Salesforce Platform Reviews

Our primary use case for Salesforce Platform is to manage our sales, customer support, and other business processes. I primarily work on Salesforce CPQ, Conga CPQ, Conga Composer, and Adobe eSign.

Salesforce Platform has significantly helped our organization. For instance, with a previous customer, we moved them from managing their data on Excel to using Salesforce, which improved their efficiency. 

The automation capabilities, monitoring of reports and dashboards, and the overall ability to handle sales data have been instrumental in their success. Our sales representatives have doubled their revenue as they can now handle multiple records and connect with customers more efficiently.

The lead conversion process in Salesforce Sales Cloud is extremely valuable. It allows leads to be converted into accounts, contacts, and opportunities with just a few clicks, which saves time and reduces manual work. 

The automatic updates and customizable user interface are also beneficial. Another valuable feature is the optimization required by Salesforce, which ensures that everything is running efficiently.

Salesforce could improve the performance of their lightning components as they are currently quite heavy on the system and slow to load. Optimization in this area would be beneficial as customers expect quick loading times.

I have been working with Salesforce for seven years.

Salesforce Platform is generally stable, but there are occasional days when it loads very slowly or doesn't work at all. These issues are rare and we usually contact Salesforce support to resolve them.

Salesforce's scalability is generally good, but there are some limitations with managed packages that can be time-consuming to address. On a scale from one to ten, I would rate its scalability as a seven.

Salesforce's customer service is quite responsive and collaborative. They have the technical knowledge needed to assist effectively. I would rate their customer service an eight point five out of ten.

Before using Salesforce Platform, we managed everything on Excel sheets using macros. This method was inefficient and cumbersome compared to Salesforce's capabilities.

The initial setup of Salesforce Platform is not very easy but not too difficult either. Salesforce provides a representative to assist with the setup process, which makes it manageable. I would rate the initial setup as a six or seven out of ten.

We used a team of two to three people for the initial deployment, which included handling repositories and moving changes. As the project became more complex, the team size increased to four or five people.

Using Salesforce has contributed significantly to our revenue growth. Our sales representatives have doubled their revenue because of the increased efficiency and new product offerings made possible by Salesforce.

Salesforce is quite expensive, especially for vendors in India. I would rate the pricing of Salesforce Platform as a six point five out of ten due to its high cost.

I was not part of the decision-making team when Salesforce was chosen, so I do not have information on other vendors that were evaluated.

Salesforce Platform is a very good product. They are responsive and go beyond to help you out. It is easy to maintain and entirely cloud-based, which is great for new generation needs.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

We were trying to use Salesforce for an ecosystem to create a loan origination system. So, we are developing a product on the Salesforce platform.

Salesforce's out-of-the-box features are sufficient for most businesses. For instance, if I consider Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, they encompass almost every feature that businesses need for their sales and service processes. If customization is required, Salesforce offers good options, such as using their process automation tool called "Flow" or taking the programming route with Apex programming. They provide a wide range of capabilities under what they call "No code," "Low code," and "Pro code" options. Businesses can use these to tailor their processes on the Salesforce platform.

Salesforce introduces a lot of products and sometimes rebrands them, causing confusion. They acquire products like W and retain their names, creating confusion in the market. This confusion isn't related to the product's functionality but rather its positioning and rebranding. For instance, what was once known as Community Cloud is now referred to as Experience Cloud. This can be confusing for business leaders. Regarding the product's functionality, I find it quite competent. 

We did encounter some issues with Einstein, specifically Einstein Discovery, which is Salesforce's tool for building machine learning models. While it offers out-of-the-box features, we faced occasional problems with it not running properly and had to seek support from Salesforce. There were also some bugs affecting the results. The features didn't always seem stable. The support we received was often delayed, which was frustrating. So, in terms of Einstein Discovery, there were some issues with stability. Our support issues were primarily related to Einstein Discovery. We were getting really late support.

So, there is room for improvement in Einstein Discovery. 

We have been working with this platform for close to two years.

The solution is highly stable. They are among the best in this regard. They prioritize transparency and trust, promptly reporting any outages. Therefore, the solution consistently maintains its uptime without issues.

Our customers are in the enterprise category. They have a considerable number of licenses, more than 10,000.

Salesforce is indeed scalable. The key is to strictly follow to their design guidelines and recommendations when it comes to data storage. Since it's a cloud-based platform, they suggest using external objects for smaller data. By following their recommendations, there are no inherent limitations in scalability. They also offer options for data archival. However, the challenge arises when organizations deviate from these recommendations, which can lead to performance and scalability issues.

The current recommendations are quite satisfactory. Considering it's a cloud platform, the capabilities are impressive. The only challenge is that as the platform grows, it becomes more complex. There's now a greater degree of customization and additional features, which can be overwhelming for smaller clients who may not need all of them.

With Salesforce introducing numerous features annually, the product has become larger and more intricate. Before implementing these features, they undergo extensive due diligence. However, as the product has grown, it now contains a lot of features. Some of these features may not be relevant to a particular client. For instance, a smaller client that has purchased Salesforce might find these features overwhelming rather than beneficial. It would be helpful if they could also offer lightweight applications that cater to specific sets of features rather than providing everything to every client. However, this might not be feasible due to its cloud-based nature. Nevertheless, there are many features that do not add value to the client. To put it quantifiably, if an organization or client uses only 10% of 100 features, it implies that 90 features are superfluous. So, it has indeed become feature-rich. But how do we determine which features are actually being used? Is there uncertainty around that? The usage of features can be somewhat doubtful.

Einstein Discovery support was somewhat delayed. The response time could be faster. 

Salesforce is cloud-based, so there's no installation involved. You simply log in using the provided organization login. There's no need for installation.

There are two approaches, managed and unmanaged packages. For maintenance, a team is required because new features need to be developed regularly. Everything is managed within Salesforce itself, including DevOps. The team is needed not just for maintenance but also for feature enhancements.

The people required for the deployment process vary depending on the specific module or feature. For example, in a larger implementation like insurance, you might require a big implementation team of 15 to 1,000 people. However, even for a smaller 15-member team, ongoing maintenance and support by at least 10% of the team is necessary.

However, it's not fair to base this solely on team size. Suppose we're talking about a significant feature; we've delivered the entire thing in two to three months, but we still need at least two to 10% of the team to maintain it.

The licensing is on the expensive side, but most clients engage in negotiations to reach a more favorable agreement. For stand-alone or medium-sized clients, it can be relatively costly.

Currently, it operates mainly on a monthly basis, with options for yearly subscriptions. In practice, clients often opt for the annual subscription, which results in monthly billing.

Pricing is somewhat intricate in that regard. Salesforce offers various types of licenses, including unlimited, enterprise, and CFO licenses, along with different Sandboxes and channel support options. The licensing structure is not very straightforward. It's very cumbersome.

So customers have options within the license only where customers can get an option of different Sandboxes and channel supports.

When planning a Salesforce implementation, or any similar platform for that matter, it's essential to have a crystal-clear understanding of your needs. This advice extends beyond Salesforce to other platforms as well. 

Salesforce often provides recommendations on how objects and custom objects should be created. My suggestion would always be to aim for a solution that leans towards standardization. Avoid adding unnecessary complexity through extensive programming or excessive custom object creation.

I recommend leveraging no-code or low-code solutions rather than diving into pro-code development. Pro-code can introduce complexity, especially when dealing with new releases. With no-code and low-code approaches, you can ensure that your solutions remain robust and don't break with each update.

Therefore, it's advisable to rely on standard objects and processes as much as possible. If customization is required, prefer configuration or flow options. Only in the most complex scenarios should you consider pro-code, such as Apex programming. This approach ensures stability. Additionally, during the design phase, create plenty of instances to facilitate the entire process.

This advice is applicable across the board, but it's particularly crucial for Salesforce implementations. Properly planning data design and reference architecture before implementation is key. These principles can significantly impact the success of any implementation.

Overall, I would rate it as an eight out of ten. It's a very good solution, but it does come with complexity.

We build many client applications on top of the CRM and the client portals and community experiences. Generally, we create custom solutions on Salesforce Platform.

Salesforce Platform has allowed us to build applications without starting from scratch. We utilize templates and pre-built features, customizing them as necessary. This approach saves time and reduces the complexity of gathering requirements.

Salesforce Platform is effective as it provides frameworks and pre-built components. We can choose existing templates and customize them with code or declarative features, making it easier to get started quickly without requiring extensive planning. 

The automation capabilities, especially low-code features, are good for rapid development, maintenance, and deployment.

I have been using the Salesforce Platform for about a year since I joined as a junior developer. It’s a very robust platform suitable for many implementations.

The stability of Salesforce Platform is very good. It is a well-maintained software, and updates are released quickly to address any issues.

We have contacted their support team many times due to specific issues. Their response time is great, and their support is punctual and functional. They provide excellent service and support.

Positive

I started using the Salesforce Platform when I joined last year.

Being a Salesforce developer, I would definitely recommend Salesforce Platform. It is very effective if you do not want to start from scratch and useful for those strong in marketing.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

It allows us to track the records of our transaction pipeline. It also helps us with the budgeting, giving us an insight into potential ROI.

What we like the most about it is the fact that it helps us track the record of our projects. It keeps everything on one interface, facilitating the operations and planning. 

I think the interface should be enhanced and more user-friendly. Right now, it requires a lot of steps to operate it.

We have been using it for the last eight months.

The stability is good. We did not have any problem with it.

It offers good scalability features and the possibility to use its services across different departments within the company.

Our experience with their customer support was very good. We had a few discussions in the beginning when we implemented the project, and they were very responsive. They helped us to put everything on track.

The initial setup was easily done by our IT department.

The deployment process was done in less than three weeks by a couple of our technician experts.

It is a fair price for what it's offering, in comparison with other solutions that are available on the market.

I would rate it nine out of ten.

Our primary use case for this solution is lead management, mainly B2B as I don't think it's that good for the B2C model.

I would say that compared to our previous CRM, Salesforce helped us improve our lead management and lead assignments like location, performance, and other factors. We are able to automate the process quite smoothly with SalesForce and it helps us a lot.

The most valuable features for me were the comprehensive reports. I like using the reports feature, but also the fact that we are able to have a smooth process when it comes to leads and opportunities. Opportunity management is a good feature.

I think that Salesforce can improve lead management when it comes to B2C. I would like to have more features specifically related to the B2C segment. The current process where you create a lead that's in the B2C segment and it creates an account makes no sense. 

In the next release, I'd like to see the opportunity to send text messages and actually call customers from Salesforce.

I would rate the stability of this solution a seven, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best. The reason for this rating is that sometimes the platform can be slow.

I would rate the scalability of this solution a seven, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best. We have about 30 users of this solution in our company with plans for scaling.

I would say that the initial setup process was complex. We haven't been able to have all the resources available for this, so we had a Salesforce admin help us. I would say it takes about five or six people to deploy this solution.

We have seen a return on investment when it comes to this solution and especially considering our previous CRMs.

My impression is that this solution is a bit expensive for what it offers. I know other solutions have better pricing, but considering Salesforce is a global solution, we need to go with it.

I would advise other people looking into this solution, that if they're mainly dealing with the B2C model, to not go with Salesforce as it's not fit for it.

I would rate the Salesforce solution a seven, on a scale from one to 10, with one being the worst and 10 being the best.

We use the solution for our outbound and marketing activities.

We've built some custom dashboards which are quite nice.

The reporting tools are very solid.

It is absolutely stable. 

I don't have any huge love for it. I don't have any huge love for most of the tech solutions I use. Working in software sales could be better.

The tasks, the reminders, and keeping myself on point, for example, in that sense, the forecasting could all be better. 

It could be maybe a bit more user-intuitive. I've been using the Lightning version for the last couple of years. There were a couple of features that were lost from Salesforce Classic to Lightning, though I recognize some of the improvements. 

Better UI and UX would be great. They should offer more help built into the platform itself. It would be really useful if, for example, in the reporting tab, I could have a little wizard or something which says, "Hey, this is your first time visiting the reports tab. Here are details and Youtube videos," et cetera. 

We've used the solution for 20 years. 

The solution is stable and reliable. The level of performance we get is great. I cannot remember the last time there was a Salesforce outage or anything like that. It is very, very, very reliable in that regard.

I use it to manage a team of eight, which is very usable from that point of view. I've never used it for anything beyond that. The largest team I managed would've been 13 or 14 people. I couldn't really speak to scalability. It may very well be fantastic for a team of 50 or 100, however, I couldn't speak to that. That's not been my experience historically.

I don't deal with pricing or licensing. In my last company, the pricing was about $1,100 a month or $1,400 a month. This would've been years ago. We were very much a small company then. Now, I  work for an organization with 1,000 employees. Pricing is not something I deal with in terms of how much Salesforce costs or how much the user license is.

We are just customers and end-users.

There are features in there that I'd like to see improved, however, in terms of it being a business tool I'd rate the solution an eight out of ten. As a business tool, I find it extremely usable and very solid.

We are using Salesforce Platform to store our data and for communication with our international partners. At the moment, we just have a data warehouse, which is Salesforce. So everything we have at the moment is stored within Salesforce. We are trying to create a data warehouse.

Salesforce has brought about improvements by storing all the data in one place, making it easy to find what is needed and to report on what is necessary. It provides seamless communication with international partners.

The most valuable aspect is that all data is stored in one place, making it easy to find what is needed and to report on it. The team uses it for reporting and for connecting to various parts of the organization.

As for improvements, connections could be enhanced. There is a considerable effort required to load the data, involving processes like XML connections. This area could see better integration to avoid headaches.

I have been with the company for nine months, and they had been using Salesforce for about two years prior to my joining.

Salesforce has been quite stable for our use.

I find Salesforce to be scalable.

Customer service is satisfactory. We have communicated with the team a few times, and they are quick to respond and able to satisfy our queries. If I were to rate them, I would give them an eight. We had to call up in the first place, but they are responsive and assess our needs quickly.

Positive

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

We use the solution for deal tracking, lead generation, committing deals, and connecting on LinkedIn.

We've done a solid job managing past account history, enabling us to quickly review past activities and the contacts we've engaged with. Now, Salesforce has integrated a LinkedIn feature, streamlining the process by eliminating the need to manually input data into LinkedIn separately. This integration adds LinkedIn profiles to customer profiles, enhancing efficiency. They've also introduced a sales console platform.

It's all set up for us in a way that establishes our account. We need to tag ourselves to opportunities. You have to tag yourself to the opportunity manually; you need to find it yourself and tag it. Sometimes, it's difficult to figure out how to assign yourself to the opportunity, which is time-consuming. In a way, it needs to be a little more seamless.

I have been using Salesforce Platform for seven years.

There are no major stability issues.

20,000 users are using this solution.

We open up an IT case, and the IT team interacts with us.

We don't find much utility in Salesforce due to the inaccuracies in the data. Therefore, before we can effectively utilize Salesforce as a platform, the company must prioritize correcting the data, as we can only rely on trustworthy data. While Salesforce utilizes some intuitive algorithm to generate opportunities based on historical data, sometimes these opportunities are inaccurate, resulting in hundreds of false opportunities that need to be manually deleted. Ultimately, this underscores the importance of ensuring data accuracy, as accurate data is essential for reliable predictions.

The previous interface was very static and not very user-friendly. It has undergone an update, which initially confused the organization because it was not the most user-friendly.

Salesforce isn't the most user-friendly platform. I often need to search on Google for guidance on navigating opportunities or working with various fields within them. This complexity can make tasks a bit challenging. Additionally, when it comes to viewing all opportunities or assigning myself to multiple ones, I still resort to Googling for instructions. The interface isn't intuitive enough to accomplish these tasks easily.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.