Best CRM for Startups Focused on Outbound Sales 2025

If your startup is focused on outbound sales – especially cold calling – Close is one of the best CRMs out there. It’s built specifically for sales teams who live on the phone, and it goes far beyond basic call logging. With built-in power dialers, predictive dialers, and call coaching tools, Close helps teams make more calls, have better conversations, and move faster.

In our testing, Close stood out for its native calling features. Reps can click to call directly from the browser, and every call is automatically logged, recorded, and transcribed. The power dialer queues up the next call as soon as the last one ends, while the predictive dialer dials multiple numbers at once and routes live answers to available reps – perfect for scaling call volume without burning time.

Managers can also jump into calls for live coaching or feedback, which is great for onboarding new reps or fine-tuning messaging. Transcriptions and call summaries cut down on manual note-taking and help keep CRM records clean and searchable.

Close does have some limitations. It’s not built for marketing automation or inbound lead capture – you’ll need integrations for email marketing or website tracking. But if your team is all about outbound and you want a CRM that makes cold calling smoother and more effective, Close is a top pick. We gave it a 10/10 for managing high-volume calling workflows.

HubSpot Sales Hub is a great option for startups looking to automate personalised email sequences without sacrificing ease of use. Its ‘Sequences’ feature lets you build multi-step campaigns, track engagement rates for each email, and see which sequences actually convert into meetings. This makes it easy to test, optimise, and double down on what’s working.

Beyond sequences, HubSpot’s automation tools are surprisingly powerful. You can set triggers using custom events or third-party webhooks, automatically enrol contacts into email or WhatsApp sequences, and even split contacts randomly to A/B test workflows. It’s flexible enough to support everything from basic follow-ups to complex, cross-channel campaigns.

The built-in AI copilot is another win. You can use prompts to automate tasks like summarising company info or creating records – small time-savers that add up fast when your team is growing.

There are a couple of drawbacks. Most of these features are only available on HubSpot’s higher-tier plans, which might be a stretch for early-stage startups. And while the interface is polished, it can feel overwhelming at first. You’ll need to invest some time to get the most out of it.

That said, if you’re serious about automating outbound at scale and want a CRM that does more than just store contact info, HubSpot Sales Hub is a smart, scalable choice. We gave it a 9/10 for email sequence automation.

Attio is a great fit for startups that prioritise prospecting and lead enrichment. It’s fast, flexible, and designed for teams that want to build high-quality contact lists without jumping between tools.

The Chrome Extension is a standout – it works across LinkedIn, X, Google Meet, and Gmail, letting you grab contact info and add it to Attio with one click. You can also use message templates directly in LinkedIn or Gmail, making it easy to personalise outreach at scale without sacrificing speed.

Attio’s data enrichment is another highlight. With one click, it pulls in key details like ARR, funding rounds, and team size. The ‘connect strength’ field gives you a sense of how recently or frequently a contact’s been engaged – helpful when prioritising leads. In our testing, enrichment was fast, reliable, and made contact profiles much more useful right out of the gate. We gave it a 10/10 for data enrichment.

Attio also includes smart AI features for automating workflows – from classifying records to summarising notes – and integrates with tools like Outreach to push leads directly into sequences.

It’s not as feature-rich as some older CRMs – there’s no lead scoring or territory management – and its integration library is still growing. But if your focus is outbound and you want a prospecting-focused CRM that’s fast and modern, Attio is one of the strongest options available.

Salesforce Sales Cloud is a top choice for startups that expect to scale quickly and need advanced reporting and analytics from day one. Its reporting tools are among the best we’ve tested – detailed, customisable, and built to support data-driven decision-making at every level.

You can track individual and team performance, build custom dashboards, and drill into pipeline data with variables like stage, close date, and probability. The funnel viewer gives a clear view of where deals stand and what’s likely to close, helping with accurate forecasting and resource planning. Integration with Tableau adds even more firepower, with visualisation tools that make reporting more accessible and actionable.

Salesforce also brings AI into the mix with Agentforce, which can handle tasks like answering product questions or booking meetings – while also feeding valuable interaction data back into your analytics.

But Salesforce isn’t light. The interface is complex, especially for smaller teams. Simple tasks like updating pipeline stages or creating opportunities can feel overly technical, and mastering automation tools requires time and training. Expect to spend a few weeks learning the basics – and a few months to really get comfortable.

Still, for startups that prioritise scalability and advanced insights, Salesforce Sales Cloud is hard to beat. We rated it 10/10 for reporting – it’s built to grow with you, even if there’s a learning curve up front.

For startups focused on outbound sales, Relate offers a clean, effective lead management system built around its dedicated ‘Prospect’ pipeline. It scored 9/10 in our testing for lead management, thanks to a customizable qualification flow (potential, working, nurturing, qualified) that feeds directly into your main sales pipeline – no manual handover required.

Lead capture is smooth too. The LinkedIn Chrome extension lets you add contacts in one click, and Clearbit enrichment fills in company data automatically. You can group leads into custom lists to keep things organized across segments or campaigns.

That said, there are real limitations for scaling teams. There’s no traditional lead scoring, very limited workflow automation (2/10), and email sequences are capped at 50 sends per day. Integration support is also minimal (1/10), which could be a blocker as your stack grows.

Relate works well for early-stage teams who want a fast, simple way to manage outbound leads without the bloat of heavier CRMs – but if you’re growing fast or need deeper automation, you may hit its limits.