Best CRM software for small business NZ

Budding, budget-strapped businesses often struggle with marketing, tracking sales, and managing customer communications. That becomes a big problem: follow-up calls get missed, email campaigns hit the wrong inboxes, and red-hot leads go cold.

The best CRM software for small businesses can help by automating scheduling to improve operational efficiency and sales.

The tricky bit? Working out which platform works best for you. In this post, we’re covering what CRMs do, key considerations, and the top 5 options for budget-conscious Kiwi SMBs.

What does CRM software do?

Finding new customers is expensive. Retaining existing ones is much cheaper, especially with the help of a customer relationship manager (CRM), a comprehensive client-prospect database that streamlines communication with loyal customers and leads.

With a CRM tool, small businesses can securely store customer details, including past interactions like email enquiries, telephone calls, and complaints. The software can also set follow-up call reminders, send automated emails, and trigger pop-up notifications when a lead hasn’t been contacted recently.

Marketing campaigns become easier to implement and monitor with bulk email advertising and revenue tracking tools. In-depth reports provide results for specific demographics to aid customer segmentation and manage personalised campaigns. Good CRMs can highlight up-selling opportunities and recommend specials to lure back cooling leads.

CRMs provide valuable insights on sales KPIs, helping management provide targeted training where it’s needed most. Workflow standardisation and cloud integration promote stronger collaboration between teams.

Automating all these processes–and more–saves a significant amount of people power. That means better efficiency and lower overheads.

What should small businesses consider when shopping for a CRM?

As a small New Zealand-based business with a modest customer base, you may not need the bells and whistles of a flashy, premium-tier CRM. But you also don’t want to go too basic, as limited functionality will stifle efficiency.

The aim is to analyse your unique business requirements and find a well-priced platform that addresses your key needs.

• Objectives: CRMs generally focus on sales automation, marketing, and/or customer support. Consider which fields your business needs help with and look for a suitable solution.
• Total cost of ownership: Don’t get swayed by a low monthly cost per user. Consider the full financial picture, including costs arising from training, implementation, and resolving technical issues. Sometimes the most cost-effective solution is the one you’ve already got in place.
• Scalability: Is your business expanding? Look for a CRM that can grow with you. The best platforms have multiple subscription tiers, with higher plans permitting more users and unlocking advanced features.
• Cloud connectivity: Do you travel for work or have remote employees? The best CRMs operate from the cloud, allowing team members to update and retrieve data from anywhere in the world.
• User interface: A simple, user-friendly interface makes operating a CRM feel intuitive while reducing training time and improving efficiency. But UI is hard to quantify. Seek feedback from fellow entrepreneurs and do a test drive using the free trial.
• Support: Even the most user-friendly CRM can prove tricky to use at times. In addition to helpful email and phone communication, good support includes easy-to-use resources like training modules and FAQs. Some CRMs offer an onboarding process, where trained representatives guide your staff through the platform.
• Software integration: You don’t want to have to switch programs and start learning a new interface all over again. Ensure your CRM integrates with your existing applications, such as accounting software and email marketing apps.

Some of the best CRM software for small businesses

Ready to start sifting through CRMs? We’ve outlined five of our favourites in the following list. Each has been hand-picked for features and pricing that would appeal to small businesses in New Zealand.

Zoho CRM

Famed for its intuitive UI, Zoho CRM¹ boasts a modest learning curve with a 50% faster implementation. That makes it appealing to small New Zealand businesses who want a feature-rich yet easy-to-use interface that staff can learn with minimal fuss.

Flexible contracts mean you can cancel anytime on the monthly payment plan, and Zoho offers a free 15-day trial. Privacy is another strong point: no data selling or third-party website trackers here.

The cost-effective Standard plan covers the needs of most Kiwi SMBs: mass email, sales forecasting, lookup fields, Office 365 integration, Zoho Marketplace, and more.

• Standard: AUD$22 /user/month billed annually
• Professional: AUD$35.20 /user/month billed annually
• Enterprise: AUD$60.50 /user/month billed annually
• Ultimate: AUD$80.30 /user/month billed annually

Best for: SMBs seeking a cost-effective, easy-to-use CRM with a well-known brand

Less Annoying CRM

Specially designed for small businesses with modest customer relationship management needs, Less Annoying CRM² excels in its simplicity. The user-friendly UI is easy to grasp for everyday computer users, and the platform boasts the highest-rated customer support in the industry. Even the pricing is simple, with just one single tier offering an array of useful features: unlimited contracts, customer fields, and pipelines, email logging, user permissions, 25GB storage per user, task management, and mobile access.

• Less Annoying CRM: USD$15 per user/per month + tax

Best for: Small businesses with limited tech expertise seeking an easy-to-use, “less annoying” solution.

HubSpot

Unlike other CRMs, HubSpot³ offers a permanent free plan for startups and small businesses in New Zealand and abroad. The cost-free tier unifies customer data onto one platform, providing valuable insights and helping businesses improve customer experiences.

Features include contact management, CRM imports, deal tracking and management, task to-do list tracking, pipeline management, and a reporting dashboard. Upgrading to a premium tier offers more powerful features, and the migration experience is seamless.

• Free: No credit card required
• Starter: USD$15 user/month
• Professional: USD$50 user/month
• Enterprise: USD$75 user/month

Best for: Kiwi SMBs seeking a basic free solution with the option to scale.

Tall Emu CRM

Developed across the Tasman, Tall Emu CRM is specifically designed for Australian and New Zealand-based SMBs. Tall Emu is well-known for its streamlined MYOB and Xero integrations, making life easier for businesses using these popular accounting programs. Australian data storage improves security and load times, and the local customer support understands our region's unique needs.

The CRM helps manage contacts and customers, pipelines, quoting and selling software, marketing, automation, inventory, warehousing, jobs, reporting and performance, and more. An onboarding fee covers managed support, priority access, and expert guidance–Tall Emu is well-known for quality support.

• AUD$95 per user per month, plus a one-off onboarding fee of AUD$3,500

Best for: New Zealand businesses seeking a comprehensive CRM with good integrations and support.

Klavijo

A comprehensive marketing solution, Klavijo⁵ appeals to businesses seeking to ramp up sales through targeted SMS and email campaigns. AI-generated content helps speed up creation processes, and the platform integrates with 350+ third-party apps.

Klavijo isn’t priced on tiers, but rather on a sliding scale that increases with the number of emails and SMS you send. Users can also opt for analytics plans to obtain high-level insights, as well as data performance plans for features such as real-time segmentation and predictive analytics.

• Free tier for customers with under 250 active profiles
• Email from USD$20 per month
• Email and SMS from USD$35 per month
• Reviews from USD$25 per month
• Marketing analytics from USD$100
• Advanced Klaviyo data platform from USD$500

Best for: Established Kiwi SMBs seeking a comprehensive marketing solution with great integrations and in-built CRM features.

Wise Business: A smarter way to pay for business software

Choosing the right CRM is a savvy move for boosting efficiency, but managing the subscription costs can add another layer of complexity, especially when many top platforms bill in currencies like AUD or USD. Paying for these international tools through traditional banking can often mean losing money to poor exchange rates and hidden fees, chipping away at your budget.

This is where Wise Business can help. You can use the Wise Business card to pay for these subscriptions, just like a regular debit card. Wise then automatically converts your money at the mid-market exchange rate with a small, transparent fee, helping you avoid unexpected charges on your monthly software bill.

Simplify how your team manages international expenses. Wise Business debit cards offer a straightforward and efficient solution for spending and withdrawing funds across the globe.

• Provide your team with contactless international business debit cards for spending in 150+ countries
• Get the first Wise debit card for free with a Wise Business account
• Enjoy zero foreign transaction fees, no subscription fees, and free standard delivery
• Make 2 free monthly withdrawals of up to 350 NZD per account
• Experience currency conversion at the mid-market rate with transparent fees from 0.23%

Want a simpler way to handle your team's international expenses?

Sign up for the Wise Business account! 🚀

This general advice does not take into account your objectives, financial circumstances or needs and you should consider if it is appropriate for you.

Sources:

1. Zoho CRM Pricing
2. Less Annoying CRM Pricing
3. HubSpot CRM Pricing
4. Tall Emu Pricing
5. Klavijo CRM Pricing