Salesforce CRM

Due to the breadth of customization options, the implementation process for Salesforce CRM varies drastically, but once the system is set up, users will quickly see it was worth the effort. For in-house admins, a little more training may be required, but Salesforce offers excellent admin controls. Setting up different permissions, based on groups or on individual users is simple as is creating different displays and workflows for various departments/employees.

Pros:

We at 4D Data Centers strongly believe that SF is rapidly becoming the industry standard which means new sales and marketing hires often come with some experience/knowledge of working with it. As an entry-level SaaS CRM system, it does a lot for the money you initially pay and requires no capex – only a decent internet connection. Reporting is good and an extensive third-party app exchange means that your SF instance can be tailored to how you want it.

Cons:

Over time the recurring cost of SF can creep up considerably. To get your CRM working correctly you will need to spend extra on third-party apps (which add up) and as your database grows you will need to buy additional storage space from SF which can also be very expensive for small companies.

Overall:

There is quite a steep learning curve if you want SF to work seamlessly between your sales and marketing teams and the cost creep can be significant if not reviewed regularly. That said, once you’ve got it set up it the way you like it, can be an extremely powerful tool.

Pros:

• Can be integrated into almost any automation tool which opens a variety of different ways this can be used.

• Keeps track of historical action and interactions the lead or customer has taken.

• Tracks the number of times you’ve reached out to a lead or customer.

• Allows you to take detailed notes on every lead or customer.

Cons:

• With so many possibilities for functionality, it can be difficult to know all those possibilities without some kind of comprehensive training.

• Salesforce can be pricey depending on your needs and the number of people you need to have on your team among other things.

• Pulling up data on the dashboard can be a mess at times.

Overall Experience:

It has been a much useful CRM platform for us at High Water Standard. If you understand what you need, know your budget, need the ability to go deep into integrations and are willing to take some time to learn the system, SalesforceCRM sounds like a good choice for you.

We love Salesforce mainly because of the customization of the software, and the reporting modules. Daily (or weekly, monthly, etc) reports can easily be created and sent out to specific teams, this helps our team at Codal make sure that every client has been followed up with, and there are no outstanding tasks that are client-facing. We were using the Hubspot CRM before, The reporting module of Salesforce is amazing which has enabled us to handle large number of leads and opportunities. The customizations go hand in hand with the reporting. Reports can be customized in so many different ways, almost anything is possible. Almost every aspect of the CRM is customizable so that it is best suited for what we, or anyone needs.

A few cons of the software is that while it is extremely customizable, it is not exactly easy to customize. You may need someone that has undergone or the Salesforce certification, or a developer in some cases.

Pros:

• A searchable/sortable database which provides a wealth of behavioral data when integrated with marketing automation.

• Visibility at the systemic and the individual level.

• The ability to create our own information architecture that assigns value/priority/process to each prospect.

• A great deal of customization is possible: data you collect, behaviors tracked, integrations with other systems.

Cons:

At IdeaScale, we often want information external to append to our Salesforce info which our time doesn't have the time to research, but would help our automation. Some solutions will work for you out there, but they are either time consuming or expensive. Once Salesforce productizes this, it would make a huge difference regarding time saved in outreach. There is still enough value that it is at the center of what we do.

Overall Experience:

Salesforce is the tool that is most central to our business - almost all of us from marketing to sales to accounts to accounting use it every day throughout the day and we couldn't do our jobs without it. And it has made some of our jobs easier. We've also integrated into our technology environment so that certain activities post to Slack, certain reports are automated and it works with our SaaS Optics tech, as well.

The platform has helped me build my niche at two companies, one of them being - VirtualHealth. It has earned me respect because of how much use I get from the platform.

Pros:

Salesforce is intuitive, expandable with automation and with custom code, and has an entire ecosystem of support ranging from other users, an online interactive tutorial platform, and great support by calling them. If you can't do something you'd like to do in Salesforce, you can just build it out with an easy-to-learn coding language, Apex. Also, the number of integrations that exist mean that the platform always has an app or product on the market that likely fills any existing niche gaps.

Cons:

It's expensive, and there's no doubt about that, but you get a product worth the cost. They also nickel and dime you for different pieces, but considering if you just got everything, you'd be paying a lot more and wouldn't be gaining nearly as much that you could use in proportion, I think the cost is still the best pricing structure they could give.