Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software has revolutionized the way companies work by allowing salespeople and customer service agents to focus more on human-to-human interactions, while detailed data-tracking is taken care of by the software.
Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 are two of the biggest names and rivalries in the CRM software industry, with both having played a significant role in shaping the CRM we know today. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is developed by one of the world's top five most valuable companies, while Salesforce is a successful dot com company from Silicon Valley.
Both offer highly regarded CRM software solutions that cater to businesses of different requirements and sizes, with features such as lead ranking, sales tracking, customer case management, and more. Our comparison of Microsoft Dynamics vs. Salesforce will examine the features, pricing, pros, and cons of each platform so that you can make an informed decision about which one is best suited for your needs.
What are the Similarities Between Microsoft Dynamics CRM vs. Salesforce?
The sales and service systems provided by MS Dynamics CRM and Salesforce offer almost identical features. Both products are proficient in handling contact and account management, social customer service, territory management, field service, and sales forecasting. This similarity in features can probably be attributed to the vendors' competitive relationship and their in-depth knowledge of each other's products.
Both Salesforce and MS Dynamics offer their own app marketplaces, providing you with a wide range of business tools to choose from. These tools can either enhance the functionality of your CRM platform or make it more suitable for your industry. As both platforms are usually offered as software-as-a-service, they can easily adjust to your business size and functionality requirements. However, these platforms are generally preferred by large or fast-growing companies.
What are the Differences Between Salesforce vs. MS Dynamics 365?
Even if both platforms are hardcore competitors, some differences must be noticed.
Platform
If you have heard about the term ‘Cloud CRM,’ then Salesforce is a thing. It was built from the ground just to operate as a cloud CRM platform. Well, that’s great too! Storing data on a remote server and using mobile-ready and browser-based software would be much better than owning the license outright and then hosting the software on your servers.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 might look similar, but it does not. It is more flexible when we talk about implementation and customization. This platform offers Sales and Services, which is fully cloud-based. However, other options, such as Finance and Operations, offer optional on-premises categories. Microsoft Dynamics 365 updated itself in the last few years and moved to mostly cloud-hosted product versions. The reason was demand. More and more companies felt public and private cloud hosting was more reliable than on-premises server boxes.
Integrations and Elasticity
Generally, it is observed that Salesforce has the upper hand in a solution that addresses building your CRM out, integration, speeding up CRM implementation, or optimizing your platform for use in any field. More than 2600 apps are available out there in Salesforce AppExchange, and yes, these apps include integration with the marketing cloud of Salesforce. Not only this, Salesforce has a partner program that helps other businesses and developers build any type of custom solutions on its platform.
With significant in-app connectivity investments, Microsoft AppSource is outpacing Salesforce in terms of selection. Teams may utilize this native connectivity to create bespoke applications using their data and existing relationships by connecting the bigger Microsoft CRM platform to Power BI and PowerApps. In terms of flexibility and integrations, your organization's present investment in Microsoft software solutions may come out on top, particularly if your staff is currently using bespoke Microsoft apps to manage the company.
Although Dynamics 365 offers native integration and connections, Salesforce does connect to a number of Microsoft products. If your team is searching for connections with a wide range of software and apps, Salesforce can interface successfully with most third-party apps.
Features
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM release from 2015 set new standards in several feature areas, and the company's subsequent automation investments have enhanced the sales and service tools in the Engagement Plan. Sales teams can now better understand their consumers, build stronger relationships with them, send emails at the ideal moment, and keep an eye on social media thanks to automated features and artificial intelligence (AI). Microsoft has increased its social selling features by adding a direct link to the company's social media platform now that it owns LinkedIn.
Salesforce can still accomplish a few things that Dynamics cannot, like partner management, data governance tools, and sales performance management. The absence of these capabilities in Dynamics may or may not be a deal-breaker for you, depending on the size of your business, your data demands, and your global reach:
- If you have several data input points (online forms, contact centers, onsite/retail locations, e-commerce), data governance technologies can be a valuable resource as they assist in cleaning and reducing the number of duplicate contact records and sales entries. A Microsoft Azure database provides governance, but some businesses may find the implementations too difficult.
- Performance management, with its built-in feedback loops, awards and recognition systems, and KPI tracking, assists managers and coaches in encouraging sales accomplishment.
- Partner management is reserved for larger businesses that use local product resellers or outsourced contact centers. It provides third-party agents with access to system content, customer databases, and product information while assisting management in remotely monitoring operations.
Artificial and Automated Intelligence
Artificial and automated intelligence characteristics are some of the things that really make Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics Engagement stand out from the competition. Enterprise-level resources are available from Salesforce and Microsoft to develop or purchase AI capabilities that enhance the intelligence of their sales and support platforms.
Microsoft AI technologies, which include intelligent sales predictions and natural language parsing, are integrated with the Dynamics 365 software in both the Sales and Service modules. You'll notice AI being included in more Microsoft technologies as these tools help many businesses run their business apps more quickly.
Salesforce Einstein AI makes recommendations for enhancements based on artificial intelligence learning algorithms that comprehend the unique selling practices of each organization. When integrated into marketing campaigns and technologies, Einstein can offer solutions to client inquiries or point marketers toward the most efficient approaches. Although the tool is presently an add-on, it can function with Salesforce without any issues.
Salesforce vs. MS Dynamics 365 Price
The starting prices of Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 both offer competitive starting rates for their customer relationship management (CRM), while the pricing is based on the number of users and the special edition used. However, Salesforce is commonly used and affordable for small teams or businesses. That’s not it; both offer a free trial to every new user, and the best part is that users do not need a credit card to avail themselves of the free trial.
Choosing the Right CRM for Enterprise Platform Implementation
There is no clear winner between these two CRMs; instead, user choices will mostly depend on the particular requirements of the organization. With various modules and add-ons from their online stores, users may custom-build a unique solution, and both tools offer industry-leading features on a scalable platform with a great user experience.
Basic implementation costs for Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM are slightly higher; however, if you intend to grow, the cost of employing both eventually rises to similar levels based on customization. Dynamics 365 has superior reporting capabilities than Salesforce, even though its customization options and user interface aren't quite as strong. Salesforce is cloud-based. Therefore, if you require or need an on-premises deployment, your only option is to purchase a Microsoft Dynamics 365 plan.
The business processes you currently have in place, the functionality your team of users needs to succeed, and your budget should all be taken into consideration when making this selection.
With a keen eye on the evolving needs of businesses, Chirpn understands the importance of selecting the right CRM platform for seamless integration and efficient implementation. As companies strive to stay ahead in today's competitive landscape, Chirpn stands ready to provide expert guidance and support in harnessing the power of CRM technology for optimal business growth and success.
