Choosing CRM software for a sales team

Choose a CRM around the work your sales team must complete: receiving an enquiry, recognising the customer, progressing an opportunity and making the next action clear. Record the essential outcomes before comparing products.

A long feature list matters less than a system your team can keep accurate in an ordinary week.

Decide what needs to improve

Start with problems you can describe without naming a feature. Enquiries may arrive across several inboxes with no owner; a manager may struggle to find opportunities needing attention.

A colleague taking over an account may be unable to find the latest customer commitment. For each problem, state the result you need.

A well-managed spreadsheet can still suit a small customer register. If the team needs connected customer and opportunity records, assigned follow-up or different access for different roles, assess whether a CRM handles that work better.

Australian CRM Adoption Metrics: What Works for Sales Teams

Map the sales process

Follow one ordinary sale from enquiry to a won or lost decision. Include an existing customer making a new enquiry, an owner change and a deal that pauses. Note what sales staff, managers and anyone receiving won work need to see.

Turn the findings into a short requirements list. State the event, the person who must act and the result they need. For example: “When an enquiry is accepted, its owner can see the original question and a dated response task.”

Mark each requirement essential for launch, useful later or unnecessary. Keep detailed record and pipeline configuration for implementation.

Check the proposed edition

Ask providers to show how the essential work would be handled in the edition you would buy. Note any manual step, configuration or integration needed. Confirm who can see and update records, how information enters the CRM and how customer and opportunity data can be exported later.

A feature in a demonstration may depend on a higher plan, an add-on or a different user licence. Confirm the relevant limits in the current offer and contract before counting it as available.

Three products to assess

HubSpot Sales Hub. HubSpot's free CRM lists contact, deal and task management, with no expiry date and no credit card required. Its product information describes contact records with activity logs and communication history. Check the reporting and automation you need against the subscription you would purchase.

Pipedrive. Its current new-plan table lists customisable pipelines and activity management across Lite, Growth, Premium and Ultimate. Email sync and automations begin at Growth; required fields begin at Premium. Check which of those controls your team needs and confirm the plan names and limits in its offer, particularly if an existing account uses an older plan.

Zoho CRM. Zoho distinguishes full-access organisation users from team users, who have partial access outside their own team modules. Team users can own and manage records in team modules, but cannot build or access reports and dashboards based on those modules. Check the proposed user licences as well as the edition.

HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zoho CRM: Key Plan Features for Australian Sales Teams

Compare the edges of the workflow

Check how each product handles information moving into and out of the CRM. HubSpot’s free CRM includes a CRM import tool and connects with more than 2,000 apps through its Marketplace.

Pipedrive lists data import and export on all four new plans, alongside tools to merge duplicate records. These capabilities may matter when bringing existing records across or connecting other systems.

Compare access and security controls against the roles that need them. Pipedrive lists visibility options, two-factor authentication and a security dashboard across its new plans.

Pros and Cons of HubSpot, Pipedrive and Zoho CRM for Australian SMEs

Make the decision reviewable

For each candidate, record whether essential requirements can be met in the proposed edition, what extra configuration or services are needed and which steps would remain manual. Include seats, implementation help, integrations and support in the expected commitment. Use the provider's current Australian offer and contract for prices and terms.

Ask the people who will use the CRM to review the proposed way of working.