CRM Software Reviews | Salesforce Issues

Salesforce and CRM Software Reviews

For years, Salesforce has been the name that’s dominated customer relationship management. Their CRM software is the go-to solution for most companies to organize and monitor their customer database, as well as connect with customers individually. Salesforce CRM software reviews tend to be fairly positive, and everyone generally assumes that they’re the best at what they do.

However, this doesn’t mean that they’re without their flaws. What goes largely unsaid is that there are a number of major problems with the Salesforce software that make it less than ideal for many company needs. Here are five of those problems, taken from CRM software reviews, and examined.

B2C.

Salesforce was designed to cater primarily to B2B companies, and therefore its databases are set up mainly for managing and connecting with other businesses. For companies that deal directly with individual customers, Salesforce tools are markedly less effective. However, those B2C companies still need to manage and connect with their customers just as much as B2B companies.
Limited Scope.

Most Salesforce CRM software reviews agree that, as an SaaS, Salesforce is fairly limited. CRM is useful mainly as a sales and marketing tool. But Salesforce lacks any other sales and marketing capabilities. You can keep track of your leads through Salesforce, but if you want to do anything with them, such as lead scoring, lead nurturing, marketing automation, or any kind of marketing analytics, you’ll need to buy additional software from a third party.
Poor Integration.

Not only is Salesforce narrow in its scope, it doesn’t integrate well with other, broader SaaS platforms. You can use Salesforce to view customer billing information, but it can’t be used effectively with your office accounting solution. You can keep track of who’s buying your products, but it’s cumbersome to import that information for use in your supply chain management or enterprise resource management systems. While many SaaS platforms are designed for easy integration with other software, in order to facilitate an all-in-one solution, Salesforce integration requires the use of a third party app. ?It tends to be shallow and inconsistent.
Limited Customization.

Another thing that Salesforce CRM software reviews agree on is that the platform doesn’t lend itself well to small business solutions. Its tools are more generalized. ?A small, niche business with specific CRM needs that fall outside the Salesforce scope will be largely unable to customize their software to meet those needs without paying for costly (and still very limited) added services.
Limited Cloud Support.

Most other CRM platforms allow a fair amount of versatility in how you deploy their software, whether it’s on site, in the cloud, or a hybrid. They also support a variety of different cloud options, both public and private. Salesforce, however, doesn’t support public cloud deployment. Instead, all data is hosted directly by Salesforce. This ultimately makes it more difficult (and more costly) to switch from Salesforce to another system, as you may not be able to transfer that data to the new vendor.

Salesforce does certain aspects of customer relationship management quite well. However, its capabilities are ultimately limited. For many companies, Salesforce simply isn’t a viable solution to meet their needs. So why do so many still use it? The reason is because Salesforce’s overpowering prominence in the field make it seem like it must be the best option available, or even the only option.

However, there are a number of other CRM platforms that allow more versatility and are better suited for smaller businesses. Check out our CRM Software Reviews eBook below to explore some of those other options and find the CRM solution that best fits your company’s individual needs.