We primarily use the solution for managing our organization's leads and our customer accounts.
Principal Solutions Architect- Enterprise Applications at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Simple to set up but very complex and expensive
Pros and Cons
- "The product is very fast and responsive. There's no lag time when you are on the platform."
- "The problem is the solution has gotten so big, it's very complex now. It's a bit difficult to figure out how to do certain actions."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
Salesforce has made it so much easier to expedite the process of getting the information about our leads and clients. It's really sped everything up in a major way.
What is most valuable?
The solution is very user-friendly. Anyone can jump on and start working.
The product is very fast and responsive. There's no lag time when you are on the platform.
The initial setup is very easy.
What needs improvement?
The problem is the solution has gotten so big, it's very complex now. It's a bit difficult to figure out how to do certain actions.
The solution probably has between 300-500 features already. I can't think of one they are lacking.
The solution is quite expensive.
Buyer's Guide
Salesforce Sales Cloud
April 2024
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770,141 professionals have used our research since 2012.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since 2012. It's been a long time. I'd say it's just under a decade at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is largely stable and dependable. Every once in awhile, you may get a bug or glitch. However, it's rare, and it rarely affects our work.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable. It scales quite well, as a cloud solution.
We only have five people on the platform currently. It's not too many. We have one administrator and two or three sales people that are on it regularly.
How are customer service and support?
We are not very satisfied with technical support. You have to go through these gateways, and sometimes the support will respond, and sometimes they don't respond at all. It's all depending on if you're a paid subscriber to the support or not. If you are not, then they won't respond. It's lacking. If we bought the service, they should want to help us, and yet the way it's set up, that's not the case at all.
Overall, I'd rate the technical support at a six out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used to NetSuite, however, it was a very long time ago at this point. It's almost been ten years.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup isn't complex at all. It's very straightforward. It's basically an out-of-the-box product. You don't have to play around with configurations.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution isn't cheap. It's very costly for an organization like ours. It's also expensive to integrate the solution with other products.
What other advice do I have?
We're a Salesforce customer. We don't have a business relationship with the company.
We're using the enterprise version of the solution.
It's a good product. It's perfect for people who really want to grow their company. If they have resources to really spend on organizing their leads and clients then Salesforce is a pretty good option. That said, it is not for everybody.
On a scale from one to ten, I'd rate this solution at a six. If it was more competitively priced and was a little less complex, I'd rate it higher. It's just too big for us.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Technical Associate at a computer software company with 501-1,000 employees
In addition to the basic data model, it allows developers to customize the platform according to their business needs.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Salesforce platform is the development model of Customer Facing Implementation/Applications. Salesforce provides a basic data model already prepared for users and allows developers to customize the platform according to their business needs.
How has it helped my organization?
Salesforce helps in increasing the productivity, sales, lead-management process (in which every lead is tracked in an efficient manner). The users within the organization are able to track their (and their sub-ordinates') opportunity pipeline. Sales managers have the tools, real-time tracking and instantaneous feedback are by far the best methods and hence they can give more energy to selling and immediately incorporate managers’ instant feedback with deals in motion.
What needs improvement?
Salesforce is itself expanding at a fast pace for all the partner, customer, and developer community. But as a Salesforce developer, it would be great of Salesforce can step towards the Open Source platform for development and implementation.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have more than two years of experience working on the Salesforce platform. I have worked on Apex classes, VF pages, REST API, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, etc. for developing and customizing Salesforce for our clients.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
While the Salesforce version upgrades are in process, there may be some performance issues (however, Salesforce does inform users about this beforehand).
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
In terms of scalability, the Salesforce platform is a multi-tenant platform and, hence, it focuses more on the governor limits and scalable applications. But if a company wants to expand the CRM, they can ask Salesforce for the 'unlimited' version which enables a larger limit with a per usage count.
How are customer service and technical support?
Salesforce provides various levels of technical support for different types of customers based on the version they have purchased.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not worked on any other CRM application development platform.
How was the initial setup?
Salesforce provides a basic data model which matches most all of organization models, but there is always a requirement to customize it according to a company's user needs in the most efficient manner. The consultants or the Salesforce developer can help the customers to achieve company-level customization.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented it through a vendor team. I have worked on a Salesforce appExchange product (quick modular application specifically designed for companies to overcome implementation efforts).
The best advice for Salesforce implementation is to check if the feature is provided by Salesforce in the standard version; if not, then search for a Salesforce app on AppExchange which might fulfill the requirements, and if no such app exists, then we might have to develop it ourselves for the particular situation.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Costs and benefits in most cases are hard to determine, but don’t let perfection be the enemy of valuable information. If you are looking for a systematic functioning within your organization, Salesforce is one of your paths towards it.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
There are various case studies on Google which suggests the options for choosing the best CRM. It depends on various factors such as cost, productivity, implementation cost, maintenance cost, etc.
What other advice do I have?
You can try Salesforce as a free developer version (with lots of limits). You can contact me at vishal_kdn@yahoo.co.in for any kind of help and advice.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Salesforce Sales Cloud
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Salesforce Sales Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
770,141 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Technical Product Marketing Manager at SnapLogic
SFDC makes it easy to provide sales enablement content to the field
As a Technical Marketing Engineer, I use Salesforce.com (SFDC) to provide marketing approved solution briefs, links to videos, and presentations to our sales engineers in the field. They can access the materials from anywhere and I can manage version control.
Pros:
SFDC is a great tool as an up-to-date content repository and tracking tool
It's easy to find materials and preview for relevance before downloading
The system provides pretty snappy responses time uploading and downloading materials
Cons:
The ramp up time takes awhile to get everyone using it instead of just handing off materials as an attachment
Making registration for users easy is important otherwise the slow-to-change folks might never log on
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Developer at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees
Excellent cloud
Valuable Features:
Simple cloud interface for CRM systems. Easy to integrate a wide range of data integration tools.
Room for Improvement:
Backend database is not compatible with all SQL standards. Slow while loading bulk data.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Account Executive, Enterprise at a tech vendor with 501-1,000 employees
Easy to set up, stable, and does what it's supposed to do with relatively little intervention
Pros and Cons
- "Contact records are most valuable."
- "Its reporting capabilities can be improved. Its reporting interface should be improved to personalize reports."
What is our primary use case?
We're using it for tracking sales opportunities and networking with prospects that we're trying to establish business with.
We're leveraging Salesforce's cloud, and we're logging in with our own individual IDs.
What is most valuable?
Contact records are most valuable.
What needs improvement?
Its reporting capabilities can be improved. Its reporting interface should be improved to personalize reports.
Shortcut keys for us diehard shortcut key people would probably be helpful. We should be able to perform actions with shortcut keys.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Salesforce for years. It has easily been a decade-and-a-half.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's very scalable. In terms of its users, there are different levels of salespeople inside sales and outside sales. There are about 100 or so users in the company.
How was the initial setup?
It's pretty straightforward for me.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise others to just do their due diligence. I would rate it an 8 out of 10. It does what it's supposed to do with relatively little intervention on my part where I don't have to completely think about everything every step of the way. So, it's more or less intuitive.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Implementation Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Excellent solution for ticketing with great reporting facilities
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features are the reporting and the custom codes."
- "Sometimes they refresh the production environment, which can be a bit of a challenge."
What is our primary use case?
My primary use of Sales Cloud is for reporting and ticketing - whenever a customer sends an issue by email, the ticket is created based on the email itself. We also use the Einstein Analytics feature to see how many deals are open or closed and the status of each customer's tickets.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features are the reporting and the custom codes.
What needs improvement?
Sometimes they refresh the production environment, which can be a bit of a challenge.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Sales Cloud for seven years or so.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Sales Cloud is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Sales Cloud is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support team is very cooperative, and I'm satisfied with their service.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is very straightforward because it's a cloud-based product, so all you need is your ID and to register it
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Sales Cloud is quite expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution as ten out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Principal Oracle CX Cloud Consultant at Rapidflow Inc - Supply Chain, Logistics, PLM, Cloud
The bulk edit page is nice for creating multiple users at once with the most basic information.
Valuable Features:
You can have non-sales and marketing personnel using Chatter without driving up licensing cost.
The bulk edit page is nice for creating multiple users at once with the most basic information.
Room for Improvement:
The integration piece is missing.
Salesforce has a integration capability, but the moment we say integration, it's categorized into the following types:
- Synchronous and Asynchronous integration
- Hybrid integration: direct and middleware based
- Cloud-to-Cloud integration such as Salesforce.com to RightNow
So my point was whether Salesforce has the mentioned integration capabilities or not and answer is always the same -- it depends.
In such cases, we have to consider integration from the beginning and what kind of legacy systems we have and what the architectures of the current accounting system are, etc.
But also have to recognize that simply because we use a legacy system from a vendor who has a Salesforce too, that doesn't mean it integrates all that easily.
For Salesforce.com products to truly add business value to the enterprise, integration is thus crucial.
The increasing shift toward hybrid architectures, moreover, means that integration solutions must be able to seamlessly connect Salesforce.com with other SaaS applications and on-premises legacy systems.
And here, based on my past experience, I can say that Salesforce still have room for integration improvements.
Deployment Issues:
We've had no issues with deployment.
Stability Issues:
We've had no issues with stability.
Scalability Issues:
We've had no issues with scalability.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We're partners.
Recruiter at a recruiting/HR firm with 51-200 employees
It helps us track our business processes, but the user experience could be better
Pros and Cons
- "Salesforce helps up keep track of candidates."
- "I think the user experience could be improved. I would like the user interface to be a bit more user-friendly and modern."
What is our primary use case?
Generally speaking, Salesforce is for tracking all the processes within the company. We use Salesforce to keep track of candidates and provide an overview of what's happening in the company. It can also tell you what your colleagues are doing.
What is most valuable?
Salesforce helps up keep track of candidates.
What needs improvement?
I think the user experience could be improved. I would like the user interface to be a bit more user-friendly and modern.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've been using Salesforce for about five months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Yeah
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I think Salesforce is scalable. We have almost 2,000 users.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate Salesforce Cloud six out of 10. I'm not sure if I would recommend it. I guess it depends on what you're using it to do. I don't know if it's the best, actually. Maybe I would say no. It's like asking me, "Would you recommend a bike?" If it's a flat street, yes.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Updated: April 2024
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Hi Prashant,
I look forward to the input from your SFDC team. As per Oracle Sales Cloud, I'd love to learn more about your experience with the solution so far, and how your experience has progressed, especially since this past May when you wrote this review:
www.itcentralstation.com
For example, re: the points you listed under 'Room for Improvement', have you seen any maturation within the data import process in the past few months? How about the other features you listed?