2. Choosing the right
CRM System for
Your Business
Choosing CRM software is ultimately a
matter of balancing the features you
want with the cost of service, hassle
of set-up and willingness of
employees to adopt it.
3. The Two Ends of the Spectrum
We’ve chosen Salesforce and Insightly to represent the two ends of the
spectrum – not only because they’re the premier products at their
respective levels, but also because understanding their features gives you a
good sense of your CRM options overall.
5. You get 2,500 records (which
includes contacts, projects, etc.),
40 custom fields and can register
up to 3 accounts.
Per user per month for the basic
sales and marketing package and
$30 for the basic customer service
package.
You can use a limited
version of Insightly for free.
Salesforce
starts at $25
6. The Full Package More advanced packages
Boosts this to 100,000 records
and 100 custom fields. This costs
$7 per user per month and there’s
no limit to how many users you can
add.
Can cost well into the hundreds.
The most popular sales and
customer service packages are
$125 and $135 per user per
month, respectively.
8. Mobile Accessibility
Using your CRM system
on a smartphone or
tablet is ideal for
telecommuters or
salesmen on the go.
9. Insightly
Offers a mobile app with limited functions, such as viewing contacts/
projects and setting tasks. Insightly does not offer offline
functionality.
10. Salesforce
Has more robust mobile support, letting you edit projects, open
files and search all data.
11. Integration with E-Mail
With Insightly
You can archive an email by
sending it to a unique
Insightly mailbox address. The
system will then identify all
contacts and organizations
CC’d in the email and link
them to the message.
12. Integration with E-Mail
Salesforce
Can do this automatically if
you integrate your email
account. Currently, many
different clients are
supported, including
Microsoft, Gmail and Yahoo.
Insightly can do this only if
you have a Google Apps
email.
13. Integration with other
software
Insightly
Allows you to connect your account with a
few other online applications, like Google
Apps or MailChimp, so you can easily
import/export contacts or upcoming
tasks. However, whereas Insightly only
supports a handful of applications.
15. Customization
Insightly
You can customize how you
enter in contacts or projects
by adding your own data
fields.
16. Customization
Salesforce
You can go far beyond and edit
the software itself with simple
customizations like changing the
appearance or access levels for
different employees.
17. Automated leads
If you generate leads
from a webpage,
You can set up your CRM system to
receive the form and automatically
assign the potential customer to a
salesperson. In the same way,
customer service claims can be
automatically forwarded to your staff.
Salesforce has tools to set this up.
Insightly does not.
18. Custom Reports
Track your company’s
daily progress
With automatically-generated
reports, charts and graphs on your
dashboard. Insightly builds 10 different
reports, including figures on
opportunities, sales made and tasks
completed.
19. Custom Reports
With Salesforce, however,
the possibilities are
endless.
You can build a custom report using
any data in the system and add it to
your dashboard.
20. Project Management
Use your CRM to create step-by-
step projects.
Then assign tasks to employees
and watch the progress
unfold. Insightly offers this
feature at no extra cost.
To use project
management on
Salesforce, however,
you have to install a separate app.
21. Social Media Integration
Both Insightly and
Salesforce can automatically
link your contacts to their
social media accounts,
So you can view their LinkedIn
profile and see their latest
tweets.
22. Permissioning
In Insightly,
When you create or edit an item
(such as a contact, opportunity, etc.)
you can easily select who has
permission to view it: everyone,
specific teams and/or specific
individuals.
23. Permissioning
With Salesforce
You have to assign objects to a
permission set and assign that
permission set to a user.
24. Administrating your
CRM System
Both Insightly and Salesforce
Are cloud based applications so
you don’t have to deal with
installing any software. It will take
some setup, however, as you
personalize the interface for your
business.
26. With Insightly, this means
Adding your contacts and projects to the system, adding any additional data
fields that are not already included, writing descriptions, and setting up any
step by step processes you would like. You don’t have to have any special
technical expertise.
27. Insightly has a series of training videos that covers most
of the features, and it shouldn’t take longer than an hour
or so for your employees to learn how to use it.
28. Because Salesforce
offers many more features
It also takes users much longer to learn how to use. Expect to hold
special training sessions for your employees and have someone on
staff that is responsible for answering questions after the rollout.
29. Salesforce also has a training center where you can
browse a wide array of topics and ask questions to
other customers.
30. Conclusion
When it comes to choosing a CRM system
Keeping it simple is usually the way to go. You save money, set up
faster and don’t have to worry about confusing or overwhelming
your employees. But before you break out your wallet, make sure
you and your staff are ready for the overhaul.