You know that you are ready for CRM and that super-fun research stage is upon you, so you head over to your favorite search engine to see what you can find out. Since you are checking out this blog, hopefully you are past the stage of just typing “CRM” into Google and being overwhelmed by the 15.7 million results it produces.
You may have found the that was released a few months ago that placed Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com as the upper quadrant CRM leaders. Perhaps you talked to industry peers or may have either or already in place at your company.
When evaluating CRM solutions there are A LOT of specifics that you need to take into consideration. Many articles, blog posts and reviews focus primarily on price comparisons. But let’s say that you are a current user of one of these solutions and want to see how you can accomplish the same task you are doing today in the other solution? Is the experience the same? Is it easier/harder? It is even possible?
Ledgeview Sales Manager Julinda Prekop took that challenge at this year’s in Milwaukee, WI and focused on 5(+) main areas.
- First up is navigation. Does moving around in Dynamics CRM give you the same experience as it does in Salesforce? Where are main functional areas like accounts, leads, and opportunities located? How do I access my tasks or log activities?
- Next up, dashboards – who doesn’t love a good dashboard? I know I find myself going dashboard crazy sometimes, but does each have them? How easy are dashboards to create, access and drill into?
- How about the sales process, account, activity and pipeline management. These are a critical component within CRM for users and management. How does the functionality of these areas compare between these two leading customer relationship management systems.
- Mobile – we are a society on the go. Whether you play the role of Sales, Marketing, Customer Service, or Administrator (or all of the above) you need access to your information when away from the office and oftentimes away from civilization as well. See how the Mobile offerings differ from both Salesforce.com and Dynamics CRM.
- Finally web portals – Customers are demanding more information all the time and companies want to do their best to provide that information to them 24/7. We want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to work with us and our products. Web Portals are becoming a hot topic. I had the great fortune of sitting in on a presentation at the CRM Conference from our partners at , whose portals supercharge Dynamics CRM into an interactive, web-based sales, services, support and social platform. But how does Salesforce compare? If web portals are on your roadmap, they should be integrated with your CRM and considered in your decision. Julinda gives you the a great overview comparison.
Ultimately the CRM solution that is right for your company is your decision but if you are comparing Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce.com and want additional insight beyond pricing comparisons I encourage you grab a cup of coffee and watch this very educational that shows each of these solutions up-close and personal.
If you would like more info after the video, please .
Blog Post by:
Chad R. Collett
Director of Marketing at Ledgeview Partners
920-560-6882
ccollett@ledgeviewpartners.com
