It’s no secret that I believe Salesforce has outlived its ranking as a top-rated sales tool. It was a game changer when it came out, by moving CRM to the cloud, but it’s grown top-heavy, expensive, cumbersome, and, frankly, makes life hard for salespeople and their leaders.
In case there are any doubts about how I feel, however, here are all my most highly-rated anti-Salesforce rants, all in one post.
- Salesforce and the Frankenstack
The term “sales stack” became popular a while back, and nothing represents the “sales stack” like a version of Salesforce with a thousand tools stacked on top of it like a toddler’s game of Jenga, waiting for someone to pull the wrong piece out and break the whole thing.
If you enjoy navigating sales technology that consists of miscellaneous bits and pieces bolted together with a patchwork of integrations and custom coding, then you’ll love reading what I wrote about having a Frankenstack in this post.
- Salesforce is stealing your budget
On the surface, Salesforce looks like a reasonably priced option for a CRM. But once you start adding it up, the picture becomes much more grim. It’s an overpriced Rolodex until you add in the customizations that steal even more of your budget.
Read about how the base version of Salesforce is essentially just a fancy Rolodex on a screen, or check out all the (many) ways that an upgraded version of Salesforce steals your budget before you even know what hit you.
- You might be addicted to Salesforce
If your friends and family have gathered together to talk about something with you, there’s a chance it’s because they’ve noticed your addiction to Salesforce. This is an intervention.
Okay, maybe your family hasn’t noticed, but there is something about taking that first “hit” of Salesforce that can lead to becoming out of control, and unable to stop. Read about how companies get addicted to Salesforce - and how to stop.
- Salespeople hate Salesforce because it sucks for them
CRM adoption can be a challenge. Salespeople hate feeling like they’re being controlled and watched over, and sometimes they resist using the tools leadership provides for them.
And when it comes to Salesforce, sometimes this reluctance is because the software doesn’t actually help them. Here’s why Salesforce sucks for your salespeople - and what to do to improve adoption and increase effectiveness.
- If you choose Salesforce anyway, you’ll need to add these tools to make it work
Sometimes, Salesforce is simply the option you have. Whether it’s been chosen by someone else, you made a mistake and chose it yourself, or for some other reason - you’re stuck with it.
If that’s the case, then you’ll need a handy list of tools to add to make it work for you.
- How to leave Salesforce
Or you can just leave. It doesn’t have to be hard and painful. Here’s your roadmap.
- Affinitext left Salesforce for Membrain and never looked back
Don’t believe it can be painless to leave Salesforce and sail into clearer waters? Affinitext did it, in a matter of weeks, and never looked back. Their transition supercharged their ability to grow their team and their business. Read this article to compare the differences of SalesForce vs Membrain.
What about you? Have you ever found yourself ranting about Salesforce? I’d love to hear about it. Or, let’s go ahead and have a conversation about how to get you free of the Salesforce tangle.