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it_user378351 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales Operations Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
Adding company hierarchy makes it easy for our sales people to identify subsidiaries of existing customers.

What is most valuable?

The ability to easily change layouts, create customized fields and customized reports makes my job so much easier. Adding company hierarchy makes it easy for our sales people to identify subsidiaries of existing customers. The Salesforce forums are very responsive when you ask for help.

How has it helped my organization?

Adding customized drop-down fields and check boxes limits the amount of admin time that our sales people have to spend to keep their accounts up to date. Using Salesforce for Outlook enables our sales group to easily add emails sent and received to the account which puts all the information in one place. This allows top management to see exactly what is going on with each account without having to go to sales to get updates. Also having the ability to schedule pipeline reports to be emailed keeps the entire management team up to date on any pipeline changes.

What needs improvement?

I'd like to have the ability to change default values on certain fields such as the “Related To” field on the Task and Event pages.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using it for over eight years.

Buyer's Guide
Salesforce Sales Cloud
January 2025
Learn what your peers think about Salesforce Sales Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

The only issue we had with deployment was training the sales team on how to use it. After using ACT for so long, it took some of them quite some time to feel comfortable with it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There have been no issues with the stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There have been no issues scaling it.

How are customer service and support?

It has been excellent the few times I've had to use either customer service or technical support. For most issues I come across I use the forums which are excellent!

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used ACT. ACT had many limitations but the biggest limitation but the main reason we switched was that ACT had limitations when it came to integrating with our accounting software.

How was the initial setup?

My part was straightforward. The only complex issue was integrating it with our accounting system which was handled by our CIO.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented it ourselves. Prior to cutting over completely, you should definitely have all of your lists (Lead Source, Industry, etc.) in place. You should also have any customized fields in place and your layouts finished.

What was our ROI?

We have not tracked ROI, however, upgrading to the enterprise edition gives you more options and is definitely worth the additional cost.

What other advice do I have?

You should definitely purchase enough data storage. If you start using above 80% to 85% of your allocated data storage, response times will decrease.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1464810 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Director Product Management at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
It integrates well with Excel, and the reporting features are good
Pros and Cons
  • "Salesforce's user interface is easy to use, and the reporting is good. It worked well with Excel, so I was okay with it. I don't know about integration with any other software because I didn't have to deal with them."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Salesforce for the sales funnel from prospects to leads.  

    What is most valuable?

    Salesforce's user interface is easy to use, and the reporting is good. It worked well with Excel, so I was okay with it. I don't know about integration with any other software because I didn't have to deal with them.

    What needs improvement?

    I didn't use Salesforce too much, so I can't say much about it because I don't think it would be very accurate.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I don't have much experience with Salesforce. I've used it for about a month or so. Most of my experience is on the sales side, not the service parts. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Salesforce is stable. I didn't notice any hangups.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We had about 50 sales and marketing people working with Salesforce. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I rate Salesforce seven out of 10. 

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Salesforce Sales Cloud
    January 2025
    Learn what your peers think about Salesforce Sales Cloud. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: January 2025.
    837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Consultant at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees
    Real User
    Robust and customizable with many useful features
    Pros and Cons
    • "There are many extremely useful features."
    • "There are also certain restrictions on the reports in terms of the number of records. Ideally, that should be removed."

    What is our primary use case?

    I am fundamentally a consultant to businesses exploring CRM solutions. My first choice, subject to the customer's budget, is Salesforce. At my office, we have been using Salesforce primarily for lead management, sales cycle management, renewal management, and sales performance management. We have also integrated it with our help desk and our HRMS. 

    We use the Salesforce Platform edition with 300 objects which gives us a phenomenal ability to develop specific functionalities that we need for our unique requirements.

    How has it helped my organization?

    An integrated approach to CRM always helps in streamlining activities across all the departments. We have been able to better our response times, reduce our sales cycles, and have increased overall sales revenue. Similar results have been observed for all our customers who have implemented and adopted SalesCloud in the right manner. 

    We have developed a module for integrating our digital marketing tool with Salesforce. The campaign ROI monitoring ability has helped us to increase our marketing effectiveness to a great extent.

    What is most valuable?

    There are many extremely useful features. Lead scoring is useful for automatically signaling the importance and urgency of acting on any particular lead. Website integrations are useful for getting in the lead data into Salesforce along with auto-tagging of the customer's point of interest. The automation rules that have been set up across all modules deliver tremendous value by speeding up things, ensuring process compliance, and increasing productivity. 

    The customized and role-based dashboards help our team to make the right decisions.  

    What needs improvement?

    Featurewise, the product almost has all CRM features that one can think of. Beyond CRM, if the integration with MS Office can be made tighter and smoother, that could be great value for customers. Especially integrating MS Word and MS Excel would be really useful. 

    If a lighter version of CPQ is made available, it would help many midsize customers. As of now, Salesforce is the most expensive CRMs out there - making it a bit more affordable will help them in a big way. 

    There are also certain restrictions on the reports in terms of the number of records. Ideally, that should be removed.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've used the solution for more than seven years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is extremely stable. We haven't seen any nasty surprises. trust.salesforce.com is a great place to check the stability and dependability of Salesforce.  

    Irrespective of the number of concurrent users, the automation rules, reporting requirements, workflows etc, the system performance remains the same. There is no performance degradation by additional of number of users or increase in data or increase in automations or functionalities whatsoever. 

    trust.salesforce.com gives a real-time view of all salesforce datacentres and the various clouds in terms of their health, availability, uptimes, maintenance status, security and compliances. There is a lot more indepth information if one really wants to dig deeper. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    It is highly and seamlessly scalable. it is very robust at any scale.

    How are customer service and support?

    This is not applicable to us. However, the back-to-back support from Salesforce has been pretty good.

    How would you rate customer service and support?

    Positive

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We have used a homegrown application earlier. Switching to Salesforce was due to the capabilities provided by the Salesforce platform. It practically molds itself as per an organization's working style. 

    How was the initial setup?

    It wasn't complex for us as we are ourselves are implementation partners. For customers, it can turn out to be pretty overwhelming. 

    There are so many features and so many possibilities, it is very easy for anyone to keep asking for more. That is often the biggest pitfall. A step-by-step phased approach is usually more successful.

    What about the implementation team?

    We have a highly skilled implementation team.

    What was our ROI?

    We've seen an ROI of at least 20%.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Salesforce surely is one of the most expensive CRMs out there. However, if implemented in the right manner and adopted extensively, it does deliver a great value to the organization. 

    While deploying Salesforce, I would generally suggest engaging a consultant for optimizing the license costs. Salesforce sales team may try to oversell. A 3rd party consultant like us can help you with an unbiased opinion. 

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    We did not evaluate others while choosing for ourselves. However, as a consultant, we frequently need to show customers comparisons with Navision, SAP, and Oracle.

    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: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Apart from being users of salesforce, we are also an implementation partner to Salesforce.
    PeerSpot user
    Jose LuisGonzalez - PeerSpot reviewer
    Territory Manager at Dynatrace
    Real User
    Sales CRM used to manage opportunities and provides a centralised view of our customer base
    Pros and Cons
    • "It is a good platform that shows consolidation of information for our customer base."
    • "The performance is sometimes slow. There is too much information and this makes it difficult to find the answers we are looking for."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use this solution for opportunity and account management, contact management, quoting, marketing and for registration of events.

    What is most valuable?

    It is a good platform that shows consolidation of information for our customer base.

    What needs improvement?

    The performance is sometimes slow. There is too much information and this makes it difficult to find the answers we are looking for.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using this solution for three and a half years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    This is a stable solution. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This is a scalable solution. 

    How are customer service and support?

    We have not needed to contact customer service and support. 

    What other advice do I have?

    I would advise others to customize the solution according to their business needs and goals and to make it as user friendly as possible.

    I would rate this solution an eight 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.
    PeerSpot user
    MADHAV CHABLANI - PeerSpot reviewer
    Consulting Chief Information Officer at Tippingedge
    Real User
    Top 5Leaderboard
    Easy and quick to install, with good performance
    Pros and Cons
    • "The most valuable features are performance and integration."
    • "I would like to see licensing fees reduced in the next release."

    What is our primary use case?

    It is used almost entirely by the organization to connect with clients and patients.

    What is most valuable?

    The performance is good. I am satisfied with the performance of this solution.

    The most valuable features are performance and integration.

    What needs improvement?

    There are always issues that must be addressed. And, in the end, I believe we have the support of these organizations, and we are working toward solutions.

    I would like to see licensing fees reduced in the next release.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    We are based on Salesforce. I believe they've been using it for a long time before my tenure. We are still using Salesforce Sales Cloud.

    We are using the most recent version.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Salesforce Sales Cloud is a stable solution.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Salesforce Sales Cloud's scalability is good.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    There are several beta programs that are also run with us and for which we receive support. It is not only because of product upgrades but also because of beta programs.

    There were native developments available, but as part of corporate policy, we chose Salesforce.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup is easy. It's far easier in the present times.

    The client is virtually very easy. At the moment, I believe everyone works from home, and it has taken us an unimaginable, very short time. It was up and running and continues to do so.

    What about the implementation team?

    The installation was done by the individuals themselves.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    We must pay for the licenses. Then it comes from the internal budgets.

    It should be cheaper.

    What other advice do I have?

    It is very good, and I would recommend it to others who are considering using it.

    I would rate Salesforce Sales Cloud an eight 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.
    PeerSpot user
    Salesforce consultant - IT manager at Gegobyte Ltd
    Consultant
    Flexible and scalable with great customization
    Pros and Cons
    • "Suitable for all sizes of organizations."
    • "Amount of storage provided is limited."

    What is our primary use case?

    My main use case for this solution is for the sales and marketing team to gather leads and convert them to accounts. Using Salesforce, they gather information and log calls, texts, and meetings. We also use Salesforce to set up price books.

    How has it helped my organization?

    Salesforce has been very useful during the COVID-19 pandemic, as its database contains all our customer history, so we were able to maintain our customer relationships.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable feature Sales Cloud provides is that it allows teams to convert leads to opportunities and accounts. We can use its forecasting feature to tell us the expected sales volume and its target feature to see how the pipeline is forecasting. The dashboard also allows managers to monitor their teams' performance.

    What needs improvement?

    An area for improvement would be to open the door for other partners to develop interfaces for software integration. In addition, the amount of storage provided is limited, so the product is less cost-effective when working with larger amounts of data.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    This solution is very easy to scale, thanks to the processes builder and the automation process builder. We can scale and customize the solution as we want, according to the business.

    How are customer service and support?

    I'm very satisfied with the technical support.

    How was the initial setup?

    The initial setup was fairly complex as there is a full cycle of operations to consider when deploying.

    What about the implementation team?

    I implemented through an in-house team.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    There are a variety of licenses available depending on the customer's needs. Implementation and add-ons may be additional costs.

    What other advice do I have?

    Salesforce is very flexible and provides developmental tools in case you have special requirements. I think this is a very, very good product that can help many organizations to achieve success, and that is suitable for all sizes of organizations. I would recommend not going with every feature, as this is a wide and flexible product, so get to know the product before implementing it. I would rate this solution as ten out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Private Cloud
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
    PeerSpot user
    reviewer1296264 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Principal Solutions Architect- Enterprise Applications at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
    Real User
    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?

    We primarily use the solution for managing our organization's leads and our customer accounts.

    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.

    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 technical 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.
    PeerSpot user
    it_user378165 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Salesforce Service Cloud Certified Consultant at a consultancy with 51-200 employees
    Consultant
    The most valuable features for us are Visualforce and Apex, Process Builder, and Knowledge Base.

    What is most valuable?

    The most valuable features for us are

    • Visualforce and Apex
    • Process Builder
    • Knowledge Base

    How has it helped my organization?

    Our productivity and capability to solve and anticipate problems in the Call Centre team increased at least 50%.

    What needs improvement?

    Although the implementation was straightforward with our in-house team, it did take 12 weeks to complete the process.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been using it for five years.

    What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

    There were no issues with the deployment.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Through their site, they expose their stability KPIs for their customers.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Considering they are 100% cloud, if the customer needs scalability you just have to contract more users.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Customer Service:

    10/10

    Technical Support:

    10/10

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We had a different solution, and switched because they have a 100% integrated platform where my team can develop our business processes almost without code.

    How was the initial setup?

    It was straightforward, and it took 12 weeks to do the first implementation.

    What about the implementation team?

    We did it in-house. I strongly recommend good project management and some Salesforce certified people to help with the system integrations.

    What other advice do I have?

    Start with a small group of users, and take care with user adoption.

    Salesforce has a great Customer Community where the users can add their suggestions and ideas.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
    PeerSpot user
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Salesforce Sales Cloud Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
    Updated: January 2025
    Buyer's Guide
    Download our free Salesforce Sales Cloud Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.