While it's not perfect and can be overly complicated at times, there is not another solution out there that can do what it does. To get the same functionality you would need numerous disparate tools to match the amount of functionality Salesforce has. Having it all aggregated on one platform makes the complicated parts far more bearable.
Cloud based and future looking - Salesforce has either set or kept pace with the latest in technology. At least two major feature releases a year allow an organization to keep up with the latest changes. Mobile and the release of their new analytics platform are just two examples of how Salesforce continues to innovate.
Now that we are using Salesforce, without it we could not properly track sales opportunities or leads. It would become very overwhelming for our sales team and nearly impossible for management to forecast.
We can't really leave! Rebuilding what we built in SFDC (custom objects, VisualForce pages, the data themselves, APEX triggers, etc.) would take 1000s of hours and would be insanely ROI-negative. This is the thing with a critical system like SFDC--you can't really leave, or at least not without massive pain. Be absolutely sure you want the system before committing. Think about it--SFDC has every incentive to make it hard to leave. Can't blame them--it's a brilliant business model.
We've had a great ROI since going with SalesForce. It allows us to easily record contact information and keep track of meetings, emails, phone calls, and other activities. It is easy to use and allows a clean way to keep track of everyone in the sale's department's leads and who they are calling on and how it went.
Salesforce is not a system you can simply quit using. It's easier for small businesses but nearly impossible for enterprise. Obviously, data management would be a huge issue in not renewing the software.
I would agree with the results of this survey from Jul-2009, "The survey found that 95 percent of customers indicate they definitely or probably will continue to use Salesforce CRM in the future, and 93 percent of customers indicate they definitely or probably will recommend Salesforce CRM to others. In fact, 75 percent of those surveyed have actually recommended Salesforce CRM to a colleague."
Salesforce is very sticky. It is very user friendly. A very high % of sales and marketing folks have Salesforce experience, making it easier to improve new hire sales rep on-boarding.
A good implementation will help make the sales and marketing functions more efficient and effective. It will give executives visibility into leads and pipeline. These benefits drive higher customer retention.
Right now Salesforce.com is fulfilling our needs and it also has a lot of room for improvements and future enhancements. We also invested a lot of time and resources developing tools for the platform, so we don't see that we're going to move or consider another CRM tool in the near future.
We are partners to SFDC and we do provide the consultancy services to other businesses including many IT services companies, and using SFDC ourselves gives us more credibility advising others to use it and new ways they can benefit from the prospect of a user in addition to the consultant advise.
Our account rep is very helpful - she's even visited our office to get a better understanding of how we're using Salesforce and has been helpful in recommending other ways we can use it to increase efficiencies. Cases submitted to the support team are generally resolved in a timely manner. Salesforce is also open about what items are being updated or added in each major release. I find that communication very nice from such a large, global organization.
We are content with the capabilities that the Salesforce platform seems to provide, so at this point we are looking for ways to operationalize best practices across various subject areas. As long as the platform continues to evolve and featuresets aren't outpaced by other providers, it's likely we'll stay on course with this selection.
Salesforce is a web-based CRM application that enables users to forecast revenues and track leads. It is a leading sales, service, and marketing app. Salesforce.com's Sales (CRM), Service, Platform and Marketing applications are designed to help companies connect with customers, partners, and employees in entirely new ways. According to the vendor, on average, reps using Salesforce see: a +29% increase in sales from greater visibility, +34% increase in sales productivity, and +42% increase in forecast accuracy.