Salesforce Essentials Reviews

Pros

Way better option for customer support than just a basic email account. Really nice options for setting up a support site

Cons

Really poor live chat option. No customer website traffic integration. This ultimately caused our move to Intercom

Pros

I like that it works as a CRM even though it was created for a slightly different purpose. As a grant writer I can record every interaction with a funder and I can include the proposal and any other documentation we have received. It is easy to find the entire history with that organization and it really helps me track everything in one place.

Cons

I do wish the task tracking was set up a little differently, or at least customizable if it isnt already and I'm just not aware of it. I use task tracking to record every interaction I have with a funder but it doesn't perfectly fit for that. For instance I want to record that I emailed them and I have to select a "due date" but there isn't a due date for that. I just put today's date but I wish I could customize it so that it just said date. It would also be nice if I could record comments on the same page as I record a task but I have to save the task then reopen it and then I can write the comments detailing it.

Alternatives Considered

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT

Reasons for Choosing Salesforce Essentials

I made the switch because of being in a new company but also salesforce is MUCH more intuitive to use. Way less convoluted.

Switched From

Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT

Reasons for Switching to Salesforce Essentials

Must easier to use and did all the things we would want it to do. It also integrates with other software programs easily.

Pros

Simple UI
Simple workflow building and management

Cons

Extremely limited in its capabilities
Desk Support reps are not thorough when reading emails
ETA's on fixes/patches pushed back for months

Pros

All I need in one place, quick response from the platform and cloud.

Cons

Trouble shooting at weekends and slow verification process

Pros

Salesforce Essentials is more affordable than standard Salesforce and still has what I need in a CRM. I get work done faster, sell faster, and make our customer experience amazing. I set up a customized self service portal and set particular concerns or questions to be sent to a specific person. This means that if for example a customer asks if a garmet can be altered, they're directed to our seamstress instead of directed to me and then transfered to our seamstress.
Salesforce essentials records and tracks my calls and emails meaning I no longer have to. I have gained more information about leads, where they come from and why they choose us.

Cons

Sometimes it can be hard to find the data I'm looking for. It's not easy to find or get invoices. Customer care wasn't very helpful although I did try to make contact during a very busy time of day. I was still disappointed..
This is the essentials version of Salesforce so obviously the features aren't as robust.

Alternatives Considered

Zoho CRM and HubSpot CRM

Reasons for Choosing Salesforce Essentials

Salesforce was actually recommended by a customer who was also a small business owner. She showed me her Salesforce setup and immediately wanted to switch. After browsing plans I decided the essentials version was right for us!

Switched From

Vtiger CRM

Reasons for Switching to Salesforce Essentials

I already had my mind set on Salesforce essentials but I wanted to compare it with other options. Salesforce essentials had the right ratio of features and price.

Pros

I truly like how Salesforce is the most incredible in its industry and offers extraordinary CRM programming. It is ideally suited for connecting with potential clients in view of their past interest in the organization as well as what they would require to remain drawn in and retained. I love the manner in which you can modify it and it mechanizes each thing so extraordinary from messages to calls its incredible.

Cons

When first starting to use Salesforce, it can seem overwhelming. The pages feel extremely crowded when you don't know where to look for something because there is an abundance of information. Salesforce becomes easier to use with more experience, yet for new clients there may be a learning curve.

Alternatives Considered

Odoo and Smartsheet

Reasons for Switching to Salesforce Essentials

Once you find your way around the platform it is the best overall option on the market

Pros

Nice interface, lots of features. I never understood the system enough to offer more Pros.

Cons

Only for Mid-Large - Large Business. Salesforce is not for small business, because it is cost prohibitive. Salesforce nickel and dimes for everything, including an unethical override for their CPQ billing. I am stuck in a contract and still paying for Essentials. However, it was much more economical to use another CRM/Subscription Management System and pay Salesforce until my contact is over.

Pros

Salesforce makes it easy for companies to maintain an ongoing relationship with customers, prospects, or partners and to collect and monitor their data.

Cons

Quality of the price list is not for everyone.it's expensive

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Power BI

Switched From

QuickBooks Desktop Pro

Pros

Time management and organization are the top reasons to use this software. Being able to include information on new prospects and clients is very helpful and it's easy to add to do items. The sales funnel process is user friendly and easy for other employees to view.

Cons

It can be hard to create clear expectations between management and employees on what information or processes should be done. With so many options of where to save information it can look like information is missing if you don't look in the right place. Processes should be put in place by each organization to clarify how to use the software.

Pros

Lots of features and ability to store information!

Cons

Too many places to look, not super easy to navigate.

Pros

multiple channels can be integrated, including social media posts. there's a live character counter for agents when writing responses.

Cons

SMS had to be integrated with an outside provider. slow, lacking features or any promise of a roadmap, reporting inaccurate. downtime and maintenance (both scheduled and responsive) very frequent - basically daily. since "next gen agent" was released 2+ years ago, this product has never improved. account manager never even bothered to elude to changing anything. as our contract was coming to an end, we asked, "why should we stay with desk?" and the response we got was verbatim, "great question...[30 seconds of silence]". salesforce stopped investing money into this product long ago, and subsequently, even the smallest crm companies these days are lightyears ahead in terms of functionality and reliability.

Pros

Desk is extremely customizable. We have a bunch of different inbound emails that automatically tag and assign tickets which saves us a lot of time. You can set up almost any combination of rules for inbound tickets to make sure your most important customers get prioritized and the right people get assigned to help.

Desk also has an API that you can use to build a help center experience on top of their platform. We use it internally for bug reporting and feature requesting and our portal creates tickets right in desk.

Cons

Desk isn't very user friendly. Once it's set up it's works really well but it takes a lot of time to learn all the nuances of the configuration.

The analytics have issues. Some of the metrics like last log in will show that I last logged in a month ago when I've logged in every day and am in fact logged in at the time. We don't use the metrics but if your customer service department relies on them that could be problematic.

Pros

Salesforce is great for keeping track of leads, opportunities, tasks, contacts, and more. It is the best way to keep track of info, documents, phone calls, etc for these people/businesses at any stage of the sales funnel. Due to its detailed nature, it makes it easy to categorize these things and also create weekly reports for updates. I am looking forward to taking some of the free Salesforce courses just so I can take advantage of some of the functions that I still don't even know how to use for their full benefits.

Cons

Salesforce can be overwhelming when first starting to use it. There is a lot of information everywhere and the pages feel very "busy" when you aren't sure where to find something. The more you use Salesforce, the easier this gets, but for new users there can be a learning period.

Pros

Salesforce allows my animals hospital to have better communication between staff and volunteers

Cons

Search engine key words is not always able to direct to correct patient

Pros

modules are easily arranged and ability to open additional windows for modules is helpful

Cons

Prolocity customized the product for us so it is to my specifications.

Pros

I loved the fact that they worked on the integrations and being able to make things to the mainstream. I was able to quickly show other workers how to use this product and quickly incorporate it into our business. This is a lot easier than our last software.

Cons

Running the reports is something we would all have a bit of trouble to do, there would be little things here and there that prevented our productivity. There are also some filters or basic features that should be fine-tuned a bit more but nothing too bad.

Pros

Sales reporting feature is the most I like. IT easy to use drag and drop feature to customize, the reports and filters features and setting the date range options are the feature that makes it the top feature.

Cons

help to solve any abnormality in the data. The feature shows only the problem and does not give any suggestive pointers to correct that.

Pros

Open API that allows you to connect to other tools that you're using to run your business. We have our tool connected to SalesForce, Talkdesk, Google Docs, etc.

Cons

The platform has gone down a few times, leaving us to figure out how to communicate with our customers. The UI/UX isn't the best.

Pros

Collect, track and manage all your support tickets in one spot. Our company uses Desk.com for our customer support tickets. It keeps us organized and on-top of our customers needs.

Cons

There is nothing that I do not like about desk.com. The software meets all of our customer support needs.

Pros

It is easy to use DESK and submit tickets and track and search for your submitted tickets to see the status of those tickets.

Cons

It is easy to search but I do believe there could be additional ways to search more easily and produce more accurate results.

Pros

I do not give only 1 star because there were occasional situations where SalesforceIQ informed us accurately that a client had changed companies. It did not offer us zero valid sales intelligence.

Cons

This software drove me crazy. Regularly confused our clients with other individuals with the same name and filled in data about those unrelated people. Regularly overwrote our own, hard-researched data about our clients with their LinkedIn dreams of being a DJ or Freelance Graphic Designer. I could never find an option to turn it off or siphon their "intelligence" to separate column. Maybe if we'd had a bespoke Salesforce implementation this would have been possible but I HIGHLY ADVISE you avoid if you're using out-of-the-box Salesforce.

Pros

Very easy to use the help desk ticket system.

Cons

Not sure about rest of the software but only used help desk ticketing.

Pros

I like the interactive UI that makes access to varying tools and functionalities easy. I also like the mobile experience and the ability to integrate the software with third-party softwares. I also like the reporting tools that enhance prompt communication.

Cons

Salesforce can be very heavy when handling multiple pages which often leads to lags. There are additional issues that occur in customisation and merging of pages.

Pros

This software made my day to day task of analyzing cases that contained large volumes of data much easier and more streamlined.

Cons

It is overwhelming at first to get a handle on the software.