The four top reasons people break up with Salesforce

It might be the largest vendor of Customer Relationship Management software in the world, but even Salesforce comes with its disadvantages.  

Although it may be the easy choice, Salesforce is often not the best fit for every business, especially mid-size organisations. Many businesses start their CRM journey with Salesforce, before looking elsewhere for a solution that better meets their needs.  

There’s a wealth of excellent alternative CRM systems out there that could better serve your specific commercial goals. The reality is, the right choice is rarely a one-size-fits-all when it comes to implementing a CRM solution. So, just what Salesforce challenges might stop your business from succeeding with the platform? 

Here are the four top reasons organisations leave Salesforce and the problems they face. 

1. Discounts that don’t last 

Talking to Salesforce rep? They’ll probably offer you a discount or incentive for sign-on that sounds like a great deal.  

The problem with Salesforce comes when your subscription term ends. You’ll likely get no further discounts as an existing customer so the price can increase dramatically. 

Offering a one-time reduced fee is common practice among big-name vendors, to mask the true cost of implementation once onboarding, support, and extra licences have been factored in. Ultimately, this leads your costs to rise exponentially down the line — discount or no discount. 

Once you’ve adopted a CRM into your daily workflow, it’s rarely a case of painlessly withdrawing your investment. This is because you’ll be embedded into the CRM ecosystem that you’ve chosen — and if it’s Salesforce, you’re likely to have paid out additional costs for full integration capabilities. So, you could find yourself locked into an overpriced platform with redundant features you don’t need, and it could be gradually increasing in price. 

At Workbooks our standard pricing is affordable from the get-go, coming in at around 70% cheaper than Salesforce for licenses and more cost-savings to be made across implementation. We have no third-party ties or hidden costs during implementation, meaning that you’ll quickly start earning back your investment. 

Our CRM edition includes both sales and support functionality in one licence, including out-of-the-box features to cover marketing, sales, order processing, invoicing, customer service and more. 

We won’t make you empty promises, but we will help you to implement a CRM solution that transforms how your business operates for less. 

2. Overly complicated functionality 

Different users need different levels of access. But Salesforce dictates that every user in the business must use the same pricing edition, even if the features are completely redundant. This results in a crammed interface and plenty of opportunities for users to accidentally change or implement a feature that they don’t know how to use. 

This also spells trouble for your streamlined workflows and your processes. If you have very specific business functions that you want to tailor your CRM to fit, Salesforce offers little scope to do so. Or it will cost you a fortune in professional services to adapt it. 

Workbooks CRM can be configured as needed to meet your current and future business goals, challenges, and pain points. You can mix your licences across users, so if you want some CRM editions and some Business editions, it’s simple. No more overpaying for tools that will sit unused by entire factions of your workforce. 

When you implement a CRM correctly, you don’t have to bend your processes to fit around it. 

3. High costs overall 

One of the biggest complaints about Salesforce is the price. These are some of the problems with Salesforce pricing: 

• It requires a minimum purchase: You need to buy at least five licenses and you need to upgrade to more expensive versions as your usage extends. 
• APIs are only available in expensive editions: To use the API, you need to upgrade to Enterprise edition. And you have to upgrade all users to a more expensive package – not just the ones that need it.  
• Monthly and annual plans that cost more: This is regularly mentioned as the main reason people move to another CRM. With so many products to add on, pricing can rise quickly once you’ve built your Salesforce package. 
• Paying for features you don’t need: Lots of people don’t need all the functionality that Salesforce offers. This means many teams are out of pocket over tools they have no use for. And they have no option to opt out of services that provide little to no value to their business. 

There are much cheaper options out there, which can prove to be much better value – Workbooks Business Edition, for example, costs £61 or $88 per user per month, and comes with sales order management and invoicing functionality that you can’t get with Salesforce. 

You can also upgrade on a user-by-user basis, allowing your organisation to grow without costs escalating. 

This means that no matter where your company is on its CRM journey, you’re likely to get a far better return on investment (ROI) than with more expensive solutions.  

Check out our pricing calculator to work out how much Workbooks will cost.  

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4. No out-of-the-box integrations 

You might associate Salesforce with lots of impressive integrations, but the reality is — Salesforce have a limited amount to offer out of the box. If you want to integrate additional platforms, apps, and data sources with Salesforce, your monthly fee will double.   

With Workbooks, you’ll be investing in a system that connects seamlessly with your existing tools — without charging you a premium. We work with you to look at the existing apps, data sources and more that make up your digital workflows, and then tailor our product offering to fit neatly alongside them, all at an afford able price. 

What’s the alternative to Salesforce? 

There are other CRM providers out there that deliver the results you need for a lower cost, and deliver more hands-on support – like Workbooks. Make sure you check out other options and find out how to squeeze every last business-boosting drop of value from your CRM investment. 

Our top tips are: 

• Don’t get lured in by short-term discounts – they don’t last 
• If you need integrations with existing software – Salesforce could get expensive, fast. Choose a CRM provider that includes integrations within your CRM package 
• If you want to control what access your users get, choose a CRM that allows you to mix and match licenses 
• If you’re looking for a more affordable CRM overall – you can spend up to 70% less with Workbooks. 

Get in touch with us to learn more about the Workbooks CRM platform and discover how we can partner with your business to maximise the value of your CRM. 

Drop us a message on teamworkbooks@workbooks.com or check out our handy pricing calculator to see the price difference between Workbooks and Salesforce first hand.