Jan
16

By CommenceCRM

Despite Limitations Salesforce Rated Top Pick for SMBs

An article published in Business News Daily says Salesforce is the top pick for small businesses, but the limitations documented in the same article present an excellent case for why it should not be. Keep reading and you be the judge.

Limitations

Although Salesforce is our top pick for the best CRM software, it is by no means perfect. Small business owners told us that two of Salesforce’s biggest limitations are its complexity and its pricing models.

Yes, people consistently report how difficult the product is to use and that you are forced to select a specific edition and pay for functionality you may not be interested in. So why is this solution the top pick for small businesses?

For small businesses, Salesforce’s biggest strength is also its weakness. Because it is such a robust CRM, it’s an excellent option for most growing small businesses — but it may be overwhelming for microbusinesses that don’t need such a comprehensive software solution. This is particularly the case for really small companies that don’t have a dedicated sales team or already have their own lead-generation and sales solutions that work perfectly for them.

Yes agreed.  The article states that the product “may be overwhelming” – it is overwhelming and hard to use. So once again why is it the top pick for small businesses?

On the flip side, Salesforce is a premium, scalable solution that can grow with your business, the sales rep told us. Many small businesses use the software when they’re in the startup phase and then take advantage of its more advanced features as the business expands.

Nice story, but how many small businesses have grown into the advanced features? Many simply leave Salesforce and migrate to a less costly alternative.

Pricing may also be an issue for some small businesses. Salesforce starts at $25 per user per month, and is limited to five users. If you need more users, you’ll need to upgrade to the $65-per-user-per-month plan, which lets you add an unlimited number of users. Although these are affordable prices for small businesses, the problem lies in customizing the software and adding on third-party solutions.

Yes, once you add the sixth person you are forced to upgrade to an edition that is more than twice what you paid for the initial product. Not only is this an unethical policy that charges more for the same functionality; why does Business News Daily seem to endorse this, stating this “may also be an issue” for some small businesses?  It is an issue and $65 per user per month is not affordable for many small businesses.  In addition as stated, customization costs are indeed high. So once again how is this product the top choice for small businesses?

A big concern for small business owners is that there are additional costs associated with using Salesforce beyond its core capabilities. For instance, third-party apps that require additional licenses or accounts, such as Data.com, aren’t part of Salesforce’s pricing model. The sales rep we spoke with confirmed that you’ll need to pay for those services on top of the Salesforce subscription.

This is true of any CRM solution. You cannot be all things to all people. If you require a solution from a third party then yes you have to purchase licenses from them. I do not see how this is a limitation for Salesforce.com but I am still trying to discover how this product is the top pick for small businesses.

Moreover, if you lack the requisite skills to implement or customize the software, there are additional costs to hire developers to do it for you. Some small business owners we talked to said they were quoted hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars from developers to help them with the software.

Yes agreed, so Salesforce.com is still the top pick for smaller businesses? What!

This is one of the strangest articles I have seen in some time. It’s quite factual and states many of the reasons why Salesforce.com is clearly not the right solution for smaller businesses. There are several very good alternatives that offer comprehensive functionality, are easier to use and much less expensive than Salesforce.com. Commence CRM or Zoho’s paid version are two good places to start.

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