Throughout my career, my sales experience has been rooted in B2B SaaS. I understood, in theory, the differences between B2B vs. B2C sales, but I didn’t truly grasp the reality until I had the chance to sell directly to a customer for the first time.

Suddenly, I was in an entirely different arena. Gone were the long sales cycles, the decision-making committees, and the endless follow-ups. Instead, I was speaking to individuals, making split-second connections, and tapping into emotions rather than logic. What was once a strategic, process-driven approach had transformed into a fast-paced, emotionally charged interaction.

I was selling a subscription to a digital product, and during training, we were handed a pitch that was supposed to “work.” At first, I stuck to the script. But, I quickly realized that I had far more success when I focused on sparking an emotional response rather than following a rigid formula.

In this article, I’ll break down the key differences between B2B and B2C sales from what I have learned. More importantly, I’ll show you how to succeed in B2C (because, trust me, it takes a lot more than just a great product).

Table of Contents

• B2B vs. B2C Sales
• Defining B2C: How B2C Companies Sell to Consumers
• The Difference Between B2B and B2C Sales
• B2C Engagement
• B2C Sales Tips

Defining B2C: How B2C Companies Sell to Consumers

B2C stands for business to consumer. B2C sales is the sale of products or services to individual consumers, through a third-party website, in-person, or online.

In B2C sales, you might be selling a single product or many products within a single category. Or, you might work with a brand like Amazon that sells many different kinds of products. B2C sales roles sell for direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. They also help B2C sellers who work with other businesses before they connect with their customers.

B2C ecommerce is a popular sales spot. Per Statista, the estimated value of retail ecommerce is steadily increasing each year and will reach almost $1.8 trillion by 2028.

Source

B2C sales includes:

• Retail employees at your favorite shop.
• Service professionals like those in the health and beauty industries.
• Real estate agents.
• Sales professionals at local hotels, colleges, and restaurants.

There are many different ways that businesses sell to consumers. B2C businesses include:

• Direct sellers. These include retailers like Nike who sell their branded products directly to customers. It also includes stores like Target that sell their own products as well as products from other brands.
• Online intermediaries. Sites like Amazon and Etsy are B2C businesses that sell products from a range of brands to consumers.
• Services. Hotels, colleges, and gyms use B2C salespeople to encourage users to buy and continue using their services.
• Subscription services. Another framework for B2C sales is subscription services, which means buying goods or services on a regular, renewable basis. Think about Spotify, Netflix, or HelloFresh.

Because marketing plays such a big role in B2C, sales in B2C are often overlooked. Instead, B2C sales is often defined in comparison to B2B sales.

There are many overlaps in B2B and B2C sales. In fact, many businesses have both B2B and B2C sales teams within the same organization.

For example, a hotel will have a B2C sales team that works with individual or small groups of travelers to book travel and events. At the same time, their B2B sales team will work with corporate groups to negotiate rates. This team may also develop wholesale relationships with booking agents and travel agencies.

There are also similarities between B2B and B2C sales. To be effective in sales, you must:

• Ask the most crucial question: “Why do I deserve the business of a potential customer?”
• Step into your customer’s shoes, evaluate their needs, and ensure that the solution you’re offering genuinely addresses their needs.
• Develop a strong relationship and clear communication with your marketing team.
• Have a clear understanding of your business’s sales process and strategy.
• Know how to analyze and use consumer data.
• Encourage consumers to promote products after purchase.
• Understand and develop customer service skills.
• Offer multi-channel service and engage with consumers where it’s most convenient for them.

Though there are many ways these two approaches to sales are alike, let’s talk about some key differences.

The Difference Between B2B and B2C Sales

Using Partners to Approach Customers

B2B Sales

During my time in B2B sales for a tech company, we had a promising potential client who was highly interested in our product after a successful demo. However, despite their enthusiasm, the deal kept stalling due to a lengthy bureaucratic approval process.

At some point, we discovered that this client was already working with one of our technology partners. Recognizing an opportunity, we reached out to our partner, who then introduced our product to the client within their existing business relationship. This endorsement provided the credibility and push needed to finalize the sale.

By sharing this experience, I am trying to reinforce the power of partnerships in B2B sales. Collaborating with established partners builds trust, accelerates decision-making, and ultimately helps close deals more efficiently.

B2C Sales

Unlike B2B, B2C sales mostly involve direct engagement with individual consumers. Since the decision-making process is more personal and immediate, B2C businesses focus on marketing, customer experience, and direct sales channels rather than leveraging partnerships to approach customers.

After-Sales Customer Service

B2B Sales

In B2B, especially when selling tech products, strong after-sales support is an added benefit. Businesses often require feature modifications, troubleshooting, and ongoing training to fully integrate the software into their operations. A well-supported client is more likely to continue using the product effectively and see its long-term value.

Even though after-sales service wasn’t part of my official job description, I made it a habit to check in with my point of contact. Not only did this strengthen my relationship, but it also created opportunities for potential upselling.

Pro tip: Staying engaged post-sale ensures the business remains satisfied and reinforces trust in your company.

B2C Sales

While customer service exists in B2C, it operates differently compared to B2B. After-sales support is often not directly linked to sales, and it usually serves as a separate department in the company.

Individual purchases tend to be lower in complexity and value (more on this in the next point). For fast-moving consumer goods, customer service is almost nonexistent, as products are designed for quick, hassle-free consumption with minimal follow-up required.

Value per Customer and Purchase Risk

B2B Sales

B2B products are often high in value. B2B consumers usually want to know the return on investment (ROI) and lifetime value (LTV) before deciding to take the risk or limit it.

B2C Sales

B2C products and services usually have lower prices than B2B products. This is because many B2C products involve one-time quick purchases, and it doesn’t always take a salesperson to close a deal.

Focus as a Salesperson

B2B Sales

B2B sales will work with a larger number of stakeholders. During the sales process, B2B sales may need to sell their products and services to many people in an organization.

This might include:

• Decision-makers
• Gatekeepers
• Department leaders
• Subject matter experts
• Policy experts

This complexity can make it challenging to stay focused during the sales process. For instance, I once participated in an online demo for a leading U.S. space agency, where over 15 people were on the call. No one had their cameras on.

Establishing a connection felt nearly impossible, and I later discovered that many attendees were neither decision-makers nor end users. In such scenarios, the conversation feels less impactful, and it’s harder to drive the sale forward.

B2C Sales

In contrast, B2C sales involve individual customers who typically navigate the buyer’s journey independently. For high-value purchases like cars or homes, they may seek input from partners, friends, or family, but the decision-making process is generally more straightforward than in B2B sales. The focus for a salesperson in B2C sales is usually always the end consumer.

Sales Cycle

B2B Sales

The sales cycle in B2B is significantly longer and more involved. It often includes numerous steps such as lunches, pitches, product demos, and multiple rounds of discussions.

In my previous role, I was sent by the company to various cities to attend tech conferences and connect with potential customers. I recall a three-day event where, after several discussions with a prospect, he expressed interest in meeting with senior leaders from my team.

By the time we managed to schedule and hold that first meeting, two weeks had passed. By sharing this experience I mean to highlight how crucial patience is in B2B sales and how it’s normal for things to take time to align.

Pro tip: As the sales cycle is relatively long in B2B, I suggest spending more time trying to sell directly to C-level executives and decision-makers. It’s helpful to remember that 57% of C-level and VP buyers prefer to be contacted by phone.

B2C Sales

B2C sales typically feature a quicker path to purchase. While consumers may rely on reviews, their buying decisions are often faster, especially in retail. B2C sales cycles are generally more impulsive, with customers making quicker decisions compared to the extended, methodical processes in B2B.

Marketing plays a significant role in getting B2C customers onto lead lists, with social channels, affiliate programs, and ads contributing to brand awareness. Once the customer is engaged, the sales process tends to be much faster.

Success as a Salesperson

B2B Sales

In B2B sales, success doesn’t come easily. It requires a significant investment of time and effort to establish a reputation in the industry. I remember when I first started at the tech company, I was the least experienced salesperson on a team of eight.

My first major challenge was responding to an RFP from a large oil and gas company. The document shared by that company was hundreds of pages long, and as part of my role, I had to craft a proposal that demonstrated how our solution could meet their needs.

I spent a lot of my early days working on this. Naturally, I wasn’t producing immediate sales results. It was a humbling experience that reshaped my expectations of success in the B2B sales process.

B2C Sales

It’s easier to demonstrate your ability as a salesperson in B2C sales. From a career’s point of view as well, B2C sales is more approachable and easier to enter. With shorter sales cycles and less complex decisions, sales are typically easier to achieve. So, it’s simpler to showcase your effectiveness and prove you can excel in the role.

Decision-Making Differences

B2B Sales

B2B purchases present more risk to the business. They often have the potential to disrupt systems and processes that the business relies on. To convince a range of stakeholders, facts are usually the most effective strategy.

Customer testimonials play a more significant role in establishing credibility. Also, certain social media platforms play a role in reaching a decision. For instance, YouTube is a key resource for B2B buyers, with around 65% relying on it for purchase insights.

Source

The buying process in B2B is more calculated and deliberate as it’s likely to have an impact on their long-term decisions.

B2C Sales

A B2C buyer is often resolving an urgent need. Because of this, B2C sales are often emotional or impulsive. So, B2C sales reps often need to compete with word-of-mouth, habits, cravings, and advertising to get a consumer to switch brands.

For expensive or long-term purchases, like choosing a college or planning a wedding, B2C consumers may approach the buying process more like B2B buyers.

Product Usage

B2B Sales

Most B2B buyers are purchasing on behalf of their business. This means that a committee makes most decisions, not the people who use the product.

Because of this, a B2B salesperson may need several different strategies for selling a single product.

B2C Sales

B2C buyers are buying for themselves. This means that sales strategies will target the individual and the needs that they share at the moment.

Number of Leads per Salesperson

B2B Sales

In B2B, there is usually a smaller number of potential business leads, and salespeople spend more time with each lead. I feel that is great because they know how to focus their sales efforts.

But it‘s a challenge because the long cycle and defined lead pool give competitors more chances to break in before you close a sale.

B2C Sales

B2C sales may have a base of millions of potential customers. Sales and lead volumes are high, but the leads aren’t always the right fit.

It’s often a B2C sales job to identify the right leads, and time management is key. The more time you spend on a lead that won’t close, the less likely you are to meet your sales goals.

Influence of Discounts

B2B Sales

Because most B2B buyers are purchasing on behalf of their company, they have a budget to work with and usually an internal approval process. This might mean a slow timeline but less interest in discounts.

B2C Sales

A B2C consumer usually buys with their own money, so they tend to invest more in discounts. This is especially true in industries where discounts are the norm, like travel and hospitality.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

B2B Sales

The high price point and low number of quality leads in B2B sales usually demands a higher cost of acquisition. Because B2B deals involve longer sales cycles, extensive nurturing, and multiple decision-makers, companies must invest heavily in personalized outreach, account-based marketing, and sales team efforts.

I suggest checking out this post on the differences between B2B and B2C marketing to learn more.

B2C Sales

Most of the CAC in B2C goes toward marketing. Businesses can rely on digital marketing strategies such as social media posts and influencer collaborations to attract and convert customers at scale. B2C sales in industries like travel and education may have a higher CAC.

Sales Experience

B2B Sales

B2B salespeople are working with experts in their industries and selling complex products and services. The sales experience is derived more by the depth of industry knowledge, the ability to provide tailored solutions, and the strength of relationships built throughout the process.

I believe that nowadays social selling is a game-changer. Research shows that sales leaders who embrace social selling are 51% more likely to hit their quotas than those who don’t. Even more compelling, 78% of social sellers outperform their peers who aren’t constantly active on social media.

I suggest going to this article if you want to learn more about rocking the B2B sales experience.

B2C Sales

B2C sales are generally simpler and more transactional. Many B2C brands have embraced meme marketing to boost engagement and build brand recognition. As there’s a big overlap between B2C marketing and sales (more on this below), I think the sales process has also become more casual.

For example, a brand that adopts Gen Z language to connect with a younger audience instantly feels more relatable. Also, as most B2C purchases involve lower risk, there’s typically less need for an in-depth sales strategy or extensive buyer nurturing.

How different are B2B and B2C sales really?

The creator economy and the rise of B2B ecommerce have blurred some of the lines between B2B and B2C sales in the last several years. Consumers today have more direct access to products and services than ever before.

These shifts mean that both B2C and B2B salespeople need to be flexible and adapt themselves to the changing market. Many B2B companies have also started operating on the emotions of a smaller group of individual leaders. So, businesses now make quicker and more emotional investments than businesses of the past.

B2C Engagement

Whether you are selling cars, houses, or gym memberships, B2C engagement depends on what is being sold and who is selling it.

But, I think there are a few common challenges in the B2C sales process that you can tackle to improve engagement.

Prevent lead leakage.

Because B2C salespeople get leads from a variety of sources, they run the risk of losing leads quicker than they can contact them.

For example, an online lead may be easy to convert, but a drop-in or offline lead may get lost in the shuffle of everyday tasks. Check out this resource to make the most of your sales pipeline.

Nurture leads at every stage of the buyer’s journey.

The high volume of incoming B2C leads makes it difficult to keep nurturing leads who are further down the pipeline. Time management and prioritizing is essential. These skills can help you keep quality leads engaged and assess whether incoming leads can return value.

Stay organized.

Keeping your notes in a single system like the HubSpot CRM platform makes it easier to create and review notes, then quickly return customer calls.

I’ve found that adding a CRM can also help your business collect more reliable data to update your outreach strategies.

Know your product.

Many sales reps stop learning after their initial training. But, continuous training is important for salespeople to set expectations for consumers. Product knowledge is more than closing a deal — it’s about delighting your customers.

Let’s talk about how to excel at B2C sales.

B2C Sales Tips

1. Understand who you’re selling to.

I highly recommend having a solid picture of your target demographic when devising your B2C marketing and sales strategies. You’ll waste a lot of time, effort, and money trying to indiscriminately appeal to anyone and everyone. Do some research, understand your customer base, and develop detailed buyer personas.

As per HubSpot’s definition, a buyer persona is “a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers.”

Make your buyer persona today!

For instance, say I knit and sell kitten sweaters. I notice that 50-to-70-year-old cat lovers from rural areas make up a significant part of my business. I use that information to develop a buyer persona specific to those qualities.

That base is probably going to gravitate toward a different brand of sales than young professionals in their twenties. My experience with B2C sales has made me understand who I’m appealing to, so I tailor my messaging and sales pitches accordingly.

Pro tip: Use the Make My Persona tool to create custom buyer personas for your target products and services. Using this persona, remember important details while you’re working with customers.

2. Establish rapport if you’re selling face-to-face.

If I am personally interfacing with my customers, I’m going to need to put them at ease and earn their trust throughout the sales process. I do this by understanding their needs and sell on that basis.

B2C selling is personal. I’m convincing a single consumer to spend their own money to accommodate their individual needs. That means I have to give them a personal stake in my pitch and messaging. The best way to do that is to let them know that I’m invested in their best interests.

Offer thoughtful insights and direct your conversations without dominating them. Be authentic. And do what you can to make your customers understand that you have both the know-how and genuine desire to solve their problems with your product or service.

Pro tip: The goal is to increase the chances of building rapport and talking to the right person. For a more in-depth look at needs-based selling, check out this article.

3. Bolster your ecommerce presence if your business is online.

If you think most of your business will happen online, I recommend keeping track of your ecommerce conversion rate. That figure is the most crucial metric in determining the health of your online business and the efficacy of your online messaging.

Having a great product or service is one thing. Making it readily accessible and attractive for purchase is another.

To improve your B2C sales online, you should look into taking steps like:

• Adding explainer videos to your product pages.
• Giving visitors a clear and attractive set of product images.
• Adding web chat features that allow customers to ask product questions online.

It can only help to take these kinds of strides. Giving your prospective customers a smooth, accessible user experience on your site is a great way to improve your online B2C sales.

Pro tip: Business analytics can help you add urgency to your favorite selling points. This quick, free analytics course can help you use your consumer data for more effective selling.

https://youtu.be/948bKC6pGcA

4. Follow up with and delight both new and existing customers.

When I land a new customer online, I send them an email to let them know I appreciate their business. I assure them that I’ll be there for them from then on out. And, I try to address any issues they may have with their purchase.

Pay special attention to your existing customers. Let them know you’re still thinking of them well after you’ve earned their business.

My advice would be to consistently contact them without badgering them. Carefully scheduled emails and promotions to your previous customers can pay off in spades.

Turning one-time buyers into repeat customers leads to excellent ROI, and turning repeat customers into brand evangelists is even better. They’ll tell their friends and family about how awesome your product or service is. That means free promotion.

Final Advice on B2C Sales

Maximizing your company’s potential goes beyond just making sales. It’s also about strengthening your service infrastructure and refining your outreach strategies. I think B2C sales is challenging to navigate, but with the right approach, you can streamline the process and drive meaningful results.

Remember to stay adaptable and customer-focused. Try to foster their loyalty. Keep learning and evolving. This way, you position your business for long-term success!

This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

A concrete business growth strategy is more than a marketing effort. It’s a crucial cog in your business machine. Without one, you’re at the mercy of a fickle consumer base and market fluctuations.

So, how do you plan to grow?

If you’re unsure about the steps needed to craft an effective growth strategy, I’ve got you covered.

Table of Contents

• Business Growth
• Business Growth Strategy
• How to Grow a Company Successfully
• Growth Strategy Examples
• Why You Need a Business Growth Plan
• Types of Business Growth
• Types of Business Growth Strategies
• The Key to Growing Your Business

Why You Need a Business Growth Plan

So why do I think building a business growth plan is so crucial, even for established businesses?

There are so many reasons, but here are three that apply to almost all companies at some point:

• Funding. Functionally, most businesses are always on the lookout for investors. You’ll have an advantage if you present a solid growth plan to convince them. Most expect it.
• Insurance. Growth creates financial padding, like a forcefield to protect your business when unexpected issues crop up. The economic upheaval for brick-and-mortar businesses in 2020 is a perfect example.
• Credibility and creditability. For brand new businesses, getting a loan and making sure you can repay your bank is at the top of the priority list. There’s no real profit until that debt is managed. Having a growth plan will not only help you secure a business loan, but it will also be there to refer to so you’ll know what to do to continue making your payments.

For the majority of businesses, growth is the main objective. Business decisions are often made based on what would contribute to the company’s continued growth and overall success.

Several methods can facilitate growth, which I’ll explain more about below.

Types of Business Growth

As a business owner, you’ll have several avenues for growth. Business growth can be broken down into the following categories:

1. Organic

With organic growth, a company expands through its operations using its internal resources. This is in contrast to seeking external resources to facilitate growth.

An example of organic growth is making production more efficient so you can produce more within a shorter time frame. This means more sales with half the effort.

A perk of using organic growth is that it relies on self-sufficiency and avoids taking on debt. Additionally, the increased revenue created from organic growth can help fund more strategic growth methods later on.

Example: Organic growth could be putting some of your revenue aside to purchase a second machine. A second machine would double your production without debt. This increases your ability to take on larger orders. This way, you create more revenue to invest in a third machine or fund another growth strategy.

2. Strategic

Strategic growth involves developing initiatives that will help your business grow long-term. An example of strategic growth could be creating a new product or a market strategy to target a new audience.

Strategic initiatives often require significant resources and funding. Businesses usually take an organic approach first, hoping their efforts will generate enough capital to invest in future strategic growth initiatives.

Pro tip: Strategic growth can be a major endeavor, depending on the size of your business. Be prepared to learn a lot, work hard, and see slow development. Or, hire a skilled employee to work hard at it for quicker results.

Another option is to spend the money on a user-friendly platform you or an employee can manage. Strategic growth is easily a full-time job for anyone, if not for a team of professionals.

3. Internal

An internal growth strategy helps optimize internal business processes to increase revenue. This strategy relies on companies using their own internal resources.

Internal growth strategy is all about using existing resources in the most purposeful way possible.

Internal growth can be challenging because it forces companies to look at how their processes can be improved for efficiency rather than focusing on external factors like entering new markets to facilitate growth.

Example: Cutting wasteful spending and running a leaner operation by automating sales with AI is an example of internal growth.

4. Mergers, Partnerships, Acquisitions

Although riskier than the other growth types, mergers, partnerships, and acquisitions can come with high rewards.

There’s strength in numbers. A well-executed merger, partnership, or acquisition can help your business break into a new market. You can also expand your customer base or increase your products and services.

A company’s industry and target market influence its chosen growth strategies.

To create a strategy, consider the available options and strategically work them into your business plan. Depending on the kind of company you’re building, your growth strategy might include aspects like:

• Adding new locations.
• Investing in customer acquisition.
• Franchising opportunities.
• Product line expansions.
• Selling products online across multiple platforms.

Pro tip: Your particular industry and target market will influence your decisions, but it’s almost universally true that new customer acquisition will play a sizable role.

That said, you can adopt different types of overarching growth strategies before making a specific choice, such as adding new locations. Let’s take a look.

Types of Business Growth Strategies

There are several general growth strategies that your organization can pursue. Some strategies may work in tandem. For instance, a customer and market growth strategy will typically go hand-in-hand.

Revenue Growth Strategy

A revenue growth strategy is an organization’s plan to increase revenue over a time period, such as year-over-year. Businesses pursuing a revenue growth strategy may:

• Monitor cash flow.
• Leverage sales forecasting reports.
• Analyze current market trends.
• Diminish customer acquisition costs.
• Pursue strategic partnerships with other businesses to improve the bottom line.

Specific revenue growth tactics may include:

• Investing in sales training programs to boost close rates.
• Leveraging technology to improve sales forecasting reports.
• Using lower-cost marketing strategies to lower customer acquisition costs.
• Continuing to train customer service reps to increase customer retention.
• Partnering with another company to promote your products and services.

Pro tip: Revenue for the sake of personal income is often essential at the start of a business, and end of a business to use as enticement for selling the company. While you look to the future with your company running, it’s wise to use revenue growth toward continued overall business growth.

Customer Growth Strategy

A customer growth strategy is an organization’s plan to boost new customer acquisitions over a time period, such as month-over-month.

Businesses pursuing a customer growth strategy may be more open to making large strategic investments, as long as the investments lead to greater customer acquisitions.

For this strategy, you might track:

• Customer churn rates.
• Calculate customer lifetime value (CLV).
• Leverage pricing strategies to attract more customers.

With new customer sign-ups as the North Star metric, you might spend more on marketing, sales, and CX.

Specific customer growth tactics may include:

• Investing in your marketing and sales organization’s headcount.
• Increasing advertising and marketing spend.
• Opening new locations in a promising market you’ve not yet reached.
• Adding new product lines and services.
• Adopting a discount or freemium pricing strategy.
• Tracking metrics such as churn rates, CLV, and monthly recurring revenue (MRR).

Pro tip: Remember that it’s about people. Market research tools such as trend monitoring can help keep you aware of what your target audiences are genuinely interested in. This way, you can personalize your marketing to meet their needs.

Marketing Growth Strategy

A marketing growth strategy is similar, but not the same as, a market development strategy. This strategy is an organization’s plan to increase its total addressable market (TAM) and increase existing market share.

Businesses pursuing a marketing growth strategy will research different verticals, such as:

• Customer types.
• Audiences.
• Regions.

This helps give brands a measure of the viability of a market expansion.

Specific marketing growth tactics may include:

• Rebranding the business to appeal to a new audience.
• Launching new products to appeal to buyers in a different market.
• Opening new locations in other regions.
• Adopting a different marketing strategy, like local marketing or event marketing, to appeal to other markets.
• Becoming a franchisor so that individual business owners can buy franchises from you.

Pro tip: The idea here is to get a bigger slice of the pie by growing into already established markets. Instead of finding new markets, this strategy finds space in existing ones.

1. Use a growth strategy template [Free Tool].

Download HubSpot’s Free Business Growth Strategy Template

With any new venture, you need to document your steps. I recommend downloading this free Growth Strategy Template and working off the included section prompts to outline your intended process for growth in your organization.

New business ventures are 260% more likely to launch if they have a business plan and 30% more likely to grow when they have a plan for it. You can still run, but plan your route first!

2. Choose your targeted area of growth.

Your business growth plan should hone in on specific areas of growth. Common focuses of strategic growth initiatives might include:

• Growth in employee headcount.
• Expansion of current office, retail, or warehouse space.
• The addition of new locations or branches of your business.
• Expansion into new regions, locations, cities, or countries.
• The addition of new products and services.
• Expanding purchase locations, like in-store or online.
• Growth in revenue and/or profit.
• Growth of customer base.
• Customer acquisition rate.

Your growth plan may encompass more than one of the initiatives outlined above, which makes sense — the best growth doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For example, growing your unit sales will result in revenue growth — and possibly additional locations and headcount to support the increased sales.

Pro tip: Geographical spread is popular right now. In a 2023 Forbes survey, 79% of business owners focused on expanding into new geographies. Of small brick-and-mortar and online sellers, 90% want to do the same. Expanding your geographic footprint might be a good option!

3. Conduct market and industry research.

Researching the state of your industry is the best way to determine if your desired growth is both necessary and feasible. Conduct research by:

• Running surveys.
• Hosting focus groups with existing and potential customers.
• Digging into existing industry research.

The knowledge and facts you uncover in this step will shape the expectations and growth goals for this project to better determine a timeline, budget, and ultimate goal.

4. Set growth goals.

The next step is to determine how much you’ll be growing. To do that, you’ll need to set goals.

These goals should be based on your endgame aspirations of where you ideally want your organization to be. Your goals should also be achievable and realistic, which is why setting a goal based on industry research is so important.

Take the steps to quantify your goals in terms of metrics and timeline. For example, your goal may be to “grow sales by 30% quarter-over-quarter for the next three years” instead of just “increasing sales.”

Pro tip: Try to be SMART about your goals. Make them Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely based on the results of your market research.

5. Plan your course of action.

Next, outline how you’ll achieve your growth goals with a detailed growth strategy. Again, I suggest writing out a detailed growth strategy plan to gain the understanding and buy-in of your team.

Download this Template

This action plan should contain a list of:

• Action items.
• Deadlines.
• Teams or persons responsible.
• Resources for attaining your growth goal.

6. Determine your growth tools and requirements.

The last step before acting on your plan is determining any requirements your team will need through the process. These specific resources will help you meet your growth goals faster and more accurately. Examples might include:

• Funding. Organizations may need a capital investment or an internal budget allocation to see this project through.
• Tools & Software. Consider what technological resources may be needed to expedite and/or gain insights from the growth process.
• Services. Growth may be better achieved with the help of consultants, designers, or planners in a specific field.

7. Execute your plan.

With all of your planning, resourcing, and goal-setting complete, you’re ready to execute your business growth plan and deliver results for the company.

Make sure to:

• Holding your stakeholders accountable.
• Keep the line of communication open.
• Compare initial results to your forecasted growth goals to see if your projected results are still achievable.
• Adjust, if necessary.

Your growth plan and the tactics you leverage will ultimately be specific to your business, but there are some universal strategies you can implement when getting started.

Companies can implement different growth strategies to expand a business and its revenue. Check out this list of company growth strategy examples.

1. Viral Loops

Some growth strategies are tailored to be completely self-sustainable. They require an initial push but ultimately rely primarily (if not solely) on users’ enthusiasm to keep them going. One strategy that fits that bill is the viral loop.

The basic premise of a viral loop is straightforward:

• Someone tries your product.
• They’re offered a valuable incentive to share it with others.
• They accept and share with their network.
• New users sign up, see the incentive for themselves, and share with their networks.
• Repeat.

Ideally, your incentive will be compelling enough for users to actively and enthusiastically encourage their friends and family to get on board. At its best, a viral loop is a self-perpetuating acquisition machine, operating 24/7.

That said, viral loops are not guaranteed to go viral. And they’ve become less effective as they’ve become more commonplace. However, the potential is still there.

Part of the appeal is that the viral loop flips the traditional funnel upside-down:

What we like: Instead of needing as many leads as possible at the top, a viral loop funnel requires just one satisfied user to share with others. The system continues growing as long as every referral results in at least 1.1 new users.

Viral Loop Example: Dropbox

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Dropbox is one product I use that uses viral loops as a growth strategy. Here’s how I fit into the company’s viral loop:

• I tried Dropbox as a cloud storage solution.
• I saw that I could get 500MB of free space for each successful Dropbox referral.
• I sent a referral link to my friends.
• Some of them signed up and used the same referral program with their networks.

The incentive is strong enough to drive new people to sign up, increasing the number of Dropbox users as a whole.

2. Milestone Referrals

The milestone referral model is similar to the viral loop. It relies on incentives to kickstart and sustain it. But milestone referrals add a more intricate, progressive element to the process.

Companies that leverage viral loops generally offer a flat, consistent offer for individual referrals. Milestone referrals, though, offer rewards for hitting specific benchmarks.

In many cases, “milestones” are metrics like the number of referred friends.

A business might include different or increasingly enticing incentives with more referrals, iinstead of a fixed incentive for each referral. For example, if a customer refers ten friends, they’ll receive a better reward compared to those who only refer two new people.

What we like: This strategy adds an engaging element to the referral process. When done right, milestone referrals are simple to share with relatively straightforward objectives and enticing, tangible products as rewards.

Milestone Referral Example: Morning Brew

I’m a huge Morning Brew fan. In fact, I start my day with the Daily Brew and my cup of coffee. However, I didn’t know the site had a milestone referral program until I began researching for this article.

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The more people who sign up using my referral code, the better swag I get. Three referrals get me a sticker pack. Five earn me a tote bag. And with 25 referrals, I’ll get mailed a backpack. This system gamifies referral for a product that’s free, making people more likely to share Morning brew.

3. Word-of-Mouth

Word-of-mouth is organic and effective. Recommendations from friends and family are some of the most powerful incentives for consumers to purchase or try a product or service.

The secret of word-of-mouth’s effectiveness lies in a deeply rooted psychological bias: we think others know best.

That’s why social proof is so effective. Social proof is central to successful sales copywriting and broader content marketing efforts because it says, “Hey, people trust us.”

Businesses know in today’s customer-driven world, a single negative blog or social media post can compromise an entire marketing effort.

Pete Blackshaw, the father of digital word-of-mouth growth, says, “Satisfied customers tell three friends; angry customers tell 3,000.”

Pro tip: The key to word-of-mouth is to focus on a positive user experience. You need to grow a base of satisfied customers and sustain the wave of loyal feedback that comes with it. With this method, you have to focus on delivering a spectacular user experience, and users will spread the word for you.

Word of Mouth Example: Salud

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When I felt the early stages of a scratchy throat, I used to reach for Vitamin C tablets or mix-in powders. However, a friend recently brought over a few packets of Salud, a brand of beverage mixes that have hydration and immunity beverages.

I loved how these packets tasted, inspired by Latin flavors common in aguas frescas. Now, I keep a few in my cabinet. And, I’m not the only one in my social circle with Salud. I’ve noticed it in my other friends’ cabinets, showing the power of word of mouth.

4. The “When They Zig, We Zag” Approach

Sometimes, a company’s best growth strategy is to offer a unique experience that sets it apart from other businesses in its space.

Say your company developed an app for transitioning playlists between music streaming apps. Assume you have a few competitors who all generate revenue through ads and paid subscriptions — both of which frustrate users.

In that case, you might be best off trying to shed some of the baggage that customers run into trouble with when using your competitors’ programs. If your service is paid, you could consider offering a free trial of an ad-free experience from the start.

What we like: The point here is that there’s often a lot of value and opportunity in differentiating yourself. If you can “zig when they zag,” you can capture consumers’ attention and capitalize on their shifting interests.

Zig Zag Example: Octave

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Online mental health is a space with a lot of competition. BetterHelp, Talkspace, and Modern Health all offer online counseling sessions. However, when a friend of mine started talking about Octave, my ears perked up.

Octave allows users to put in their insurance information and find therapists who are in-network for their healthcare plans. You don’t have to pay any additional fees to use the platform. Octave helped my friend find a therapist who actually accepts her insurance without a premium fee or surcharge.

This insurance angle differentiates Octave from digital mental health competitors. Its focus on mental health is more specific than doctor search sites like Zocdoc, showing the power of differentiation as a growth engine.

5. In-Person Outreach

Adding a human element to your growth strategy can help set things in motion for your business, and it’s highly effective.

Prospects are often receptive to a personal approach. And nothing is more personal than immediate, face-to-face interactions. Personally interacting with potential customers can be a great way to get your business the traction it needs to get going.

This could mean:

• Hosting or sponsoring events.
• Attending conferences relevant to your space.
• Hiring brand ambassadors.

In reality, it’s any other way to directly and strategically reach out to your target demographic in person.

What we like: With consumers used to being saturated with ads, in-person outreach shakes things up and will stand out to them.

In-Person Outreach Example: Conferences

If you want an example of in-person outreach in action, look no further than Inbound, HubSpot’s annual conference. Sponsors of the event have booths where they can demo products for interested business leaders. They can also give out swag and answer questions, getting in front of potential customers.

6. Market Penetration

Competition is a necessary part of business, but it can be tough going.

Imagine that two companies in the same industry are targeting the same consumers. Typically, whatever customers Business A has, Business B does not. Market penetration is a strategy that builds off of this tug-of-war.

Market penetration increases the market share of a product within the given industry. Market share refers to the percentage of total sales in an industry generated by a company.

Market Penetration Example: Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola, the most popular carbonated beverage in the United States, has a 42.8% market share. If competitors like Pepsi and Sprite wanted to increase market penetration, they would need to increase market share. This increase would imply that they are acquiring customers who previously bought Coca-Cola or other carbonated beverage brands.

Pro tip: While lowering prices and advertising are two costly yet effective tactics to increase market share, they are part of businesses’ methods for overall sales and customer retention.

7. Market Development

If a company feels as if they have plateaued and its current market no longer has room for growth, it might switch strategies from market penetration to market development.

Market development strategies help businesses to tap into a new markets and territories by creating new products or finding innovatise uses for a project.

Pro tip: Brainstorm adjacent products or services you could offer to expand into new markets.

Market Penetration Example: Uber

Uber launched in 2009 as a rideshare company, allowing people with cars to pickup passengers as a gig. In 2014, the company expanded its offerings with UberEats, allowing customers to order food and have it delivered — even if the restaurant does not directly offer delivery. Two years later, the company launched Uber Freight, an app that matches cargo carriers with shippers.

This growth is still underway today. In 2025, Uber expanded

• A program that serves teen riders to 26 new countries.
• A Shopper Pick & Pack program that allows gig workers to shop for orders and hand off completed bags to couriers.
• A Broker Access capacity-as-a-service solution that gives freight brokers direct access to the company’s technology platform.

The company started as a way to get passengers to their destinations. Uber expanded their idea and has become one of the biggest names in mobility today.

8. Product Development

For growth, many businesses need to introduce something new. Product development allows companies to attract new customers and retain existing ones by creating a new product or enhancing an existing one.

Pro tip: While this is one of the most common ways a business grows, be sure you’re listening to your customers so you know what they’re looking for.

Product Development Example: Apple

Tech giant Apple doesn’t just make a product and rest on its laurels. The company invests major time and money into product development. According to Statista, the company spent $31.4 billion on research and development in 2024. The goal here is to improve products so people stay loyal to the brand or add another Apple device to their tech stack.

9. Growth Alliances

Growth alliances are strategic collaborations between companies. They further the growth goals of the involved parties.

Pro tip: To make a growth alliance, look for an adjacent business that already serves your target audience (and vice versa) to benefit you both.

Growth Alliances Example: Sephora and Ulta

Sephora partnered with retailer Kohl’s in 2020, starting a growth alliance that benefitted both brands. Sephora gets to have products in new locations, reaching busy shoppers in an older age demographic who may not have time to visit their store. Kohl’s brings makeup lovers into the store, who can then shop for other products at the retailer.

In 2022, we also saw Target forming a growth alliance with Ulta Beauty to create dedicated shop space for Ulta in at least 800 stores. The following year, Fenty Beauty teamed up with Ulta Beauty at Target. Ulta Beauty and Fenty can get their products in front of shoppers at a major retailer. Target has the benefit of becoming an even more dominant one-stop-shop for customers.

10. Acquisitions

Companies can use an acquisition strategy to promote growth. By acquiring other businesses, companies expand their operations by creating new products or expanding into a new industry.

Acquisitions offer significant benefits to companies, such as:

• Allowing for faster growth.
• Gaining access to more customers.
• Reduced lower business risk.
• And more.

What we like: This is an easy (though sometimes expensive) way to grow since the products or services you acquire are already established and come with a customer base.

Acquisitions Example: Procter & Gamble

Founded in 1837, Procter & Gamble is a consumer goods company known for its acquisitions. It initially started in soaps and candles but currently has 65 acquired companies, allowing it to expand into different markets.

The list includes Pampers, Tide, Bounty, Tampax, Old Spice, and more. Although its sales dipped between 2016 and 2019, Procter & Gamble’s net sales for 2023 were $84 billion, its best year within the last decade.

11. Organic Growth

Organic growth is the most ideal business growth strategy. It could look like:

• Focusing on SEO.
• Developing engaging content.
• Prioritizing advertisements.

Instead of focusing on external growth, organic growth is a sustainable strategy that promotes long-term success.

What we like: Organic growth should always be part of your game plan, even while pursuing other business growth strategies. If your business isn’t growing organically, you’re not doing something right.

Organic Growth Example: Marketing at HubSpot

Looking to see organic growth in action? Well, this blog post and the HubSpot Blog on whole are a part of that strategy. This blog’s SEO team helps identify topics that people are searching for, so writers like me can craft engaging content that brings people into our ecosystem.

The site doesn’t have paid ads, but writers include product mentions and CTAs that point to our product.

12. Leverage Social Media

A strong social media presence can be invaluable to marketing and business growth. You’ll need to establish brand pages on all social media platforms like:

• Instagram.
• Facebook.
• Pinterest.
• TikTok.
• X.

Social media can help you increase engagement with your target audience and make it easier for potential customers to find your brand.

It’s also great for word-of-mouth promotion, as existing customers will likely share your content with their network. There has been a huge upswing in the popularity of using social media influencers as well. The global influencer marketing platform industry is expected to reach $22.2 billion by 2025.

Pro tip: Be where your customers are. Research which social media channels are most popular with your target audience and focus your efforts there.

Social Media Example: Stanley Cup

In 2023, TikTok user danimarielettering posts a video of her car after it caught on fire. She picks up a Stanley Cup in the car’s cup holder. She gives it a shake. There’s still ice jingling against the metal. The TikTok went viral, and the brand gave the video maker a new car.

Stanley continued to ride the social media wave. People began posting videos of their Stanley cup collections and their excitement over new colors of the product hitting the market, showing how social buzz can help you grow.

13. Provide Excellent Customer Service

It can be tempting to focus on acquiring new customers, but maintaining loyalty with your existing customers is just as important. Existing customers already love your brand and may evangelize for you for free.

Providing an excellent customer service experience ensures that you’ll continue to keep the customers you have. Plus, there’s a good chance you’ll reap some high-value referrals, too.

What we like: Customer retention offers one of the best ROIs, so it’s definitely worth investing in. Check out these strategies to keep your customers happy and coming back.

Customer Service Example: AMC Theaters

This is an example that hits close to home. I wanted to see a limited-release movie at a local theater. However, I noticed that the website time showed 10 a.m. instead of 10 p.m., making it the only location with a daytime showing.

I called the theater to see if the posting was a mistake. Turns out it was! The staff had to repost the movie time. However, on my call, I was able to reserve the seats I was eyeing in the previous booking. My problem was resolved with no issue, and I got to keep the best seats in the house.

I’m now loyal to that AMC location after the great service I received, making it my theater of choice.

The Key to Growing Your Business

Controlled, sustainable growth is the key to successful businesses. Industries are constantly changing, and it is the responsibility of companies to adapt to these changes.

Successful companies plan for growth. They work for it. They earn it. So what’s your plan?

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

12 Powerful CRMs and Use Cases for a Growing Business

With so many customer relationship management (CRM) tools on the market today — and each with its own features, integrations, and capabilities — it can be challenging to find the right tool for your growing business.

How do you select the right CRM for your team? And how can you ensure that you’re taking full advantage of your CRM?

In this post, I’ll review 12 of the best CRMs on the market to help you narrow your search. With these example CRMs, I’ll also offer use cases for each tool to provide insight into how you can best use them.

Table of Contents

• What are CRM tools?
• 12 Best CRMs
• Types of CRM (with Examples)
• Choose Your CRM

I’ve used several different tools over the years, ranging from all-in-one CRM platforms to a simple project management system that I’ve automated to fit my needs. Ultimately, the best CRMs support sales activities, customer service, and customer retention.

In a perfect world, CRMs should also integrate with any marketing software to make for a smooth transfer of data. However, that’s not always the case — and that’s okay too. In my experience, starting somewhere and working to integrate is more effective than waffling on a decision, waiting for the perfect solution, and not ending up with any systems or processes for tracking customer data.

What’s more, with nearly every tool on the market bringing AI into the mix — the insights and integrations will only get better.

Whether you’re just starting out or are looking for a CRM that meets your needs better than the current solution, I’ve evaluated the following list.

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Here are 12 CRMs available today and examples of how you might use them.

1. HubSpot

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HubSpot is a CRM platform — meaning, it tracks customer relationships, as well as facilitates marketing, sales, and service processes. HubSpot is ideal for any scaling business (whether you’re small, mid-sized, or enterprise) and any team (such as marketing, sales, customer service, operations, or C-suite).

The platform combines Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, and Content Hub — along with hundreds of available integrations — to help you align all internal teams, gather meaningful insights, report on (and share) success and growth opportunities, create remarkable customer experiences, increase adoption, and delight your target audience throughout every moment of the buyer’s journey.

HubSpot serves as a single source of truth when it comes to managing your customer relationships — and with an exceptionally easy user experience (UX), you can spend more time on your customers and less time on software management and manual activities.

And speaking of your customers, they are a major part of what differentiates HubSpot from other CRMs on the market — HubSpot centers everything you do around your customers and the customer experience. As a result, you’re able to grow better and help your customers grow better, too.

Example of HubSpot in Use: Align Your Data

HubSpot syncs every interaction that happens between you and a contact to that contact’s timeline. This creates a single source of truth for every member of your team, from sales to marketing to service to ops.

This also makes it easy for your team to refer to and apply that contact data as needed. As a result, you’ll have the data alignment that’s necessary to effectively increase customer loyalty and delight.

Not to mention, you’ll be saving time in the process since HubSpot will enter, sync, and update your contact data for you — no more manual entry.

Did You Know? HubSpot Marketing Hub customers saw a 505% return on investment over three years. Check out our whitepaper for more insights into the business value of Marketing Hub (just like this one).

Testing It Out

A core part of HubSpot’s CRM is its predictive lead-scoring software, which uses machine learning to parse through thousands of data points to score leads. I found the setup process straightforward, and within minutes, the system started analyzing existing leads and assigning them scores based on their likelihood to convert.

By leveraging historical data and analyzing patterns in lead behavior, the software was able to prioritize leads who were genuinely interested in our offerings. Not only could the tool identify high-potential leads on its own, but it also allows me to create up to 25 different scoring systems to ensure that each lead is qualified adequately.

Overall, my experience with HubSpot’s predictive lead-scoring software was positive. Not only did it save me time, but it also improved the accuracy of my lead prioritization process.

Try the HubSpot CRM with AI.

Pricing

HubSpot CRM itself is a free tool, but the Hubs — including the Marketing, Sales, Service, Content, and Operations Hubs — are paid products.

• Marketing Hub. Starts at $15/month/seat (Starter), $800/month (Professional,) and $3,600/month (Enterprise)
• Sales Hub. Starts at $15/month/seat (Starter), $90/month/seat (Professional), and $150/month/seat (Enterprise).
• Service Hub. Starts at $15/month/seat (Starter), $90/month/seat (Professional), and $150/month/seat (Enterprise).
• Content Hub. Starts at $15/month/seat (Starter), $450/month (Professional), and $1,500/month (Enterprise).
• Operations Hub. Starts at$15/month/seat (Starter), $720/month (Professional), and $2,000/month (Enterprise).

These prices are billed annually.

2. Salesflare

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Salesflare is a B2B sales CRM platform, as it’s specifically built to track and organize your B2B operations. Their CRM automatically creates contacts and enriches them with additional details, including email signatures and complete customer timelines. The CRM then nudges you to follow up.

The Salesflare CRM has a built-in email sequence tool that allows you to send personal emails at scale, which can make your outreach way more efficient. And if you‘re a heavy LinkedIn user, you’ll appreciate their LinkedIn sidebar too, which allows you to create contacts from LinkedIn and find their email, all in a few clicks.

Example of Salesflare in Use: Track Your Sales

If you’re in B2B sales, it can be hard to keep track of every lead in your pipeline in an organized way. Sometimes, leads slip through the cracks, you can forget details, or you can follow up a little too late and lose the momentum.

That’s exactly what a B2B sales CRM platform like Salesflare is built for. It makes it very easy to keep track of your leads, so you don’t have to miss any details or lose out on revenue. Salesflare is also a great tool for sales managers who want to keep an eye on what their team is doing and coach them accordingly.

Testing It Out

When I tested Salesflare, two features stood out to me: the automated data entry and email & meeting integration features.

The automated data entry was seamless; as soon as I connected my email and social accounts, Salesflare began pulling in information and populating customer profiles without any manual input from me. I found that the CRM automatically gathered details like contact information, company data, and even social media profiles to create comprehensive records for each lead and customer.

The email and meeting tracking feature was equally impressive. Every email I sent and received was automatically logged into the CRM, along with details about when it was opened and links the recipients clicked. This gave me a clear view of how engaged my leads were and helped me prioritize follow-ups.

The platform also tracked every meeting I scheduled and added it to the timeline, complete with notes and action items, which ensured I never missed a meeting and had all the context I needed for each interaction.

Pricing

30-day free trial available. The paid plans include:

• Growth. $29/user/month.
• Pro. $49/user/month.
• Enterprise. $99/user/month.

These plans are billed annually. If you want to register more than five users for the Enterprise plan, you’ll need to contact Salesflare’s team.

3. EngageBay

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EngageBay helps small businesses manage customer relationships and sales processes effectively. It provides a wide range of features such as contact management, sales automation, lead capture, and marketing automation.

EngageBay is also used by companies to manage their sales and marketing efforts. The software provides users with tools to create and track leads, as well as follow up on sales opportunities.

EngageBay also helps companies measure their marketing campaigns to see what’s working and what isn’t so they can adjust their strategies accordingly.

Overall, EngageBay is an excellent CRM for businesses of all sizes. It is easy to use and comes at quite an affordable price too.

Examples of EngageBay in Use: 360-Degree Customer View

In today’s world, having a complete view of your customer’s journey is paramount. By leveraging data from various channels, companies can begin to understand their customers on a deeper level. That’s what EngageBay’s unified CRM does.

The all-in-one platform connects all the tools and sources its data from the CRM, allowing teams to work in tandem with real-time information.

The 360-degree view draws on each customer’s source, scores, and calls, and offers a complete picture to the business owner or sales manager. This helps sales teams discover new opportunities, close deals, and predict what the customer preferences could be.

Testing It Out

EngageBay’s AI-powered deal management software is incredibly efficient and user-friendly. The automated deal tracking provided real-time updates and prioritized deals based on predefined conditions. This meant that I could focus on high-priority deals without getting bogged down with manual tracking.

The AI-driven predictive analysis was particularly impressive, too. It gave insights into which deals were likely to close and which I needed to pay more attention to. This allowed me to allocate my time and resources more effectively, ensuring no deal was neglected.

The visual sales pipeline was another highlight; the drag-and-drop interface made it easy to manage deals. I could easily move deals through different stages and get a clear overview of their progress.

This visual approach — coupled with the AI and automation features — significantly streamlined my deal management process and increased my overall productivity.

Pricing

There’s a free forever plan available. The all-in-one paid plans include:

• Basic: $13.79/user/month
• Growth: $59.79/user/month
• Pro: $110/39/user/month

These plans are billed annually. They also offer standalone solutions for Marketing and CRM & Sales Bay depending on your needs.

4. Microsoft Dynamics

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Microsoft Dynamics is a CRM and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software meant to improve sales and marketing productivity. The CRM gathers social insights, provides cloud-based campaign management, and offers business intelligence.

Choose to have your CRM delivered by cloud, hosted, or on-premises. Microsoft Dynamics offers apps so you can manage your relationships with customers on mobile as well as integrate and sync data from social media with your CRM.

Example of Dynamics in Use: Get In-Depth Customer Insights

A CRM has the power to provide a 360-degree view of your customers, and Microsoft Dynamics is no exception. The CRM’s real-time customer data platform provides AI-powered insights that tell you how to acquire valuable leads and customers, who your audience members are, what they need, how you can delight them, and more.

There are also real-time insights about your customers based on behavioral, demographic, and transactional data as well as engagement and customer feedback (e.g., survey data). This allows your team to apply these insights for targeted and personalized sales, marketing campaigns, support, and more.

Testing It Out

Microsoft Dynamics has a dedicated AI tool that aims to transform the workflow and customer management processes. When I tested it, the automation features stood out to me; the AI-assisted email drafting and meeting summaries saved a considerable amount of time, and the automated data entry (and intelligent reminders) ensured that I never missed important follow-ups.

Customer insights were another great feature. Dynamics 365 AI aggregated data from various touchpoints, providing a comprehensive view of customer behavior and preferences. This allowed me to tailor my interactions and campaigns more effectively. The AI-driven segmentation also allowed me to identify high-value customers and target them with personalized offers, which can boost conversion rates.

Dynamics 365 AI also lends itself to customer service in that AI-powered virtual agents can handle routine inquiries efficiently, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues.

The system’s ability to analyze customer interactions and provide real-time suggestions helps improve the quality and speed of responses.

Pricing

30-day free trial available. The paid plans range from $65/user/month to $1,000/tenant/month, depending on the use case you choose.

5. Salesforce

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Salesforce’s CRM, Customer360, brings customer data plus sales, service, marketing, commerce, IT, and analytics together in a single location for quick access, shareable insights, and easy collaboration. The CRM is capable of lead and contact management, sales opportunity management, workflow rules, automation, and customizable reports and dashboards. It’s also accessible via a mobile app.

Salesforce offers a number of apps — such as Einstein AI — that make it easier to achieve your unique goals. There are also Employee Experience features within the tool to simplify work collaboration and increase motivation.

Example of Salesforce in Use: Automate Repetitive Tasks

Like many CRM options, Salesforce automates repetitive and time-consuming tasks.

The Einstein AI feature uses AI to provide your team with data about all past interactions with customers. This allows you to engage more thoughtfully and improve business communications and relationships. It also increases productivity by providing your team with the information they need, such as intelligent case classification and next actions.

Einstein AI also makes the process of providing remarkable customer service and support easier by recommending certain actions to reps, personalizing support for customers, and automating support when possible with bots to save reps time.

Testing It Out

Salesforce created a dedicated AI-powered tool to support its CRM, and when I tested it, I found its features to be very effective at providing actionable insights and increasing productivity.

With AI-powered predictive analysis, I could easily get forecasts on sales trends, which can help me make more informed decisions and focus on high-potential leads. Einstein also suggested personalized email content based on customer data, which significantly improved my outreach efficiency.

The conversational AI capabilities also stood out to me. I can use Einstein to generate summaries of sales calls and customer interactions, which saved me a ton of time on manual note-taking. The ability to automate routine tasks and receive real-time predictions on deal closures helped streamline my workflow, allowing me to concentrate more on strategic activities.

Pricing

30-day free trial available. The paid plans range from $25/user/month to $1,500/seat/month, depending on the use case you choose. You might need to call Salesforce’s team for custom pricing.

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6. Zoho

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Zoho is a CRM that’s fully cloud-based, integrated, and offers a variety of features including lead management and scoring, workflow automation, analytics, and marketing and process management.

Zoho’s AI sales assistant, Zia, interprets CRM data, tracks website visitors, and predicts sales. These sales predictions also surface leads who are most likely to convert and deals that are most likely to close.

Zoho’s gamification feature keeps your reps motivated and focused on quota while the Google Ads integration aligns your sales and marketing teams by bringing your business’s ad spend and sales revenue to light.

Lastly, you can use Zoho to provide omnichannel support for customers and leads over the phone, email, live chat, social media, or in person.

Example of Zoho in Use: Provide an Omnichannel Customer Experience

Zoho allows you to provide an omnichannel customer experience for your contacts — meaning you can support your audience via email, live chat, social media, or an in-person meeting, all without ever leaving the CRM. Any data obtained through these interactions will be saved to the CRM automatically.

Bring all of your emails into the CRM and send messages directly from the tool. Your email conversation history will be updated and saved after every correspondence.

The same goes for your phone calls — take and receive sales and support calls from Zoho, so all conversations are logged and you don’t ever have to leave the tool. You can also host meetings and lead presentations from the CRM.

Testing It Out

I found Zoho CRM’s AI assistant, Zia, to be an incredibly versatile and intelligent tool. Zia’s conversational capabilities are particularly impressive as it can understand both text- and voice-based commands and queries. I can call and speak to Zia directly, which makes it easy to get real-time insights and updates on sales activities.

In addition to facilitating a quick, hands-free interaction, Zia can also predict sales outcomes by analyzing past sales data and patterns. Its anomaly detection capabilities are also admirable; it can alert you to any irregularities in your sales data, such as sudden spikes or drops in activity. This allows you to address potential issues proactively.

Pricing

There’s a 15-day free trial available. The paid pricing plans include the following:

• Standard. $14/user/month.
• Professional. $23/user/month.
• Enterprise. $40/user/month
• Ultimate. $52/user/month

These plans are billed annually.

7. BIGContacts

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BIGContacts simplifies customer relationship management with its easy-to-use design and intuitive interface. The CRM tool is a reliable way for businesses to stay on top of all customer data and interactions. It provides a 360-degree view of contact data, including previous touches, social media profiles, notes, files, and upcoming activities. The tool enhances team collaboration, provides actionable business insights, and helps increase organizational productivity.

BIGContacts offers sales pipeline management, webform connection, lead nurturing, and task tracking. There are also custom reports and dashboards that allow you to gain better visibility into your business operations.

BIGContacts can also be a powerful tool for task management with detailed calendar views, automated recurring tasks, and custom reminders.

Example of BIGContacts in Use: Personalized Drip Campaigns

Personalized interactions play a monumental role in improving customer relationships. They help customers feel valued, contributing to improved brand loyalty and customer retention. BIGContacts helps businesses leverage the customer data available to craft more meaningful and engaging experiences.

Automated drip email campaigns that adjust based on contact activities can be set up using BIGContacts. These emails allow you to connect with prospects and customers at the right time. Furthermore, email templates are available, which can save a considerable amount of your time. You can also create your templates and save them for future use.

Testing It Out

One of BIGContacts’ core features is its AI-powered contact data standardization feature, which uses advanced algorithms and machine learning to analyze and transform raw contact data into a uniform format. Not only does this streamline data management, but it also reduces the chances of errors typically seen with manual processing.

The application of AI here changes the daunting tasks of manually ensuring data consistency across multiple platforms into a straightforward, automated process. The benefits are immediately noticeable, as it simplifies data analysis, customer segmentation, and targeted marketing efforts.

I was particularly impressed with how the AI tackled complex datasets to ensure accuracy and uniformity in contact information.

Pricing

There’s a free forever plan available for up to 100 users. The paid plan costs $9.99/month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually. If you’re managing over 20,000 contacts, you’ll need to talk to BIGContacts’ team for custom pricing.

8. Pipedrive

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Pipedrive is a sales CRM and pipeline management tool ideal for small teams. The software comes stacked with features for tracking performance, managing deals, predicting revenue, and automating repetitive tasks. Pipedrive automatically visualizes your pipeline so you’re able to identify where your efforts should be focused.

Pipedrive includes sales forecasting and integrations so you can pair your current tools such as Mailchimp or Zapier with your CRM. There’s also a security feature that clarifies how your business data is being used.

Example of Pipedrive in Use: Track Your Data and Security

Use Pipedrive to keep track of your data and security — the software monitors all ways in which your company’s data is accessed and who’s accessing it. Identify suspect users and activities in real-time, all via a single security dashboard. Set notifications that alert you about when and where user log-ins occur. Lastly, create custom rules for secure practices (e.g., time-restricted access) to keep your CRM data safe.

Testing It Out

Pipedrive’s AI tool suite is exceptionally useful. I found that the AI Sales Assistant is able to provide actionable insights and recommend the next best actions for deals, which helps you make timely and informed decisions.

The AI email generator is also effective at creating compelling sales emails from simple prompts, which helps to overcome writer’s block and personalize messages at scale.

I also found the AI email summaries feature to be a huge time-saver as it condenses long email threads into brief summaries, providing clarity on the lead’s interests and suggesting viable steps to take next.

Pricing

There’s a 14-day free trial available. The paid plans include:

• Essential: $14/seat/month
• Advanced: $39/seat/month
• Professional (including AI): $49/seat/month
• Power (including AI): $64/seat/month

These plans are billed annually.

9. Freshworks

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Freshworks is a sales CRM and customer engagement platform that uses AI to help your sales and marketing teams provide personalized customer experiences. Freshworks is split into the Sales Cloud and Marketing Cloud.

The Sales Cloud assists with lead attraction, lead qualification, and deal engagement. It also uses AI to forecast sales and predict which actions reps should take with prospects.

Marketing Cloud helps you conduct automated conversations with customers via an AI-powered chatbot. It also uncovers details about audience behavior and engagement so you can determine where to focus your efforts and how to create highly targeted campaigns and experiences.

Example of Freshworks in Use: Align Sales and Marketing

Sales and marketing alignment is critical to the success of any business. A CRM like Freshworks has the power to align your sales and marketing teams to increase productivity, improve collaboration, and enhance the customer experience.

Freshworks organizes and updates contact and engagement data in a single location — thanks to the Customer-for-Life Cloud feature — so sales reps and marketers know exactly who they’re targeting.

Testing It Out

Freshworks created a handy AI assistant (or coach, depending on the use case) called Freddy AI, which helps both customers and employees boost their productivity. I really like Freddy Self Service, which allows sales reps to deploy intelligent chatbots to quickly resolve customer issues 24/7. This frees up time for support reps to focus on more complex tasks.

Freddy Copilot comes in handy for employees as it can summarize issues and discussions, suggest next steps, and automate repetitive tasks with conversational prompts. And Freddy Insights provides AI-driven insights that give employees a 360-degree view into their operations, so they can fix any issues and spot viable opportunities.

Pricing

There’s a 21-day free trial available. The paid plans include:

• Growth, $9/user/month.
• Pro, $39/user/month.
• Enterprise, $59/user/month.

These plans are billed annually.

10. ActiveCampaign

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ActiveCampaign is a customer experience automation platform and CRM with a number of tasks and job functions you can automate across social media, email, live chat, SMS, and more. There are over 300 integrations — such as Shopify, Facebook, and WordPress — that you can use to tailor the CRM to your specific needs.

ActiveCampaign makes it easy to share customer lifecycle data cross-team and use it to make informed decisions about your interactions with customers (e.g., what content you should send to them, when to reach out, and what channel to leverage).

ActiveCampaign also helps you better understand your customers on an individual basis and effectively segment them by tracking buyer preferences, engagement, behavior, and unique traits.

This, along with other features like customizable campaigns and messages, allows you to personalize all communication with prospects and customers.

Example of ActiveCampaign in Use: Personalize Customer Experiences

A CRM organizes a lot of data about your customers on an individual basis — and a CRM like ActiveCampaign makes it easy to apply this data to create personalized customer experiences.

ActiveCampaign uses machine learning to automate personalization across various channels. As your business grows, you can continue to automate these one-on-one experiences to ensure every customer feels like they’re an individual who matters to your business.

ActiveCampaign also has customizable Personalization Tags and Deal Fields. These features allow you to add tailored, dynamic content to campaigns, emails, SMS, web forms, deal follow-up messages, and more, allowing you to tailor all communication to each individual.

Testing It Out

When I delved into ActiveCampaign’s AI capabilities, I found their AI-powered automation builder remarkably intuitive and efficient. The feature combines flexible actions with conversational AI and a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface to help you create automated email and SMS campaigns.

All you have to do is visually map out the journey you want to take your customers on, add triggers and touchpoints, and schedule when you want it to go into effect.

The generative AI feature impressed me as well. With just a few inputs on my end, the system suggested engaging and relevant email content that resonates well with my predefined target audience. This saved a ton of time and improved the personalization of my campaign.

I also explored the predictive email-sending feature, which uses AI to determine the optimal time to send emails based on contacts’ behavior and engagement patterns. This results in higher open rates for email campaigns, which can improve ROI.

Pricing

There’s a 14-day free trial available. The paid plans for the CRM and sales engagement platform include:

• Starter: Starting at $15/month
• Plus: Starting at $49/month
• Pro: Starting at $79/month
• Enterprise: Starting at $145/month

These plans are billed annually.

11. Close

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Tailored specifically for small and medium-sized businesses, Close offers a streamlined and efficient approach to managing customer interactions, tracking sales activities, and optimizing workflows.

This platform integrates communication tools such as email, phone, and SMS, which allows you to handle all your communications from one place, reducing the time spent switching between different tools and increasing overall efficiency.

Close also automates repetitive tasks such as follow-ups, reminders, and data entry, which ensures that no leads fall through the cracks and that you can focus on what you do best.

Example of Close in Use: Built-In Calling

One of Close’s standout features is its built-in calling functionality, which transforms how sales teams conduct their cold outreach and manage customer interactions. For example, I found that with Close, you can make and receive calls directly within the platform using VoIP technology. This eliminates the need for external phone systems and keeps all communication records centralized.

Whenever you make calls through Close, the platform automatically tracks and logs the call, providing valuable data on call duration, outcomes, and follow-up actions. The calls can also be recorded and stored for future reference or training purposes.

Testing It Out

During the testing process, Close GPT stood out to me. It’s like ChatGPT, but it’s tailored to quickly generate sales prospecting lists, summarize customer relationships, and create meeting agendas, among other things. I also loved the Call Assistant feature that automatically transcribes and summarizes all client (and cold) calls to help sales teams stay productive.

Close’s free AI tools were also pretty decent. The cold email generator, subject line generator, and AI email writer were designed to automatically create personalized and relevant emails that increase open and response rates, and scale the outreach process.

Pricing

There’s a free 14-day trial available. The paid plans include:

• Base: $19/user/month.
• Startup. $49/user/month.
• Professional. $99/user/month.
• Enterprise. $139/user/month.

These plans are billed annually. If you have more than 10 reps, you can call to create a custom plan.

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12. NetSuite

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NetSuite is a comprehensive CRM solution offered by Oracle’s NetSuite. Designed for businesses of all sizes, this platform provides you with a bird’s-eye view of your customers, allowing you to manage the entire customer lifecycle, from lead generation to opportunity tracking, customer service, and order management.

As part of the broader NetSuite ERP suite, this tool integrates seamlessly with financial, inventory, and ecommerce systems, offering a unified platform for managing all business operations. NetSuite automates key sales processes such as lead assignment, sales forecasting, and territory management. This reduces manual tasks, increases efficiency, and ensures you can focus on building strong relationships with your customers and closing deals.

Example of NetSuite in Use: Sales Force Automation

NetSuite’s Sales Force Automation (SFA) capabilities are designed to enhance the effectiveness and productivity of sales teams. For example, the platform helps you manage leads and opportunities by capturing detailed information about prospects and tracking their progress through the sales pipeline. This allows you to easily view and update lead statuses, ensuring that no deal opportunity is ignored.

NetSuite also offers robust forecasting tools that provide visibility into future sales, which helps you plan resources and manage inventory effectively. These sales forecasts can be adjusted based on real-time data, which makes them highly reliable.

Testing It Out

When I tested NetSuite’s AI capabilities, I was impressed by how effective they were at enhancing various aspects of the marketing and sales workflows. For example, the AI-driven invoice processing feature can automate the entire invoicing process, from data extraction to payment tracking, which significantly reduces manual effort and minimizes errors.

The content generation tool was another highlight. I found that, by using AI and machine learning, NetSuite can create personalized content for customer communications and marketing campaigns. The ability to generate relevant and engaging content based on customer data and behavior is a game-changer when it comes to improving engagement and conversion rates.

Pricing

Users can subscribe to NetSuite CRM for an annual license fee, which covers the number of users, core platform, and optional modules. You’ll have to contact NetSuite’s team for custom pricing.

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Types of CRM (with Examples)

As you’ve seen, there are CRM options for just about every use case. In testing these options, I’ve found two things to be true:

Not all CRMs are created equal.

And that’s okay. Some businesses need a super-robust CRM to manage all aspects of their business, while others need a simpler solution. What matters most is finding one that works for you now and can grow with your business so you don’t have to go through the time, labor, and cost-intensive process of migrating to a new platform.

AI is making CRMs better.

Although AI is certainly controversial when it comes to privacy and its growing sophistication, there’s no doubt that it unlocks a ton of incredible insights.

In fact, AI is taking CRMs to the next level, from — for lack of a better word — a simple database for storing information to a tool that yields significantly better business intelligence (BI). In addition to optimizing sales, predicting growth, and identifying potential new buyers, I’ve found that AI-powered CRMs bridge all the “traditional” CRM functionalities and make it easier for sales people to do what they do best — drive revenue.

So what are the “traditional” CRM functionalities? Most fall into three categories: Operational, Analytical, and Collaborative. That said there are a few more speciallized types of CRMs.

While several CRMs, including the HubSpot CRM with AI, bridge them all, I’m going through each type below and sharing potential use cases so you can determine which is likely best for your needs.

1. Operational CRMs

In a nutshell, operational CRMs manage all of the business processes across sales, marketing, and servicing customers. Basically, they cover all aspects of the customer journey and automate as much as possible, minimizing manual workarounds and data entry.

Best for: Growing businesses that want to align their teams, streamline processes, and improve customer interactions.

Key Features of Operational CRMs

• Sales automation to track leads, automate follow-ups and reminders, and help move potential customers through the journey.
• Marketing automation to automate messaging, email campaigns, and lead scoring.
• Customer service tools to manage support tickets, deliver a better customer experience, and improve team morale.

Example of an Operational CRM in Action

The Challenge: Hypothetically, a mid-sized tech company selling software subscriptions struggles with manual follow-ups and missed opportunities.

The Operational CRM Solution: With an operational CRM, when a prospect downloads a whitepaper, they are automatically added to a nurturing campaign, assigned to a rep, and reminded to follow up if they don’t respond. Meanwhile, the system logs all interactions, ensuring customer support sees past conversations when the same prospect later reaches out with questions.

2. Analytical CRMs

The best way I’ve seen analytical CRMs described is that they focus on understanding. Where operational CRMs focus on doing, and collaborative CRMs focus on — well — collaboration, analytical CRMs put the data at the forefront and make it easier for companies to make informed, data-driven decisions.

Best for: Data-driven businesses that want to improve marketing and sales strategies.

Key Features of Analytical CRMs

• Customer data analysis to help sales teams identify specific touchpoints, trends, and areas of friction in the customer journey.
• Sales forecasting to help sales teams predict future sales.
• Customer segmentation to make it easier to create messaging and campaigns targeted to specific groups.

Example of an Analytical CRM in Action

The Challenge: Again, hypothetically, an outdoor gear e-commerce brand wants to improve customer retention.

The Analytical CRM Solution: The analytical CRM tracks purchase behavior and reveals that customers who buy hiking boots often return for trekking poles within three months. Using this insight, they create a follow-up email campaign with a discount on trekking poles at the exact time customers are most likely to buy.

3. Collaborative or Strategic CRMs

Collaborative CRMs are all about seamless interaction so that every team marketing to, selling, to, or servicing a client can work together. Ultimately, the advantage of this type of CRM means that all team members are informed and the customer doesn’t have to repeat themselves. (I’ve been on both sides of the equation and both are frustrating.)

Best for: Companies that need seamless internal communications.

Key Features of Collaborative CRMs

• Comprehensive customer data so everyone is on the same page.
• Multi-access user controls, so each person has access to the data they need to work effectively.
• Internal team comms to help teams collaborate more effectively.

Example of a Collaborative CRM in Action

The Challenge: Loving my hypothetical examples? Let’s keep going. A real estate brokerage with multiple agents and an in-house legal team needs all departments to have access to client information, but not everyone needs the same level of access.

The Collaborative CRM Solution: The CRM allows agents to track client interactions and property searches, legal teams to access only transaction documents, and marketing to see how past clients engaged with listings and personalized follow-ups.

What’s more, the service and admin teams have access to important customer information, so clients enjoy a seamless experience regardless of who they talk to.

4. Campaign Management CRM

As you might guess, campaign management CRMs are marketing heavy and they’re all about ensuring that marketing efforts are unified and seamless. These CRMs fall into the specialized category. I’ve found that they can be standalone platforms, but often are features of more comprehensive CRM tools.

Best for: Companies heavily focused on marketing.

Key Features of Campaign Management CRMs

• Email & ad campaign tracking to oversee marketing efforts and measure performance.
• Customer segmentation to improve customer targeting and personalization.
• Marketing ROI calculators to measure and analyze success and identify opportunities to improve in the future.

Example of a Campaign Management CRM in Action

The Challenge: A hypothetical fitness subscription company has found they have poor customer retention and want to increase renewals before customers’ annual plans expire.

The Campaign Management CRM Solution: By segmenting users based on frequency of engagement, creating personalized email sequences tailored to the level of engagement, and tracking open rates and responses, the company can improve engagement and become a must-have solution instead of “another subscription” people feel comfortable dropping at renewal time.

5. Social Media CRM

As you might guess, social media CRMs focus most heavily on social channels, including tracking all aspects of customer acquisition and reputation management, including ad targeting social listening. I’d consider these CRMs highly specialized as well. However, there are some social management platforms that incorporate these tracking aspects as well.

Best for: Brands with a heavy reliance on social media for growth and service.

Key Features of Social Media CRMs

• Social listening tools to stay on top of what people are saying about your company.
• Engagement tracking to improve the way you engage with customers.
• Audience analysis to identify potential brand ambassadors and simultaneously uncover new leads.

Example of a Social Media CRM in Action

The Challenge: A skincare brand launches a new product and wants to track online buzz.

The Social Media CRM Solution: Their social media CRM monitors brand mentions across different platforms, identifies customers who frequently engage with their content, and notifies the marketing team when influencers organically mention their product.

Using this data, they reach out to engaged customers for testimonials and launch a user-generated content campaign that leads to more sales.

6. Mobile CRMs

Mobile CRMs aren’t necessarily mobile-exclusive, but they have a high level of mobile functionality to make it easier for teams to collaborate from less traditional sales offices. Again, these are more specialized and often are a mobile-enabled aspect of larger, more robust CRMs.

Best for: Companies with remote teams, traveling service techs, and field sales reps who need CRM access on the go.

Key Features of Mobile CRMs

• Mobile app functionality to make it easy for teams to access the CRM from mobile devices.
• Offline access to simplify service even without internet availability.
• Push notifications to make sure teams get alerts about important customer updates.

Example of a Mobile CRM in Action

The Challenge: Let’s say a solar panel installation company has sales reps and installation teams who are at different locations on a daily basis. They want to make sure all teams can update their data regularly so that anyone can speak authoritatively to the customer if and when they call. (I have a non-solar service-based client who runs into this very issue, who chose their CRM based on its mobile app — among other functionalities.)

The Mobile CRM Solution: Their mobile CRM lets them quickly access client details before meetings, update customer status on-site, syncing automatically once back online, and receive push notifications if a lead they contacted a week ago reaches out again.

So, what CRM is right for you? Ultimately, every business has different CRM needs, so take some time to analyze what you need most and how you anticipate your company changing in the coming years. Then go back through this list and try the top 2-3 best-fit solutions to see which you and your team like best.

Choose Your CRM

There are a number of ways to use a CRM — and the use cases I shared above are just a handful of them. Start thinking about your goals and needs to select the right CRM for your team. Then, use your CRM to start building stronger relationships with contacts, improve the customer experience, save your team time, align business data, and grow better.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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