By WorkWiseSoftware
What’s the Real Cost of Salesforce Implementation in 2020?
Choosing the correct CRM for your business is an important decision that requires leaders to take many factors into consideration. The biggest factor of all is, of course, cost. For sales and marketing managers, it’s especially important to keep an eye on your company’s bottom line while working to set your teams up for success.
You’ve no doubt heard of Salesforce – it’s one of the largest customer relationship management software companies in the industry, owning almost 20% of the market. Founded in 1999, the software provides businesses with a case and task management system while providing customers with the ability to track their own cases. Salesforce is perhaps the most well-known CRM software as it has managed to remain relevant even amongst an increasingly competitive market. But with so many other options on the table at a more affordable price, how does Salesforce stack up when you really break down the numbers?
Because of its market position, Salesforce pricing is a hot topic. It’s common to want to know what to expect before buying in, but many CRM companies, including Salesforce, don’t offer a free version of their software, and CRM pricing is notoriously opaque.
How can you make the best decision for your team if you don’t have all the facts?
WorkWise LLC hired a researcher to analyze what Salesforce really costs. The team utilized a handy “kitchen remodel” analogy to help guide you through your CRM purchasing process, using Salesforce as an example. They also included tools that are useful when considering any new software. The result? A guide to CRM costs, both on a micro and macro level, explained in an accessible way that anybody can understand.
Salesforce Pricing: Breakdown by Cloud
So what is this “kitchen remodel” analogy we’re talking about? According to Home Advisor, kitchen remodels cost anywhere from $75 to $250 per square foot. The cost of the remodel depends on the quality of the materials and the size of the room. This is an important guide to follow in the CRM purchasing process.
When considering which CRM to buy, think of the “size of your kitchen” as the size of the team who will need access to the software – this typically includes the sales team, select marketing team members, and any relevant managers. The “quality of the materials” you need should be informed by a high-level overview of your software budget. Are you looking at free or near-free services only, or wanting to spend more for better quality?
With these questions in mind, we’re going to dive into what Salesforce costs upfront. The point of the remodel analogy is to point out that there are many other, hidden costs to consider.
Salesforce services are divided into various “clouds”: the sales cloud, the service cloud, the marketing cloud, and the commerce cloud. The sales cloud includes basic client management capabilities, while the service cloud allows for basic online customer service support. The marketing and commerce clouds are less common, and only have pricing available upon request from Salesforce. The majority of users will be interested in the sales cloud, service cloud, or an integrated combination of the two at a discounted rate.
Salesforce also has different “tiers” for each of these clouds: Essentials, Lightning Professional, Lightning Enterprise, and Lightning Unlimited. Essentials is only for teams of 5 or less. Each respective “Lightning” tier offers more options to customize and higher levels of support.
In the below table we’ve broken down the typical cost of each cloud per user per month, according to Salesforce’s website.
Hidden Costs of Implementing Salesforce
If you’re already doing the math in your head, stop. There are considerable hidden costs to Salesforce that the above chart doesn’t take into account, but can add hundreds of thousands more in cost to your plan.
Upgrading your CRM software is a huge purchasing decision for your company, but having all the readily available information in front of you can help make that decision a bit less daunting. So, are you thinking about purchasing Salesforce? It will probably cost you more than you think.
Download this PDF guide in order to learn about Salesforce pricing, from licensing to implementation, straight from the experts.
What’s included in the Salesforce Pricing PDF?
- A breakdown of the tiers of Salesforce CRM pricing, including Salesforce cost per user per month for 3 sample businesses
- The real cost of various Salesforce add-ons, including an example of the average cost of CRM implementation for a medium-sized business
- Real-life customer experience with CRM implementation, letting you know what to prioritize, and what to watch out for
- Other costs of CRM you’ve never considered before
- And more!
