# Competitors and alternatives (SME CRM)

This list is used only to identify common expectations and gaps for a bounded CRM MVP (auth, contacts, companies, opportunities, pipeline stages, tasks, notes, dashboard).

## Direct CRM competitors commonly chosen by SMEs
- Salesforce Sales Cloud: highly configurable, powerful; heavy admin overhead for SMEs.
- HubSpot CRM: strong UX and ecosystem; many advanced features are paid tiers.
- Pipedrive: pipeline-first, simple; often paired with external tools for service workflows.
- Zoho CRM: broad suite, flexible; UX and configuration can be complex.
- Freshsales (Freshworks): sales CRM aligned with support suite; good for blended sales/service orgs.
- Copper: Google Workspace-aligned; simple but opinionated.
- monday.com Sales CRM: highly flexible work management; CRM semantics can vary by setup.

## Spreadsheet + email (the default “competitor”)
Many SMEs run on:
- Shared spreadsheets for contacts/pipeline
- Email threads as system of record for interactions
- Personal task lists for follow-ups

Implications for MVP:
- Data entry must be fast and low-friction.
- The dashboard must answer “what’s next / what’s stuck” without heavy configuration.
- Notes + tasks must be easy enough that teams stop relying on inbox archaeology.

## Common baseline expectations (what SMEs assume a CRM has)
Even in a tight MVP, users typically expect:
- Quick search and navigation across contacts/companies/opportunities
- A simple stage/status model for opportunities
- Task due dates and completion
- A place to log interaction notes on the correct record
- Basic counts and lists on a dashboard

## Differentiation constraints for this MVP
To avoid feature creep, this MVP does not attempt:
- “All-in-one” suite coverage
- Deep integrations
- Custom automation

It focuses on: accurate shared customer context + consistent follow-up execution.

