When you're scaling a team of 20-50 people, managing customer relationships becomes both more critical and more complex. You need a CRM that can handle multiple users, streamline collaboration, and grow with your expanding operations—without overwhelming your budget or requiring extensive training.

That's where the right sales stack becomes essential, starting with a CRM designed for growing teams. In this post, we'll explore the best CRM options for teams of 20-50 people, highlighting solutions that balance powerful features with ease of use and team collaboration capabilities.

Why teams of 20-50 people need a specialized CRM approach

When your team reaches the 20-50 person range, you're no longer a small startup, but you're not yet a large enterprise. This unique position requires CRM solutions that can handle increased complexity while maintaining the agility that got you this far.

1. Challenges without proper CRM infrastructure

Growing teams without robust CRM systems face amplified versions of common organizational challenges, making the right solution even more critical.

• Data silos across teams: With 20-50 people, information gets scattered across multiple spreadsheets, email threads, and individual systems, creating dangerous knowledge gaps.
• Missed handoffs: As leads pass between team members, opportunities fall through the cracks due to poor visibility and inconsistent processes.
• Coordination inefficiencies: Manual processes that worked for smaller teams become major bottlenecks when scaled across larger groups.
• Limited visibility: Managers struggle to get real-time insights into team performance and pipeline health across multiple team members.
• Inconsistent customer experience: Different team members using varied approaches lead to fragmented customer interactions and missed expectations.

These challenges compound quickly as teams grow, making early CRM adoption crucial for sustainable scaling.

2. Benefits of team-focused CRM implementation

The right CRM solution transforms how medium-sized teams operate, delivering benefits that directly impact growth and efficiency.

• Unified team workspace: All customer data and interactions are centralized, giving everyone access to complete context without constant status meetings or email chains.
• Scalable automation: Automated workflows handle routine tasks across team members, freeing up time for high-value activities and strategic planning.
• Enhanced collaboration: Team members can seamlessly hand off leads, share insights, and coordinate efforts with full visibility into each other's activities.
• Data-driven team management: Managers gain clear visibility into individual and team performance, enabling better coaching and resource allocation.
• Consistent customer experience: Standardized processes and shared customer history ensure every interaction is informed and professional.
• Predictable revenue growth: Better pipeline management and team coordination typically result in 15-25% higher conversion rates for teams of this size.
  
  

Standardized processes and coordinated team workflows typically yield 15–25% higher conversion rates for teams of this size.

4 ways teams of 20-50 people can maximize CRM efficiency

Medium-sized teams have unique advantages when implementing CRM systems—you're large enough to leverage advanced features but agile enough to adapt quickly. Here's how to capitalize on that sweet spot.

1. Standardizing team processes

With 20-50 team members, process standardization becomes critical for maintaining quality and efficiency. Use your CRM to define clear stages for customer acquisition, onboarding, and retention that work across your entire team. Create standardized pipelines that reflect your team's workflow, ensuring consistent handoffs between team members and departments. This standardization is especially valuable for teams managing diverse customer types or multiple service offerings.

2. Advanced lead qualification and routing

At your team size, manual lead distribution becomes inefficient and often unfair. Implement sophisticated lead scoring that considers multiple factors like company size, engagement level, and potential deal value. Use automated routing rules to distribute qualified leads evenly across your team or route them to specialists based on criteria like industry expertise or geographic location. This ensures your best leads get immediate attention from the right team members.

3. Multi-channel team coordination

Teams of 20-50 people often touch customers through multiple channels—email, phone, social media, and in-person meetings. Your CRM should centralize all these interactions, making it easy for any team member to pick up where another left off. Set up automated sequences that involve multiple team members, and use shared templates that maintain your brand voice while allowing for personalization. Track engagement across all channels to identify the most effective approaches for your team.

4. Performance management and coaching

With a medium-sized team, individual performance management becomes both more important and more feasible. Use your CRM's reporting capabilities to track individual and team metrics, identifying top performers and those who might need additional support. Implement coaching workflows that help struggling team members improve, and create recognition systems for high achievers. Share best practices across the team based on what your CRM data reveals about successful approaches.

How teams of 20-50 people should evaluate CRM platforms

1. Define team-specific requirements

Before evaluating options, identify the features that matter most for teams your size. Focus on capabilities like multi-user collaboration, role-based permissions, team performance analytics, and workflow automation. Consider how different departments within your 20-50 person team will use the system—sales, marketing, customer success—and ensure the CRM can serve all these functions effectively.

Essential features for medium-sized teams

• Advanced automation workflows: Streamline complex processes involving multiple team members, automatic task assignments, and cross-departmental handoffs, ensuring nothing falls between the cracks as your team scales.
• Bulk contact enrichment: Automatically enhance large contact databases with email addresses, company information, and social profiles, saving hundreds of hours for teams managing thousands of prospects.
• Collaborative pipeline management: Enable multiple team members to work on deals simultaneously with clear ownership, activity tracking, and seamless handoff capabilities that maintain momentum.
• Team-wide email sequences: Deploy coordinated email campaigns where different team members can be involved at various stages, maintaining personal relationships while ensuring consistent messaging.
• Advanced LinkedIn integration: Allow team members to coordinate LinkedIn outreach, share connections, and track conversations across the entire team's network for maximum coverage.
• Comprehensive team analytics: Provide detailed insights into individual and team performance, pipeline health, and revenue forecasting that helps managers make informed decisions about resource allocation and strategy.

2. Budget considerations for growing teams

Teams of 20-50 people need to balance cost-effectiveness with powerful features. Calculate the total cost of ownership including per-user pricing, integration costs, and training time. Look for solutions that offer team-based pricing or volume discounts that make sense at your scale. Consider the ROI potential—a CRM that increases team efficiency by even 10% typically pays for itself within months.

3. Team-focused selection process

Involve key stakeholders from different parts of your team in the evaluation process. Look for vendors that specialize in serving teams your size and understand the unique challenges of scaling organizations. Read case studies from similar companies and prioritize vendors with strong customer success programs that can help with implementation and ongoing optimization.

4. Comprehensive team evaluation

Take advantage of extended trial periods to test how the CRM works with your actual team workflows. Have multiple team members test different aspects of the platform during the trial period. Pay special attention to how well the system facilitates collaboration and whether it integrates smoothly with your existing tools. For example, you can get a demo of folk to see how it handles team coordination and scales with growing organizations.

3 tips for implementing CRM across medium-sized teams

Successful CRM implementation for teams of 20-50 people requires careful planning and phased rollouts to ensure adoption and minimize disruption to ongoing operations.

1. Migrate and organize team data

With a team your size, data migration becomes more complex but also more critical. Consolidate data from multiple sources—individual spreadsheets, email lists, and existing tools. Clean and standardize the data before import, establishing naming conventions and data quality standards that your entire team will follow going forward. Assign data stewardship responsibilities to ensure ongoing data quality.

2. Design collaborative workflows

Create pipelines that reflect how your team actually works, not just how sales happen. Include stages for different team members' responsibilities—from initial prospecting through customer success. Set up automation rules that notify the right people at the right times and create handoff processes that maintain momentum. Consider different pipeline types for different business lines or customer segments your team manages.

3. Plan comprehensive team onboarding

With 20-50 people, you can't train everyone simultaneously without disrupting operations. Create a phased onboarding plan that trains power users first, then gradually expands to the full team. Develop internal champions who can help with ongoing training and support. Create team-specific training materials and establish regular check-ins to ensure consistent adoption across all team members.

The 5 best CRMs for teams of 20-50 people

👉🏼 Try folk now to compare folk against other top free CRMs for startups and unify your team's outreach

1. folk

folk offers a generous 14-day free trial and team-friendly pricing that scales with growing organizations.

folk is specifically designed for growing teams that need powerful CRM capabilities without enterprise complexity. It excels at team collaboration, workflow automation, and seamless scaling for organizations in the 20-50 person range.

Key features

• Bulk contact enrichment: Automatically enriches contact databases at scale, finding emails and LinkedIn profiles for entire prospect lists, perfect for teams managing thousands of contacts efficiently.
• Advanced LinkedIn integration: Coordinate LinkedIn outreach across team members, track team-wide conversations, and share connection strategies for maximum network leverage.
• Team email management: Comprehensive email coordination features with shared templates, team sequence management, and unified tracking across all team communications.
• Collaborative AI features: AI-powered tools help teams coordinate activities, automate routine tasks, and provide insights that improve team-wide performance and efficiency.
• Enterprise integrations: folk integrates with over 6,000 apps including team productivity tools, allowing medium-sized teams to maintain their existing workflows while centralizing customer data.

Pros

• Team-focused design: Built specifically for growing teams with intuitive collaboration features that require minimal training, allowing teams of 20-50 people to get productive quickly.
• Unified workflow platform: Combines LinkedIn prospecting, email outreach, contact management, and pipeline tracking in one platform, eliminating the need for multiple tools and reducing complexity for medium-sized teams.
• Scalable team coordination: Advanced collaboration features enable seamless handoffs, shared pipeline management, and coordinated outreach campaigns across multiple team members.
• Flexible customization: Highly customizable fields, pipelines, and workflows that can adapt to different team structures and business models without requiring technical expertise.
• Comprehensive integrations: Connects with over 6,000 business applications, allowing teams to maintain their preferred tool stack while centralizing customer relationship management.

Cons

• Advanced analytics included: folk provides pipeline and deal stage analytics, revenue forecasting with weighted probabilities, and performance breakdowns by owner, channel, industry, region, or any custom field, plus revenue insights and segmentation.

Price and plans

folk's pricing is particularly attractive for teams of 20-50 people, with volume advantages and a comprehensive 14-day trial.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month (significant savings at 20+ users)
• Premium: $40 per user, per month (recommended for teams needing advanced features)
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month (tailored for specific team requirements)

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2. HubSpot

HubSpot offers a free plan but paid features become expensive for teams of 20-50 people.

Hubspot CRM provides integrated marketing, sales, and service tools, though the pricing can become prohibitive for medium-sized teams needing advanced features across multiple users.

Key features

• Marketing Hub: Includes email marketing, ad tracking, landing pages, and lead generation tools suitable for teams with dedicated marketing roles.
• Sales Hub: Provides deal tracking, pipeline management, sales automation, and reporting capabilities designed for sales team coordination.
• Service Hub: Offers customer service tools like ticketing, live chat, and knowledge bases for teams managing ongoing customer relationships.
• Lead scoring: Advanced lead qualification features help teams of 20-50 people prioritize efforts and allocate resources effectively.
• Operations Hub: Syncs and automates business processes across different systems, supporting complex team workflows and integrations.

Pros

• Comprehensive platform: All-in-one solution covering marketing, sales, and service functions that larger teams often need under one roof.
• Robust free tier: Generous free plan that can work for basic needs, though teams typically outgrow it quickly as they scale.
• Strong integration ecosystem: Extensive third-party integrations and a mature platform that works well with existing business tools.
• Advanced automation: Sophisticated workflow automation capabilities that can handle complex team processes and multi-step campaigns.
• Educational resources: HubSpot Academy provides extensive training materials that can help teams maximize platform usage.

Cons

• Expensive for medium teams: Costs escalate quickly for teams of 20-50 people, especially when multiple hubs are needed, often reaching $9,000-22,500 per month for Professional tier.
• Limited customization in lower tiers: Many customization features are locked behind expensive plans, limiting flexibility for growing teams on budgets.
• Complex feature management: The platform can become overwhelming to manage across medium-sized teams, requiring dedicated administrators.
• Email limitations: Email marketing restrictions can be problematic for teams with larger prospect databases or frequent communication needs.
• Steep learning curve: Advanced features require significant training investment, which can be challenging for busy growing teams.

Price and plans

HubSpot's pricing becomes expensive quickly for teams of 20-50 people requiring advanced features.

• Starter: $15 per user, per month (limited features for teams).
• Professional: $450 per user, per month ($9,000-22,500 monthly for teams of 20-50).
• Enterprise: $1,500 per user, per month ($30,000-75,000 monthly for teams of 20-50).

3. Zoho

Zoho's plans can accommodate teams of 20-50 people but require significant customization and setup time.

Zoho CRM offers extensive customization options and comprehensive features, though teams often find the complexity challenging to manage effectively across 20-50 users without dedicated IT support.

Key features

• Advanced customization: Extensive customization capabilities for teams needing highly specific workflows and data structures across multiple departments.
• Multi-departmental management: Manages complex team structures with different roles, permissions, and workflows suitable for diverse 20-50 person organizations.
• Comprehensive communication tools: Integrates email, phone, social media, and live chat for teams managing diverse customer touchpoints.
• Advanced analytics: Detailed reporting and dashboard capabilities for managers overseeing multiple team members and complex sales processes.
• Workflow automation: Sophisticated automation options for teams needing complex, multi-step processes involving multiple team members and departments.

Pros

• Cost-effective scaling: Reasonable per-user pricing that remains manageable as teams grow from 20 to 50 people, with good volume pricing options.
• Extensive customization: Highly customizable platform that can adapt to complex team structures and unique business processes without additional development.
• Zoho ecosystem integration: Seamless integration with other Zoho business applications, creating a comprehensive business management suite for growing teams.
• Multi-channel team coordination: Strong support for coordinating customer interactions across different channels and team members.
• AI-powered insights: Zia AI assistant provides intelligent insights and suggestions that help teams optimize their processes and improve performance.

Cons

• Complex setup and management: Extensive customization options require significant time investment and often technical expertise to implement effectively across medium-sized teams.
• Steep learning curve: The platform's complexity can overwhelm team members, requiring extensive training and potentially reducing adoption rates.
• Advanced features in higher tiers: Many features essential for teams of 20-50 people are only available in more expensive plans, increasing total cost of ownership.
• Data migration complexity: Moving existing team data into Zoho can be challenging and time-consuming, often requiring professional services for larger teams.
• Mobile limitations: The mobile experience doesn't match the desktop functionality, which can be problematic for teams with mobile workers or field sales representatives.

Price and plans

Zoho offers reasonable pricing for teams of 20-50 people, though advanced features require higher-tier plans.

• Standard: $20 per user, per month ($400-1,000 monthly for teams of 20-50)
• Professional: $35 per user, per month ($700-1,750 monthly for teams of 20-50)
• Enterprise: $50 per user, per month ($1,000-2,500 monthly for teams of 20-50)

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4. Pipedrive

Pipedrive offers a 14-day free trial and team-focused features, though it can become expensive for larger teams needing advanced capabilities.

Pipedrive focuses on sales pipeline management with visual workflows, though teams of 20-50 people often find they need additional tools to handle marketing and customer success functions effectively.

Key features

• Visual pipeline management: Intuitive pipeline visualization that works well for teams coordinating deals and opportunities across multiple sales representatives.
• Team sales automation: Workflow automation designed for sales teams, including lead routing, follow-up scheduling, and task assignment across team members.
• Email integration and tracking: Comprehensive email management with team templates and tracking, though integration capabilities are more limited than some alternatives.
• Team performance analytics: Sales-focused reporting and analytics that help managers track team performance and individual contributor success.
• Customizable team workflows: Flexible pipeline and field customization options that can adapt to different team structures and sales processes.

Pros

• Sales team focus: Specifically designed for sales teams with intuitive pipeline management that teams of 20-50 people can adopt quickly.
• Visual workflow management: Clear, visual approach to pipeline management that helps teams coordinate deals and track progress effectively.
• Good team customization: Reasonable customization options that allow teams to adapt the platform to their specific sales processes without excessive complexity.
• Automation for sales teams: Solid automation features focused on sales workflows, helping teams manage repetitive tasks and coordinate handoffs.
• Team collaboration features: Good support for team-based selling with shared deals, activity tracking, and performance visibility across team members.

Cons

• Limited beyond sales: Lacks comprehensive marketing automation and customer success features that growing teams typically need as they mature.
• Basic reporting for larger teams: Reporting capabilities in lower tiers are insufficient for managing and analyzing performance across 20-50 team members effectively.
• No built-in email marketing: Teams need separate email marketing tools, adding complexity and cost to the overall tech stack.
• Customization limitations: Advanced customization options are more limited compared to other platforms, potentially restricting growing teams with complex needs.
• Scaling costs: Pricing becomes expensive for teams of 20-50 people, especially when advanced features and reporting are needed.

Price and plans

Pipedrive's pricing for teams of 20-50 people can become substantial, especially for advanced features.

• Essential plan: $24 per user, per month ($480-1,200 monthly for teams of 20-50).
• Advanced plan: $44 per user, per month ($880-2,200 monthly for teams of 20-50).
• Power plan: $79 per user, per month ($1,580-3,950 monthly for teams of 20-50).
• Enterprise plan: $129 per user, per month ($2,580-6,450 monthly for teams of 20-50).

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5. Capsule CRM

Capsule CRM can work for smaller teams within the 20-50 range, but may lack advanced features needed for larger team coordination.

Capsule CRM offers a straightforward approach to customer relationship management, though teams of 20-50 people often find they need more sophisticated collaboration and automation features as they scale.

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Key features

• Multiple sales pipelines for different team functions
• Project boards for team collaboration
• Customizable fields for team-specific data needs
• Contact management for up to 30,000 contacts
• Email templates for team consistency

Pros

• Simple team adoption: Straightforward interface that teams can implement quickly without extensive training or complex setup processes.
• Reasonable team pricing: Cost-effective option for teams of 20-50 people, especially those focused primarily on basic CRM functions.
• Good customization basics: Sufficient customization options for teams with straightforward processes and standard CRM needs.
• Solid integration options: Integrates well with common business tools that medium-sized teams typically use in their daily workflows.
• Team collaboration features: Project boards and shared pipelines provide basic collaboration capabilities suitable for smaller teams within the 20-50 range.

Cons

• Limited advanced team features: Lacks sophisticated automation, advanced analytics, and complex workflow management that larger teams typically need.
• Basic email marketing: Email capabilities are insufficient for teams needing comprehensive marketing automation or sophisticated nurture campaigns.
• Support limitations: Customer support is primarily email-based, which can be insufficient for teams needing immediate assistance with critical issues.
• No advanced communication features: Lacks built-in phone, SMS, or advanced social media management features that many teams require.
• Scalability concerns: Teams approaching 50 people often outgrow Capsule's capabilities and need to migrate to more robust platforms.

Price and plans

• Starter plan: $21 per user, per month ($420-1,050 monthly for teams of 20-50).
• Growth plan: $38 per user, per month ($760-1,900 monthly for teams of 20-50).
• Advanced plan: $60 per user, per month ($1,200-3,000 monthly for teams of 20-50).
• Ultimate plan: $75 per user, per month ($1,500-3,750 monthly for teams of 20-50).

Conclusion

For teams of 20-50 people, choosing the right CRM is critical for maintaining growth momentum while building scalable processes. Based on our analysis, folk CRM emerges as the clear winner for teams this size, offering the perfect balance of powerful features, team collaboration tools, and cost-effectiveness. While HubSpot provides comprehensive features, its pricing becomes prohibitive at scale. Zoho offers extensive customization but requires significant setup time. Pipedrive focuses well on sales but lacks broader team coordination features. Capsule CRM works for smaller teams but doesn't scale effectively to 50 people. folk CRM stands out with its intuitive team collaboration, advanced automation, and pricing structure designed for growing organizations. To see how folk can transform your team's efficiency and coordination, start your free trial here.

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FAQ

What CRM is best for teams of 20–50 people?

For 20–50 users, prioritize collaboration, automation, permissions, and reporting. folk offers shared pipelines, email sequences, and LinkedIn outreach at team-friendly pricing, making it a strong fit.

How much should a 20–50 person team budget for a CRM?

Expect $400–$6,000/month based on seats and features. folk is typically $400–$2,000/month at this size; enterprise suites can exceed $9,000/month. Include integrations, training, and admin time in total cost.

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

Consolidate and clean data, standardize pipelines and handoffs, set role-based permissions, automate routine tasks, onboard in phases with internal champions, and track adoption with reports to iterate.

What is the best CRM for personal use?

For solo users, choose a simple personal CRM focused on contacts and tasks. For teams of 20–50, use a collaborative CRM with shared pipelines and automation, such as folk.