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SAP CRM vs Salesforce Essentials comparison

Salesforce and SAP are both solutions in the CRM category. Salesforce is ranked #15 with an average rating of 7.9, while SAP is ranked #3 with an average rating of 7.8. Salesforce holds a 0.3% mindshare in CRM, compared to SAP’s 10.7% mindshare. Additionally, 91% of Salesforce users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 84% of SAP users who would recommend it.
Salesforce Essentials
Read 13 Salesforce Essentials reviews
  • 122 Views
  • 63 Comparison Views
91% willing to recommend
SAP CRM
Read 44 SAP CRM reviews
  • 3,643 Views
  • 3,231 Comparison Views
84% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

SAP CRM and Salesforce Essentials are two CRM solutions competing for dominance in the business market. Salesforce Essentials seems to have the upper hand due to its cloud-based features and ease of deployment, offering flexibility and scalability that attract companies with these needs.

Features: SAP CRM excels in lead management, forecasting analytics, and sales reporting, offering deep customer insights with ERP integration. It supports extensive customization and scalability. Salesforce Essentials provides integrated Sales and Service Cloud capabilities, focusing on customer engagement and AI-driven segmentation, offering ease of use and proactive management tools.

Room for Improvement: SAP CRM users note the need for better user-friendliness, interface design, and performance speed improvements due to its technical complexity. Salesforce Essentials could benefit from simplifying its UI and enhancing customization options for diverse user needs, alongside optimized mobile solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SAP CRM is utilized in hybrid and on-premises setups with variability in support based on partners, while its public cloud option is less common. Salesforce Essentials is preferred for public cloud deployment, offering straightforward customer service and a responsive support structure, though third-party customizations can be pricey.

Pricing and ROI: SAP CRM is priced higher due to its robust features and integration capabilities, which may not suit smaller businesses. It uses a licensing and annual fee structure. Salesforce Essentials, while considered costly, offers better fits for businesses with ample budgets. Both solutions can deliver ROI over several years, depending on enterprise scale and deployment strategies.

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Buyer's Guide
SAP CRM vs. Salesforce Essentials
April 2025
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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Salesforce Essentials
Ranking in CRM
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
SAP CRM
Ranking in CRM
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
Local Government CRM (2nd), Marketing Management (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the CRM category, the mindshare of Salesforce Essentials is 0.3%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of SAP CRM is 10.7%, up from 10.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
CRM
 

Featured Reviews

Srini-Dhanaraj - PeerSpot reviewer
Manages service requests and dispatches engineers to resolve issues
I work from home for a heater manufacturing company. They wanted to move away from their current SAP CRM system to Salesforce. There is a fulfillment process, which involves taking an order, delivering it, and providing service. Salesforce is used to manage the order-taking process. Once an order is taken, the backend system, SAP ERP, handles product manufacturing, delivery, and installation. After installation, the Service Cloud in Salesforce takes over for ongoing service management. Once your order is confirmed, integration with the SAP ERP backend will be seamless. The system takes the sales order from Salesforce and starts processing it for procurement, starting with creating a production order, manufacturing, and then delivery. Once the product is delivered, this information is passed back to Salesforce Service Cloud. In the Service Cloud, a service engineer receives a notification indicating that a product needs to be delivered to a specific location for installation. The engineer then inspects and installs the product at the designated site. SAP ERP manages the product manufacturing and delivery processes. After the product is delivered to the customer, Salesforce Service Cloud takes over. It manages service requests and dispatches engineers to resolve issues reported by customers. Service Cloud captures the information and creates an incident record when a customer reports a product fault. Engineers receive this information and promptly visit the client site to fix the issue. The solution is easy to implement. Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
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GodfreyNoel - PeerSpot reviewer
Excellent user experience with ease of use and reliable technical support
When SAP CRM does the maintenance, it can take a long time, which can impact business continuity because we have to wait for the maintenance team to finish their work. Maybe if SAP could establish how you can access the tool using a cloud-based environment that would be virtualization, that would be better.
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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Salesforce provides the best they have with the current version. Most of the features we need are already there, and it's very easy to use."
"I can download the data to Excel, create tables, and do whatever I want. I am very comfortable with the tool's mobile application. Its main benefit is transparency because I can share it with representatives."
"The combination of product and service are exceptional."
"The CRM system has SAP Sales, SAP Service, and SAP Billing, with everything integrated into an on-premise SAP CRM system. Salesforce Essentials replaced this on-premise system, bringing all functionalities onto the cloud platform."
"The most important feature is how Salesforce Essentials brings together information from multiple channels. The nature of our complex custom product data has been challenging due to our manufacturing nature. Salesforce also allowed business processes like finance, credit lines, customer complaints, and quality issues to integrate seamlessly. I haven’t used the mobile app functionality, because we haven't fully utilized because of our preferance of more personal interactions over using mobile apps."
"Salesforce Essentials is a reliable and powerful application."
"The solution helps to track the performance of salespersons before closing deals."
"In terms of features, the cloud-based solution and easy deployment are standout elements that have made a difference."
More Salesforce Essentials pros
"We like that this solution has made our whole accounting function paperless."
"The most important factor for recommending SAP CRM is its integration with the core SAP platform. Globally, most enterprises are using SAP as an ERP platform to manage their key business functions. SAP CRM has out-of-the-box integration with the core SAP platform. You can integrate your pre-sales and post-sales into the single platform on the SAP CRM very easily, and you can extend that CRM to your customers who can actually see what is happening to their orders—such as whether it is dispatched or not dispatched or at what stage it is—simply by logging onto the CRM platform."
"The initial setup of SAP CRM was simple."
"The primary use case for us is lead creation and data management."
"The most valuable feature is lead management and integration."
"We use SAP CRM for customer service improvement. The main idea is to make sure our team has the right information when talking to customers. This helps them process things like price approvals for quotes faster. The goal is to make the product more efficient, and faster, and, in the end, provide better customer service."
"The platform is highly scalable."
"The flexibility to design the portal and customize it according to the needs of the clients is valuable. The integration with SAP ERP is also valuable."
More SAP CRM pros
 

Cons

"Less integration would be better. It should work independently."
"The primary area for improvement in Salesforce Essentials is its pricing. There are other competitors, like Zoho CRM, that offer similar features at a lower cost."
"Salesforce should encourage new users by offering smaller license packages, such as packages for three or two users."
"Improvements in connectivity issues, especially for the online version, would enhance the user experience for the product."
"Areas that could be improved or upgraded in the next release include analytics, automation capabilities, and stability."
"The solution's UI is not user-friendly."
"Integrating Salesforce with SAP, considering our business relies heavily on SAP for ERP, has been quite challenging due to the intricate product configurations. Unlike standard products like computers with a few options, our products have hundreds of configurable options, making the integration complex. If such integration were possible, it would have been easier to understand the unique nature of our industry and the limited number of customers who buy steel products, unlike consumer electronics."
"The solution needs to be more user-friendly. It's difficult for a senior to track leads when a salesperson uploads leads. The solution should also improve its integration capabilities."
More Salesforce Essentials cons
"SAP CRM could improve by being easier to use and customer-friendly."
"SAP CRM should create a more user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI)."
"Improvement is needed for SAP CRM's integration with Microsoft Teams and Outlook Its integration with Microsoft collaboration software, including Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint, is not very good. There are issues with synchronization between appointments in CRM and Outlook, as well as challenges with managing contacts, which creates problems."
"In terms of stability, there are some latency issues."
"There could be some specific configurable options on the UI level to improve visibility."
"SAP CRM could improve in the area of user-friendliness. It would help if you had an engineer to do the administration. The migration is complex when moving from the old version to the latest version."
"The integration of SAP CRM with the SAP platform is relatively easier as compared to any other third-party product. If you go for any other third-party product, you will have a lot of challenges in terms of integration."
"They have recently updated their user interface but they should continue to improve upon it in the future. Additionally, overall performance or speed of response times could be better."
More SAP CRM cons
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"It's a perpetual license, and the subscription can be expensive."
"The pricing is a bit on the expensive side."
"Salesforce Essentials is quite expensive, almost 10 out of 10. I don't have the exact cost, but we found it to be very expensive based on our budget constraints."
"The pricing is on the higher side, especially with additional costs for professional services like consultants."
"I rate Salesforce Essentials' pricing an eight out of ten."
"The tool is moderately priced."
"We chose quarterly payments."
"The product is costly."
"From the maintenance perspective, SAP CRM is quite expensive compared to cloud services because the current solution they're using is managed by us and we are hosting it on servers. There is the cost of hosting, and managing servers and applications. The overhead is substantial, but this solution is a legacy system. It will take some time for the customer to migrate out of it."
"They should reduce the price to target small businesses."
"We pay for the license yearly."
"Every user needs to have a license."
"Its price is reasonable. As compared to other CRMs, this CRM is competitively priced. They have multiple flavors with different sets of functionality. Pricing is based on the flavor that suits your requirement. If you have more users, the cost will come down."
"The company has seen an increase in revenue."
"There is a license required for the solution and most of my clients purchase an annual license."
More SAP CRM pricing and cost advice
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Salesforce Essentials?
Salesforce provides the best they have with the current version. Most of the features we need are already there, and it's very easy to use.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Salesforce Essentials?
The costs associated with Salesforce Essentials are substantial, which is a drawback compared to competitors who offer similar services for less.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Salesforce Essentials?
The primary area for improvement in Salesforce Essentials is its pricing. There are other competitors, like Zoho CRM ( /products/zoho-crm-reviews ), that offer similar features at a lower cost. Sal...
See all answers
What do you like most about SAP CRM?
Getting the right information at the right time across different programs is important. These programs lack interaction between them. IPA is a good option to bring them together.
See all answers
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP CRM?
Every user needs to have a license.
See all answers
What needs improvement with SAP CRM?
One area for improvement is the security model, especially regarding records management retention and the audit and legal holds. Since we're in the middle of a cloud digital transformation, it's es...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

No data available
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Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs SAP CRM
Compared 33% of the time
Salesforce Sales Cloud vs SAP CRM Logo
Salesforce Sales Cloud vs SAP CRM
Compared 25% of the time
Zoho CRM vs SAP CRM Logo
Zoho CRM vs SAP CRM
Compared 13% of the time
Siebel CRM vs SAP CRM Logo
Siebel CRM vs SAP CRM
Compared 10% of the time
Oracle CRM vs SAP CRM Logo
Oracle CRM vs SAP CRM
Compared 10% of the time
More SAP CRM Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Salesforce Essentials
April 2025
Salesforce Essentials reportDownload Salesforce Essentials product report
Buyer's Guide
SAP CRM
April 2025
SAP CRM reportDownload SAP CRM product report
 

Overview

Salesforce Essentials is a cloud-based CRM tool for businesses seeking flexible, scalable, and customizable solutions to enhance sales and customer support processes.

Designed for seamless integration across multiple channels, Salesforce Essentials includes Sales and Service Cloud to simplify sales tasks and customer management. It enhances finance, credit, and quality processes with user-friendly AI capabilities and predictive analytics. Despite its strengths, there is room for improvement in SAP integration, interface simplicity, and report generation. Cost-effectiveness and support for diverse languages are also potential upgrade areas. Businesses use this CRM solution for lead management, opportunity tracking, and automating sales workflows, transitioning from paper-based methods to digital efficiency.

What are the essential features of Salesforce Essentials?
  • Scalability and Flexibility: Accommodates growth and customization needs.
  • Multiple Channel Integration: Enhances finance and quality processes.
  • User-Friendly: Easy navigation with AI capabilities.
  • Cloud Deployment: Includes Sales and Service Cloud features.
  • Predictive Analytics: Improves productivity and tracking.
  • Mobile App Support: Facilitates on-the-go access and management.
What benefits or ROI can users expect from Salesforce Essentials?
  • Improved Productivity: Automation features save time and streamline tasks.
  • Enhanced Customer Management: Centralizes interaction and data handling.
  • Ease of Transition: From manual to automated workflows.
  • Performance Monitoring: Standardizes processes for better oversight.

In the retail industry, businesses employ Salesforce Essentials for customer data management and transparency in order processing. Healthcare providers use it for patient engagement and streamlined communication. Financial services utilize it for billing management and compliance, harnessing automation tools for efficient data handling.

Salesforce

SAP CRM is a comprehensive customer relationship management solution that helps businesses streamline their sales, marketing, and service processes. It offers a range of features including lead management, opportunity management, campaign management, and customer service management. With SAP CRM, businesses can effectively manage their customer interactions, improve customer satisfaction, and drive revenue growth. 

The solution integrates with other SAP modules, allowing for seamless data exchange and real-time insights. It also offers mobile access, enabling sales and service teams to access critical information on the go. 

SAP CRM is a powerful tool for businesses looking to enhance their customer relationships and drive business success.

SAP
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Brau Union Osterreich AG, Nu Skin Enterprises Inc., AOK Bundesverband, RAK Ceramics, NHS 24, Wholesale Sports Outdoor Outfitters, FC Bayern Munchen AG, Tumi, The Kellogg Company, MVV Energie AG, Anglian Water Services, German Football Association (DFB), Nebraska Book Company Inc.
Buyer's Guide
SAP CRM vs. Salesforce Essentials
April 2025
Free Report: SAP CRM vs. Salesforce Essentials
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