What you’ll learn
- What a CRM does all week: enquiries, follow-ups and who has which job
- Who needs a CRM, and who can wait
- The 3 main types of CRM, and the one a small business needs
- What a CRM costs in Singapore
- Why CRMs get abandoned, and how to stop it
- WhatsApp and your CRM: why your enquiries never reach it
A CRM, short for customer relationship management, is software that keeps every customer and enquiry in one place. If your leads are in WhatsApp, a spreadsheet and someone’s head, it’s the thing that brings them together, and shows which quotes nobody has chased.
You don’t always need one. Below you’ll see who needs one and who can wait, then what it does in a normal week, the 3 types, what the common ones cost in Singapore and why so many get abandoned. Vendor prices were read from their own pages on 2 November 2026.
What a CRM does all week: enquiries, follow-ups and who has which job
Say a customer WhatsApps your renovation firm on Monday, your staff quotes on Tuesday, and nobody chases it. A CRM catches that, in five ways:
- It holds one record per customer, with their number, their quotes and every note.
- It collects enquiries from forms, calls and messages into one list, so nothing lives on one person’s phone.
- It shows a board of where each deal stands, such as Enquiry, Quote sent, Job booked, Job done and Paid.
- It reminds you to follow up, and the better ones send the follow-up themselves and stop when the customer replies.
- It shows who owns what, so when someone leaves, their customers stay with you.
The result is simple. You can open one screen and see which quotes are waiting, and who’s meant to be chasing them.
Who needs a CRM, and who can wait
This part is our own view. You can wait if you’ve got a handful of customers, one person handles them all and nothing’s being forgotten. A spreadsheet is fine at that size.
You need one when any of these happen:
- You lose track of who you’ve quoted.
- Two people reply to the same customer, or nobody does.
- You can’t see which jobs are booked or still unpaid.
- Someone leaves and their customer chats go with them.
- You pay for ads, and you can’t say which ones brought in paying jobs.
Need help with AI and WhatsApp? See our AI systems and prices.
Book a demo call ›The 3 main types of CRM, and the one a small business needs
Vendors usually sort CRMs into three types, and most modern tools blend them.
| Type | What it’s for | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Operational | Runs daily sales, marketing and service work: leads, pipelines, follow-ups | Almost every small business |
| Analytical | Finds patterns in customer data: reports and forecasts | Bigger teams with a lot of history |
| Collaborative | Shares customer information across departments and channels | Businesses with separate sales and service teams |
Start with operational. A team of five doesn’t need sales forecasting, and it does need the quote from Tuesday followed up on Friday.
What a CRM costs in Singapore
These prices come from each vendor’s own pricing page. Check the current price before you budget, since several show discounts with no end date.
| CRM | Plans and prices, as published | Free plan |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot | Starter from SGD 10 a seat a month (list price SGD 28), Professional from SGD 126 a seat (list SGD 140) plus a one-time SGD 2,100 onboarding fee, billed annually | Up to 2 users |
| Zoho CRM | S$17, S$28, S$50 or S$70 a user a month, billed annually | Up to 3 users |
| Pipedrive | US$14, US$39, US$59 or US$79 a seat a month, billed annually | 14-day trial |
| SleekFlow (WhatsApp-first) | Pro S$209 a month with 3 users, Premium S$419 with 5 users, billed yearly, with onboarding listed at S$1,299 one-off | No |
| respond.io (WhatsApp-first) | US$79, US$159 or US$279 a month billed yearly, with 5 or 10 users included | No |
| Pepper Cloud (WhatsApp-first) | No prices published | No |
| DMA CRM | S$25 a user a month on annual billing, or from S$119 a month with a shared WhatsApp inbox for 3 users | No |
With a WhatsApp-first CRM, Meta’s message fees can be extra. respond.io says it plainly: “WhatsApp fees are not included in any respond.io subscription. Meta charges these fees based on your usage.” Our WhatsApp API pricing guide lists those fees.
Grants have changed too. Some vendors still advertise the Productivity Solutions Grant, but Enterprise Singapore stopped taking PSG applications on 29 September 2026, and businesses now apply under the EDGE Grant. Check what it covers before you choose a CRM because of a grant.
Why CRMs get abandoned, and how to stop it
A CRM usually fails because nobody fills it in. Staff type a lead in on Monday, and they’re too busy by Thursday. Within a month the list is out of date, so nobody trusts it, so nobody opens it.
The fix is to take the typing away. If web forms, WhatsApp enquiries and bookings file themselves, the list stays complete without anyone remembering. Set up automatic follow-ups so they stop the moment the customer replies or books, since a follow-up that keeps going after a booking annoys more than it helps.
Keep the first version small as well. One board with five stages beats a setup with thirty fields your team ignores.
WhatsApp and your CRM: why your enquiries never reach it
If your customers message you on WhatsApp, a CRM that doesn’t connect to it will sit half empty. Someone has to copy each chat across, and they won’t.
The free WhatsApp Business app doesn’t connect to a CRM by itself. To file chats automatically, you connect through software, often on the WhatsApp Business API. Our guide to the WhatsApp Business API explains what that means, so ask each vendor directly how chats get in.
What to ask before you choose a CRM
- How do enquiries get in? If the answer is “your team types them”, expect gaps within a month.
- Can it send follow-ups on its own, and do they stop when the customer replies?
- Does it connect to WhatsApp, and who pays Meta’s message fees?
- What’s the price per user after any introductory discount, and is there an onboarding fee?
- Can you export your contacts and history if you leave?
Your CRM questions, answered
What does CRM stand for?
Customer relationship management. People use it for the software, and for the habit of keeping track of customers.
What is a CRM in simple terms?
It’s a shared list of your customers and enquiries that shows what was said, what’s next and who’s handling it.
What is an example of a CRM?
HubSpot, Zoho CRM and Pipedrive are general ones. SleekFlow and respond.io start from WhatsApp and other chat channels.
What is the best CRM for a small business in Singapore?
There isn’t one best CRM. For a small team starting out, HubSpot’s free plan covers 2 users and Zoho’s covers 3. If most enquiries arrive on WhatsApp, look for one that connects to it.
How much does a CRM cost in Singapore?
On their own pricing pages in November 2026: Zoho from S$17 a user a month, HubSpot Starter from SGD 10 a seat, and Pipedrive from US$14 a seat, all billed annually. WhatsApp-first CRMs such as SleekFlow start around S$209 a month billed yearly for a small team.
Is a spreadsheet good enough?
At first, yes. It stops working when more than one person updates it, or when follow-ups start slipping.
Can a CRM connect to WhatsApp?
Yes, through software that connects to WhatsApp. The free WhatsApp Business app doesn’t connect to a CRM by itself.
Is PSG still available for a CRM?
No. PSG took its last new applications on 29 September 2026. Businesses now apply under the EDGE Grant.
See every lead and job on one board
Our CRM is for small teams whose work starts on WhatsApp. You get pipelines with ready-made templates for your trade, CSV import and export, tasks and follow-up reminders, and email follow-up sequences. You can also share a board with people who aren’t paying users.
It’s S$25 a user a month on annual billing, with no setup fee. Add the WhatsApp Inbox for S$119 a month and your team shares one number, connected for you, with every chat filed against the lead. See the CRM page, the inbox pricing page and our pipeline templates for your trade.
Want the first reply handled as well? Our WhatsApp AI agent answers new enquiries within a minute, and our lead follow-up and CRM automation files forms and bookings for you. Moving from another tool? See what comes across when you switch. We also run the SEO, Google Ads and Facebook ads that fill the board. If your customers are on WhatsApp, our guides cover the WhatsApp broadcast list and how to schedule follow-ups, and if you’re automating the rest, what n8n costs.
Here’s what each plan costs.
| Plan | What you get | Annual plan, per month | Monthly plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| CRM (per user) | Pipelines with templates for your trade, tasks and follow-up reminders, and email follow-up sequences | S$25 a user | S$31 a user |
| WhatsApp Inbox | One number connected for you, 3 users with the CRM included, and every chat filed against the lead | S$119 | S$149 |
| Inbox + AI Agent | The same number and users, plus an AI agent you train on your own answers: up to 500 AI conversations a month, and it hands the chat to your team when needed | S$239 | S$299 |
The Inbox plans have no Meta per-message fees. Prices are from our pricing page on 2 November 2026. Annual plans are paid up front.
On a free 30-minute call we’ll show you a board for your trade and how your enquiries would land in it. You only get a quote if we can help.
Sources, read on 2 November 2026
- HubSpot, Sales Hub pricing: HubSpot pricing
- Zoho, CRM pricing: Zoho CRM pricing
- Pipedrive, pricing: Pipedrive pricing
- SleekFlow, pricing: SleekFlow pricing
- respond.io, pricing and the note on WhatsApp fees: respond.io pricing
- Pepper Cloud, pricing: Pepper Cloud pricing
- The three CRM types: Trengo, What is a CRM
- PSG’s last applications and the EDGE Grant, read on 27 September 2026: Enterprise Singapore
- The WhatsApp Business app and platform: WhatsApp Help, Business Features