SFDC - A Powerful and Highly Customizable Tool
February 23, 2016
SFDC - A Powerful and Highly Customizable Tool
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Professional
Modules Used
- Force.com
- Chatter
- Content
- Knowledge
Overall Satisfaction with Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is being used as a sales tool to help collect the data on our leads, route leads to the sales person(s) within the region and industry vertical the lead is in, and help the sales team focus on closing deals by centralizing communication and data collection.
I have also help companies build out complex international business solutions such as one involving a front end form in multiple languages that are integrated with multiple custom objects to collect the data and charges for fixing hardware - and connect with Eloqua to keep the customer up to date on the progress of the fix.
I have also help companies build out complex international business solutions such as one involving a front end form in multiple languages that are integrated with multiple custom objects to collect the data and charges for fixing hardware - and connect with Eloqua to keep the customer up to date on the progress of the fix.
- When Salesforce.com (SFDC) is set up in its default, or near default structure, its ability to connect multiple objects together - Lead converted to Contact connected to account and related opportunity is a powerful tracking tool of where accounts are at and the expected ROI.
- The ability to be customized to fit any companies needs is a powerful resource, but can also lead to major issues if it isn't set up carefully and thoroughly documented.
- SFDC's centralization of all the basic needs for a sales team in this day and age - chatter (chat), data collection, reporting on ROI, and tracking on where accounts are at - is excellent
- The fact that every, or nearly every, single third party tool integrates with SFDC is a major bonus.
- The extensive ability to customize SFDC causes no end of difficulties and issues for companies as their employees increasingly jump between companies, especially when it's rare that the documentation, if there is any, has been kept up to date.
- The amount of technical know how for using the software makes it difficult to keep the employees that know it inside and out as every single company is head hunting for the top talent.
- Legacy issues are common as new employees enter the company and inherit a few year old system with no documentation and too many feature requests to be able to take the necessary time to figure out what is happening - which leads to bandages on bandages as the legacy structure and issues compound on each other.
- I cannot state anything about this for my current role but in past roles where I helped multiple companies with their SFDC and MAP systems it was found that SFDC, when structured properly, kept up-to-date and relevant to company efforts and cleaned of legacy items was extremely impactful to the ROI - if it has a major part in the business' goals. If it was as simple tool to help sales keep focused and have a place to work out of, it wasn't as clear how much the tool impacted the overall ROI. In general it helps as long as it's working properly.
- HubSpot and Salesfusion
SFDC is the top choice if you need the customization it can give you and already have a MAP. If you don't need such customization, it
still might be the best option at the basic offering.
HubSpot is a good contender if you need a CRM and MAP. It has far more constrictions than SFDC but its a good tool and some restrictions are sometimes needed or wanted. Salesfusion is in a similar position of being a CRM and MAP and has a similar restrictive structure to HubSpot compared to SFDC (but everything feels more restrictive than SFDC if you have the highest level of SFDC).
still might be the best option at the basic offering.
HubSpot is a good contender if you need a CRM and MAP. It has far more constrictions than SFDC but its a good tool and some restrictions are sometimes needed or wanted. Salesfusion is in a similar position of being a CRM and MAP and has a similar restrictive structure to HubSpot compared to SFDC (but everything feels more restrictive than SFDC if you have the highest level of SFDC).