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Salesforce Essentials vs Siebel CRM comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 19, 2024

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
17th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
13
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Siebel CRM
Ranking in CRM
8th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Local Government CRM (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 Siebel CRM is 6.3%, down from 7.1% 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.
KalpanaSingh - PeerSpot reviewer
Customizable and flexible but user experience needs enhancement
Siebel is not user-friendly. There are so many tabs and different features that until it's explained to someone, they will not understand it. A user-friendly tool is supposed to be designed in a way where the user can log in and intuitively understand how to use it. People who use it regularly are still confused, and it requires a lot of clicks and is very difficult to navigate. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to reflect the correct information—even when it's updated, you have to refresh it again and again to see the right data.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Salesforce Essentials is a reliable and powerful application."
"I've found the product's basic AI functionalities, such as predictive analytics and workflow automation useful for optimizing processes and improving productivity."
"The solution is very scalable and flexible. It can be customized as per the business need."
"The product is stable."
"In terms of features, the cloud-based solution and easy deployment are standout elements that have made a difference."
"High availability is really important for us when getting our reports as a vendor."
"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 solution helps to track the performance of salespersons before closing deals."
"The flexibility is very good."
"The best thing about the tool is its data model. The underlying data model refers to how the data is stored in databases. We can also experience the ease of developing anything with the tool. We can customize any functionality as per any business challenge."
"The solution is scalable."
"The tool's complaint management feature is very good. We used a CRM before, which lacked the integrations, so complaints had to be handled manually. With Siebel CRM, we have better integrations and can resolve complaints with a few clicks. When you're in the service industry, tasks matter a lot, especially when you have to access multiple systems to address issues. Being a bank, we currently have around 17 operational systems. It's not feasible to expect users to access them individually to make the necessary changes."
"Siebel offers a high level of customization which has been valuable. The solution also offers the ability to model complex products."
"Siebel CRM is used for distributing information between systems, trouble ticketing, and case management."
"Siebel CRM has enhanced customer engagement for our organization, particularly through its robust data model and flexible features. One specific scenario where Siebel CRM excelled was in addressing complex client requirements. For instance, we successfully implemented a module for email responses, a feature that was not readily available or as robust as other CRM tools. Additionally, Siebel's open UI module allowed us to customize the user interface for one of our clients completely. This customization proved to be a major selling point for our company."
"Siebel CRM's most beneficial aspects are the workflows. It has complete holistic workflows for a customer management system."
 

Cons

"Salesforce Essentials does not contain domain-specific solutions."
"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."
"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."
"Improvements in connectivity issues, especially for the online version, would enhance the user experience for the product."
"Salesforce should encourage new users by offering smaller license packages, such as packages for three or two users."
"Areas that could be improved or upgraded in the next release include analytics, automation capabilities, and stability."
"Oracle needs to improve its support. The major drawback I've observed with Siebel CRM is that Oracle hasn't taken appropriate steps to improve it since 2019. We noticed a steep downfall because Oracle was slow to roll out upgrades like Open UI. By the time these upgrades were available, the market had shifted to cloud solutions, which competitors were already providing much earlier."
"The documentation needs to be improved."
"I want Oracle to improve the tool’s UI with a vanilla application. I would also like to see an insurance broking vertical in their future releases. There are thousands of brokers who look for an insurance broking solution."
"The tool took a lot of time to deploy."
"Siebel is not user-friendly."
"Siebel CRM should improve its UI. Because it's all about the customer experience and how the customer experiences it, the internal customer is more important for CRM than the people handling the company. So, you get frustrated if you don't have a very good user interface and user experience."
"However, there are areas that this product has not evolved at par with global industry trends, including the UX/UI and cloud capabilities."
"The backend performance of Siebel could be improved as it is often slow. In addition, the Open UI is not that responsive."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We chose quarterly payments."
"The pricing is on the higher side, especially with additional costs for professional services like consultants."
"It's a perpetual license, and the subscription can be expensive."
"The pricing is a bit on the expensive side."
"There is a need to make yearly payments towards the licensing costs attached to the solution."
"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."
"I rate Salesforce Essentials' pricing an eight out of ten."
"The tool is moderately priced."
"The product is expensive."
"The price of Siebel CRM depends on the usage of the business requirement. For large enterprises the price it's very good but if you are using it for medium scale enterprises, the price is very expensive."
"This solution is expensive compared to other solutions in the market. This makes it difficult to convince our customers to use it. The customers who are already using Siebel have thought about moving to Velocity or Salesforce."
"Its licensing is yearly."
"I think the tool’s pricing is exaggerated. Once you do the price sizing as per your business needs, you would find that the price of other solutions like Zoho CRM, HubSpot CRM, Salesforce CRM, etc. would be always the same."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Government
15%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

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.
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.
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...
What do you like most about Siebel Sales?
Siebel CRM has enhanced customer engagement for our organization, particularly through its robust data model and flexible features. One specific scenario where Siebel CRM excelled was in addressing...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Siebel Sales?
I do not have any information on pricing, setup cost, or licensing.
What needs improvement with Siebel Sales?
Siebel is not user-friendly. There are so many tabs and different features that until it's explained to someone, they will not understand it. A user-friendly tool is supposed to be designed in a wa...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Also Known As

No data available
Siebel Sales
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Hover Automotive India Pvt. Ltd., Lawn Tennis Association, Tªrk Telekom, Bouygues Telecom, City of Atlanta, IGEPA IT-SERVICE GmbH, ec4u expert consulting AG, Salud Responde, Sascar, Banca Transilvania, UL, Ingersoll Rand, The Royal Dutch Touring Club ANWB
Find out what your peers are saying about Salesforce Essentials vs. Siebel CRM and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.