What is Salesforce?
Salesforce CRM software is a product of the software company of the same name, headquartered in San Francisco. It was founded in 1999 with the vision of revolutionizing customer relationship management and was the first company to offer software via the cloud. Salesforce is now the leading CRM software provider, with over 30,000 employees and offices around the world. It is one of the fastest growing companies among the top 5 enterprise software providers and has been listed among the "100 Best Companies to Work For" by Fortune Magazine for nine years in a row.
As a product, Salesforce is increasingly transforming itself from a pure CRM system to a holistic cloud software provider. It can be understood as an ecosystem of software applications that offers solutions for almost all problems within a company. The name Salesforce is thus used for the totality of all applications offered, such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud or Marketing Cloud. For a monthly usage fee, Salesforce offers its platform and the products based on it as SaaS and always works with the latest technologies in the areas of cloud, social, data science, IoT and artificial intelligence. In addition to offering off-the-shelf products, it is also possible to customize various processes and applications to one's own needs via the force.com development platform using drag-and-drop. In addition, the online marketplace AppExchange provides numerous third-party applications and enables the integration of own programs into the interface.
Salesforce platform
Salesforce's focus is not just on providing a cloud-based CRM system, but on a holistic cloud solution for all customer-relevant departments and requirements. The product range extends from the classic Sales Cloud as a sales solution to the Marketing Cloud and the Experience Cloud as a customer portal. The advantages of the SaaS solution are manifold: as a provider, Salesforce not only takes care of hosting, maintenance and servicing, but also offers excellent data security with the software.
With the Customer 360 platform, Salesforce provides a broad portfolio of tools: from the classic CRM system for sales to artificial intelligence for data analysis, numerous solutions are available to put customers at the center. Each product is available in different editions (Essentials, Enterprise, etc.) with a different scope of services, which can be selected depending on the size of the company. In principle, Salesforce is aimed at every company from small start-ups to large corporations, but cloud and partner solutions must always be geared to the respective individual requirements of the company.
All Salesforce Products
Whether digitization in sales, marketing automation or field service with tablet - Salesforce offers a wide range of cloud solutions. Here we give you an overview of the different Salesforce Clouds.
Salesforce Products | Suitable for |
|---|---|
Salesforce Sales Cloud | Automation of sales processes and optimization of customer relationships |
Salesforce Service Cloud | Optimization and personalization of customer service |
Field Service Lightning (FSL) | Field service management |
Salesforce Marketing Cloud | Marketing automation for companies with established marketing departments that can use the large range of functions |
Salesforce Pardot | Marketing automation for mid-sized B2B companies and nonprofits that are satisfied with a limited feature set |
Salesforce Commerce Cloud | Seamless and personalized shopping experiences in the B2C and B2B sectors |
Salesforce CPQ | Customized offers for companies with extensive product range and configurable products |
Tableau CRM / Einstein Analytics | Intelligent data analysis for optimized recommendations and predictions |
Community Cloud / Experience Cloud | Establishment of internal or external communities |
Salesforce Trailhead | Training and knowledge transfer in the form of a free learning platform, both for employees and for customers |
Salesforce Sales Cloud
The Sales Cloud provides your sales department with valuable tools that enable an efficient workflow for your employees. All data and processes are available regardless of location and at any time, creating the basis for optimal interaction with customers. With simplified and automated processes, your employees can close more deals and thus increase your company's sales and growth.
Salesforce Service Cloud
Excellent service is the cornerstone for strong and long-term customer loyalty. With the Service Cloud, all data, contacts and tools are united centrally in one place. This enables fast problem resolution and personalized support across all channels.
Field Service Lightning (FSL)
Field Service Lightning provides you with software specifically for field service, which requires a high degree of flexibility. Helpful tools such as automated scheduling or real-time monitoring of all operations and processes guarantee excellent on-site support. This enables your field service staff to solve problems faster and provide customers with optimal advice and support.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud
Marketing Cloud offers a wide range of features that not only automate your campaigns, but also help you analyze customer data faster. This enables personalized targeting and a deep understanding of your customers and their customer journey.
Salesforce Pardot
To help you focus on winning new business with prospects, Pardot offers a comprehensive suite of B2B marketing automation tools. This solution focuses on optimizing lead nurturing. Comprehensive data analyses create the basis for individual, customized offers and thus the best possible customer approach.
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
Salesforce's e-commerce solution offers your customers the best possible shopping experience, anywhere, anytime. Thanks to central access to all data and the use of artificial intelligence, customers are provided with personal recommendations or tailored offers quickly and easily. In this way, you ensure long-term loyalty with the Commerce Cloud and always maintain an overview of all processes.
Whether for B2B or B2C customers - the Commerce Cloud offers you the optimal solution.
Salesforce CPQ
Salesforce's CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) solution automates all processes from initial quote to invoicing. This means your sales reps can create customized quotes and set up accurate contracts much faster. Streamline the closing process and accelerate payments.
Tableau CRM / Einstein Analytics
The Tableau CRM software, formerly Einstein Analytics, enables intelligent analysis of data for optimized recommendations and predictions. With the use of artificial intelligence, analyses of the collected data are intuitively created and the results are visualized in an easily understandable way. The new insights not only help your employees to make optimal decisions, but also increase business growth in the long term.
Community Cloud / Experience Cloud
Salesforce's Community Cloud enables communities to be set up, both internally and externally. It thus becomes a networking interface for customers, partners and employees, providing the necessary information or expert contacts. The portals can be individually tailored to the company's requirements.
Salesforce Trailhead
A special feature is the free Trailhead learning and training platform. Here, Salesforce customers can playfully and independently acquire all skills and knowledge. Salesforce thus has a constantly growing network of administrators and developers who can not only apply their knowledge within the company, but also pass it on to new customers.
Advantages and disadvantages of Salesforce
Even though the many advantages outweigh the disadvantages in every respect, the market-leading CRM platform Salesforce also has a few typical challenges of CRM systems. Therefore, when introducing Salesforce, it is always advisable to seek advice from a Salesforce partner and discuss the optimal solution for your own company.
Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|
Market leader in cloud-based CRM software | General challenges of CRM systems such as integration, user acceptance, technical requirements etc. |
Large ecosystem of third-party solutions | Variety of solutions can complicate decisions |
As a SaaS provider, Salesforce takes care of hosting, maintenance and servicing of the software | No on-premise deployment |
Use in multiple business units (sales, marketing and customer service) |
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High transparency, simple automations and more efficient work, even across departments |
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Easy integration of existing systems |
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Free learning platform Trailhead |
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Automatic updates |
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AI enables new insights, intelligent automation and more accurate forecasting |
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Particularly high security standards with AWS as cloud provider | |
Would you like to discuss the topic of Salesforce? Please contact us.
Alternatives to Salesforce
Microsoft 365
The Microsoft Dynamics 365 suite links CRM (customer relationship management) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) and forms an optimal interface to all Office applications. In a direct comparison, however, Salesforce has a much larger ecosystem of third-party solutions. Both systems are clearly at the top of the CRM market. They show similarities in terms of functions and application options and cover all relevant areas within customer management. Thanks to a wide range of tools, the systems can be flexibly adapted to the needs of both small and large companies. In addition, the pricing models are similar. While Salesforce offers an exclusively cloud-based CRM system, Microsoft Dynamics can also be used with on-premise software.
Sugar CRM
A rather small provider on the market is SugarCRM, which covers all core functions just like Salesforce, but offers a much narrower range of tools and features in comparison. SugarCRM provides customers with a manageable number of products for marketing automation, sales teams, customer service and data-driven insights. Salesforce is much easier to integrate into a company's existing system because of its wide range of products and solutions. SugarCRM, on the other hand, comes with a clear user interface and lower prices, and is therefore recommended for small businesses that place less emphasis on rapid and extensive growth.
HubSpot
HubSpot is another SaaS solution for CRM and customer service. The core of the provider is the Marketing Hub for complete marketing automation. As with Salesforce, interfaces to many other systems are available. Compared to Pardot, HubSpot initially offers favorable conditions for very extensive features, especially for small companies - however, with further growth, the fees can increase, sometimes massively. In the area of marketing automation, Salesforce Pardot and Marketing Hub are the clear frontrunners with their extensive functions and integration options.
FAQ
Can I link different Salesforce Clouds together?
Of course! As is so often the case, it's all in the mix. That's why all Salesforce Clouds can be easily linked with each other. This ensures greater transparency between departments and puts customers at the center of the action. Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud and many more - all based on Salesforce's Customer 360 platform. Thanks to the open API, countless partner solutions can also be connected; you can find out more about this in the AppExchange.
Can I also use Salesforce on the move, for example on my smartphone?
Yes! The Salesforce Mobile App puts your most important data at your fingertips, anytime, anywhere. Dashboards and custom reports give you valuable insights to make faster decisions and more accurate forecasts. Increase revenue, align your team's activities, and keep your CRM data up to date-no matter where you are.
I want to restructure my sales, which cloud do I need?
Salesforce Sales Cloud is perfect for this. With the right sales tools, your sales force can drive business growth with less effort, anytime, anywhere. So make sure all your salespeople can do their best. Enable more efficient teamwork. Interact with customers in real time - through the Sales Cloud. Increasing sales has never been easier!
How can I increase the productivity of my service staff through Salesforce?
The Salesforce Service Cloud with its clear service console is designed to increase employee productivity. Countless features, such as centralization of all digital interactions and scalable support through chatbots, give your service reps the tools they need to serve customers quickly and efficiently across all channels. Not only your customer service team, but the entire organization can gain insights from a customer's case history or provide technical expertise to answer common service questions.
Is my data really secure in Salesforce?
Data protection is also taken care of, of course. As a cloud-based CRM solution, Salesforce protects your data right from the start with encryption and central storage locations, as well as numerous backups and backups. Thanks to encryption, data cannot be accessed and you can work with Salesforce with peace of mind. If you want additional encryption for your data streams, you can implement Salesforce Shield. This way you protect yourself from all cyber threats!
