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CRM: I am in the market for a CRM solution for a small business (1-5 users) - looking for advice on which CRM will best suit the needs.
JG
JG
John Garvens, Salesforce Architect, Consultant, Instructor answered:

If you are serious about CRM (and your business), Salesforce is what you should choose. Here is why:

- Ease of Use: Salesforce's new Lightning interface is easy to use from an end-user perspective. The interface is highly customizable to align with your business. Plus, Salesforce has a powerful mobile app that allows you to make changes on the go.

- Reasonably Priced: Salesforce Lightning Professional is $75 per user per month, which falls within your budget. That said, you will need to pay a bit extra to enable APIs if you truly need integration capabilities.

- Customization: Salesforce is an extremely flexible tool; you can do nearly anything you want to do on the Salesforce platform. Still, you should leverage a Salesforce consultant to get everything set up for you. If you do not know what you are doing, you can paint yourself into a corner rather quickly.

- Collaboration: Chatter is essentially a social media platform inside Salesforce that lets you collaborate on any record in the system (e.g., leads, accounts, opportunities, etc.).

When purchasing a CRM solution, think long-term. Also, think in terms of scale. Yes, you could use a cheaper CRM. But those CRM solutions are often nothing more than glorified spreadsheets.

In the end, the question you should be asking, "What will I get for my money?" You will get the most for your money by choosing Salesforce as your CRM platform.

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