightly is its extensive integrations with third-party tools. The platform is second to none in this category. You can link your Insightly CRM profile with many other tools for additional functionality. For example, you can link it to your BambooHR account to sync employee records with corresponding user profiles on Insightly or link it to your Shopify account to automatically capture customer details from your online store and add them to Insightly.
The main drawback we observed is that Insightly charges extra money for phone support, unlike most rivals. Without paying, you’re stuck with email support, which is much slower than phone support.
Read our full Insightly review.
Best for tracking
(Image credit: Workbooks)
Boost sales with advanced tracking
Specifications
Pricing: From $30 per user per month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 30 days
Support: Email and telephone
Reasons to buy+
Cost-effective
+
Extensive reporting features
+
Effective contact management
Reasons to avoid-
Limited free plan
–
Limited third-party integrations
Workbooks is another good CRM for small businesses. It enables you to track sales and interact with customers within one platform. You can use it to record and keep track of sales activities and ensure that no part of them is overlooked.
Workbooks is very good at contact management; you could use every interaction with your lead or customer to capture knowledge about them and map relationships. You can also segment customers according to different factors and interact with each segment better.
This platform provides tools to track your business’s finances closely. For example, you can track all your suppliers and their prices and record every communication you make with them. You can also create supplier contracts within the dashboard and keep track of each one. Likewise, you can create professional sales quotes to send to clients and track their status are they’re fulfilled.
The area where Workbooks shines most is in its reporting features. The platform makes it easy to generate detailed reports that give you great insight into your sales pipeline. For example, the reports can help you identify which market segments and products are giving you the highest revenue. You can also easily monitor which salespeople in your organization are hitting or missing their targets.
The main drawback with this platform is that it has limited integrations with third-party software, unlike a rival like Insightly.
Read our full Workbooks review.
Best CRM for small business comparedSwipe to scroll horizontallyOur picks for the best CRM for small business, comparedCRM softwarePriceFree plan?Trial periodSupportSalesforceFrom $25 per user a monthNo30 daysEmail, ticketing, and phoneFreshsales$15 per user a monthYes21 daysPhone and email (Mon-Fri)Zoho CRMFrom $14 per user a monthYes15 daysEmail (Mon-Fri)HubSpotFrom $45 for two users a monthYes14 daysLive chat, phone, online meetingStreak CRM for GmailFrom $15 per user a monthYes14 daysEmail, with priority support for Enterprise plansHow to choose the best CRM for small business
Ultimately, choosing the best CRM for small business depends on your needs—does software with more cost-effective pricing take precedence, or are the higher levels of personalization and efficiency that often come with a pricier plan more important?
For instance, Salesforce would be better suited to businesses undeterred by the higher costs associated with the higher levels of customization on offer. It can also expand with your business, while less efficient CRM platforms like Hubspot may struggle to keep up with demand as your business grows. Those looking for an easily-integrable, simple, and affordable CRM solution may want to consider Streak instead.
Overall, ease of use is an important factor to consider. CRM software is something that will be incorporated into the daily operations of your business, so you’ll want something that you and your colleagues can hit the ground running with—there’s no point investing in a technical CRM if no-one can understand it.
You’ll also want to consider the features most beneficial to your daily operations, like project management features, lead generation tools, and third-party app integration, as the focus of each CRM software can differ.
How we test
When finding areas of focus for reviewing CRM software, we look at key components to determine the overall quality of the user experience. We examine aspects like pricing by examining the plans that are available, how many users these allow, and whether any other additional costs are involved.
We also look at the software features that would make your work life easier; reporting, automation, client management, and AI integrations, and whether there is adequate customer support on-hand to assist with this.
Other important areas in our reviews are software usability and support; is the interface user-friendly and intuitive? If you were to get stuck, is immediate support available 24/7, or will responses take two to three working days? By examining aspects like this, we can determine the overall user experience of the software and make informed recommendations.
Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
FAQsWhy do small business need a CRM?
While determining the best CRM for small businesses will depend on individual priorities, the software options presented in this buying guide are all strong contenders for small businesses—though ultimately, the size of your small business will likely determine the best option.
For instance, Streak CRM and HubSpot both offer free plans which would suit individual professionals or businesses just starting out, while Freshworks prides itself on being a good all-rounder for small- to mid-sized businesses. Zoho would provide an ideal CRM for existing users of the Zoho Suite, while Salesforce leads the way overall as the CRM industry giant.
What does a CRM do? Further reading on CRM software
If you want to find out more about CRMs, read our features asking what is CRM software, and what is a CRM in real estate. We also discussed five reasons why you need a small business CRM, and seven changes to a CRM for business that drive customer growth. You might also find our other buying guides helpful, which look at the best CRM for real estate and the best free CRM software.
We’ve also listed the best productivity tools.
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Artificial Intelligence Stocks: The 10 Best AI Companies
Artificial intelligence, automation and robotics are disrupting virtually every industry. Remarkable advances in AI technology — including OpenAI’s ChatGPT AI chatbot, GitHub’s Copilot AI code generation software and Google’s Gemini AI model — are now familiar names for many.
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Whether it be machine learning, large language models, smart applications and appliances, digital assistants, synthetic media software, or autonomous vehicles, companies that aren’t investing in AI products and services risk becoming obsolete. Countless companies stand to benefit from AI, but a handful of stocks have AI and automation as a central part of their businesses. Here are 10 of the best AI stocks to buy, according to Argus:
Stock Implied upside over Aug. 8 closing price Microsoft Corp. (ticker: MSFT) 30.6% Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL) 23.4% Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) 23.6% Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) 42.9% Meta Platforms Inc. (META) 17.7% Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM) 21.5% Adobe Inc. (ADBE) 27.3% ASML Holding NV (ASML) 42.6% International Business Machines (IBM) 17.8% Arista Networks Inc. (ANET) 16.6%
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)
Microsoft has invested $13 billion in OpenAI and has integrated ChatGPT into its Bing search engine. Microsoft has also combined all its AI copilots into a single AI experience called Microsoft Copilot. In May, the company published its inaugural Responsible AI Transparency Report, publicly detailing the company’s AI practices, spelling out its AI goals and highlighting its accountability initiatives. Analyst Joseph Bonner says Microsoft is investing heavily in AI via both internal development and outside stakes in AI startups. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella aims to prioritize generative AI opportunities. Argus has a “buy” rating and $526 price target for MSFT stock, which closed at $402.69 on Aug. 8.
Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL)
Google and YouTube parent company Alphabet uses AI and automation in virtually every facet of its business, from ad pricing to content promotion to Gmail spam filters. Google launched its Bard AI chatbot in March 2023. In December 2023, Google announced Gemini, its most capable and expansive AI model ever. In May, Google launched AI Overview, a service that provides AI-generated summaries on the top of Google search results. Bonner says Google is working to integrate its Gemini advanced AI model throughout its tech stack. Argus has a “buy” rating and $200 price target for GOOGL stock, which closed at $162.03 on Aug. 8.
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
Amazon has integrated AI into every aspect of its business, including targeted advertisements, marketplace search and recommendation algorithms, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon offers a wide range of AI and machine learning services to its AWS cloud customers, including advanced text analytics, automated code reviews and chatbots. Amazon is reportedly investing $100 billion over the next decade in building a network of AWS data centers that can handle the tremendous AI workload. Analyst Jim Kelleher says the push for AI cloud services has reinvigorated AWS. Argus has a “buy” rating and $205 price target for AMZN stock, which closed at $165.80 on Aug. 8.
Nvidia Corp. (NVDA)
High-end chipmaker Nvidia provides the massive processing power needed to run advanced AI applications. Nvidia has been one of the best-performing stocks in the entire market in recent years, and it’s largely due to the company’s AI exposure. CEO Jensen Huang recently announced Nvidia will begin designing and rolling out new AI chips on an annual basis rather than the two-year chip refresh cycles it has used in the past. Kelleher says Nvidia’s Blackwell platform enables generative AI on trillion-parameter large language models. Argus has a “buy” rating and $150 price target for NVDA stock, which closed at $104.97 on Aug. 8.
Meta Platforms Inc. (META)
Meta Platforms is a market leader in social media and online advertising and is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and other platforms. Meta is reportedly planning to release free AI customer-relations chatbots for businesses on its WhatsApp messaging platform. The move will be a test of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s bold strategy to make Meta’s AI technology free and open to the public in an effort to gain market share and drive down competitors’ prices. Bonner says Zuckerberg has repeatedly built large customer bases and then effectively monetized them. Argus has a “buy” rating and $600 price target for META stock, which closed at $509.63 on Aug. 8.
[READ: Are We in an AI Bubble?]
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSM)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is the world’s largest pure-play semiconductor foundry. TSM manufactures all the advanced AI semiconductors for Nvidia and other AI chipmakers. In June, CEO C.C. Wei said AI-driven demand makes him “very optimistic” about Taiwan Semiconductor’s outlook for the next several years. Kelleher says AI technology moving into the mainstream, coupled with lower inflation and a rebound in electronic device demand, will support solid revenue growth for TSM. The company expects global semiconductor market demand will grow 10% overall in 2024. Argus has a “buy” rating and $200 price target for TSM stock, which closed at $164.55 on Aug. 8.
Adobe Inc. (ADBE)
Adobe produces creative content software and other applications used for marketing and e-commerce. The company’s Firefly generative machine learning model is generating customer interest across Photoshop, Illustrator and other platforms. Adobe has also applied its Sensei AI and machine learning technology to its Adobe Analytics, Campaign and Target products. Adobe recently said it will not train its AI models on users’ content after artists accused the company of selling AI imitations of their work. Bonner says Adobe will continue to integrate additional AI features across its product set. Argus has a “buy” rating and $675 price target for ADBE stock, which closed at $530.24 on Aug. 8.
ASML Holding NV (ASML)
ASML produces photolithography systems and other processing equipment used in semiconductor fabrication. ASML is the only major producer of the extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment necessary to produce advanced AI chips. Taiwan Semiconductor and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (OTC: SSNLF) are two of ASML’s largest customers. Nvidia relies on Samsung and TSM to manufacture the AI chips that Microsoft and Google are buying in massive quantities for their AI-capable data centers. Kelleher says generative AI applications and premium-tier edge devices will continue to support demand for ASML products. Argus has a “buy” rating and $1,250 price target for ASML stock, which closed at $876.65 on Aug. 8.
International Business Machines (IBM)
For years, IBM has been developing ways to adapt its AI supercomputer Watson to revolutionize health care, finance, law and academia. IBM’s portfolio of Watson AI solutions includes applications to improve customer service, automate workflow processes and predict outcomes. IBM’s Watson Studio even helps enterprise customers build proprietary AI applications. In June, IBM launched several new IBM watsonx AI assistant enhancements. Kelleher says AI and hybrid cloud sales have helped offset weakness in IBM’s consulting business. He says AI will play a central role in IBM’s future. Argus has a “buy” rating and $225 price target for IBM stock, which closed at $190.94 on Aug. 8.
Arista Networks Inc. (ANET)
Arista Networks supplies cloud networking solutions to internet companies, cloud service providers and enterprise data centers. Arista’s high-performance cloud networking solutions and high-throughput data center switches provide the processing power required for intensive AI workloads. Arista credited demand for networking gear from AI applications and cloud computing companies for its recent sales growth guidance that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Kelleher says Arista is the leader in enterprise and data center cloud networking and is uniquely positioned to benefit from the AI cloud services boom. Argus has a “buy” rating and $390 price target for ANET stock, which closed at $334.50 on Aug. 8.
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Reddit has acquired an AI startup to beef up its ad business in a deal worth around $40 million
Reddit on Thursday said it had acquired Memorable AI, a startup that uses artificial intelligence models to predict which images and videos are most likely to catch a person’s attention, stick in their memory, and encourage them to click on an ad.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed. But two people familiar with the deal said the transaction value was in the region of $40 million.
Reddit said the acquisition would help improve the performance of advertising on the platform.
“As we integrate Memorable into our ad stack, our partners will be able to see performance benefits from creative insights from previous ads, better creative effectiveness, and automation that guides their creative toward maximum performance and return on ad spend,” Roelof van Zwol, Reddit’s vice president of ads engineering, told Business Insider by email.
Memorable AI, based in New York, was launched in 2021 by a team of machine learning researchers and Harvard, Stanford, and MIT graduates.
Brands like Unilever, L’Oréal, and NotCo pay Memorable AI an annual fee to use its tools. Memorable AI trains its models — built on millions of human reactions to ads — on their creative assets.
That model feeds into Memorable’s generative AI technology, which quickly creates new ads designed to perform better than the originals. For example, the size of the logo might change, the hero product might be pushed to a different corner of the ad, or the text could change color.
The company said this allows advertisers to reduce the time they would usually spend testing and optimizing ad creative, the company said.
Memorable AI Cofounders Camilo Fosto and Sebastian Acevedo. Memorable
Memorable AI had raised $2.75 million in funding from investors, including Aperiam Ventures, Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, LDV Capital, and individual investors such as 3C Ventures’ Michael Kassan and Scope3 CEO Brian O’Kelley.
The Memorable AI team has joined Reddit as part of the acquisition. Reddit said they would work on projects across its ads business.
The purchase comes less than two years after it acquired Spiketrap, an AI startup that makes it easier to target users based on the context and the sentiment of the content they’re consuming.
Reddit went public in March but hasn’t turned a profit since it was founded nearly two decades ago despite being one of the most highly trafficked sites on the internet.
Its ads business is growing, but still tiny compared to Google, Meta, Amazon, and TikTok. As Reddit went public, advertisers told BI that the company needed to do more to prove its ads could drive sales.
Beyond advertising, Reddit also generates revenue through licensing its user-generated data to companies such as Google and OpenAI to train their AI models and provide content for their products.
Reddit is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on August 6. Analysts expect a jump in revenue but widening losses.
2023 Business Predictions As AI And Automation Rise In Popularity
Aug 14, 2024,11:10am EDT
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Cultural Intelligence: Navigating Cross-Cultural Business Interactions
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Best CRM for small business of 2024
The best CRM for small business makes it simple and easy for small, starter, and family-run businesses to set up and manage a contact platform for customers, staff, and suppliers.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software’s primary goal is to help small businesses foster better relationships with customers. Simple enough. But with so many CRM platforms coming with countless tools and features, it can be hard to know which one meets your small business’ needs.
Our experts have spent hundreds of hours testing some of the best CRM software on the market. Now we have applied our experience and expertise to create this guide, helping you find the best CRM based on the unique needs of your small business.
Our top 3 best CRM for small business
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
The best CRM for small business of 2024 in full:Best overall
(Image credit: Salesforce)
Best for most small businesses, in most cases
Specifications
Price: From $25 per user a month
Free plan: No
Trial: 30 days
Support: Email ticketing and phone
Reasons to buy+
Advanced customization
+
Small business pricing available
+
Long trial period
Reasons to avoid-
Typically more expensive than competitors
–
No free plan available
While Salesforce is perhaps best known as the market-leading CRM giant adept at managing the operations of enterprise-level businesses, it offers solutions for small businesses too.
Providing an all-in-one solution to your sales, service, and marketing needs, Salesforce offers competitive plans for smaller businesses with its Small Business Pricing Solutions. The Essentials package provides both sales and customer service in one simple app for just $25 per user a month. This means smaller businesses can enjoy the power of market-leading CRM at a lower price.
Overall, the Salesforce interface is intuitive and sales-focused, but you can customize features like dashboards and reports to match your business needs and personalize your user experience. The CRM also boasts additional features to streamline your sales and business processes, including internal communication tools like on-screen calls, the easy creation of a client knowledge base, data export, email templates, and third-party tool integration with apps like Slack.
Find out more by reading our full Salesforce Service Cloud review.
Best value for money
(Image credit: Freshworks)
Cheapest CRM for small business
Specifications
Price: $9 per user a month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 21 days
Support: Phone and email (Mon–Fri)
Reasons to buy+
Free plan available
+
Clear, intuitive dashboard
+
Customizable web forms for website data capture
Reasons to avoid-
Limited lead generation tools
–
Limited third-party integrations
Freshsales provides a variety of tools that make it simple for small- and mid-sized businesses to support their clients, understand customer intent, and efficiently convert leads into sales.
A combination of the Freshworks automation software, the Freshsales suite is all-in-one CRM software that unites sales and marketing.
Utilizing the intelligent Freddy AI assistant, the Freshsales provides transparent insights into customer engagement, helping businesses discover leads, close deals, and nurture client relationships. The software also has an intuitive, user-friendly interface on both desktop and mobile, providing fast access to client records and communications.
Third-party tools like Gmail and Outlook are also easily integrated, allowing you to create bulk email templates while monitoring both sent and received communications to prospective clients. Businesses can also utilize the built-in call feature to automatically update client records.
While the CRM is lacking lead generation tools like business card scanners, it provides customizable web forms to capture lead data from your business website—ideal for smaller businesses looking to grow their client base.
Read our full Freshsales review.
Best for ease-of-use
(Image credit: Zoho)
Get to grips with your CRM fast
Specifications
Price: From $14 per user a month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 15 days
Support: Email (Mon-Fri)
Reasons to buy+
Easily integrates with other Zoho tools
+
Great for lead capturing
+
Simple to use
Reasons to avoid-
Paid plans can be pricey
–
Support only available Monday–Friday
Powerful cloud-based CRM software boasting excellent customer management and lead generation tools, Zoho CRM is well-equipped to assist in running a small business.
While the platform is very easy to use, it doesn’t compromise on capability—the software features the ability to search social media and LinkedIn to capture new customer contacts, scan business cards, and provide automated workflows to assist sales teams. Alongside this, you can benefit from reporting, client contact and communication records, website visitor segmentation, and pipeline management.
The main pro to the CRM, however, is the seamless integration with other Zoho tools, including the Zoho sales, marketing, and project management suite, Zoho Invoice, and Zoho Campaigns. Overall, Zoho CRM can be pricey, but with a solid free plan.
Check out our full Zoho CRM review.
Best free
(Image credit: Hubspot)
A great CRM – for free!
Specifications
Price: From $45 for two users a month
Free plan: Yes
Trial : 14 days
Support: Live chat, phone, online meeting
Reasons to buy+
Free-forever plan available
+
Hundreds of app integrations
+
Easy to understand
HubSpot is an ideal CRM solution for small businesses just starting out. While there are several paid plans, you can also get started free of charge with a lightweight yet powerful version of the CRM software.
Users of the free HubSpot CRM can benefit from highly capable client database software to assist in managing and maintaining new leads, with dashboard reporting, company insights, deal tracking, and pipeline management—all of which are portrayed simply via the user-friendly interface.
A wide range of free tools is also at your disposal to organize your customer journey, including email tracking and templates, on-screen calling, and contact management. Plus, you can enjoy integration from over 300 third-party apps like Slack, along with lead-generation software.
If you fancy upgrading from the free plan, both the Sales and Marketing Hubs start at $45 a month for two users, with additional features like task automation notifications and conversation routing included.
Read our full HubSpot CRM review.
Best for sales
(Image credit: Monday)
A dedicated sales CRM for small business
Specifications
Price: From $10 per user per month
Free plan: No
Trial: 14 days
Support: Email, live chat and request a call
Reasons to buy+
Automation of sales processes
+
Email integration
+
24/7 support options
+
Choice of plans
Reasons to avoid-
Three seat minimum
–
Custom automations and integrations limited on a monthly basis
If you’re a sales and marketing leader, Monday Sales CRM is the perfect CRM platform for you. It’s easy to use and has lots of tools to help you manage your customer journey. Plus, you can customize the software to fit your needs. You can send and receive emails, take notes during meetings, and view all your communications on one timeline.
The main feature is managing contacts, which helps you keep track of all your clients and potential clients in one place. Yes, in fact all of your clients as it is unlimited to the number of contacts that you can have so this is a solution that can certainly grow with your business. Plus, you get email support with templates that save you time by automatically filling out personalized emails.
Automation is another great feature that businesses can take advantage of. It can help you create custom workflows to get rid of admin stuff and make communication easier, but you’ll need a plan that’s higher than the basic one. But if you don’t upgrade to a higher plan, you’ll only be able to do 250 activities a month.
Monday CRM has four different plans. Each plan has to have at least 3 seats, so it’s not great for solo businesses as you will have to pay for seats that are unused. There’s no free trial, but you can try it for two weeks and get 18% off if you pay annually.
Read our full Monday Sales CRM review.
Best for Gmail
(Image credit: Streak)
6. Streak CRM for Gmail
Best for existing Gmail and Google Workspace users
Specifications
Price: From $15 per user a month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 14 days
Support: Email, with priority support for Enterprise plans
Reasons to buy+
Built into Gmail
+
Free plan available
+
Simple to import and export data
Reasons to avoid-
Expensive for larger teams
For existing users of Gmail and Google Workspace, Streak is the simplest CRM to incorporate into the daily operations of your small business. It is built directly into Gmail, so you can work from your inbox and enjoy integration with other Google Workspace apps like Sheets, Docs, Drive, and Chat to help keep all your data accessible and in one place.
Streak CRM allows you to track client emails, manage contacts, monitor leads, and keep on top of your sales funnel. You can capture leads directly from your contacts, track and share client interactions, easily import or export data, create custom pipelines, and set tasks and reminders, among other things.
With a forever-free plan offering basic CRM to individual professionals, Streak CRM is highly affordable for single professionals or small teams and businesses. However, it can get pricey if you’re working within a larger team.
Best for user experience
(Image credit: Pipedrive)
Reduce friction with an excellent user experience
Specifications
Pricing: From $10 per user monthly
Free plan: None
Trial: 14 days
Support: Live chat and email
Reasons to buy+
User-friendly interface
+
Cost-effective
+
Customizable sales pipelines
Reasons to avoid-
No free plan
–
Reporting feature needs improvement
–
No phone support
Pipedrive is a popular CRM tool that’s affordable and thus suitable for small businesses with limited budgets. There’s no free plan, which is a drawback, but there’s a 14-day free trial period that you can start without inputting card details.
Pipedrive boasts of being a CRM “designed by salespeople, for salespeople”. True to its claim, you can do many things with this CRM. To start, you can set up your sales pipeline with ease; you may build a new template or use an existing one. Afterward, you can add deals to the pipeline or import them from a CSV spreadsheet. After adding the deals, you can always monitor the progress up until the deal closes.
You can set up automatic alerts and reminders on Pipedrive to keep you on top of the deals. If a deal closes, the platform will automatically update your sales forecast to reflect it. Like many modern tools, Pipedrive incorporates some aspects of artificial intelligence that lets users automate mundane sales tasks.
This CRM is good for collaboration, so you can set up accounts for your staff to work together to close sales deals. As the administrator, you can always monitor their progress and remind them if they’re falling behind. You can create web forms using Pipedrive and embed them on your website to gather leads. The platform provides form templates designed by professionals, which you can edit to fit your tastes.
Pipedrive gives you detailed reports on your activities or that of your staff. However, we observed a pattern of customer complaints of the reporting features lacking depth and needing improvement.
Read our full Pipedrive CRM review.
Best for project management
(Image credit: Insightly)
Manage project seamlessly
Specifications
Pricing: From $29 per user per month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 14 days
Support: Email and telephone (at extra cost)
Reasons to buy+
Efficient data upload/download
+
Intuitive interface
+
Integrated project management tools
Reasons to avoid-
Extra cost for phone support
–
Needs more customizability
Insightly is a CRM platform that lets you handle all your sales functions. You can create custom workflows for your sales deals and track them as you progress toward closing the deal. You can create or update records and generate tasks for other users within your organization to handle.
You can send emails to your leads and customers right within Insightly because it has integrations with email clients. The platform tracks the delivery of your emails and reports back important data such as open and click-through rates.
As a business owner, you have a great deal of control over what your staff can do on this CRM. You can set special permissions and visibility levels for each user or according to role or department. For example, normal employees may not be able to view detailed sales reports, while executives can.
Another good thing about Insightly is that you can use workflow automation to automate a lot of mundane sales tasks. For example, you can set it to send an automatic email once a lead reaches a specific stage of your deal. You can also automatically update your sales forecast after closing a deal. These are just some examples of how your sales team can save time to be put to better use elsewhere. Creating these workflow automations requires a bit of technical knowledge, but it’s not as complex as typical programming.
What customers mostly highlight about Insightly is its extensive integrations with third-party tools. The platform is second to none in this category. You can link your Insightly CRM profile with many other tools for additional functionality. For example, you can link it to your BambooHR account to sync employee records with corresponding user profiles on Insightly or link it to your Shopify account to automatically capture customer details from your online store and add them to Insightly.
The main drawback we observed is that Insightly charges extra money for phone support, unlike most rivals. Without paying, you’re stuck with email support, which is much slower than phone support.
Read our full Insightly review.
Best for tracking
(Image credit: Workbooks)
Boost sales with advanced tracking
Specifications
Pricing: From $30 per user per month
Free plan: Yes
Trial: 30 days
Support: Email and telephone
Reasons to buy+
Cost-effective
+
Extensive reporting features
+
Effective contact management
Reasons to avoid-
Limited free plan
–
Limited third-party integrations
Workbooks is another good CRM for small businesses. It enables you to track sales and interact with customers within one platform. You can use it to record and keep track of sales activities and ensure that no part of them is overlooked.
Workbooks is very good at contact management; you could use every interaction with your lead or customer to capture knowledge about them and map relationships. You can also segment customers according to different factors and interact with each segment better.
This platform provides tools to track your business’s finances closely. For example, you can track all your suppliers and their prices and record every communication you make with them. You can also create supplier contracts within the dashboard and keep track of each one. Likewise, you can create professional sales quotes to send to clients and track their status are they’re fulfilled.
The area where Workbooks shines most is in its reporting features. The platform makes it easy to generate detailed reports that give you great insight into your sales pipeline. For example, the reports can help you identify which market segments and products are giving you the highest revenue. You can also easily monitor which salespeople in your organization are hitting or missing their targets.
The main drawback with this platform is that it has limited integrations with third-party software, unlike a rival like Insightly.
Read our full Workbooks review.
Best CRM for small business comparedSwipe to scroll horizontallyOur picks for the best CRM for small business, comparedCRM softwarePriceFree plan?Trial periodSupportSalesforceFrom $25 per user a monthNo30 daysEmail, ticketing, and phoneFreshsales$15 per user a monthYes21 daysPhone and email (Mon-Fri)Zoho CRMFrom $14 per user a monthYes15 daysEmail (Mon-Fri)HubSpotFrom $45 for two users a monthYes14 daysLive chat, phone, online meetingStreak CRM for GmailFrom $15 per user a monthYes14 daysEmail, with priority support for Enterprise plansHow to choose the best CRM for small business
Ultimately, choosing the best CRM for small business depends on your needs—does software with more cost-effective pricing take precedence, or are the higher levels of personalization and efficiency that often come with a pricier plan more important?
For instance, Salesforce would be better suited to businesses undeterred by the higher costs associated with the higher levels of customization on offer. It can also expand with your business, while less efficient CRM platforms like Hubspot may struggle to keep up with demand as your business grows. Those looking for an easily-integrable, simple, and affordable CRM solution may want to consider Streak instead.
Overall, ease of use is an important factor to consider. CRM software is something that will be incorporated into the daily operations of your business, so you’ll want something that you and your colleagues can hit the ground running with—there’s no point investing in a technical CRM if no-one can understand it.
You’ll also want to consider the features most beneficial to your daily operations, like project management features, lead generation tools, and third-party app integration, as the focus of each CRM software can differ.
How we test
When finding areas of focus for reviewing CRM software, we look at key components to determine the overall quality of the user experience. We examine aspects like pricing by examining the plans that are available, how many users these allow, and whether any other additional costs are involved.
We also look at the software features that would make your work life easier; reporting, automation, client management, and AI integrations, and whether there is adequate customer support on-hand to assist with this.
Other important areas in our reviews are software usability and support; is the interface user-friendly and intuitive? If you were to get stuck, is immediate support available 24/7, or will responses take two to three working days? By examining aspects like this, we can determine the overall user experience of the software and make informed recommendations.
Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
FAQsWhy do small business need a CRM?
While determining the best CRM for small businesses will depend on individual priorities, the software options presented in this buying guide are all strong contenders for small businesses—though ultimately, the size of your small business will likely determine the best option.
For instance, Streak CRM and HubSpot both offer free plans which would suit individual professionals or businesses just starting out, while Freshworks prides itself on being a good all-rounder for small- to mid-sized businesses. Zoho would provide an ideal CRM for existing users of the Zoho Suite, while Salesforce leads the way overall as the CRM industry giant.
What does a CRM do? Further reading on CRM software
If you want to find out more about CRMs, read our features asking what is CRM software, and what is a CRM in real estate. We also discussed five reasons why you need a small business CRM, and seven changes to a CRM for business that drive customer growth. You might also find our other buying guides helpful, which look at the best CRM for real estate and the best free CRM software.
We’ve also listed the best productivity tools.
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