You know that feeling when a regular client calls to ask about their order, and you frantically search through emails, paper notebooks, and messenger apps just to remember what you actually talked about? That is the perfect moment to implement a CRM system. It sounds like a menacing term from a giant corporation’s CEO dictionary, but in practice, it is simply your super-smart, digital notepad. And this is where Bigin by Zoho CRM steps onto the stage.
What is this tool, how it automates your work, and what are the actual costs?
Bigin is sort of the “little brother” of the mighty Zoho CRM system, created specifically for micro and small businesses. Imagine a huge corkboard on your wall. On this board, you draw four columns: “New inquiry”, “Quote sent”, “Negotiations”, and “Paid”. Your clients are basically colorful sticky notes that you simply swipe with your finger from left to right as they get closer to buying. Bigin is exactly that board moved to your computer and phone, just much smarter.
And now the most important part – money. Before writing these words, I checked the latest official pricing on the provider’s website so you know exactly where you stand. The pricing plans look very wallet-friendly:
- Free: It costs exactly $0 forever and is designed for 1 user. It is a great choice to start with – you get access to a basic sales pipeline and contact history.
- Express: It costs $9 monthly or $7 monthly if you pay for a whole year upfront. This plan unlocks automations, gives you up to 3 sales pipelines, and lets you store up to 50,000 customer records.
- Premier: This will cost you $15 monthly or $12 if billed annually. Aside from larger limits (5 pipelines, 100,000 records), you get an artificial intelligence assistant here, for which you receive 1,000 credits per month.
- Bigin 360: The highest of the small plans at $21 monthly or $18 annually, expanding your AI pools to 3,000 credits.
The best news? To test the tool (Trial), you sign up in a minute and you don’t even have to provide your credit card number. Zero risk of the system charging your account because you forgot to cancel the tests.
Before you start: What do you need to prepare?
Before we start clicking anything, make yourself a good coffee and reserve 15 minutes of free time. What do you need? Just an email address, a web browser, and a simple vision of what sales look like in your company. Think for a moment about the stages your client goes through – from the first email all the way to a paid invoice.
Time for action: Step-by-step configuration.
Do not worry, you don’t need to know anything about programming. The whole thing is similar to setting up an account on a popular social network. Let’s do this together.
Step 1: Account creation
Go to bigin.com and click the big, red button for free registration. Provide your email, type a password, and verify the address with the code that arrives in your inbox.
Step 2: Setting up your sales board (Pipeline)
Once you are inside, you will see the “Pipelines” tab. This is the heart of your new office. By default, the system will suggest some stage names for you, but you can edit them in a second. Click the pencil or settings icon next to the pipeline name and type it your way: “New inquiry”, “Quote sent”, “Waiting for decision”, “Won”. Done!
Step 3: Adding the first deal
Now it’s time for magic. In the top right corner, click the “Deal” button. Enter the client’s name (e.g., Mr. Thomas), the order value, and choose what stage the conversation is at. A beautiful sticky note with Mr. Thomas’s name will appear on the board. When you send him a quote, just grab this sticky note with your mouse and drag it to the “Quote sent” column. It provides an incredible sense of satisfaction.
A clever trick for beginners (My test scenario)
For the purpose of this guide, I came up with a hypothetical example: let’s assume you run a small graphic design studio. You often send a project quote to a new client, and then a week goes by and there is dead silence. It feels awkward to just write again asking “what’s up?”, right?
In the Express plan, there is a feature called “Workflows” (Automations). I created a simple test mechanism there. I set up a simple rule in the system: if a client’s sticky note sits in the “Quote sent” column for more than 4 days, Bigin is supposed to automatically send this client a nice, pre-written email saying: “Hi, I just wanted to check if you had a chance to look at the quote? If you have any questions, I am here to help!”. Brilliant, isn’t it? You save time, you don’t come off as pushy, and clients feel that you care about them.
🔄 That is not the only way to automate your work! If you like the idea of ditching tedious manual data entry, read my main guide: Lightweight CRM for Micro-Businesses. What to Choose Instead of Excel?, where I explain the entire mechanics of modern sales pipelines.
Common stumbles, or when things go wrong
Beginnings can be funny. Here are two classic mistakes that almost every new user makes:
1. “Help, my client vanished!”
You drag a satisfied client’s sticky note to the very end of the board, drop it on the “Closed Won” field, and the client… disappears from the screen. Don’t panic! The system does this on purpose so as not to clutter your view with people you have already closed deals with. If you want to get back to them, just click the little funnel (filters) in the left corner of the screen and check that you want to see “Closed deals”.
2. The curse of a million columns.
When you start mapping out your sales process, it is tempting to break it down into atoms. You create 15 different columns: “Called”, “Thought about it”, “Called back”, “Drinks water”. The result? The board becomes gigantic, unreadable, and no one uses it. Stick to the rule of simplicity – 4 to 5 stages is the absolute maximum for starters.
Final verdict: Who is this (not) for?
No software is perfect for everyone. When is it worth getting into Bigin, and when should you avoid it from a mile away?
Why you will love it:
Firstly, for its brilliant simplicity and visual form. Even if you are terribly afraid of new technologies, you will understand dragging sticky notes on a screen in three minutes. Secondly, for the fair pricing policy. The free plan is genuinely enough for a lone wolf working on their own, and the paid tiers are ridiculously low compared to market giants.
What might terribly annoy you:
If you run a company that has very complicated processes – you trade in five currencies at once, you have three different departments that need to pass data to each other, and you require extensive accounting reports, Bigin will burst at the seams. This tool is designed to be simple, so it intentionally lacks corporate fireworks. Additionally, those really clever artificial intelligence tips require jumping to the more expensive Premier plan.
But if you are a regular person who is simply tired of losing contacts and forgetting to send quotes, this tool will quickly become the best assistant in your company.