While small and medium-sized businesses focus on finding a practical solution for their team, a large enterprise will find it more important to find a solution that allows them to transform all of their internal and external workflows into software.
This is why an enterprise CRM, with Salesforce as the primary example of CRM, is essentially like a set of building blocks that you can combine and customize as you wish.
There's virtually no limit to what you can create with Salesforce, which is why the company even hosts a conference called "Dreamforce" where customers and prospects can go to dream about all the possibilities and share what they've built.
Because an enterprise CRM is large, complex, and versatile, you usually need to hire a consultant to handle all the customization and building. This makes sense for enterprises, but not so much for small businesses.
Using an enterprise CRM isn’t much fun for your denmark cell phone number list sales team either. The system is designed for the organization (not the end user) and to offer infinite customization, so being usable and convenient is only a secondary goal of such a system.
Additionally, enterprise CRMs come with enterprise contracts . That means multi-year commitments with a fixed number of licenses, no refunds, lots of fine print, and enterprise vendors to deal with.
Bottom line: If you’re not an enterprise, look for a Salesforce alternative . If you’re an enterprise, this is most likely the type of CRM you need for your business.
Features
Salesforce offers a wide range of features tailored to large businesses:
Customizable Dashboards and Reports :
Workflow Automation : Automate business processes using advanced workflow rules and triggers.
AppExchange : Access a marketplace of apps and integrations to extend Salesforce functionality.
Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud : Complete modules to manage sales, customer service and marketing activities.
Mobile App : Access Salesforce data and features on the go with a robust mobile app.
The test run
When I tested Salesforce, I found the setup process to be detailed and required considerable customization to meet specific business needs. The user interface is comprehensive, but can be overwhelming for beginners. There is a learning curve to the initial setup, but once configured, the system provides robust tools for managing complex workflows and customer interactions.
The ability to create custom objects, fields, and automation rules is impressive. However, I’ve noticed that due to its complexity, it’s best suited for larger organizations with dedicated IT support or a consulting firm. The AppExchange marketplace offers many integrations that enhance the system’s capabilities, but integrating them can be time-consuming.
Overall, Salesforce excels in its depth and customizability, making it ideal for businesses that need a custom CRM solution. However, the complexity and cost can be prohibitive for smaller businesses.