Salesforce CRM (Sales Cloud) puts everything you need at your fingertips — from anywhere. From Social accounts and contacts to Mobile, Chatter, and Analytics, collaboration across your global organization and getting deals done faster is not only possible, it's easy.
Pros
What I like most about this product is that my team and company was looking for a product in order to ease the customization of widgets and components, automate tasks for users that were tedious and time-consuming, and streamline the process of customer's feedback to the customer support team to the implementation and design team. Salesforce was able to offer solutions in order to solve all those problems, all while allowing us to customize various apps and dashboards in order to meet our customers' and business needs.
Cons
What I liked least about the software is the documentation and learning curve that came with incorporating and implementing using Salesforce. I was part of the team analyzing if Salesforce was right for my business, and documentation about customizing styling and allowing different users to have different roles within your corporate account were difficult things to find. After speaking with several people who work at Salesforce and swiping through pages and pages of online material, we were able to play around and find what works best for us. Definitely incorporate the learning curve into your business plan if you plan to use Salesforce.
I use it daily. I live in salesforce and I'm in marketing. I use it to keep up with my team and to try to use chatter to highlight what is working and showcase certain accounts. I also like to follow the wins and losses to try to get a feel for where we can improve.
Pros
Everything. I love salesforce. I love its ease of use, navigation, walk-me, training, integration, features, functionality, you name it. Chatter is my favorite feature and once adopted by organizations you see the whole organization migrate to making salesforce their homepage. I love the adaptation the teams have to it and that you can customize your dashboard so sales, marketing, integration, and other teams can all use it as they need to.
Cons
The cost, and sometimes Salesforce does not do a good job of showing the interoperability it has. There are so many features that make it a one-stop-shop for companies large and small, but it seems if the product is sold as a sales tool, it remains that way instead of showing the integration options for marketing and other teams.
Overall, i like the product. It is probably more than i need for my firm but I enjoy many of the features help me create greater efficiencies.
Pros
I like the user-face and intuitive nature of the product. I also like how i can customize it to meet my needs for my company. It is not an out of the box product.
Cons
I wish there was better customer support and initial orientation to the software. Service is overseas and it could take up to two days to get a question answered. I would prefer customer service to be held exclusively in the United States and within reach if i needed a quick question answered. I also wish there was a set up team that can provide simple customizations that do not necessarily require a third party vendor to charge several hundred, if not thousands of dollars to customize my CRM.
Once we started using Salesforce, we have increased our repeat business from our existing clients and our conversion rate from the leads and referrals we receive has skyrocketed. We are able to tailor our offerings to the prospects specific needs and their response has been overwhelmingly positive. We often get comments about how they feel like we understand them better than our competitors.
Pros
Salesforce is probably the most functional CRM tool on the market, and one of the easiest to set up and use. It worked right out of the box, and we have continued to expand the features we use. One of the best things are all the plugins available, which allow you to customize the environment to fit your business' specific requirements. Our revenues have doubled consistently year-to-year and our customer satisfaction ratings have improved dramatically since we began using Salesforce. My team has threatened to revolt if we ever consider moving to a different platform.
Cons
The licensing structure favors larger organizations, but the fees we pay are still reasonable for the value we get from the product.
If you or your team does not have the time to fully invest in training and learning the platform to a deep extent, than this software would be a waste for you. I would recommend speaking with a SalesForce consultant about the different reporting, campaigning, sales, etc. capabilities before making the investment. Though the Customer Support side of SalesForce, in terms of issue resolution, have not been helpful, the SalesForce sales team is very knowledgeable and give honest opinions on what different functions, plans, etc. they would recommend to fit your specific needs. The sales team has actually saved us money by showing us how to more efficiently manage our plan with them.
Pros
The reporting capabilities of SalesForce, especially now that they have switched over to the new Lightning experience, are a great asset for companies looking to track business development activities. Sales funnel reporting, gain-loss reports, call/meeting/email recaps, project lists, budgeting and customer contacts - SalesForce is your "one stop shop" for all of these reporting functions! My team has also loved having the ability to sign up for monthly emails that are based off of reports they have set up within SalesForce. This allows them to track any progress, trends or issues that need to be addressed upfront. My team has also enjoyed the email campaign tracking, which works in conjunction with the Pardot platform.
Cons
SalesForce is not an intuitive software to use and is not easily learned by all members of my team. This is what I like least about the software. Beyond that, customer support has been less than helpful. My team and I have often had to do our own research on Google and YouTube for solutions to problems the SalesForce Customer Service could not help us with. This platform takes a considerable amount of training to really be able to grasp its reporting and data entry capabilities. Beyond that, this product is not cheap! It is worth the investment for larger organizations, but I am not sure it is worth the cost for smaller companies.
Basic sales and marketing for up to 5 users
$25
/user/month*
(billed annually)
Complete CRM for any size team
$65
/user/month*
(billed annually)
Deeply customizable CRM for your business
$125
/user/month*
(billed annually)
Unlimited CRM power and support
$250
/user/month*
(billed annually)
- Super-charge your sales
- Deliver amazing service
- Join all the important conversations
- Build custom apps and sites
- Collaboration across your global organization
- Mobile: Anywhere access to the live data you need
- Get insights you need to make smarter decisions.
As one of the largest and most well known CRM solutions on the marketplace, Salesforce is highly regarded thanks to its suite of tools designed to help businesses sell more and grow faster. Salesforce has introduced hundreds of features that give professional users ways to connect with leads, accounts, contacts, and important business information all from within a unified web-based system.
Designed for sales, service, and marketing professionals, Salesforce runs on the Salesforce1 Platform. Regardless of the device they are using, professionals are able to log calls, respond to sales leads, track ongoing opportunities, and check dashboard statistics. Salesforce also providers its users with strategic ways to collaborate with teammates in real-time.
At the heart of Salesforce is a CRM solution that provides ways for professionals to successfully manage their relationships with customers. Salesforce provides tools for learning about customer behaviors, which in turn help businesses develop healthier, stronger, longer-lasting relationships with their most important customers.
Over the years, Salesforce has branched out. It now provides users with advanced features that go outside those of a traditional CRM solution. For example, Salesforce now offers social media and social enterprise elements within its cloud-based business application. Mobile, Chatter, and Analytics features are just a few of the benefits that Salesforce provides.
Using lead scores, sales teams can follow up with their highest impact leads, while their marketing teams take the time to learn which campaigns are leading to the best results for their companies.
Through the Leads tab, you can get a complete view of all of your most recent sales leads. Click on any lead for more detailed information, and collaborate with colleagues to reel in leads and close more sales. Salesforce allows you to work as a team, and it gives your bosses (such as VPs and CMOs) a better feel for how the sales pipeline is actually flowing.
Using Salesforce’s forecasting tools, businesses are able to plan and predict sales cycles. Collaborative Forecasts are also useful for managing sales expectations.
As an account administrator, you are able to create up to four different types of forecasts for your organization. Switch between forecast types by clicking on the titles. You can also view forecasts and related opportunities by forecast category. For example, if your company uses product families, then you can see forecast summaries for each product family that you use.
Sales and marketing professionals who use Salesforce are able to connect with their teams through the solution’s enterprise social network, Chatter. Using Chatter, teams can communicate and work more efficiently by utilizing social feeds.
Feeds sit at the heart of Chatter, providing you with a straightforward way to keep up with projects, topics, and teams from within a collaborative environment. In addition to providing you with a method for easily communicating with colleagues, Chatter also finds the information and experts you need. The enterprise social network recommends relevant contacts and files based on the deal or case you’re working on right now.
With Sales Cloud, users are able to find their best sales leads and get complete and accurate contact information for thousands of companies. Companies can align their sales and marketing managers around the same leads and opportunity pipelines, and they can connect with new accounts to close more deals in minutes rather than hours.
Find useful contacts based on keyword searches for any company or website, and get up-to-date company profiles courtesy of Dun & Bradstreet. Leads are automatically routed to Salesforce users, and scheduling time to qualify leads is a straightforward process through the integrated calendar system.
Salesforce provides professionals with the ability to close deals from anywhere. Download Salesforce’s apps to a mobile device, and you can stay on top of the latest information.
Open the Salesforce app to get a 360-degree view of your upcoming day, or to dial into a call with your team or an important client. Using Salesforce on mobile, you’re able to get real-time insight into your pipeline and your current ranking on the sales leader board. You can also get answers from teammates before company meetings, and keep your entire team in-sync when it comes to important contact details.
Salesforce integrates with more than 50 popular business apps, including (but not limited to) Kayako, JIRA, Intacct, HappyFox, and SurveyGizmo. Through the Customer Platform, Salesforce has made new APIs and tools available to enable businesses to build connected apps that integrate with the Salesforce platform, as well.
Pricing for the Sales Cloud starts at $5 per user, per month (for the Contact Manager plan), and ranges all the way to $300 per user, per month (for the Performance plan). The company’s most popular plan is the Professional plan, which costs $65 per user, per month.
Most well-known CRM solution in the marketplace
Helps businesses sell more and grow faster
Connect with leads, accounts, contacts, and business information
Collaborate with teammates in real-time
Mobile tools for staying connected
Below are some frequently asked questions for Salesforce Sales Cloud.
Salesforce Sales Cloud offers the following pricing plans:
Starting from: $25.00/month
Pricing model: Subscription
Free Trial: Available
Basic sales and marketing for up to 5 users
$25
/user/month*
(billed annually)
Complete CRM for any size team
$65
/user/month*
(billed annually)
Deeply customizable CRM for your business
$125
/user/month*
(billed annually)
Unlimited CRM power and support
$250
/user/month*
(billed annually)
Salesforce Sales Cloud offers the following features:
Salesforce Sales Cloud has the following typical customers:
Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, Small Business
Salesforce Sales Cloud supports the following languages:
English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish
Salesforce Sales Cloud has the following pricing plans:
Subscription
Salesforce Sales Cloud supports the following devices:
Android, iPhone, iPad
Salesforce Sales Cloud integrates with the following applications:
CogniDox, Gold Lasso, Intellect, InterWeave Smart Payment Gateway, Nirvaha Commissions, O2B, Reviso, Sofon Guided Solutions, SurveyGizmo, TeamSupport
Salesforce Sales Cloud offers the following support options:
FAQs, Forum, Knowledge Base, Online Support, Phone Support, Video Tutorials
My overall experience with Salesforce is that initially it is difficult to learn how to use. The user's experience in learning how to implement and incorporate it is not pleasant. However, once you start playing around with it more and more, you get the hang of it and it does ease everyday tasks for members across all organizations within a company.