Salesforce does just about everything you might want a CRM software to do. It is limitless.

Salesforce alternatives are not necessarily the answer

I started off my CRM journey on Hubspot and Zoho. They are good CRM softwares and I found them enjoyable and easy to use and set up. They have the necessary features such as workflow automations, reporting and deal flows to manage your pipeline.

However, their limitations become clearer and clearer as your company grows. There is a natural progression to encounter added complexities as a company matures. When you are using Salesforce alternatives, there are often ways to manage. There are workarounds to a lot of the problems. Let’s say you want your dashboard to report on a metric that is not available in a Zoho, Hubspot or a Pipedrive native report. Well, the workaround would be to export the data, perhaps via a no code API tool such as Zapier, to an external reporting source, such as Databox or even Google Sheets. You would then manipulate the data and use the third-party tool for reporting.

Workarounds, workarounds, workarounds…

However, the fact is that sometimes these workarounds break, and sometimes there aren’t workarounds. Or sometimes, these workarounds require developer time which might negate the cost savings made by going with a cheaper alternative to Salesforce.

Ask yourself this…

Can an established enterprise or scaling company take these risks? Would you prefer to add complexities and workarounds to already complex business processes to manage? The answer is no.

If Salesforce were a partner, would they be the one?

Now I’m not saying that Salesforce is without complexity. I’m not saying that it solves all your business problems. I’m definitely not saying that you will implement it and your sales will triple.

I am saying that you can do, pretty much, whatever you want, in whatever situation, with any business, in any industry, when managing your business development across marketing and sales.

It has a level of power and customisation above and beyond the Salesforce alternatives that is truly impressive…

It would be easy to get stuck in the weeds by comparing features of all the top CRMs. Instead, let’s focus on what you want to achieve, and how a CRM helps you get there.

What should the primary goals of a CRM be?

1. Make sales (and marketing) team members’ days easier so they can focus on revenue generation
2. Make management of the sales (and marketing) teams easier to maximise the sales teams output and revenue generation

Let’s dig into each one…

Making sales (and marketing) team members’ days easier

A sales rep does not care what CRM they are using. They might care about company goals and values, they might not. One thing is for sure. They care about targets and making money.

• How can they hit or exceed this target?
• How can they maximise commission/bonus?

The best way to impact results is the path of least resistance.

Extra steps, admin and incomplete data are what slow down output. Team members want to be spending their time increasing awareness, sending emails, making calls, contacting people on LinkedIn etc. They do not want to be spending their time filling in fields, sourcing data or fighting through a minefield of validation errors.

On the sales side, an enablement tool can help with the day to day. On the marketing side, a marketing automation tool can help. But from a pure CRM perspective, with the right setup, Salesforce Sales Cloud makes management of the sales and marketing teams easier:

1. Contact and Account Management: Easily store and manage customer information in a centralised database.
2. Opportunity Management: Track and manage sales opportunities through every stage of the pipeline for accurate forecasting.
3. Lead Management: Capture, track, and qualify leads, converting them into sales opportunities.
4. Sales Collaboration: Foster teamwork with real-time communication, file sharing, and collaboration tools.
5. Sales Analytics and Reporting: Gain valuable insights with customised reports and dashboards for monitoring sales performance.
6. Sales Forecasting: Accurately forecast sales revenue based on historical data and opportunity stages.
7. Email Integration: Sync emails, calendars, and tasks from popular email platforms for seamless communication.
8. Mobile Access: Access customer data, update records, and manage tasks on iOS and Android devices.
9. Workflow Automation: Automate repetitive tasks and streamline sales processes for increased productivity.
10. Integrations and AppExchange: Extend functionality by integrating with third-party applications and accessing pre-built apps on the Salesforce AppExchange.
11. Scalability and enterprise grade features

If we compare Salesforce Sales Cloud to Hubspot CRM, Zoho CRM and Pipedrive CRM that highlights some of these key differentiating features. 

Salesforce…

…is

…a beast