Gainsight CS vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Gainsight CS
Score 8.5 out of 10
Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
Gainsight’s customer-centric technology aims to drive the future of customer success. The company’s Customer Cloud offers a set of solutions focused on customer success, product experience, revenue optimization, customer experience, and customer data, that together are designed to enable businesses to put the customer at the center of everything they do. The vendor states that companies that use Gainsight grow net retention by up to 33 percent. Learn how leading companies like Okta, SAP Concur,…
$2,500
Per Company Per Month
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Score 7.8 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a CRM providing sales, marketing, and service functionality. It is offered as SaaS and on-premise. Dynamics 365 is part of the larger Dynamics suite of business intelligence and ERP products.
$44
per month
Pricing
Gainsight CSMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Editions & Modules
Subscription
$2,500
Per Company Per Month
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Gainsight CSMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Gainsight CSMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Considered Both Products
Gainsight CS
Chose Gainsight CS
While features vary across the platform - Gainsight is the easier one to look at every day...appearance wise. It's very well laid out and easy to follow.
Microsoft Dynamics 365

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Gainsight CSMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Security
Comparison of Security features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
7.1
164 Ratings
19% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.9
61 Ratings
5% below category average
Role-based user permissions7.1164 Ratings7.556 Ratings
Single sign-on capability00 Ratings8.355 Ratings
Platform & Infrastructure
Comparison of Platform & Infrastructure features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
7.7
205 Ratings
10% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
API6.9122 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Salesforce.com7.9204 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Marketo7.749 Ratings00 Ratings
Integration with Eloqua8.219 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Data Extraction / Integration
Comparison of Customer Data Extraction / Integration features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
6.8
205 Ratings
23% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
Product usage8.5194 Ratings00 Ratings
Help desk / support tickets5.2165 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer Success Management
Comparison of Customer Success Management features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
6.3
217 Ratings
26% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
NPS surveys7.9170 Ratings00 Ratings
Sponsor tracking4.6160 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer profiles6.2194 Ratings00 Ratings
Automated workflow7.9208 Ratings00 Ratings
Internal collaboration5.1195 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer health scoring7.0210 Ratings00 Ratings
Customer segmentation5.2177 Ratings00 Ratings
CSM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CSM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
7.2
215 Ratings
12% below category average
Microsoft Dynamics 365
-
Ratings
Customer health trends6.9197 Ratings00 Ratings
Engagement analytics7.1174 Ratings00 Ratings
Revenue forecasting7.9107 Ratings00 Ratings
Dashboards6.7212 Ratings00 Ratings
Sales Force Automation
Comparison of Sales Force Automation features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.9
69 Ratings
3% above category average
Customer data management / contact management00 Ratings8.768 Ratings
Workflow management00 Ratings7.266 Ratings
Territory management00 Ratings8.250 Ratings
Opportunity management00 Ratings8.462 Ratings
Integration with email client (e.g., Outlook or Gmail)00 Ratings7.665 Ratings
Contract management00 Ratings8.451 Ratings
Quote & order management00 Ratings8.447 Ratings
Interaction tracking00 Ratings7.259 Ratings
Channel / partner relationship management00 Ratings7.650 Ratings
Customer Service & Support
Comparison of Customer Service & Support features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
6.9
54 Ratings
8% below category average
Case management00 Ratings7.850 Ratings
Call center management00 Ratings8.144 Ratings
Help desk management00 Ratings4.948 Ratings
Marketing Automation
Comparison of Marketing Automation features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.8
66 Ratings
3% above category average
Lead management00 Ratings8.460 Ratings
Email marketing00 Ratings7.261 Ratings
CRM Project Management
Comparison of CRM Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.8
63 Ratings
3% above category average
Task management00 Ratings7.458 Ratings
Billing and invoicing management00 Ratings7.643 Ratings
Reporting00 Ratings8.452 Ratings
CRM Reporting & Analytics
Comparison of CRM Reporting & Analytics features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
8.9
64 Ratings
16% above category average
Forecasting00 Ratings9.154 Ratings
Pipeline visualization00 Ratings9.160 Ratings
Customizable reports00 Ratings8.463 Ratings
Customization
Comparison of Customization features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.8
66 Ratings
3% above category average
Custom fields00 Ratings8.365 Ratings
Custom objects00 Ratings7.960 Ratings
Scripting environment00 Ratings8.347 Ratings
API for custom integration00 Ratings6.851 Ratings
Social CRM
Comparison of Social CRM features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
8.0
36 Ratings
10% above category average
Social data00 Ratings8.335 Ratings
Social engagement00 Ratings7.636 Ratings
Integrations with 3rd-party Software
Comparison of Integrations with 3rd-party Software features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
7.6
55 Ratings
6% above category average
Marketing automation00 Ratings7.655 Ratings
Compensation management00 Ratings7.628 Ratings
Platform
Comparison of Platform features of Product A and Product B
Gainsight CS
-
Ratings
Microsoft Dynamics 365
8.4
47 Ratings
11% above category average
Mobile access00 Ratings8.447 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Gainsight CSMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Small Businesses
Intercom
Intercom
Score 8.7 out of 10
Salesmate
Salesmate
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
CustomerSuccessBox
CustomerSuccessBox
Score 9.5 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Webex Experience Management (discontinued)
Cisco Webex Experience Management (discontinued)
Score 8.9 out of 10
Creatio
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Gainsight CSMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(222 ratings)
7.8
(88 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.8
(14 ratings)
8.0
(20 ratings)
Usability
8.2
(24 ratings)
8.0
(18 ratings)
Availability
8.2
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(134 ratings)
7.9
(11 ratings)
Online Training
5.5
(2 ratings)
7.5
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
6.3
(6 ratings)
9.2
(4 ratings)
Configurability
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
-
(0 ratings)
3.9
(3 ratings)
Product Scalability
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
6.4
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Gainsight CSMicrosoft Dynamics 365
Likelihood to Recommend
Gainsight
Well suited for: consolidated and organized note taking tracking stakeholders contact information if properly configured - identifying and categorizing risk categories less appropriate setting up customer journey takes quite a bit of work to implement and make use of - want best practices baked into the product - "customer journey wizard" reporting is robust but clunky to set up reports and get meaningful data
Read full review
Microsoft
All told, if it hadn't been for the fact that we were testing it with both employees who knew CRM lingo and those who were new, we wouldn't have found such an issue. The program itself can be very useful for people who already manage CRMs, who know how to use them, who know how to run and manage employees on them, namely because of the "one-stop-shop" concept in data visibility. When it came down to it though, if you have high-turnover, then this product will devolve into only being used for it's base components. Down the middle, we found that the people who'd been in marketing for 4-5 years fell into the product easily because of the way it was written. Everyone before that, with novice experience, thought it was written like a textbook for a graduate class - little to no leeway if you don't happen to know one specific term
Read full review
Pros
Gainsight
  • Gainsight's Data Designer is a powerful tool that allows you to create new tables/data sets from different sources (Create a new table by merging Snowflake, SFDC and Gainsight data that you can use for reporting or be the engine of calls to actions)
  • The health score is great! with good data and the right workflows in place, you can easily create automated health scores by your desired segmentation
  • Journey Orchestrator is the best 1:M outreach tool I have seen from any CSP. Very flexible and comprehensive. Can also support surveys! JO can be used for all segments, not just your digital segments!
  • Gmail/Outlook integration - Our CSMs love that you can send an email and attach it to the gainsight account. You can also create a meeting note in Gainsight and email it to your customers!
  • Calls to Action/Playbooks are very customizable, interoperable with SFDC and a great way for CSMs to keep on top of their work and also a great tool for reporting outcomes and CSMs work throughout the year
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Some useful out-of-the-box features, like mass uploads of Leads from trade shows or when qualifying a Lead, CRM automatically creates the Opportunity, Contact, and Account for you, etc.
  • Really powerful customizations through the user interface to improve user experience. Things like Business Rules, for example, if Field A = 1, then Field B = 2 and Field C = 2, if Field A = 2, then Field B and Field C don't apply, so automatically hide them.
  • Or other functionality that improves user experience, like Business Process Flows. These walk users step by step through our business process, helping them know when certain actions should take place, and at what point other data is now required. We've used this extensively with our Lead to Opportunity to Quote to Order process, helping users understand the business process each step of the way.
  • Customizations built on top of the platform now called model-driven PowerApps. You can have connections to "typical" data, like Accounts, Contacts, or Opportunities, for example, but then connect that data to custom entities, records that only apply to your specific business. This is all done through the user interface and allows you to customize and automate specific line-of-business applications for your specific needs.
  • Behind the scenes, D365 CE is built on SQL. So the data conforms to industry standards and makes it much easier to interact with. Your developers and IT team will thank you.
Read full review
Cons
Gainsight
  • Sometimes tying Salesforce Data into Gainsight objects can be challenging. (I don't believe this is a true Gainsight limitation)
  • I would love to see the ability to create a dashboard directly from JO Analytics, to help save time recreating measure the program analytics already provide. (Since the JO program analytics aren't extensible to everyone, a dashboard needs to be created )
Read full review
Microsoft
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365 storage & license cost can prohibit some large deployments or even cost-sensitive small projects from using the platform (although I'm certain most deployments would realize a positive ROI if implemented correctly with process automation).
  • The cost and licensing document for Dynamics 365 is 61 pages and will take a rocket scientist to understand it. It's better to just have your Microsoft help estimate the cost if they are willing to help you that.
  • The documentation on how to first fully understand the Out of the Box default solution and settings is lacking or even non-existing. This has the potential to derail Dynamic 365 launches and implementations from the gitgo. Want to use an out of the box entity?.. well it's probably related to 5 other entities that require configuration and full understanding of it to successful implement. And you ask where is the laymen guide or instructions?... User groups and forums. In Summary, Microsoft can up its game in deployment training and supporting documentation.
  • Microsoft needs to incentivize more external platforms to build app connectors for easy integration, such as ZenDesk, Slack, Tableau, etc. Even the current connector apps such as Salesforce, MailChimp, Docusign are useless or don't work at all.
  • Several limitations inhibit successful Dynamics 365 deployments such as: limited number of Rollup field calculations (summarizing fields on child/related records), limited number rows that can exported to Excel via advanced find, Dynamics 365 files, log and database storage size limit is extremely small and will always require purchasing additional storage (for Online deployments).
  • New user buy-in or acceptance or system platform changes can be difficult if a solid change management plan isn't enacted.
  • Don't expect much help from Microsoft on implementation or solutions unless it's a technical flaw with the platform. Microsoft relies on their MVP partner network to consult for implementations at a hefty cost. Hiring a knowledgeable and savvy Dynamics 365 System Administrator can reduce the need for consultant support; of course, this is dependant upon many many variables.
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Likelihood to Renew
Gainsight
Gainsight offers a level of support that I've not experience before. They will work with you to come up with a solution to a problem - or help match you with another client that has a similar setup as you to get their feedback. Also the functionality that we have built within the software works for us. It's 'easy' to use (once you get the hang of it) and our users rather enjoy working in the software.
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Microsoft
CRM has allowed us to keep all of our data in one place that is easy for all users within the company to view. I came into the company after they had been using CRM for about 4 years. They have all said that since we have used this it has helped us control work processes better, it has allowed us to be able to track things so much better, and has been something that has helped unite many processes that used to be all over the place. We are currently using CRM 4.0 and are planning on upgrading in the next 18 months to the 2011 version. Support for 4.0 is almost all but dried up. Understandably so. Some of the customization we have done, and a plugins we use, are now contained within the 2011 version so we are looking forward to that upgrade. We use an email marketing company as well, and they primarily support the 2011 version, but their product connects and is integrated within CRM. This is a great benefit as well so that all of our marketing information can be contained in one location.
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Usability
Gainsight
I give it this score based on the implementation at my current employer. I don't know if it could be higher based on if the implementation went better, or if there is something on the vendor side that could help. If this were asked at my previous employer, I would have given it a score of 9 or 10.
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Microsoft
My review can help others to choose the correct CRM like Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM. I see lots of great things in Microsoft Dynamics 365 that make your business easy and smooth also MS allows users to customize the software according to their needs. So Thought I should share my experience with others.
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Performance
Gainsight
There are some times when it can take almost a minute to load some of our reports or the rules engine. Within a rule it can also take time to load the actions as they each load one at a time when scrolling. The ability to scroll without waiting would be ideal
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Gainsight
The CSMs are very hands-on and helpful, both Elaine and Lane have provided a lot of guidance and value over the years. Support is responsive and will jump on things as needed. The thought leadership and community is probably the most valuable part of our support from Gainsight.
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Microsoft
Our partner, Ledgeview Partners has been FANTASTIC to work with. They are always timely in their response and have taken time to understand our business and our specific needs. We've made a lot of advanced customizations and they have been a great help in making those updates.
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Online Training
Gainsight
The online videos are very good for basic tasks in the platform, but it isn't very descriptive or helpful trying to make your own specific variables fit the simple example that is typically used. Typically, I'll watch a video, try on my own and still have to get help from support or Customer Success team
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Microsoft
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Gainsight
I was not part of the implantation (I took over later). However, based on what was passed to me, the tool was not well implemented at our org. I think this had to do with complexity, wrong person assigned in our org, and org buy-in. I think it would have been very successful if we had a better assignment process internally.
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Microsoft
We used a data warehouse to house our data, and our IT team and implementation vendor worked diligently ahead of time to construct idea implementation plans. Out of millions of records- we had less than a dozen errors, which is remarkable. My major insight is simply having a group of completely devoted individuals working towards your goal who fully understand the desired outcome. Focused resources for implementation season are critical to success.
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Alternatives Considered
Gainsight
Our Salesforce admin is constantly pushing us to adopt more of the features of Salesforce. However, we find that Gainsight is a stronger tool for customization and enhanced interdepartmental communications. Timeline makes it easy to understand where we stand in a customer lifecycle, which is far superior to reviewing an activity history related list in Salesforce.
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Microsoft
Salesforce has more desirable functions than Microsoft Dynamics 365, at a competitive price. Its user interface is far more superior, it has more customization, easier customization, and out of the box it is more pleasing to the eye and to the end user. If the client doesn't have a deep-rooted connection with Microsoft I wouldn't leap to Dynamics 365.
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Gainsight
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
On our purchase, I'd been interrogated about our usage. Our needs are met by Microsoft Dynamics 365, which is simple to use. With so much data and information available, we must ensure that it is presented correctly to managers. Due to a lack of use, we don't have to spend as much money on Salesforce.
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Professional Services
Gainsight
No answers on this topic
Microsoft
My company's preferred program right now is Microsoft Dynamics 365. We use it to keep track of customers and important sales metrics in a streamlined manner. Anyone familiar with CRMs will find the tool extremely useful. Considering that we have a good turnover, this product will be used for its basic segments. As a result, there are few chances of error with Microsoft dynamics because it is so easy to use. Many options for recording data on these leads are available. It meets our needs and pays off.
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Return on Investment
Gainsight
  • We increase account coverage by more than 20% through the tools within Gainsight CS to generate actions for our CSMs to prioritize accounts.
  • Now that we are using Success Plans, we are seeing 65-75% of customer outcomes realized within a 12-month period. This was something we weren't able to track before.
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Microsoft
  • It is hard to say, the reason why we are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM is because it is provided to us for free.
  • It could be worthwhile to investigate whether an alternative CRM (even though paid) can be used to boost the ROI
Read full review
ScreenShots

Gainsight CS Screenshots

Screenshot of Get notified when your sponsor moves with our social media tracker - Sponsor TrackingScreenshot of Get more face time with your customers with 60 second videos - GsnapScreenshot of Automate Calls-to-Action on customer risks, opportunities and lifecycle events, better prioritize tasks with AI-driven priority scoring and follow a step-by-step playbook to deliver a consistent, best-in-class customer experience.Screenshot of Our collection of best practice-based solutions can be deployed within your Gainsight instance to help you move quickly and realize value fasterScreenshot of Design dynamic, multi-step customer journeys that blend human and digital touchpoints to deliver personalized engagement at scale. Analyze data at every step and adjust to each customer's behavior to more effectively deliver the outcomes your customers desire.Screenshot of Organize your team’s activities around your customer's key objectives. Collaborate directly with customer stakeholders to realize their desired outcomes and demonstrate how your efforts translate to results.