Salesforce Sales Cloud Reviews

“my review”

Pros

As a CRM, it pretty much covers everything you'd want and the AppStore is excellent as well. In terms of functionality, it's a very safe choice. Since it's one of the largest and most widely used platforms, there's also a huge amount of support, documentation and outside expertise available whenever help is needed. For small nonprofits especially, it can be an amazing starting point because the first 10 licenses are free, provided you qualify as a nonprofit.

Cons

For for-profit companies, one thing to watch closely is the built-in 7% annual licensing increase in their contracts. That means you may end up negotiating and renegotiating regularly just to keep costs under control. Even then, there always seems to be pressure to expand your spending with them. Their sales reps and account managers can be quite aggressive and many features or services you may want end up costing extra. On top of that, they rotate account managers often which gets frustrating because just when you've built a great working relationship with one person, they switch you to someone new and you have to start that process all over again.

“Data integrity made easy”

Pros

It's impressive how this can take the place of so many separate tools and systems while still keeping data accurate and connected without relying on extra software. It's completely changed both the way I think about data and the way my entire institution operates.

Cons

The one thing I'd change is having pages save automatically. That's the only recurring annoyance for me and even then it's pretty minor.

“Great for sales but weak for marketing”

Pros

For sales teams that need a CRM, this works well though it feels much more limited when marketing needs to collaborate closely. The customization is a big plus especially for adding details to contact records, tracking enterprise and child accounts and clearly showing how those relationships connect. Keeping both contact and account records updated is also pretty easy. Another thing that helps is the wide variety of report types available for sales reporting.

Cons

As a CRM for sales teams, it does the job but once marketing collaboration enters the picture, the limitations become pretty obvious. Features such as campaigns, campaign history and marketing reporting are not very powerful. It also falls short for account-based marketing because roll-up reporting has a lot of gaps and even basic questions around account engagement are hard to answer since the system is centered on individual contact records instead of total account-level engagement. On top of that, setting up closed-loop handoffs between marketing and sales is difficult because the available workflows and tasks are too limited.

“CRM under one roof”

Pros

Having all of my CRM tools in one place has made a huge difference. The platform is very easy and it let me manage all of my clients without any hassle. Anytime I had a question or needed assistance, the support team responded quickly and gave clear, detailed guidance. I can't recommend this software highly enough because it has helped me bring in more leads and close more deals than I was before. I went with the new version of professional membership and I really appreciated having multiple membership options available. That plan fit exactly what I needed and I was glad not to spend money on a lot of extra features I wouldn't use.

Cons

There was a bit of a learning curve at the beginning. With so many features, it felt overwhelming at first but once I ran my first campaign through the platform, I was completely convinced.

“rich automation”

Pros

Packed with just about everything most teams would want in a CRM and it can be customized to fit our specific needs. It lets us keep track of customers, clients, members and leads in one place. The automation is another big advantage since it can trigger workflows and email notifications based on entries. There's also a wide range of tools, add-ons and plugins for building reports, creating dashboards and organizing sales and marketing data so management can review information quickly and make decisions faster. Integration with other systems, including MS Outlook, works well too. User administration is very useful for handling access, security and setting distinct roles for each employee in the system. Trailhead is excellent for self-learning and gives a thorough understanding of the platform's features. From a management perspective, the reporting feature stands out the most because it pulls concrete information using defined criteria across relevant fields to help measure performance accurately.

Cons

It's one of the best CRM platforms out there but it is fairly complex and comes with a steep learning curve. The technical support is good overall although there's still room for improvement. Also, bringing in third-party apps and professional services to customize the platform can raise the total cost quite a bit.

“Flexible tools and integrations”

Pros

The best parts of this software are how customizable it is. It works well for donor management, sales, volunteer management and marketing and it also connects easily with multiple other software systems.

Cons

While customizing the software, it's often hard to tell when you've added too much or when more is still needed. As the system gets more complex, I really wish there were warnings to let you know when a function or added feature might conflict with something else.

“Custom workflows and team sharing”

Pros

One thing I really appreciate about SFA is how fully customizable it is to match different needs and process flows. It also includes an integrated social-media-style space where colleagues can interact and share information in real time on specific topics which is very useful. The hashtag feature you can follow is important too and makes it easier to keep track of relevant discussions.

Cons

The only part I'm not very satisfied with is the new version experience, mostly because I'm still used to the previous way of working.

“Powerful but complex setup”

Pros

One thing this software does really well is flexibility. It can be customized heavily so much so that I honestly don't even know what the standard version looks like because every setup I've used has been tailored quite a bit. The integrations are also a big plus, with strong connections to email platforms, scheduling tools, analytics and other systems. On top of that, it has such a large presence in the industry that there's no shortage of help articles, community forums and user discussion boards when you need to troubleshoot something.

Cons

Okay so getting the full value out of all that customization usually requires professional help during setup especially if you want the system configured to answer the right questions and support your actual needs. All of that flexibility has also created more than a few bugs and usability problems, particularly when different departments and user groups are involved. There's definitely a learning curve as well and that can make it a little too easy for new users or admins to jump in, change things and unintentionally cause issues.

“Cloud platform built for business”

Pros

The amount of customization available is unmatched which lets us create a truly tailored experience for every team and division. This was the first SaaS product we adopted and it ended up being the push that moved us fully into the cloud. The app community is another big plus because it gives you plenty of options for plugins and business tools. Uptime has been outstanding at 99.99% and the only outage we had in eight years lasted just a few minutes. The software and the community also keep evolving which has been a huge benefit.

Cons

One challenge is that it can almost be too flexible. Since people can shape it however they want, my advice for anyone rolling it out is to be very clear about your goals from the start and keep the initial setup simple. Adding more over time will save a lot of effort and help avoid unnecessary process issues later on.

“Costly CRM with extra fees”

Pros

As a CRM, it does a great job of tracking customers and lets you follow them clearly through each stage of the buying process.

Cons

The downside is the pricing. The base product is already expensive and then it keeps asking for extra licenses for other parts of the CRM. Having to pay separately for something as basic as an Outlook plugin feels unnecessary and really should be included in the standard price.

“Clear sales process overview”

Pros

Across the entire sales workflow, this CRM gives a clear view of just about everything. It covers inventory, margins, customer visits, detailed records, emailing, call log tracking, quoting and more. If there ever happens to be something missing which is pretty rare, the support team is helpful and can build whatever extra functionality you need in the CRM.

Cons

Getting started can feel overwhelming for beginners because of how much it offers. On top of that, the pricing is definitely on the expensive side.

“Flexible workflows with sandbox access”

Pros

Being able to tailor it to my organisation has been a big plus. The mobile app works really well for team members who are often out on the road and the workflow management is flexible enough to set up the stage gates we actually need. It also comes with the core building blocks most businesses need right out of the box. The sandbox feature is especially valuable for testing changes before pushing anything live, particularly when external developers are involved. It keeps customer data separate so you can make adjustments without impacting the schemas.

Cons

One frustration is that generating documents with any real flexibility needs an add-on of some sort. If your business plans to rely heavily on the platform, a lot of the more useful features are locked behind a higher-tier plan. Integrations with third-party software can also be awkward to work through and moving changes from the sandbox into production still has to be done manually.

“Helpful reports and filters”

Pros

Overall, the software is pretty easy to navigate, keeps great data on hand and helps us stay connected when it comes to customer engagement. The reporting tools are one of my favorite parts, the ability to generate ready-to-use reports for managing daily tasks is really valuable. The filtering options also make a big difference since they let you work through customer files in a more targeted way and stay on track with goals.

Cons

There are times when it starts to feel tough. That may partly come down to how our system was set up but when I'm looking into a customer account, it often feels like I have to click through screen after screen just to get the information I need in front of me. The digging never really ends. I also feel like the platform is only as effective as its implementation because there seem to be gaps between what the software is capable of and what we're actually able to use. It feels like the system can do much more than our setup currently allows and that seems to fall partly on both the implementation team and their side as well.

“Flexible customization that grows”

Pros

One thing I really appreciate is how flexible the platform is and how simple it is to customize in most cases. Even after implementation, adding more customizations later is usually pretty easy which makes it easier to adapt as needs change.

Cons

Support from the company itself has been pretty limited when it comes to hands-on help. There's also a strong push from them to move over to the new version interface.

“Reliable case management”

Pros

Working in IT, I use this to manage my caseload and stay organized with my clients. The system is easy to use and doesn't take much effort to learn. One thing I really appreciate is the Guided Tours and the help available on pages where extra support might be needed. When updates happen, my work is never disrupted which is a huge advantage. The upgrades seem to happen without interrupting day-to-day business and that matters a lot. After more than two years of using it, I honestly haven't had a bad experience. It hasn't made my job harder at all, in fact, it helps me do it better.

Cons

This isn't really a complaint but I'd still like to see the Service Request functionality improved in a future upgrade.

“Sales lead tracking done right”

Pros

Switching to this CRM has been far more practical than trying to manage sales leads in an Excel spreadsheet which I did for years. Being able to add notes is another big advantage and it works especially well for helping a team split up follow-up tasks.

Cons

Cost runs a little high although when you look at the total sales volume over a month or year, it definitely ends up paying for itself. Another issue is that I haven't been able to get it set up with Google Calendar yet. That may be possible but I just haven't figured it out.

“Reliable forecasting platform”

Pros

One thing that keeps me using this software is how reliable and well-optimized it is, plus there's a huge active community whenever help is needed. The platform is very simple to build on and work with day to day. Its customization options are excellent and having all the data stored in one easy place is a big advantage. The part I appreciate most is how powerful it is for forecasting, lead tracking, reporting and analytics, those features are really impressive.

Cons

A downside is that it lacks certain capabilities for capturing trend data and some features can be awkward to use with the standard reporting templates. In a few situations, you end up needing Excel instead. Adjusting the forecasting methodology can also be tough because it isn't very flexible and feels quite limited.

“Support team hub”

Pros

Having everything in one place for contacts, companies and ticket tracking makes this software really valuable. It's convenient to quickly pull up open or in-progress tickets and I especially appreciate being able to follow my own completed work and track progress as I go. Searching for a ticket, contact or company is also very easy whenever I need something fast. I'd definitely recommend it to larger companies that handle support and service work and need a reliable way to keep up with customer issues.

Cons

There are quite a few features and functions that probably don't get used much and that can make the system seem more complicated and confusing than it needs to be at first glance. A simpler interface would be better overall or at least clearer guidance on what each function is meant for would help a lot with understanding the platform.

“CRM for sales teams”

Pros

I rely on this CRM to keep my client list organized and it fits that role perfectly. I still prefer the Classic version overall but the visual dashboards in new version have definitely helped me work more efficiently especially for forecasting and managing my book of business.

Cons

Since moving to new version, my day-to-day use of the software has changed quite a bit. Reports often appear differently than I expect and the account pages feel harder to navigate. I'm sure I'll get used to it over time but right now I'm still learning this newer version.

“Renewal automation that helps”

Pros

Working at a tech company that puts a big focus on customer service and client retention, this has been really useful for us. Since we operate globally, it helps keep everyone aligned with automated renewal tracking, opportunity reports and at-risk reporting.

Cons

The dashboard experience is not very simple and I had to rely on a coworker to walk me through how to use it. We also used to handle support tickets through cases but ended up moving to Zendesk because tag management for filtering was better, time tracking on tasks was simpler and tickets could be assigned a status almost immediately.