Unlock Success: 29 Essential Business Tools for Small Businesses in 2025

At CanadaCreate, we have dedicated years to assisting individuals in launching their own WordPress websites and expanding their online businesses. Through our journey, we have witnessed how the right business tools can significantly impact success.

For instance, we utilize Drip for our email newsletters across our businesses, and we value its extensive audience segmentation features. Additionally, we have had a positive experience with Nextiva for our VoIP services.

Whether you require assistance with email marketing, customer support, or customer relationship management, there are numerous plugins and software solutions available that can enhance your small business.

This is why we have meticulously researched and compiled a list of the top business tools for small businesses. We have categorized everything to help you easily find the right tools that suit your specific needs.

Quick Overview: Top Business Tools for Small Businesses

Here is a concise comparison table showcasing the best business tools for small businesses. It highlights the leading options, allowing you to compare categories and pricing effortlessly to find the ideal match for your requirements:

Our Process for Testing and Reviewing Business Tools

To assist you in selecting the best tools for your small business, we have thoroughly tested and reviewed each option. Here’s an overview of our evaluation process:

1. Hands-On Experience: At CanadaCreate, we actively manage our own small businesses. We are engaged in launching new projects and overseeing existing websites, allowing us to use and evaluate these tools extensively. We ensure they meet our high standards for reliability and user-friendliness.
2. In-Depth Research: We conducted thorough research to stay informed about the latest advancements in each category. We frequently update our recommendations, maintaining high standards for each tool.
3. User-Friendliness:An effective tool should be easy to use, so we assessed how quickly you can begin utilizing it without requiring extensive training or support.
4. Key Features: We identified standout features across various business tool categories that enhance their uniqueness and value. From automation and analytics to customization options, we ensure these features can effectively support your business.
5. Integration: Top business tools integrate smoothly with your entire system. We assessed each tool’s compatibility with popular website builders, CRMs, email services, and more.
6. User Feedback: We gathered insights from multiple third-party sites and conducted user polls to understand their experiences with these tools.

Value for Money:

Why Are the Best Tools Essential for Small Businesses?

Managing a small business website can be challenging, and the right tools can significantly simplify your tasks. Consider them your support team, helping you save time, maintain organization, and enhance productivity.

For example, an email automation tool can manage aspects of your newsletter, allowing you to concentrate on strategic planning. A project management application keeps your team aligned, while customer relationship management (CRM) software ensures you effectively track leads and customer interactions.

Without these essential tools, you may feel overwhelmed by manual tasks that drain your time and energy. Business tools streamline operations, enabling you to focus on what you excel at: growing your small business and providing excellent service to your customers.

At CanadaCreate, we have been evaluating and improving our top recommendations for years, adapting to the constantly changing market. We have compiled our favorite tools into a carefully selected list across various categories.

Here are several compelling reasons to incorporate these small business tools into your toolkit:

• Save Time and Reduce CostsAutomation tools that handle tasks like sending emails, responding to customer inquiries, and managing taxes can save valuable time for your business. This allows you to concentrate on expanding your company rather than getting bogged down by repetitive tasks.
• Enhanced Team Collaboration: Many small business tools include collaboration features that improve communication and teamwork. This is crucial in today’s work environments, where remote and distributed teams are increasingly common. Collaboration tools streamline communication, file sharing, and task management across your organization.
• Improved Customer Experience: Tools like customer relationship management (CRM) systems enable businesses to manage customer interactions, track leads, and offer personalized services. Additionally, email marketing platforms and business phone solutions allow you to reach customers through their preferred communication channels.
• Informed Decision Making Through Data: Software equipped with analytics and reporting features offers essential insights into business performance and the customer journey. With reliable data at your disposal, you can make well-informed decisions, spot trends, and refine strategies to meet your business objectives.

Now, let’s explore the top business tools that can benefit small businesses. Use the links below to navigate to any specific section you need assistance with:

Let’s get started!

Email Marketing Solutions

Every business should prioritize building an email list. While social media is a great way to connect with customers, you don’t have ownership of that audience.

An email list is an asset you own, allowing you to reach out to customers or leads whenever you choose.

This is why an email marketing service is essential. These platforms enable you to send bulk automated emails to your subscribers. Additionally, you can categorize users, monitor their engagement, and design marketing workflows.

1. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is recognized as the most user-friendly and rapidly growing email marketing service available. It features an impressive 97% deliverability rate and provides various time-saving automation tools that are perfect for small businesses.

We have conducted thorough testing over the years. For more information, please refer to our detailed review of Constant Contact.

Among the various email service providers we’ve tested, Constant Contact stands out for its intuitive user interface. From the moment you set up your account, the platform walks you through an easy-to-follow process. You can quickly create email newsletters, social media posts, landing pages, and events in just minutes.

One of the standout features of Constant Contact is its ability to segment your audience based on their engagement levels. It includes standard segmentation options, allowing you to categorize contacts by location, membership status, sales history, email activity, and more.

Additionally, Constant Contact allows you to classify your audience into four distinct groups: highly engaged, moderately engaged, minimally engaged, and others.

For instance, you can promote additional products or services to your most engaged customers, such as loyal subscribers, to drive more sales.

Advantages:

• Affordable pricing options.
• It provides robust integrations with platforms like Facebook ads and eCommerce solutions.
• Constant Contact offers over 200 customizable templates to meet your specific needs.

Disadvantages:

• Lacks advanced dynamic tagging features.

Cost: Plans start at just $12 per month, and CanadaCreate readers can take advantage of a special Constant Contact coupon code for an extra 20% discount. For those needing additional storage, more users, and advanced features, there are higher-tier plans available.

Reasons to Choose Constant Contact:Constant Contact is a reliable choice for your marketing needs, excelling in various areas. We particularly appreciate their exceptional customer support, available through live chat, email, phone, and community forums, along with a vast library of valuable resources to ensure you get answers to your questions.

2. Brevo

Brevo, previously known as Sendinblue, is an excellent email and SMS marketing tool designed specifically for small businesses. You can learn more about our experience with this platform in our detailed Brevo review.

One of Brevo’s standout features is the provision of unlimited email lists and contacts across all plans. Our top pick is the contact segmentation feature, which allows you to effectively target smaller groups and engage them with tailored content.

In our testing, we discovered that Brevo’s advanced plans offer much more than just email marketing capabilities.

This platform provides a comprehensive sales CRM, live chat functionality, a landing page builder, and seamless integration with Facebook Ads. This means you receive exceptional value for your investment, surpassing what most email marketing services offer.

Brevo is recognized for its impressive email deliverability rate, reaching up to 97%. This significantly outperforms the industry average, making it an excellent choice for those who depend on email marketing.

The platform offers a variety of setup options, including email API, SMTP relay, webhook, and plugin integration. This level of flexibility is ideal for users seeking greater control over their bulk email campaigns, ensuring that your messages reach the intended audience without any complications.

Advantages:

• All plans provide unlimited access to contacts.
• A built-in CRM application is included with every plan.
• You can create sophisticated automated campaigns based on subscriber behaviors.

Disadvantages:

• Access to more advanced reporting features requires a higher-tier plan.

Pricing: Brevo offers a free plan to get started, but it limits you to sending 300 emails per day. The Starter plan starts at $9 per month, allowing you to send up to 5,000 emails each month without any daily sending restrictions.

Reasons to Choose Brevo: Brevo is an excellent all-in-one marketing automation tool that offers a wide range of features. For example, you can send timely SMS promotions tailored to your products.

3. Drip

Drip is the top email marketing platform for advanced users, particularly for businesses aiming to deliver highly personalized campaigns. We utilize Drip across our various brands and highly recommend it for its powerful automation and user-friendly segmentation capabilities.

A key feature of Drip is its seamless workflow automation. The visual workflow builder allows you to easily visualize and customize user journeys.

While creating your workflows, you can use intuitive trigger options based on page visitors, tags, and other on-site behaviors to initiate the flow. This flexibility enables you to craft highly targeted campaigns that resonate personally with your audience.

You can select from numerous actions to design the desired automation sequence, whether it involves sending a follow-up email, applying tags, or adjusting contact scores. This level of customization ensures your messages are timely and relevant.

If you operate an online store, Drip provides seamless integrations with WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Shopify, enabling you to send targeted campaigns to your visitors and customers.

For instance, there are templates available for a wide range of needs, including cart abandonment emails and automated workflows.

Advantages:

• Drip features numerous merge tags that automatically customize email content based on the information gathered from your contact or lead forms.
• You can conduct A/B split tests on automation workflows to determine which version performs better and achieves higher conversion rates.
• It includes an eCommerce revenue attribution tool, allowing you to track the exact revenue generated from your email marketing efforts.

Disadvantages:

• There is a learning curve to consider. For instance, there are many Liquid tags to understand, which can be overwhelming if you are accustomed to simpler email marketing platforms.

Pricing: Plans start at $39 per month for up to 2,500 subscribers on your email list. Prices increase as your subscriber count grows. All plans include a 14-day free trial.

Reasons to Choose Drip:At CanadaCreate, we transitioned from MailChimp to Drip due to its superior segmentation and personalization capabilities. This change enables us to deliver more relevant and targeted campaigns to our audience.

Business Phone

While it may seem convenient to add your mobile number to your WordPress site, it can appear unprofessional and compromise your personal privacy.

That’s why it’s advisable to obtain a virtual business phone number and utilize a dedicated business phone service. This approach is both secure and professional, allowing you to:

• Make calls over the internet:Reduce costly phone bills.
• Utilize call forwarding, routing, and recording:Improve team collaboration and capture important customer interactions.
• Track call metrics:Obtain insights into wait times, hold times, and call durations to enhance your customer service strategy.

In summary, a business phone service is crucial for any organization aiming to elevate customer service and efficiently manage both inbound and outbound calls.

4. Nextiva

Nextiva is the leading business phone service that simplifies communication with your customers. We utilize it throughout our operations, and you can discover more in our detailed Nextiva review.

Initially, we were impressed by the tool’s exceptional efficiency and reliability. It also offers valuable features beyond just voice calling, including advanced call routing, voicemail-to-email and text, unlimited domestic calling, text messaging, and much more.

Nextiva provides a wealth of data to support your decision-making process. You gain access to essential metrics such as talk time, net promoter score, and first-time resolution rate. From our experience, this information is invaluable for assessing performance and identifying areas for enhancement.

Managers of call centers and sales teams can easily analyze this data, enabling them to develop actionable strategies to improve team efficiency and enhance customer satisfaction.

If you’re currently using a traditional landline office phone system, you’ll find Nextiva makes it simple to transition to a VoIP system, allowing you to conduct calls over the internet instead of cumbersome landlines.

Additionally, Nextiva supports a wide variety of VoIP phones, headsets, and other communication devices, ensuring a smooth and flexible transition.

Advantages:

• Nextiva ensures exceptional reliability with a 99.99% uptime guarantee.
• With 24/7 customer support, you can always access the assistance you need.
• This comprehensive phone system includes a variety of features for managing outbound, inbound, and internal team communications.

Disadvantages:

• While it may be somewhat expensive, the value you receive justifies the cost.

Pricing Information: Nextiva’s pricing begins at $30 per month per user for unlimited voice calling. As a CanadaCreate reader, you can use an exclusive Nextiva Coupon to receive an additional 44% discount, allowing you to start for just $21 per month.

Reasons to Choose Nextiva: Nextiva provides all the tools necessary for effective business communication. Their extensive VoIP service features enhance your customer service, enabling your agents to operate efficiently and resolve customer issues promptly.

5. RingCentral

RingCentral is a cost-effective alternative to Nextiva, delivering high-quality business phone services without compromising on quality.

We have thoroughly tested the platform to explore all its features, which are detailed in our comprehensive RingCentral review.

The entry-level plan includes unlimited calls and texts, team messaging, file sharing, and essential features necessary for effective communication. At just $20 per user per month, this plan offers exceptional value, especially for smaller teams of up to 20 members, ensuring that your team remains connected and productive.

We appreciate the call routing features that allow you to direct incoming calls to the appropriate departments and extensions. You can easily set up and manage custom answering rules to ensure calls reach the right individual. Additionally, priority calls can be routed directly to your mobile device for added convenience.

Advantages:

• RingCentral includes features for video meetings, team messaging, and screen sharing.
• It seamlessly integrates with essential tools like Google Workspace and Microsoft, allowing easy data connectivity across different platforms.
• Experience an intuitive user interface that simplifies navigation and usage of all its features.

Disadvantages:

• Accessing Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menu options requires a subscription to higher-priced tiers.

Pricing: Plans begin at $20 per user each month when billed annually. Pricing may vary based on the number of users and selected features. CanadaCreate users can enjoy a 33% discount by using our exclusive RingCentral coupon code.

Reasons to Choose RingCentral:RingCentral is an excellent choice for small businesses that are new to phone services. While it may not include some advanced features found in Nextiva and other alternatives, it provides all the essential functionalities required for effective business communication.

6. Ooma

Ooma is among the leading VoIP providers for small businesses. It offers virtual numbers, collaboration tools, call forwarding, voicemail, and much more. It’s particularly beneficial for small businesses without dedicated IT teams, as it delivers all necessary features in a user-friendly format.

We created an account for this review and explored all the features, which you can find detailed in our Ooma review.

Ooma includes a virtual receptionist feature, which is ideal for managing calls for your small business. You can easily customize a greeting, provide a menu of options to guide callers to the appropriate departments, and route them to different extensions. This feature also helps minimize call volume and average wait times, enhancing customer satisfaction.

A key advantage of Ooma is that every plan includes a mobile app, allowing your agents to easily make and receive calls while on the move. You can also manage essential tasks like checking voicemails and reviewing statistics.

One downside of Ooma is that, when comparing it to Nextiva and RingCentral, it may not be the best choice for call centers due to its lack of support for desk and conference phones.

Advantages:

• Ooma provides unlimited domestic calling across the US, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Canada.
• The pricing is quite reasonable.
• The mobile app is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Disadvantages:

• Some advanced features are not available unless you upgrade to higher-tier plans.

Pricing: Plans start at $19.95 per month per user, with no long-term contract required, giving you flexibility without a year-long commitment.

Reasons to Choose Ooma: We recommend Ooma because it is ready to use right out of the box. There’s no need for technical installation, and most settings are pre-configured. Their auto-configuration technology automatically sets up everything needed for your system to function smoothly.

Customer Support via Live Chat

Live chat software connects customers with real human support representatives, allowing for immediate resolution of their issues. This ensures that customers receive prompt answers to their inquiries.

Customers will spend less time navigating your knowledge base and waiting for solutions.

This service complements your business phone systems. By integrating live chat on your website, you enhance the customer experience across multiple channels, which helps decrease call volume and average handling times.

7. LiveChat

LiveChat is a comprehensive customer service platform designed for WordPress website owners. Trusted by over 35,000 businesses, it is a leading tool for creating live chatbots.

For more insights from our experience testing this tool, please check out our detailed LiveChat review.

During our testing, we found that you can design a chatbot that asks users questions before seamlessly directing them to the appropriate agent.

During conversations, agents can easily share files, send calendar links, and assist with purchases, ensuring a smooth and efficient experience. Additionally, you can set up pre-written responses for common inquiries, which has proven to save us time and allows our team to concentrate on more complex matters.

Furthermore, you can implement pre-chat survey forms before and after each live chat session. This enables you to assess the performance of your sales representatives and customer support agents.

We appreciate its integration with popular platforms like HubSpot, Zendesk, and Google Analytics, which helps you gain insights into your customers’ origins and identities.

Advantages:

• Numerous integrations that facilitate seamless data connectivity across various platforms.
• You can start a chat with a visitor while they are navigating your website.
• There are many customization options available to assist users in finding solutions.

Disadvantages:

• Costs can escalate quickly for larger teams.

Pricing: LiveChat pricing begins at $20 per user, billed annually, with more expensive plans that accommodate additional users and offer enhanced features. A free plugin is also available.

Reasons to Consider LiveChat: LiveChat is an advanced help desk software powered by AI, designed to enhance your sales process. Its features, such as customizable forms, product cards, and AI automation, effectively convert inquiries into sales.

8. Heroic Inbox

Heroic Inbox is a leading help desk solution for WordPress that streamlines the management of customer emails and support tickets. It consolidates all your support tasks within your WordPress site, allowing for quicker and more efficient responses to customer inquiries.

Please note that Heroic Inbox is developed by HeroThemes. For more insights into our experience with this tool, check out our comprehensive review of HeroThemes.

Our testing of Heroic Inbox revealed that it includes all essential features for managing support emails. You can create canned responses, add notes to conversations, track ticket history, and assign messages to team members.

One of its standout features is the ability to consolidate multiple inboxes into a single interface. Whether you have sales, support, customer service, or partnership emails, this functionality ensures that no important messages are overlooked.

To enhance your site with knowledge base features, simply download Heroic KB. This tool allows you to easily create a searchable knowledge base for your users.

Advantages:

• Handles customer service inquiries directly within WordPress.
• Consolidate multiple inboxes in a single location.
• Provides features to add notes and assign tickets to team members.

Drawbacks:

• Lacks live chat functionality.

Pricing: Starting at $199.50 per year.

Reasons to Choose Heroic Inbox: Managing numerous software solutions can be challenging for small businesses. Heroic Inbox allows you to handle all inquiries from your WordPress dashboard, and since it integrates within the WordPress ecosystem, it works seamlessly with other plugins like WooCommerce.

9. HubSpot Chat

HubSpot Chat is a comprehensive marketing platform that includes a chatbot builder and live chat functionality. Initially, we found the plugin to be quite basic, but we quickly discovered its impressive capabilities. You can find more details about the platform in our HubSpot review.

With HubSpot Chat, you can personalize the live chat interface to direct leads and customers to the appropriate team member. The live chat widget can also be customized to reflect your brand’s style.

Send personalized welcome messages through your live chat widget, tailored to different audience segments or specific web pages.

The chat routing feature allows your service team to seamlessly transfer leads to sales representatives during conversations, significantly enhancing workflow efficiency.

It also includes automation tools, such as pre-written responses, which can greatly enhance response times and overall efficiency.

As an all-in-one solution, HubSpot automatically saves all chat interactions in the CRM, ensuring your team has a well-organized record of every customer engagement for smoother follow-ups and communication.

Advantages:

• HubSpot Chat is completely free to use.
• Integrate the tool with Slack to receive instant notifications when visitors want to connect with your support team.
• Easily route leads to any team member.

Disadvantages:

• It lacks advanced features like post-chat survey forms.

Pricing:You can start for free, but to access the full suite of marketing tools or CRM, you’ll need to purchase the complete package, with prices varying by suite selection.

Reasons to Choose HubSpot Chat:We recommend HubSpot Chat for its comprehensive live chat features, all available at no cost. However, if you’re looking for advanced automation or enhanced sales features like product recommendations, you might want to explore alternatives like LiveChat or ChatBot.

10. ChatBot

ChatBot is an excellent helpdesk software that generates AI-driven responses to customer inquiries. For insights into our testing experience, feel free to read our detailed ChatBot review.

ChatBot excels in creating visual workflows that effectively address customer queries and guide them towards making a purchase.

It includes ready-to-use templates, allowing you to implement them immediately. For instance, if a customer inquires about a particular product category, you can promptly provide a limited-time discount to encourage action.

If visitors prefer to speak with a human, you can easily transfer them to a live customer support agent.

However, we found that the customization options are somewhat limited when compared to LiveChat.

The positive aspect is that ChatBot can significantly simplify your life when it comes to AI automation.

For instance, based on user interactions with your website and chatbot, you can categorize them into segments and then transfer that data to a CRM or email marketing platform. We believe this is an effective strategy for nurturing leads and sending follow-up emails.

Advantages:

• ChatBot enhances efficiency with its robust automation capabilities.
• It enables you to categorize lists and initiate actions based on user behavior.
• It seamlessly integrates with WooCommerce and WordPress.

Disadvantages:

• ChatBot does not offer advanced live chat functionalities.

Pricing Information: ChatBot’s pricing starts at $52 per month when billed annually or $65 for a monthly plan. There is also a 14-day free trial available without the need for a credit card.

Reasons to Choose ChatBot: If you’re looking to automate your helpdesk and chat support, ChatBot is an excellent choice. It offers numerous templates that assist users in making a purchase.

Human Resources & Payroll

Effectively managing your team is one of the most crucial aspects of running a business. Regardless of the type of business you operate, ensuring timely payment and proper management of employee hours is essential.

HR payroll software allows you to automate paycheck distribution via direct bank deposits, manage paid time off (PTO) and bonuses, streamline the onboarding process for new employees, withhold taxes, and much more.

When your HR and payroll processes are well-organized, employees have clear expectations, and you can avoid potential tax compliance issues.

The best part is that HR software simplifies all the tedious administrative tasks that you would otherwise have to handle manually.

11. Gusto

Gusto is a top-notch payroll and HR software that automates both basic and complex payroll functions for employees and contractors. Its user-friendly design makes it an essential tool for ensuring smooth payroll management.

Even if you’re a small business without a dedicated accounting team, Gusto makes payroll management straightforward and efficient. It automatically processes payroll as frequently as needed each month, and taxes are filed automatically, reducing compliance concerns.

We believe that the seamless integration of health insurance, workers’ compensation, time tracking, 401K, PTO, and more is an invaluable feature. These integrations save time and minimize errors, allowing you to concentrate on expanding your business instead of managing administrative tasks.

In addition to payroll, Gusto simplifies hiring and onboarding. Its features include customizable offer letters, onboarding checklists, document signing, and even account creation for software access.

Advantages:

• Cost-effective for small businesses.
• User-friendly for both business owners and employees.
• Gusto provides a self-service platform for employees, enabling them to access their pay stubs and important documents online and request time off without needing HR assistance.

Disadvantages:

• Gusto is exclusively available in the United States.

Pricing:Gusto’s pricing starts at $40 per month, plus an additional $6 per month for each extra user.

Reasons to Choose Gusto:Gusto is a comprehensive solution for payroll and HR management. You can relax knowing that payroll filing and tax tracking are handled efficiently. Additionally, its premium plans provide next-day deposits, ensuring employees receive their payments faster.

12. BambooHR

BambooHR is an outstanding human resources and payroll software designed specifically for small businesses. It excels in managing HR functions such as employee compensation, recruitment, onboarding, and fostering a positive company culture.

We utilize BambooHR to handle various HR responsibilities within our organization, and we appreciate its user-friendly interface.

The platform includes an applicant tracking system (ATS) that efficiently filters candidates who do not meet job qualifications, saving you the hassle of manually reviewing resumes.

During the setup process, we discovered that the automated alerts feature is incredibly helpful. It keeps you organized and ensures that candidates receive timely updates at each step of the hiring journey, enhancing both efficiency and professionalism.

After making your hiring decision, you can easily use one of the many customizable offer letter templates that include auto-fill options, allowing new hires to sign and accept offers digitally.

Another fantastic aspect of BambooHR is its comprehensive payroll capabilities. It automates tax filing, eliminating the need for manual submissions. This helps you avoid tax penalties and ensures accurate reporting of employee earnings and withheld taxes.

Advantages:

• BambooHR provides self-service tools that allow employees to easily access important information like tax forms and pay stubs online.
• It streamlines the payroll process, minimizing the risk of errors.
• The Applicant Tracking System (ATS) simplifies and accelerates the hiring process.

Drawbacks:

• BambooHR is less accommodating for contractors compared to Gusto, as it lacks many features tailored for freelancers.

Pricing: BambooHR provides free pricing estimates. To obtain a personalized quote, you need to fill out their contact form.

Reasons to Choose BambooHR: BambooHR is an excellent option for managing a remote team located internationally (outside the U.S.), facilitating efficient hiring and payroll management across different countries.

13. QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a payroll software designed to simplify tasks for small business owners. It primarily focuses on accounting functions, enabling you to manage balance sheets and payroll efficiently.

A standout feature of QuickBooks is its ability to offer same-day or next-day direct deposit processing, depending on your selected plan. It also includes valuable functionalities such as automated tax calculations, payroll management, business receipt capture, and paycheck generation.

The mobile app allows employees to conveniently access their paid time off (PTO), health information, and pay stubs while on the move. For administrators, it offers the flexibility to manage payroll from anywhere, ensuring timely payments for the team.

Advantages:

• QuickBooks provides a 30-day free trial for new users.
• Elite users benefit from QuickBooks Payroll’s tax penalty protection, which covers up to $25,000 annually.
• QuickBooks Payroll seamlessly integrates with QuickBooks Online, offering a unified payroll and accounting solution.

Disadvantages:

• There are a limited number of third-party integrations available.

Pricing: The starting price is $42.50 per month for full-service payroll, with an additional $6 per month for each extra employee.

Reasons to Choose QuickBooks: If accurate accounting and payroll management are your priorities, QuickBooks is an excellent choice. Their tax penalty protection ensures that if any mistakes occur, they will assist in resolving the issue and cover any associated penalties and interest.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Managing customer information across multiple Excel sheets can create confusion. This often leads to missed follow-ups, overlooked birthdays, unsent emails, mixed communications, and dissatisfied teams and customers.

CRM applications resolve this issue by centralizing all customer information into one easy-to-use platform. This enables your sales, marketing, and customer support teams to:

• Easily access information:No more searching for details.
• Customize the customer experience:Provide tailored interactions based on customer history.
• Enhance productivity:Automate repetitive tasks and allocate more time for strategic initiatives.

Sales representatives can focus on high-priority opportunities and close deals more quickly. Additionally, marketers can utilize customer insights to develop effective campaigns. Customer support teams obtain a comprehensive view of each interaction, ensuring outstanding service every time.

14. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is the leading CRM software available today. It is budget-friendly and includes a variety of features, making it an excellent option for most small businesses. Additionally, the free plan allows for unlimited users and contacts.

For further details about HubSpot CRM, please refer to our in-depth HubSpot review.

HubSpot excels with its comprehensive all-in-one platform that integrates sales, marketing, customer service, content management systems, and operations, ensuring all your data is interconnected.

For instance, it allows seamless transfer of leads from the marketing team to sales without the need for additional synchronization or third-party applications.

We also discovered that HubSpot is user-friendly, offering a complete overview of customer interactions along with customizable reporting dashboards to monitor your team’s performance effectively.

By analyzing opportunities and deal stages, you can easily identify what’s in the pipeline and concentrate on high-potential prospects who are ready to make a purchase.

Advantages:

• HubSpot features a user-friendly interface.
• It offers a wide range of features and additional apps that enhance your overall experience.
• The visual dashboards and reporting tools simplify tracking team performance and identifying growth opportunities.

Disadvantages:

• Although HubSpot offers a generous free plan, the costs can escalate quickly if you decide to upgrade.

Cost: HubSpot CRM offers a free plan to get started. For the complete marketing suite, the cost is $800 per month for three users, billed annually, with an additional $45 per month for each extra user. The HubSpot Sales suite is priced at $90 per month per user.

Reasons to Choose HubSpot:HubSpot is an essential tool for beginners. While it could offer more customization options and affordable plans, its free version is sufficient for small teams to kick off their marketing efforts.

15. FunnelKit Automations

FunnelKit Automations is the top CRM and marketing automation tool for WooCommerce. It includes a comprehensive set of features designed to boost repeat sales and increase order values for your online store.

We conducted an in-depth analysis of its features, which you can explore in our FunnelKit Automations review.

Designed for eCommerce business owners, this tool provides a complete 360-degree view of your customers, which is incredibly beneficial for relationship management. You can easily access information such as names, genders, emails, tags, lists, geographical locations, and custom field data all in one convenient location.

We appreciate this feature because having such detailed insights simplifies the process of personalizing marketing strategies and delivering outstanding customer service.

In addition to the CRM tool, you can create effective checkout pages and sales flows. The user-friendly drag-and-drop builder integrates seamlessly with popular page builders like Divi, Elementor, Oxygen, and Gutenberg.

After customers finalize their purchase, you can design upsell pages to highlight premium products, which can boost your overall order value.

Advantages:

• You have access to numerous automation templates and workflows that enhance conversion rates.
• You can access a comprehensive customer profile that includes purchase history and order details.
• All activities can be monitored, including which pages and workflows contributed to revenue generation.

Disadvantages:

• You will require a mailer plugin, such as WP Mail SMTP, since WordPress is not optimized for handling high-volume emails.

Pricing: FunnelKit is available starting at $99.50 per year, and there is also a free version offered.

Reasons to Use FunnelKit Automations: If you operate an online store, incorporating FunnelKit Automations is essential. It helps you keep your opt-in leads and customers organized, allowing you to provide them with more relevant product suggestions.

16. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a customer relationship management (CRM) tool designed specifically for small businesses, focusing on sales. This comprehensive platform enhances revenue generation and effectively manages all your leads and customers. One standout feature of Pipedrive is its intelligent in-app guidance, which includes performance tips and suggested features to help your team adapt to the software.

For instance, if your team isn’t sending follow-up emails after demo calls, Pipedrive can send reminders to your representatives.

Upon further evaluation, we discovered that Pipedrive provides more than just standard CRM functionalities. It boasts robust automation capabilities that enable you to nurture leads with timely emails, assign tasks, and smoothly progress deals through your sales pipeline.

These automated processes allow your sales team to concentrate on closing high-value deals instead of getting bogged down by repetitive tasks.

Advantages:

• It is relatively affordable to use.
• The smart assistant feature enhances team performance.
• It includes a lead enrichment tool that gathers online data to provide insights about your prospects based on the collected email addresses.

Disadvantages:

• It does not offer phone support.

Pricing: Pipedrive starts at $14 per user per month when billed annually. Additionally, you can try it out with a free 14-day trial.

Why We Recommend Pipedrive: Pipedrive is an excellent choice for managing your leads and increasing revenue with its comprehensive sales tool. It offers a variety of AI-driven features designed to simplify your workflow and save you valuable time.

Additional Essential Business Tools

In addition to the top tools mentioned earlier, we also recommend the following plugins to enhance the management of our WordPress websites:

17. WPForms is the most user-friendly contact form plugin, utilized by over 6 million websites. It features an easy-to-use drag-and-drop form builder, allowing you to create stunning contact forms, payment forms, user registration forms, multi-page forms, and more.
18. All in One SEO is a powerful WordPress SEO plugin that helps optimize your website for search engines. It offers robust on-page SEO tools to improve how search engines crawl and index your site, along with many other features.
19. SeedProd is a powerful drag-and-drop page builder plugin for WordPress, allowing you to create visually appealing and high-converting pages that turn visitors into leads and customers. Design everything from landing pages and custom homepages to 404 error pages and beyond.
20. MonsterInsightsis the premier Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, integrating the capabilities of Google Analytics directly into your WordPress dashboard. This tool provides comprehensive reports on essential metrics, helping you identify what works and where improvements are needed.
21. OptinMonsteris the leading lead generation and popup plugin designed to transform website visitors into subscribers and customers. With this tool, you can launch various campaigns, including popups, scroll boxes, floating bars, and fullscreen welcome mats.
22. MemberPressis a widely-used WordPress membership plugin for creating membership sites. It offers advanced features such as gated content, customizable member levels, payment processing, and members-only forums.
23. PushEngageWeb push notification software that helps you engage and retain visitors after they leave your site. Send reminders like product announcements, blog post updates, cart abandonment alerts, and more.
24. RafflePressA WordPress plugin for running giveaways and contests, allowing you to host various competitions to grow your email list.
25. WP Mail SMTPThe top WordPress SMTP plugin designed to enhance the deliverability and security of your emails.
26. WP Simple PayThe leading Stripe payments plugin for WordPress, enabling you to create payment forms or buttons that accept over 13 payment methods and manage recurring payments effortlessly.
27. Smash BalloonA collection of social media plugins for WordPress that lets you showcase custom feeds from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube on your site, enhancing follower engagement.
28. WooCommerceThe most popular eCommerce platform globally, known for its affordability, flexibility, and user-friendly interface for beginners. Easily create product pages, process payments, manage orders, and build your entire online store from scratch.
29. SEOBoostTX404 is the top content optimization tool available. It enables you to conduct keyword research, develop comprehensive content briefs, enhance your writing for specific keywords, and evaluate your existing content for potential improvements. In short, it assists you in creating higher-ranking content for your business blog.

Common Questions About Business Tools

Before concluding, let’s answer some frequently asked questions regarding the selection and use of business tools.

What should you consider when choosing a business tool?

The key factors to evaluate when selecting a business tool include:

• Integration with WordPress:If you operate a WordPress site or WooCommerce store, it’s crucial to choose a business tool that seamlessly integrates with these platforms to ensure no vital information is lost.
• User-Friendliness:The tool should be easy to navigate and have a straightforward interface. Small businesses often have limited resources and may lack dedicated IT staff, making it vital for the tool to be accessible for all team members.
• Scalability:Can the tool grow alongside your business? Ensure that the software can handle increasing amounts of data, users, and complexity as your business evolves.
• Affordability:Assess the software’s pricing structure and its overall value for your business. Take into account both initial costs and recurring fees. Many tools provide scalable pricing options, which can be advantageous for small businesses.
• Key Features: Determine the specific features that are crucial for your business. Whether you need task management, customer relationship management (CRM), eCommerce functionalities, or content marketing tools, ensure that the service meets your business requirements.
• Customization Options: Seek out a tool that offers customization capabilities. This ensures that the tool can be tailored to fit your business’s individual needs.
• Customer Support: Dependable customer support is essential. Investigate the availability, response times, and quality of support offered. This is particularly important when you encounter technical difficulties.
• Security Measures: Security is critical, especially when handling customer information. The tool should comply with industry security standards and implement measures to safeguard your business and customer data.
• Mobile Compatibility: As more users access websites from various devices, the software must be optimized for mobile use.
• Community Engagement and User Reviews: Read testimonials and user reviews to understand the experiences of other small businesses that have used the tool.
• Data Backup and Recovery Solutions: Ensure the software includes robust data backup and recovery options to safeguard against data loss during unforeseen circumstances. If you haven’t yet installed a WordPress backup plugin, we highly recommend Duplicator.

Do the business tools work well with your WordPress site?

Yes, the top WordPress plugins should easily integrate with the most widely used third-party business tools. If integration isn’t available, we suggest using Uncanny Automator.

This is the leading automation plugin that enables you to create limitless automated workflows within WordPress. This allows you to link your website to a specific tool to perform an action.

For example, if you want to automatically add contacts from your contact form to your prospects list in your CRM tool, you can set up an automated workflow using Uncanny Automator to handle that task effortlessly.

Are there any free business tools that you can use?

Many of these tools provide a free version with limited features, allowing you to test the product and determine if it suits your needs. Additionally, be sure to explore our curated list of the top free business tools for small businesses.

We hope this article has helped you discover the best business tools for small businesses. Don’t forget to check out our essential list of WordPress plugins for business websites or our comprehensive guide on building customer loyalty in WordPress through gamification.

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