As an outbound sales professional working with a team of 20-50 people, managing leads, tracking outreach, and staying on top of follow-ups is key to your success. A dedicated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for outbound sales can help you organize your prospects, automate outreach sequences, and provide insights into your sales performance—all from one platform. With the right CRM, your mid-sized team can streamline sales efforts, close more deals, and improve efficiency without the complexity of enterprise solutions.

What you'll learn

In this blog post, we'll explore the best CRM options for outbound sales teams of 20-50 people, focusing on tools that will help you manage leads, track interactions, and boost your sales results at the perfect scale for growing organizations.

Why you need a CRM

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is essential for managing and optimizing your outbound sales efforts, especially when coordinating across a team of 20-50 sales professionals. It helps streamline processes, improve customer relationships, and ultimately drive business growth while maintaining consistency across your entire sales organization.

Challenges without a CRM

Without the right CRM in your tech stack, mid-sized sales teams can experience certain challenges that take you away from your main business priorities. For teams of 20-50 people, these issues become even more pronounced as coordination becomes critical. Chances are – you might already be experiencing the following without realising how much time it takes from your team.

• Disorganization: Without a CRM, managing customer data and interactions across 20-50 team members becomes chaotic and unstructured, leading to duplicate efforts and missed opportunities.
• Missed opportunities: Lack of a centralized system leads to missed follow-ups and lost sales opportunities, especially when leads fall through the cracks between multiple team members.
• Inefficient processes: Manual processes and fragmented tools slow down sales activities across your mid-sized team and reduce overall productivity.
• Lack of insight: Without a CRM, gaining actionable insights from customer data across your entire sales organization becomes nearly impossible.
• Inconsistent communication: Disjointed communication efforts across team members can harm customer relationships and damage your brand reputation in the market.

Benefits of a CRM

Fortunately, with the right CRM in place designed for teams of 20-50 people – there are benefits that can have a positive, direct impact on your goals to reach that sales target while maintaining team coordination and efficiency.

• Centralized information: A CRM consolidates all customer data in one place, making it easily accessible and manageable for your entire sales team.
• Enhanced efficiency: Automating sales processes and workflows increases productivity across all team members and reduces manual effort.
• Improved customer relationships: A CRM helps track customer interactions and preferences across your team, enabling personalized communication and better engagement.
• Better decision-making: With comprehensive data and analytics from your 20-50 person team, a CRM provides valuable insights for informed decision-making.
• Increased sales: By streamlining sales processes and improving lead management across your organization, a CRM can significantly boost overall sales performance.
• Consistent communication: A CRM ensures that all team members are on the same page, leading to consistent and effective communication with customers regardless of who handles the interaction.

How to boost your outbound sales efficiency with a CRM

A good CRM designed for mid-sized sales teams can help you keep an eye on your overall sales cycle across all 20-50 team members, and help you map out the progress of your leads so that you can prioritize the right ones and maintain consistency across all your communication channels.

1. Map your process

You can use a CRM to map your sales cycle across your entire team. This way, when you import leads and contacts, you can organize them according to what stage they're in and ensure every team member knows exactly what follow-up steps to take.

• Identify key stages: Break down your outbound sales process into distinct stages like prospecting, initial contact, follow-up, and closing that work consistently across your 20-50 person team.
• Set milestones: Define specific milestones for each stage to measure progress and ensure consistency across all team members.
• Track metrics: Use your CRM to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as response rates, conversion rates, and time to close across your entire sales organization.

2. Outreach and follow-up

One of the biggest challenges for mid-sized sales teams when it comes to cold-emailing is creating consistency across your communication and ensuring every team member remembers to follow-up on time. Below are some features a CRM has that can help you automate these otherwise repetitive tasks across your entire organization.

• Email sequences: Create automated email sequences tailored to different stages of the sales funnel, from initial outreach to follow-up reminders, ensuring consistency across all team members.
• LinkedIn automation: Use CRM tools to automate LinkedIn connection requests and personalized messages to engage with potential leads across your entire team.
• Task reminders: Set up automated reminders in your CRM to ensure timely follow-ups across all 20-50 team members and prevent leads from slipping through the cracks.

👉🏼 Try folk now to never miss a follow-up across your 20-50 person outbound team

How to evaluate and choose a CRM

With a lot of CRMs to choose from, it can feel overwhelming to figure out which ones respond to your needs as a mid-sized sales team of 20-50 people better. To help you with your decision making process, we've put together some tips you should keep front of mind when selecting a solution that scales perfectly for your team size.

1. Define your requirements

When selecting the best CRM for outbound sales teams of 20-50 people, it's crucial to identify the key features that align with your business needs and team coordination requirements. For growing sales organizations, this might include robust lead management, automated follow-ups, and advanced analytics to track sales performance across all team members. Consider features like email integration, customizable sales pipelines, and team collaboration tools to enhance your outbound sales strategy. If you're feeling lost, we suggest starting with the following key features that we've rounded up specifically for mid-sized sales teams, and adding ones you need to the list based on your workflow and goals.

Key features of a CRM for outbound sales

• Automated processes: Streamlines tasks by automating repetitive workflows across your entire sales team.
• Contact enrichment: Automatically finds leads and customers email addresses and contact information, enhancing efficiency for all team members.
• Structured pipeline: Tracks leads and customers through defined stages, ensuring process clarity and effectiveness across your 20-50 person organization.
• Mail merge and email sequences: Increases communication efficiency with follow-up templates and automated sequences that maintain consistency across all team members.
• LinkedIn connection: Seamlessly imports leads from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator to bring all your contact information within the CRM for team-wide access.
• Analytics: Provides essential data analysis and predictive insights for better planning across your entire sales organization.

2. Budget considerations

Balancing cost and return on investment is essential when choosing a CRM for outbound sales teams of 20-50 people. Look for a solution that offers scalable pricing plans designed for mid-sized teams, allowing you to optimize costs while ensuring all team members have access to essential features. Evaluate the potential ROI by considering how the CRM can streamline your sales processes across your entire organization, reduce manual tasks, and ultimately increase your revenue per team member.

3. Selection process

Researching and choosing the right CRM vendor for mid-sized sales teams involves several steps. Start by reading reviews and testimonials from other growing sales organizations of similar size. Attend webinars or request demos to see the CRM in action with team collaboration features. Ensure the vendor offers strong customer support and regular updates to keep the software aligned with the latest sales trends and technologies for teams of your size.

4. Get a demo

Trying different CRM platforms is a critical step in making an informed decision for your 20-50 person sales team. Take advantage of free trials or demo periods to test the CRM's usability and effectiveness in outbound sales across multiple team members. Compare features, ease of use, and integration capabilities with your existing tools. Gather feedback from your entire sales team to ensure the chosen CRM meets their needs and enhances their productivity. Get started with a demo of folk to see how its helped mid-sized sales teams close deals faster.

3 tips for implementing a CRM

At this stage it's time to get excited about your shiny new CRM, empower your team of 20-50 people to use it effectively and personalize it so it aligns with your workflow. We've put together three tips to help you make the most of the implementation stage across your entire sales organization.

1. Import your data in your new CRM

Transitioning to a new CRM requires moving your existing data seamlessly across your entire team. Start by exporting your data as a CSV file from your current CRM or scattered systems. Proper data migration ensures that your 20-50 person sales team has all the information they need to hit the ground running without having to update it manually.

2. Create your first pipeline

Setting up your first pipeline is crucial for managing your outbound sales process across all team members. Designate stages that reflect your sales cycle, such as "Prospecting," "Contacted," "Qualified," "Proposal Sent," and "Closed." This structure helps your entire team track progress and identify bottlenecks, ensuring a streamlined outbound sales operation across your 20-50 person organization.

3. Onboard your team

Effective onboarding is key to maximizing the benefits of your new CRM across your entire 20-50 person sales team. Conduct training sessions to familiarize all team members with the CRM's features and best practices for outbound sales. Encourage them to use the CRM consistently to track interactions, manage leads, and automate follow-ups. A well-trained team of this size will leverage the CRM to enhance productivity and drive sales growth across your entire organization.

The 5 best CRMs for outbound sales

1. folk

folk is a modern CRM platform perfectly designed for mid-sized sales teams of 20-50 people, offering customizable pipelines, AI-driven tools, and seamless integrations to enhance deal management and prospecting across your entire organization.

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Key features

• Contact enrichment: Automatically enriches contact details by finding emails and LinkedIn URLs, enabling efficient outreach across your entire team without manual data entry or additional costs for email services.
• Capture contact information: From anywhere on the internet and send them directly into folk without leaving the page. Group them without having to open your CRM and keep your pipeline organized effortlessly across all team members.
• LinkedIn integration: Seamlessly import contacts from LinkedIn and Sales Navigator and bring all your leads within folk, perfect for teams of 20-50 people managing multiple prospect sources simultaneously.
• Mail merge and email sequences: Full email sync compatible with Gmail and Outlook, access to templates, and tracking features, enabling teams to manage all communications directly from the CRM with consistency across all members.
• AI-powered features: AI tools assist in managing contacts and relationships, automating routine tasks, and suggesting actions to improve productivity across your entire sales organization.
• Sales cycle and pipeline management: Easily organize leads into different pipelines or a Kanban board style to adapt to your sales cycle, perfect for coordinating across 20-50 team members.
• Notes and reminders: Attach notes directly to lead profiles and create notes collaboratively with team members, and assign reminders so that the right person follows-up in time across your entire organization.

Pros

• Perfect for mid-sized teams: folk is specifically designed for teams of 20-50 people, offering the right balance of features and simplicity without enterprise complexity or startup limitations.
• Ease of use: folk is praised for its intuitive interface, making it accessible for all team members with quick onboarding and minimal learning curve across your entire sales organization.
• All-in-one solution: folk streamlines your workflow by allowing teams to import contacts from LinkedIn, automatically find their emails, reach out through customizable email sequences, and track interactions in a pipeline, eliminating the need for multiple tools and saving significant costs for mid-sized teams.
• Team collaboration: Built-in features for team coordination including shared notes, collaborative contact management, and unified pipeline visibility perfect for 20-50 person organizations.
• Integrations: In addition to Zapier and Make (6,000+ apps), folk offers an open API and native integrations like Kaspr, Allo, Salesforge, and PandaDoc—plus native email sync with Gmail and Outlook—enabling teams to connect folk to any platform and automate workflows.

Cons

• Reporting and analytics: folk includes advanced analytics such as pipeline and deal-stage reporting, weighted revenue forecasting, and performance breakdowns by owner, channel, industry, region, and any custom field.

Price and plans

You can try folk for free with a 14-day free trial, perfect for testing with your entire team. After that, monthly or annual subscription plans offer excellent value for mid-sized teams.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month - ideal for teams of 20-50 people starting their CRM journey.
• Premium: $40 per user, per month - perfect for growing mid-sized sales teams needing advanced features.
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month - designed for established teams requiring enterprise-level customization.

2. Zoho

Zoho is a CRM system with a strong sales focus that can work for mid-sized teams, though it requires more setup complexity. It has journey orchestration, sales process management, and workflow automation features, along with marketing capabilities including event management and customer segmentation.

Key features

• Sales automation: Automates sales tasks like lead management, deal tracking, and follow-up actions across team members.
• Lead and contact management: Manages customer information, tracks interactions, and segments contacts for targeted campaigns.
• Multi-channel communication: Integrates with email, phone, social media, and live chat to manage customer interactions.
• Sales pipeline management: Visualizes and manages sales pipelines with drag-and-drop functionality.
• AI-powered sales assistant (Zia): Provides predictive analytics, task automation, and intelligent suggestions to enhance sales performance.

Pros

• Affordability: Zoho CRM offers competitive pricing for mid-sized teams, making it accessible to teams of 20-50 people.
• Customization: Extensive customization options allow teams to tailor the CRM to their specific needs, though this requires technical expertise.
• Integration with Zoho suite: Seamless integration with other Zoho products creates a comprehensive ecosystem for managing different business functions.
• Multi-channel communication: Zoho CRM supports email, phone, social media, and live chat from a single platform.
• AI-powered features: Zia, the AI assistant, provides intelligent insights and predictive analytics for sales teams.

Cons

• Complex for mid-sized teams: The extensive customization options can be overwhelming for teams of 20-50 people, requiring significant setup time and technical expertise.
• Setup complexity: Initial configuration is complex and often requires dedicated IT resources, which mid-sized teams may lack.
• User interface: Some users find the interface outdated compared to modern CRM platforms, which can affect team adoption.
• Performance issues: Occasional slow performance with larger datasets can hinder productivity for active sales teams.
• Limited third-party integrations: Integration with non-Zoho applications requires additional effort and expertise.

Price and plans

Zoho's free plan is limited to three users, insufficient for teams of 20-50 people. Annual subscription plans for larger teams are as follows.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month.
• Professional: $35 per user, per month.
• Enterprise: $50 per user, per month.

3. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a web-based CRM that works well for smaller teams within the 20-50 range, offering lead management, automation, email integration, and customizable pipelines, though it may lack some advanced features needed by larger mid-sized teams.

Key features

• Lead and deal management: Centralized tools to manage leads and customer data, interactions, and sales pipelines for team coordination.
• Sales automation: Workflow automation to handle repetitive tasks, such as lead routing and follow-ups across team members.
• Email integration: Full email sync, templates, and tracking features for consistent communication across the team.
• Advanced reporting and analytics: Real-time data analytics and custom reporting tools to track team performance and forecast revenue.
• Customization and security: Options to customize pipelines and fields with user permissions suitable for mid-sized teams.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: Known for its intuitive interface that's easy for teams to adopt and navigate.
• Sales pipeline focus: Specifically designed for managing sales pipelines with a visual approach that works well for sales teams.
• Good for smaller mid-sized teams: Works well for teams on the smaller end of the 20-50 range with straightforward sales processes.
• Affordability: Competitive pricing for basic CRM features suitable for cost-conscious teams.
• Automation features: Includes useful automation tools for streamlining repetitive tasks and moving deals through pipelines.

Cons

• Limited advanced features: Lacks some advanced CRM capabilities needed by larger teams in the 20-50 range, such as extensive team collaboration tools.
• Basic reporting in lower tiers: Reporting features in basic plans may be insufficient for teams needing detailed analytics across multiple team members.
• No built-in email marketing: Requires integration with third-party tools for email marketing, adding complexity for mid-sized teams.
• Scalability limitations: May not scale well as teams grow toward the upper end of the 20-50 range.
• Cost increases with add-ons: Pricing can escalate quickly when adding features needed by larger mid-sized teams.

Price and plans

Annual subscription pricing can become expensive for teams of 20-50 people needing advanced features.

• Essential plan: Starts from $24 per user, per month.
• Advanced plan: Starts from $44 per user, per month.
• Power plan: Starts from $79 per user, per month.
• Enterprise plan: Starts from $129 per user, per month.

4. HubSpot

Hubspot CRM is a scalable platform offering integrated tools for sales, marketing, and customer service, though it can become expensive for mid-sized teams of 20-50 people and may include more features than necessary for focused outbound sales efforts.

Key features

• Sales hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting for managing outbound sales efforts across teams.
• Lead scoring: Prioritize leads with predictive scoring to help teams focus on high-potential prospects.
• Marketing hub: Includes email marketing, ad tracking, and lead generation tools, though this may be more than needed for focused outbound sales teams.
• Automation capabilities: Automate repetitive tasks like follow-ups and lead nurturing across team members.
• Customizable dashboard and reports: Create dashboards and reports to track sales metrics across your team.

Pros

• User-friendly interface: HubSpot offers an intuitive interface that's accessible for teams of various skill levels.
• Comprehensive free plan: The free version includes essential CRM features, though it's limited for teams of 20-50 people.
• All-in-one platform: Provides sales, marketing, and service tools in one platform, though this may be overkill for focused outbound sales teams.
• Good automation capabilities: Offers automation tools for email marketing and sales workflows.
• Scalability: Can grow with teams, though pricing increases significantly with scale.

Cons

• Expensive for mid-sized teams: Pricing becomes very expensive for teams of 20-50 people, especially when needing advanced features across all users.
• Feature overkill: Includes many marketing and service features that outbound sales teams of 20-50 people may not need, making it unnecessarily complex.
• Limited free plan for teams: The free plan restrictions make it impractical for teams of 20-50 people requiring full functionality.
• Complex setup: Advanced features require significant setup time and training for effective team adoption.
• Additional costs: Many essential features for mid-sized teams come as expensive add-ons, increasing total cost of ownership.

Price and plans

HubSpot's sales hub pricing becomes expensive for teams of 20-50 people on an annual subscription basis.

• Starter: $15 per user, per month (limited features for mid-sized teams).
• Professional: $90 per user, per month (expensive for teams of 20-50 people).
• Enterprise: $150 per user, per month (prohibitively expensive for most mid-sized teams).

5. Salesforce

Salesforce is a robust CRM platform designed primarily for large enterprises, offering extensive tools for sales, marketing, service, and analytics. However, it's often overly complex and expensive for mid-sized teams of 20-50 people, requiring significant technical expertise and resources for implementation and maintenance.

Key features

• Lead management: Comprehensive lead tracking and management capabilities, though often more complex than needed for teams of 20-50 people.
• Email integration: Email platform integration for communication management, though setup can be complex for mid-sized teams.
• Sales automation: Extensive automation capabilities that may require dedicated administrators to manage effectively.
• AI-driven insights: Salesforce Einstein provides advanced analytics, but the cost and complexity may not justify the benefits for mid-sized teams.
• Customizable dashboards: Highly customizable reporting and dashboards, though customization requires technical expertise.

Pros

• Comprehensive feature set: Offers extensive functionality for large-scale operations, though this can be excessive for teams of 20-50 people.
• Highly customizable: Extremely customizable platform, though customization requires significant technical expertise.
• Extensive integrations: Integrates with numerous third-party applications, though integration complexity may overwhelm mid-sized teams.
• Enterprise scalability: Designed for large enterprises and can handle massive scale, which is unnecessary for teams of 20-50 people.
• Advanced analytics: Powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, though the complexity may exceed the needs of most mid-sized teams.

Cons

• Prohibitively expensive: Very expensive for teams of 20-50 people, with high licensing fees and additional costs that make it impractical for mid-sized organizations.
• Overwhelming complexity: The extensive feature set creates unnecessary complexity for mid-sized teams focused on outbound sales.
• Requires dedicated technical resources: Setup and maintenance require technical expertise that teams of 20-50 people typically lack.
• Poor fit for mid-sized teams: Designed for large enterprises, making it overkill for teams of 20-50 people with focused outbound sales needs.
• Long implementation time: Complex implementation process can take months, delaying value realization for mid-sized teams.

Price and plans

• Starter suite: $25/user/month (very limited features for teams of 20-50 people).
• Pro suite: $100/user/month (expensive for mid-sized teams).
• Enterprise plan: $165/user/month (prohibitively expensive for teams of 20-50 people).
• Unlimited plan: $330/user/month (extremely expensive for mid-sized teams).
• Einstein 1 Sales: $500/user/month (far too expensive for teams of 20-50 people).

👉🏼 Try folk now to manage contact-based reminders and sequences for outbound sales

Conclusion

Choosing the best CRM for outbound sales teams of 20-50 people is a critical decision that can significantly impact your business's growth and efficiency. Each CRM platform discussed offers different benefits, but folk CRM stands out as the ideal solution for mid-sized sales teams. Unlike enterprise solutions that are overly complex and expensive, or basic tools that lack necessary features, folk CRM provides the perfect balance of functionality, ease of use, and team collaboration features designed specifically for teams of your size. For sales organizations of 20-50 people, folk CRM offers the essential outbound sales features you need—contact enrichment, LinkedIn integration, email sequences, and pipeline management—without the unnecessary complexity or prohibitive costs of enterprise platforms. Remember, the right CRM should streamline your sales processes, enhance team coordination, and provide actionable insights to drive your outbound sales strategy across all team members. Take the next step towards optimizing your sales efforts by exploring folk CRM, the perfect solution for mid-sized outbound sales teams. Try folk for free here.

Need a helping hand? Use our free tool to find your perfect CRM match.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do outbound sales teams use as a CRM?

Mid-sized outbound sales teams of 20-50 people typically use CRMs like folk, Zoho, Pipedrive, Hubspot, and Salesforce to manage customer relationships and streamline sales processes. However, folk CRM is specifically designed for teams of this size, offering the ideal balance of features, ease of use, and team collaboration tools. These CRMs offer features like contact management, lead tracking, sales automation, and analytics, but folk stands out by providing all essential outbound sales features without unnecessary complexity or enterprise-level costs.

Do I need a CRM?

Yes, a CRM is essential for sales teams of 20-50 people managing outbound sales processes. It helps coordinate customer interactions across all team members, track leads systematically, and automate repetitive tasks, making your sales efforts significantly more efficient and effective. For mid-sized teams, a CRM like folk is particularly beneficial in organizing data, maintaining consistency across team members, and improving customer relationships while scaling your sales operations.

How much does a CRM cost?

CRM costs vary widely depending on features and team size. For teams of 20-50 people, prices typically range from $15-$150 per user per month. Folk CRM offers excellent value at $20-$60 per user per month, providing all essential features needed by mid-sized outbound sales teams without the excessive costs of enterprise solutions. It's important to assess your team's specific needs and budget to choose the right CRM plan that scales appropriately with your organization size.

Does folk's CRM respond to outbound sales needs?

Absolutely, folk CRM is specifically designed to meet the outbound sales needs of teams with 20-50 people. It offers contact enrichment, LinkedIn integration, email sync, AI-powered tools, and seamless team collaboration features to streamline sales processes across your entire organization. Its intuitive interface, customizable pipelines, and all-in-one approach make it the perfect solution for mid-sized teams looking to improve efficiency, maintain consistency, and drive sales growth without the complexity of enterprise platforms or limitations of basic tools.

FAQ

What is the best CRM system for small businesses?

Best depends on needs. For outbound teams, prioritize ease of use, pipeline tracking, email sequences, and LinkedIn capture. For small and mid-sized teams, folk bundles these features with simple pricing.

What features should an outbound sales CRM include?

Seek lead capture and enrichment, customizable pipelines, email sync with sequences, task reminders, LinkedIn import, and clear analytics. These streamline outreach, follow-ups, and team coordination for 20–50 person groups.

How much does a CRM cost for a team of 20–50 people?

Typical range is $15–$150 per user/month. Budget for core seats and emailing. folk offers Standard $20, Premium $40, and Custom from $60 per user/month for growing outbound teams.

How do you implement a CRM for a 20–50 person sales team?

Import contacts via CSV, define a stage-based pipeline, set email sequences and reminders, integrate email and LinkedIn, train users, then pilot with a small group, gather feedback, and roll out to all.